Christy had never modeled before meeting me. She was a bit of a tomboy and at twenty had just started wearing makeup the year prior. A slender 105 lbs., size 2 and 5-foot 8-inches, she sported statuesque abs and unforgettable bone structure.

Tia, one of my models, recruited Christy while we were out searching for talent. Tia was quite familiar with my style of shooting and my processes, so she was a capable advocate.

Tia and I were at a bar known for female bartenders dancing on the bar. It was not the one you may be thinking of, but a local version of the famous one. We intended to use a decidedly soft-sell approach. If we met someone who would eventually model for me, that would be marvelous; otherwise, we had a bit of fun and nothing was lost.

It was at the beginning of the evening, so there were not many patrons in the bar. Several of the bartenders were practicing their moves on the bar. I was sure to glance at the dancing bartenders occasionally, but I was careful not to come off like a fascinated newcomer. You may meet prospective models who are professional club dancers, ballet dancers, or dancing bartenders. When watching a prospective model perform, you should not act like you’ve never seen anything like her before.

Although there was almost no business, Christy was intensely energetic and stayed active, doing things in various parts of the establishment. Sometimes prospective models appear busy to stave off boredom and other times they have a pressing agenda. Remember that being rude and interrupting someone who is busy hurts your cause. In this case, we judged correctly, as she jumped at the opportunity to engage in something different and exciting.

Tia decided she was going to have to go up to Christy if she was going to get a chance to speak to her before the bar began to fill up with patrons and noise. As Christy headed down a stairway toward the front door, Tia scurried after her. I am sure Tia’s smile and innate charm helped steer the mood toward intrigue on Christy’s part. A few minutes later, Tia came back and said, “She’s going to do it,” and gave me Christy’s contact info.

Christy

Christy

Tia

Hope at the interview

Hope responded to a classified ad I placed on a popular free classified website. I had posted ads once or twice a week for the previous few weeks. The ads stay up for a couple of months, so there were about ten ads up. Hope responded to all ten, so I assumed she was probably hitting all of the ads she could find, what I call shot gunning. A model appearing uncommitted can be a yellow flag, so I needed to determine how deep her interest was. I responded quickly to Hope, knowing she was eager to get started and might soon be busy with other photographers. Here is the e-mail she sent me:
“Hi, I am interested in being the nude model for your photography. I am an artist myself and have painted some nude portraits so I understand. I would like to meet beforehand and maybe know a little about you before. I will attach one or two photographs of myself in semi-nude to see if I might be what you are looking for. I will check my email often for a reply. Thanks, Hope”

As it occasionally happens, Hope’s photos were not large or clear enough for me to determine her suitability for my projects. It was obvious that she had some attractive features, and the photos she sent me were unusually creative in their lighting and poses. This was substantially encouraging. Nevertheless, I still had some questions about her appearance that were difficult to answer via an e-mail exchange. From the small, dim shots, I could not see if her skin was smooth or if her muscles were toned. I was also concerned about her apparent shotgun approach. I decided an in-person interview would solve these uncertainties, as well as verify her interest and commitment. My reply to her first e-mail read, “Hello, Hope. I like what I see. I’m pretty flexible with time this weekend. If you send me your number and tell me when you’re available, we should be able to do something.”

I called her, and we agreed to meet at a coffee shop that was convenient for both of us. Hope was on time to the meeting and lively when she got there. She was, in fact, easily identifiable as the most attractive woman in the shop. On that note, I typically do not worry about how I am going to spot a model at our first meeting; if I cannot find her in a crowd, she’s probably not what I’m looking for. I introduced myself to her while she was standing in line. I bought coffee for both of us, and we sat. Hope reiterated that she was an artist, and concerning nudes, she said, “I get it.” She was emphatic, and I could sense she had zero qualms about creating images with me. After a few minutes, I suggested we step outside to see how well things worked with her, my camera, and me. We walked into the parking lot, and I retrieved my camera from my car and snapped a few quick shots, one of which appears on this page.

I did two shoots with Hope before she unfortunately had to move four hours away. For months, we did not do any shoots. I kept in touch with her through Facebook and we have continued to work together. I have traveled up to work with her over a weekend and she has come to me on occasion. When visiting her, we traveled to some of her mountain haunts, including some amazing waterfalls. She has posed with classic cars and at an abandoned Buddhist monastery. Hope is good at making a single prop work, whether it is a rope, chain, scarf, or bottle filled with water. I have photographed Hope at least eight times, each with spectacular results.

