How (not) to kill motivation in your model

DISCLAIMER. I wrote this post as an observation of amateur or semi-professional art-photography world. So it is mostly dedicated to photographers who don't make commercial projects with commercial models, cause in that cases motivation is coming from other sources.

When a young girl starts to do modeling, she is usually very engaged and she tries hard to be appreciated for her work. I was totally the same. Cause new beautiful photos motivate us, as well as unusual outfits, make up, location - it all is fun and it all worths an effort.

But sometimes the model just "turns off" and you can see she is just waiting for the shooting time to be over, so she can go back home. I have heared many photographers, complaining at other models, that they were spending every free second of shooting time in their smartphones. And sometimes I could very clearly tell, why it was like that, but obviously I am not able to say not nice things to a photographer in person, so I keep it for this post instead :) 

So here you go.

When models deny to get in cold water, or to do weird poses, or when they don't offer any creative idea, just wait when you will tell them what to do - that means they got disappointed in either you or in all photographers in general. Because with a little bit of modeling experience comes the knowledge that unfortunately not every scene that was looking amazing from the models perspective, will turn out great at the photo.

1. Model feels less motivated when she knows you will not make good photos. Maybe you have a weaker portfolio, or maybe it is only at this photoshoot, she felt you are doing something wrong from a technical point of view. If you think that could be the case, try to tell it honestly to the model "I am still looking for the better way to make that photo, can you help me with that?" Cause many models actually can help.

2. Model will not do all her best, if she knows, she will never see the photos. From my experience it is one of the most frustrating situations - when I was posing in a beautiful location, barely dressed at freezing cold, hoping that I am participating in a piece of art, and never getting the result. Or receiving the result and seeing a lot of waisted potential. I don't have any better advice for that peice, except for "please be responcible and share photos with your models after the shooting, especially if it was a difficult one. and if the result is not great, be honest and just tell that to a model, so she stops waisting her energy waiting for photos. That is WAY better than ghosting models. 

3. Model feels no motivation if the photographer criticized her look, age, shape, her way of posing etc. Also models has no trust in a photographer who gossips about other models even if it means "you are the best model, others are just terrible" Advice - give "yes" feedback, not "no" feedback to your model and don't talk bad about other people ;)

("Giving feedback at the shooting" actually will be a topic of another article :) 

4. Models don't pose at their best if the photographer is flirting with them. We simply feel insecure and act as safe as possible, which means doing a dozen of standard poses over and over and hoping the photographer will keep his hands away from us. Advice - don't flirt with a model. Not at the photoshoot. If you think you have that spark between you both, ask the model out AFTER all the work things between you and her are done.

5. Model can be simply tired at the shooting. Please check if you haven't been doing the same shot over and over for hours? Did you make some breaks in between? Did the model had an opportunity to drink or snack? 

6. Also it is nice when there is no awkward silence during the shooting, so if you are not a very talkative person, you can offer to turn some music on. 

7. And one final thing.  Probably you as a photographer lost your motivation at the shooting for some reason? Very often models feel it, when the photographer is not really into the shooting. So we subconsciously mirror that emotion. The solution for it is the same: take a short break, change the scene or be honest to yourself and stop the shooting :) 

Photo by Radosław Pujan, sept 2021