{ Good Day!

When hosting models down for test sessions, I usually send an email with some guidelines on what to prepare. This is no different and serve to be an online (easy-access) version for models and guests coming by for their testing or the initial meeting on any collaboration with me.

What to Expect! (for both Men and Women)

I host models for testing sessions mainly for 2 reasons. 1.  To identify if your features are suitable for what I the image and work I have in mindand 2. Decide if our personalities match for continued professional working collaboration.
(It is also a good idea for models to use the initial meeting to assess the photographer’s working style and habits because the nature of our work takes 2 hands to clap – and if you find a photographer particular uncomfortable to work with (crude, rude, indecent proposals and everything else in between) - there’s  nothing stopping you from refusing to collaborate)

Initial meetings and feature test sessions are almost always held in the relative comfort of the indoor studio and is pretty much a casual – sit, talk, share ideas scenario. Any physical shooting with the camera will be done after all the test angles are recorded and when my working model fuly understands my working lingos and if necessary – some fundamental guidelines on portrait posing (especially for newer models).

The meeting usually runs into the 2nd hour as I count it as an investment to understand an individuals background and working preferences. This initial pre-shoot discussions would in turn pay back a hundred fold when working on any serious assignments together as we are both quite clear on our language choice, my common working lingos and lessen any chance of misunderstanding or miscommunication.

What to prepare and/or bring along (for both Men and Women)

1.  Attire – Almost always, i would suggest 2 sets of basic attire:

Set 1 (Ladies/Men) A simple spags top or tank top (for the men) that doesnt cover the clavicle nor shoulders. Solid colors without patterns are preferred. Pair this with a casual pair of shorts or bermudas (avoiding micro shorts for the ladies) .. a good gauge of length will be about half your thigh. – and this will be set 1.

Set 2 (Ladies)  For Ladies, the 2nd attire will be a simple full-length dress that is longer (below) kneelength – taking note not to have ‘high waist’ maxi dresses or better yet – no prominent waist seams at all. Color will be solid and neautral although I’ve tested models with vivid reds and warm browns that returned good results.

Set 2 (Men) For the gentlemen, I’d like to have them prepare a 2nd attire emcompassing a full length jeans / pants. (Avoiding ’skinnies’ and bagging ‘bell-bottomed’ jeans) with a simple well hung shirt to match.

2.  Hair Brushes/ Comb:
For hygiene purposes, I’d suggest all models to bring along personal grooming comb or hair brush.

3. Make-Up:
For all test sessions, Please come WITHOUT make-up and this allows me to see subjects as they are by ‘default’. Not to worry however, make-Up can be added after the initial recordings are done.

4. Contact Lenses and Glasses:
For all models that wear contacts, I would appreciate if you would let me know this in advance and I will take note when using strong wind effects as well as pausing for periods involving long moments of looking into the strong studio lamps. As an additional guideline, I prefer contacts to be ‘natural’ contacts avoiding those that increase your pupil sizes or tint them in a multiverse of colors.

5. Shoes/ Footwear:
During test sessions, I always maintain your level of comfort and should the ladies feel comfortable wearing extremely high heels, that’s fine by me. However, as a standard meeting process, I normally focus on the face and really, flip flops are fine.. so come to the studio casual and very comfortable.

6. Pressure Marks:
These are the markings you’ll find when you rest for extended periods on any item resting on your skin. It may be your wrist watch, a men’s sling bag, a ladies strapped brassiere and even minor items like bangles. While not as important as during a formal session, having pressure marks might pose more time-consuming during the post production process where I will have to edit them off. So if possible, do me a favor and remove all items that induce pressure marks… and for the ladies, strapless bras please.

-(Ladies note!) Some might prefer to come in a tube top instead but I advise against this as tubes might indirectly squeeze the torso resulting in a slightly unsightly bulge at the sides. And this is something all ladies would find unappealing.

7. Meals:
I host most of my test sessions on weekdays morning / afternoons and (from statistics) I realised local models don’t have a habit of waking up too early to consume their breakfast. However – Might I suggest if we are meeting in the morning, at least have something to bite and if our shooting timing is around early noon, I would suggest a heavier breakfast and skip lunch altogether. As a guideline, I’d prefer models not to have anything to eat 1-2 hours prior to any formal shooting.

8. Sleep:
I absolutely require a model to look her best during castings and test sessions as that (obviously) gives me an idea of how you look like on first meetings.
For this reason alone, do (try) to rest as much as possible and for models that have a full day schedule before our session the next day (I would most rather suggest rescheduling for a more relaxed session slot.

This is some of the basic guidelines that would help any model meeting ANY photographer/producer for the first time and I hope this guideline might serve to give you an idea what I’ve come to expect when working with a serious model.

Regards,

Ejun Low