More about Hope and additional recruiting diaries appear in my book Up to My Eyeballs in Nude Women.

Recruiting Tip #4

Experienced models know the importance of communication. When doing a nude shoot, there are a lot of questions that can come up. It’s important to get these questions answered before the shoot is booked. Less experienced models are not going to know what questions to ask. When recruiting a less experienced or inexperienced model, you need to use your expertise to help educate them. Make sure you explain what kinds of poses you expect. This needs to be established before the two of you agree that you’re going to do a photo shoot. When it comes to recruiting nude models, images communicate better than words. A well planned and executed portfolio is the core of your communication.

Recruiting Tip #3

Don’t give up if you have trouble finding models. The availability of models can be seasonal, rising and falling in sync with college schedules, weather, economic factors, and a whole array of dynamic elements. Staying motivated is the most important factor in early success.

New to nudes

Some photographers who are new to nudes may jump right in. Others are timid; if this is you, you need to work your way up by shooting other styles of photography. If your photography skills are rudimentary, you may wish to learn the basics with landscape and still life to fill in the times you can’t find a portraiture model. Start with friends and family if you don’t feel comfortable recruiting a stranger. Start with fashion if you don’t feel comfortable hiring a glamour model. Work on a glamour portfolio if you don’t yet feel up to photographing nudes or if you’re having trouble convincing models that you can produce worthy images.

At some point you’ll start working with nudes. A certain degree of apprehension is normal. After hundreds of nude models, I still have concerns about making sure a shoot works to its best potential. I wouldn’t say I experience nervousness any more, but rather a heightened sense of attention that keeps me on my toes. If you wait until you have no uncertainties, you’ll never shoot nudes. Somewhere between self-inflicted paralysis and utter calm lies the photographer who is ready to shoot nudes.

Building your portfolio

You need samples of nude shots in order to book your models. Building credibility is an essential step to recruiting models, and nothing builds credibility better than an astounding portfolio. But how do you get your first nudes? This may seem like a catch-22, but you can get there. You may have to add progressively unclothed shots to your portfolio until you have a portfolio of nudes. Shoot clothed models until your work is competent enough to convince someone to do glamorous bikini or lingerie shots with you. I’ve rarely met an attractive woman who wouldn’t pose in lingerie and for implied nudes. Then you can move on to models who do implied nudes (nude from behind, for example) or topless shots. In many cases your first nude model can be one you’ve already photographed clothed. Each time you work with a model, the two of you will build trust and comfort.

There is a first time for everything, and I’ve hired my fair share of models who are posing nude for the first time. I don’t recommend this for beginning photographers, since neither of you will have much experience with nude shoots. But bear in mind that every model who poses nude had a first time.

Eventually you’ll have no trouble finding your first nude model, especially if you work repeatedly with the same model or hire a model who has a lot of experience modeling nude. Finding your first nude model may seem difficult at first, but it’s really not.

Once you’ve finished your portfolio, complete with everything you need to impress prospective models, know this: you’re not done. You’re never done building your portfolio. Periodically review your portfolio and relentlessly eliminate weak or old photos. Recognize what works and stick with it or update it. Your portfolio should contain only consistently strong, recent work.

Recruiting Tip #2

Models care about more than just money. Certainly, getting paid is important to any professional model. Like anyone else, she has bills to pay and various other needs for cash. First-time or occasional models are going to be enticed by monetary compensation. Even part-time models rely on modeling for income. However, they want more out of a modeling career than just a steady stream of paying jobs.

Models want to be portrayed in a favorable light. They want a comfortable working environment and an amiable photographer. Models want to work with a photographer that they perceive to be an echelon above whoever they’ve worked with previously. Novice models will want to fortify their portfolios with images that are superior to their current ones. Experienced models care about working on projects that are higher profile than they have worked on before.

Certainly a few models seem to only care about money. But even the money-conscious model has more than one dimension. Although some models tell me that they are willing to work with anyone who will pay, I’m willing to bet that they perform better when they admire the photographer.

Offering more money will often bring in more models. But anything significantly above a fair wage will yield diminishing returns. Offering outlandish pay can backfire as models become suspicious of your legitimacy.

Recruiting Tip #1

I’m often asked how I’ve convinced so many women to pose nude. The answer is: I don’t. There is no need to. The women I photograph are willing to pose nude before they even know I exist. The first nude shoot I did was a total surprise to me. The model just took her clothes off and stepped in front of my camera, ready to model. She simply assumed I wanted to photograph her nude.

