Modeling isn't all fun and glamour all the time. This is the understatment of the year. The best models and photographers are those who can take a photo so good that when you look at it, you'd never be able to tell that there were any problems. A lot comes with the territory of being involved in the modeling industry and for some it may be a cakewalk, especially if you've already got a fair amount of experience, but for newer models, you may be in for quite a ride.
Know that at one time or another in your modeling career, you will be posing in very cold temperatures. You may be wearing a bathing suit or some other outfit that shows some skin and you will be freezing your butt off. But guess what? All that has to take a backseat 'cause you've got a job to do and you've gotta keep smiling and posing as if it were the middle of July!
I've shot in San Francisco in both a thin dress as well as a bikini in windy and cold 50-60 degree weather. Surprisingly, I got used to the cold quickly and when the adrenaline kicked in, I was fine. It was when I stopped posing that I realized that I desperately needed a sweater! Looking at the shoot, you'd have no idea that it was that cold.
During a shoot you may be posing in water and it will not be warm, either. Unless you're lucky enough to be shooting in the Caribbean or some other tropical location, chances are you're going to get water that is as natural in temperature as breathing. Your teeth will chatter and your goosebumps will have goosebumps but focus on the importance of producing good quality photos.
This is the same with shooting in extreme heat. Try posing in Las Vegas in the middle of the summer with a full face of makeup. Even the bikini I was wearing didn't help at all.
Oh, and don't even get me started on uncomfortable poses! This may or may not happen but sometimes to get a natural-looking photo, the pose you have to do will feel very unnatural and while modeling doesn't mean you have to be a contortionist, you may have to get used to painful poses. Not only is posing painful at times, but having to hold it for minutes at a time while the photographer gets the right angle, lighting, etc. can be a nightmare. This is where the saying, "Grin and bear it" definitely holds true!
For my JET Magazine "Beauty of the Week" shoot, I posed with a scooter, which I thought was a cute idea. Unfortunately, because my makeup artist took a long time to get me ready, they rushed me out onto the set without giving me a chance to grab my high heels...so I had on some flip-flops. While I posed, I had to stand on my tip-toes, which put a lot of strain on my legs, especially my calve muscles. Even though they weren't photographing my feet, I still had to give off the appearance of wearing heels. Talk about faking it!
Anyways, we played with different and fun poses for a few minutes. Then the photographer got the great idea (that's sarcasm) to have me straddle the scooter so that it was in between my legs. This caused my body to be at a profile stance to the camera. He then had me twist just my upper torso to face the camera. I don't know if you can picture that in your head and I wish I had the photo in a digital format to show you, but it was very painful. But what did I do? I smiled like I could pose that way forever. The shot ended up coming out great. I actually have that photo shoot on VHS and you can see a play by play of my upper torso turning and turning until you think I'm gonna snap in half! A very trying time for sure but I'd do it all again if I could!
These types of situations, among many others, will present themselves and you have to be ready. No complaints, no ifs ands or buts. There's nothing like a challenge and even if it's a sucky challenge, they all add up to one thing: being a great model.
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