|
Potentially great pictures turn out to be mundane and
boring because we overlook the simplest things. This page will help and,
as time passes and more gets added to it, it will help more. Whether you
are a model or an artist, you will grow your skills by constant practice
and refinement, and by keeping yourself constantly aware of the latest
techniques and learning to use them in your own work. Be vain. If you are
to be the model, use your mirror and watch how you look when trying out
different things. Keep your eye on yourself, that's the only way to
discover what works.
Before you start, check out your background. It should be
fairly simple, clean, and uncluttered with complex lines that may make
your picture look busy and confusing. Will your subject (whether you or
someone else) end up with twigs or an electric pole growing out of her
head? Will there be something going on that will take a viewer's eyes away
from her pretty features. Will there be garish clashing of colors?
For this website, natural backgrounds are sure winners over
those which display modernity in prominent view. Animals will be much
preferred over cars and airplanes. Aged wood reigns over modernity.
Bicycles can beat a motorcycle any day. Water scenes, the desert, a rocky
slope, a sandy beach, a grassy meadow or a wooded glade will win over
pavement, electric poles, houses with vinyl siding, or bricks. Get the
picture? (Then, send it in!) Other websites will have other preferences,
which you can learn to judge by studying what has already been used.
I have nothing against crotches or buttholes (what I call
'bowling ball shots'), but they will not make it onto this site. Neither
will dressing up in your grandmother's bustles or muumuus (unless you have
something going on I haven't thought about). Sex scenes--forget it.
Nipples and belly buttons, yes; a coy, 'almost' shot, great. Full length,
barefoot poses very much preferred. Wearing shoes?– send it anyways.
'Cute' girls and photogenic girls do not often happen in the same package;
let the photo reviewer be the judge of that.
Many famous movie stars would only let one side of their
face be shown. Expose your best features and turn 'defects' away from the
camera. Use that as a precedent, but don't be glum about what makes you
unique. Many people get picked on, or hate themselves, for something that
ends up being their claim to fame. It is better to try than to hold back
and worry. Most modern cameras expose a rectangle rather than a square.
Hold the camera so that the widest direction is up and down, unless the
viewer might find the background scenery fascinating enough to warrant
including lots of it in the picture(s), or the image is reclining.
POSING: Aim for a natural
appearance. Shots that look clumsy from one direction may look sexy or coy
from another; try more than one angle. Divide your screen into thirds, and
pose looking slightly (or fully) toward the center of the picture from
toward one or the other of the edges. Tummy bulges can be hidden if
you can pull off a naked, looking-over-your-shoulder-at-the-camera shot.
You may find other ways, such as a sitting pose. An active appearance is a
preferred way to pose for a picture, so even a sitting model ought to be
shown doing something interesting and nature-related. A flash of 'pink'
can easily be edited away with modern equipment, so such a picture may
still be usable on the Natural
Calendar Girl of the Month page (which I will reinstate if a suitable
model can be found).
Some artists/photographers appear to prefer a sullen look
in their models. Here, a smile, an inquisitive look, a haughty, taunting,
'I dare you' look that best portrays someone actively happy with their
status in life will set a preferred mood.
Statement of Purpose:
I am not a photographer with a
fancy studio, and so I am not looking for models to work for me. My only
offer is to provide a place for you to show off your skills as a
photographer, or as a model. I will gain no income from your
contributions, but along with putting your talents on display I will be
displaying the Natural Calendar, an idea I want to promote. I am offering
you a free ride on that, on the chance that someone will be in a position
to benefit one or the other of us, and hopefully both.
While it may seem obvious what immediate purpose your
photographs may serve, it is unclear from that what the long range
prospects may be for their use. I will not
sell them to others; the only way others will acquire them is by theft,
which may happen to those which appear on any website, the movies, in
magazines, or on TV. My advice to you in such circumstance would be to
collect them wherever you find them, and add them to your portfolio. You
may not feel that is an option. In that case, write to the thieves and
complain, and threaten lawsuits against people who use your image without
your written permission.
While there is not very much I write about where it might
seem appropriate, there may be occasions that arise where such images may
be used to enhance a story in an eBook. I will try to make sure the people
whose images I use for such a purpose will be given a copy of the work
wherein they appear. If I fail to make that happen, for whatever reason,
please let me know about it when you find it out (Example: You may have
moved and your forwarding address expired, or your eMail address had been
changed).
Please take a good look at the calendar for which I hope
you'll help me stir up interest, and assure yourself you would like to
help promote a natural, simple, human-oriented design such as it
represents. Who knows? Great and lasting fame rises up from simple first
steps. You may
also appear on this page. |