The fact is, plenty of women want to pose nude for photographers, so you don’t have to convince them to. Not only have I photographed plenty of nude models, but they’ve shared with me their reasons for choosing who they pose for.

Some ideas to think about:

• Almost all particularly attractive, fit women enjoy being photographed.
• The vast majority of the above women  would be interested in posing nude at least once in their life.
• Almost no woman would pose for something she considered truly embarrassing.

Kathy E. had never posed nude before she met me.

The observations above are based on my experiences and conversations with models. The notion that would surprise most readers is the second one. Among women who are physically fit, highly attractive, and enjoy being photographed, most would be confident enough and interested in posing nude one or more times in their life. The key concept is that they would do it at least once. So what about the rest of their lives? The times that are not one of those times they wanted to pose nude? Consider that women who model are being approached many times to pose nude; they sometimes say yes and other times say no. Although you don’t have to convince someone to pose nude, most models are discriminating about for whom they pose. You have to convince the model that you are worthy of working with.

Many women, many styles of nudes

Another reason a woman won’t pose is if she doesn’t feel attractive. Either she’s never felt confident enough to pose nude or she doesn’t feel attractive because of some temporary reason. Temporary reasons can come and go quickly or they can last a long time. For instance, if a would-be model is experiencing a problem with her complexion, she might avoid posing all together. It’s not that she doesn’t normally feel up to posing; but rather, her resistance is just temporary.

Sometimes external factors, such as what others may think of them, come into play. This could be judgment from religious people or family, or the envy of friends, for example. Worrying about the opinions and judgments of others is based on her self-confidence and feeling attractive. Many models are confident enough not to care that others may be judgmental or envious of them. Sometimes models are relieved to discover that their family or friends are supportive of their aspirations to model nude. Other times, they just choose to follow the beat of their own drum. This transition is usually a one-time event; once a model comes into her own and decides to pose nude, she has come to terms with outside opinions. So finding someone willing to pose nude is easier if you can find a model with nude experience.

Sometimes, a woman doesn’t know she’s ready to pose nude until she sees a fantastic image and is inspired to pose for a similar photo. Sometimes the image she sees is mine; sometimes it may be yours. In that case it’s likely she’ll seek out the specific photographer in hopes of getting the results she wants. Maybe it’s a sexy image or maybe it’s not sexy at all; maybe it’s deeply artistic or maybe it’s downright shocking. Different women don’t always agree on how they want to be photographed. A model’s self-image will not always fit with your assumptions of her, so you need to ask and listen. One woman may say yes to posing for sexy pin-ups and no to posing for more modest, artistic nudes. The point is your model imagines herself in the final image and that’s why she chooses to pose. However, if the model doesn’t think you can create the image or listen closely enough to her to understand her point of view, then she won’t pose for you. Hiring is a two-way street. Both employer and employee must have a common goal.

Having a varied portfolio can really help in this department. Stack the deck in your favor by showing a variety of your favorite nude styles in your portfolio. Remember your portfolio is intended to showcase the kind of images you want to continue to create. This will help recruit models that are amenable to your style and genre.

From time to time I see someone, either a model or a photographer, ranting about one site or another. It usually starts with “all the people on this site are…” and then proceeds to generalize about every site member. Well, I’m not inclined to take stock in many statements that begin with a phrase like that. Take the instance of no-shows for example. It happens to all of us, but there are ways you can avoid no-show models, and I’ve written about that.

That’s Not Their Job

Most sites do minimal screening of their applicants and members. Most modeling sites are a free-for-all where only spammers and other unruly individuals are denied membership. Even modellocate.com which claims to do a good job of weeding out people who shouldn’t be there, and which has a built-in feedback system, contains flaky models. The modeling site is just the conduit for social networking, and it’s up to you to use your knowledge and effort to find good people to work with.

Look Before You Leap? Really?

To take the issue more broadly, let’s say you were hiring a cleaning service. You open the yellow pages and look for a nice looking advertisement. You immediately hire them, not bothering to get past references, ask your contacts if they’d heard about them, or even prepare any interview questions. You then discover that they do a lousy job and conclude “The yellow pages are terrible!” — Although this seems laughable, this is exactly the approach some take to using modeling sites.

You need to do your homework before hiring a nude model. I’ve written about this topic in a separate article.

If you learn how to spot a conscienceless, hard-working model, it stands to reason you’ll have better success booking models who give you a great shoot.

