How do you get people to practice with?

Post on Facebook or purpleport/purestorm etc

That being said you probably don't need to be great at it to make a living out of it, it'll be the marketing and business naus that'll help you more than portrait practice imho
 
Jayst84 said:
Should be said that this is just one way of doing things, and of course you don't need to do that at all. The best portrait shooters I know are very quiet and calm, and wouldn't dream of prancing around and resorting to silly tricks to force reactions from their sitters.

As always, do what works for you.
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True, there's no need to prat around, and in fact I tend to be quite serious during my shoots. I do work hard to maintain communication and energy levels though.
 
juggler said:
True, there's no need to prat around, and in fact I tend to be quite serious during my shoots. I do work hard to maintain communication and energy levels though.
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I am also quite serious about my shoots but do like to add a little levity at times. If I take an image that excites me, I will always show her WHY I like it and it's mostly received in the same manner; During "down time" I will sit and run through all the images with her, it gives us an opportunity to comment on what has been achieved but we are also engaging without "working" and is a great ice breaker. At the end of the day you have probably never met her and only communicated through email or texts or at best, a phone call. She is meeting a complete stranger and in my case, male, that can send alarm bells ringing in any woman's head so she will be making assessments about you. REMEMBER, your actions and what you say and how you say it all have an impact on your relationship with each other and will reflect in the images you make together.
 
metroman said:
I will always show her ... run through all the images with her ... you have probably never met her ... She is meeting a complete stranger and in my case, male, that can send alarm bells ringing in any woman's head so she will be making assessments about you.
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Who's she? Blokes have photos taken of them too. I'd guess I probably shoot at least 70% male portraits.
 
Thanks all so much for the help. I'm looking into a course but my day job has been manic lately. I'm self employed so know about running a business, speaking to customers, promotional stuff etc so that will help. I've recently done some sessions at my local playgroup again which went okay. I didn't get loads of sales but it's worth it for the experience and the staff that saw them were impressed. It's my second year doing it there. I've done some shoots of some friends which I did before starting this thread, but since had the chance to set up at my camera club and I've done Comic Con. One if my main problems is I get shy/nervous, daft isn't it. I have to go to peoples houses in my current job which I've been doing for 8 years and I still get it sometimes lol. But by shooting people I know I hope to get the confidence to overcome this. Thanks again all, your all stars!
 
Raptor Mike said:
One if my main problems is I get shy/nervous, daft isn't it. I have to go to peoples houses in my current job which I've been doing for 8 years and I still get it sometimes lol. But by shooting people I know I hope to get the confidence to overcome this. Thanks again all, your all stars![/Q
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I get that nervous feeling on every shoot I do, not because I'm nervous of the person but that nagging feeling of "will I be able to do a good job..." but in all honesty, once I'm behind the camera and start to get into the flow all my misgivings evaporate.. Practice practice practice, my stuff isn't ground breaking or competion level but I'm having a ball
 
cowboy said:
I tried being the serious photographer for a while but found I got way better images when I just be myself.
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I can't do serious...

I get really excited and all girly squealy when I get what I'm after, and for some reason, people respond to that. lol. I also rely heavily upon my Canadian accent as most people think it's kinda cool so I play to that.

I tend to get a bit nervous the day before a shoot, but then I get excited at the prospect of making some new images. But when I first started this picturemaking stuff out, I was shy - but you have to get over that pretty darn quick... you get out of it what you put into it. :)
 
To me there is only so far you can go learning with professional models. They ultimately know how to pose and respond to direction. The general public however are anything but that, and that is where interpersonal skills come in.
 
@Raptor Mike I've had a look at your flickr page and you obviously know how to use your camera AND take a good photo. My recommendation is to create an album of your " People " photos that you find are representative of what you are capable of and this will be your " window dressing " your advert if you like, for the next step. Get yourself a Purpleport account and put together some lines of who you are and what you want to achieve. Add photos from your "people " album, they must be re-sized to 900 X whatever, you are allowed 15 photos as a free user, unlimited if you pay £32 a year; Look through the castings and see who want's to "Collaborate" (that is the term used for Trade for photos) and only you can say how far you are prepared to travel for a shoot. Alternatively, you can browse the "Models" within a given distance that you put into your criteria and approach someone. You can offer to help them with their portfolio which in turn will help you with yours and see if they are prepared to accept. I ALWAYS mention that I have no issue with a friend or partner being present during the shoot but that's just me and to be honest I generally get the 3rd party to assist me....fetch, carry and hold ha ha. This has been my approach and has worked for me and I now have a number of references (positive) to my name which is another leg up on the ladder. My circumstances are different to yours in that I have no intention of making a living from it but by the same token all I have written can be the first step to a paid shoot for you.

https://purpleport.com/portfolio/metroman/?referrer=metroman
 
metroman said:
@Raptor Mike I've had a look at your flickr page and you obviously know how to use your camera AND take a good photo. My recommendation is to create an album of your " People " photos that you find are representative of what you are capable of and this will be your " window dressing " your advert if you like, for the next step. Get yourself a Purpleport account and put together some lines of who you are and what you want to achieve. Add photos from your "people " album, they must be re-sized to 900 X whatever, you are allowed 15 photos as a free user, unlimited if you pay £32 a year; Look through the castings and see who want's to "Collaborate" (that is the term used for Trade for photos) and only you can say how far you are prepared to travel for a shoot. Alternatively, you can browse the "Models" within a given distance that you put into your criteria and approach someone. You can offer to help them with their portfolio which in turn will help you with yours and see if they are prepared to accept. I ALWAYS mention that I have no issue with a friend or partner being present during the shoot but that's just me and to be honest I generally get the 3rd party to assist me....fetch, carry and hold ha ha. This has been my approach and has worked for me and I now have a number of references (positive) to my name which is another leg up on the ladder. My circumstances are different to yours in that I have no intention of making a living from it but by the same token all I have written can be the first step to a paid shoot for you.

https://purpleport.com/portfolio/metroman/?referrer=metroman
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I would like to add that whichever "model" you collaborate with will vary from person to person and you will get varying degrees of ability and varying degrees of enthusiasm so don't be put off if the first one or two don't fulfil your expectations, after all, they may be as new to posing in front of a camera and a complete stranger as you are. I am frequently told that such and such photographer "wasn't very friendly..." if you don't engage positively neither will the "model".
 
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