Always on her mobile ? but does she want to be on

Always on her mobile – but does she want to be on

Keith (Dark_Lord to those who don’t know him) posed a question about mobiles and models, and how the latter react to being photographed with the former. As it goes, I’d asked a few about this, very specifically, after EPZ published my article on using a cameraphone for serious pictures.



Models are all individuals, and so I got a range of different reactions, and it may be a good thing that I don’t remember who said some specific things – notably the lady who said that a photographer turning up with nothing more than an iPhone would be shown the door in very short order!



The majority expressed some slight uneasiness about the idea, as it could be an excellent way for someone who is classified in the modelling industry as a ‘guy with camera’ to cut his costs. An advance explanation that the said guy was doing this as part of a project, or because his pride and digital joy had died the day before would definitely help!



One very specifically said that she doesn’t care, so long as the photographer pays – she clearly understands that she is in this to make her living. One gave a very definite ‘no!’ Others were more or less sympathetic, with distinctly more tolerance for someone giving advance notice and a credible reason. Putting this slightly more in context, you may want to remind yourself that quite a few models have a strong presence on social media of various kinds: Twitter and Instagram are part of their marketing.



And actually, this may horrify you a bit: it’s definitely not unknown for models to want to photograph the screen of your camera to post with a cheery ‘look what I shot today!’ message. It could be part of your marketing, too, if you’re interested in that, and have an account on the relevant platform. ‘Marketing’ may not be quite the right word if you’re not in photography to make money, but maybe it works if you’re after the fame and glory.



I’ve posted one or two Mobile Monday model pictures deliberately shot with my mobile – this will work better next time I shoot because my very basic Vodafone own-brand handset has been replaced with an iPhone SE, with a significantly better camera in it. If I’m cool, calm and collected, I can do that a week next Monday, when I’m aiming to return to a studio with Misuzu, to produce a series of pictures showing just what we can achieve (and teach) in that setting. Watch that space…