Even if you are very careful, you’ll still have bad experiences. But you will also have good experiences, and the more you learn and apply that knowledge, the more you’ll be able to sort the flakes from the real models. Even the crazy modeling sites have some good models on there. I’ve even found good models on regular social networking sites like Myspace.com, though many photographers will say “All the models on Myspace are…” well, you get the point.

Model: Meg S.

Meg is a model I found through a modeling site and who yielded a good shoot. She was on time, had posing ideas of her own, and didn’t hesitate to try any pose I suggested.

We all want our shoots to go as well as possible. Finding the right model is key. Some models are excellent, while others have such hectic lives that they can’t make it anywhere on time, or worse never intend to show up in the first place. The modeling site or classified ad site is just the conduit for making initial contact. It’s up to you to use your knowledge and effort to find good people to work with.

To take the issue more broadly, let’s say you want to hire a gardener. You open the yellow pages and see an advertisement. You immediately hire them, not bothering to look at other yards they’ve worked on, ask your neighbors if they’d heard about them, or even prepare any interview questions. You then discover that they do a lousy job — This is exactly the approach some take to using modeling sites or classified ad sites.

You need to:

• Ask for references
• Look at work samples
• Prepare interview questions
• Perform a phone interview
• If possible, meet the model in person

When asking for references, you can write to the model and say “Have you worked with any photographers who can give you a good reference.” When contacting these photographers you can ask “I’m thinking about working with so-and-so, and she says she’s worked with you. Can you tell me what she was like to work with?”

When looking at past work samples, you should

• See how recent the work is. If there is not at least one photo from the past six months, ask the model why.
• Notice if the work is retouched. If you can’t see what she really looks like, ask for un-retouched photos.
• Look for large clear images
• Look for head-to-toe shots. If some body area is missing, it may be a problem area. For example if all the photos hide the model’s thighs by cropping them out or showing her seated, she may be trying to hide unattractive thighs.

When interviewing the model, here are some questions I use:

• How many shoots have you done?
• Have you looked at my website?
• One of my current themes is [brief description of theme]. Is that something you’d interested in being part of?
• Ask for any missing stats: height, weight, dress size, measurements

A phone interview is helpful. A model who is too busy or lazy to spend five minutes calling you is a high risk of being a no-show.

If possible, meet the model in person. This will help you see what she really looks like, without Photoshop. It will also help you screen out insincere or disorganized models who are likely to be no-shows or late. If she’s late to the interview, that’s an indication that you may waste some time waiting for her to show up to the shoot. If she misses the interview, it’s up to you whether you want to give her a second chance. I’d base the decision entirely on how she handles the absence. If she doesn’t bother to contact you promptly to apologize, or gives you some far-fetched excuse, I wouldn’t reschedule.

A good model is one who puts effort into her work. A good photographer will do their homework before hiring a model.

It’s been a long time since I’ve had a TFP photo shoot. A long time ago I made a decision to pay all my models. It was the right decision for me. However, TFP is still right for some situations, even among experienced and skilled models and photographers.

TFP (once Time for Prints, before digital) is when a model and photographer do a shoot for free. No modeling fees. No photography fees. Both get images for their use. Details will vary, but that’s the gist of it. It’s also sometimes known as TFCD (time for CD) or TFDVD or TF*, etc. But “TFP” is the more widely used term.

This practice has been both revered and reviled. Truth is, it has its place for many models and photographers, including beginners and veterans alike.

I’ve heard some say “never do TFP” as blanket advice. When some says “never” it reminds me of the time I saw a paramedic running to someone’s aid with a pair of scissors in hand; never run with scissors, I thought to myself; never say never.

I’ve done maybe two TFP shoots in the last five years. But every once in a while someone comes along with an interesting idea that I want to do, only it doesn’t fit into what I’m hiring for. In that case, I do TFP.

Here are a few tips I have on nude model booking etiquette that I’ve compiled. They apply pretty equally well to models and photographers. There are tons more, but this is what comes to mind right now.

1. Treat others as you’d want to be treated
2. Be upfront about your expectations
3. Be realistic about your expectations — don’t think you’re going to get everything you want out of every shoot
4. Don’t apply for a job if you don’t meet the published qualifications
5. Don’t take any flack; if someone is a jerk, politely retreat.
6. If you have to cancel, call ASAP and be honest.
7. Show up on time.
8. Don’t get upset if things aren’t going well. Either take it in stride or end the shoot if you can’t talk it out.