Years ago when I used to do freelance hair and makeup for friends in art school, we definitely worked with ‘free’ or barter models all the time. Most of the time people are more than happy to help for free. It’s something new for them to do, and exciting. Plus they get a great portrait of themselves out of it!

Now with so many apps all you need to do is focus your camera and shoot, so being a trained professional isn’t super necessary but experience with your camera does help.

The more familiar you are with lighting and how your camera responds to certain types of light the easier it will get to have great photos.

tip: if the lights are too harsh on your model just add a screen in front of your light, like white tissue paper. It will soften any glare, like from an oily nose etc… lol Just make sure your tissue doesn’t catch fire. I use high power LED bulbs in the cheap metal utility clamp lights, and tape either tissue or printer paper over the bulbs. It depends how soft you need to go.

makeup tip: if your models makeup is melting under the warm lights you can blot off the oils by laying a tissue over the face and gently pressing the tissue against the face. Don’t wipe the tissue, keep in place and press, then peel it off gently. Then your models makeup looks freshly applied without caking on too much cosmetics.

Thanks for sharing your tips,
Rebecca

We have an interesting conversation about models wearing jewelry here – Using Live Models When Photographing Jewelry – Yes or No?.

And we have a related discussion on whether customers should be able to try on pierced earrings: Trying on Earrings – What Should the Rule Be?.

I hope this helps – and I’d love to hear your thoughts on those discussions! 🙂

Thanks so much.