1.
Engage the model: Use eye contact. Eye contact directly towards the camera is most powerfully engaging. It strongly connects the model with the viewers of the image.
2.
Looking away. Having the model looking away, focused on something else off camera, is an intriguing way to direct your viewer. It creates a sense of mystery, urging the viewers to contemplate what the model might be looking at?
3.
Models looking at each other. It helps to create a story within the image and the viewers become engaged in the story that the emotions being shared between the models.
4.
Fore the rules! Mess with the composition. Place the model either dead center or put them off right to the edge of the frame.
5.
Experiment with light. Mix available light with strobe or tungsten light. Leave the shutter open for longer than you normally would and let the flare come in. Light creates
Drama. Use it.
6.
Get that model moving. Take her out of the studio, all dressed up in 4 inch heels and make-up. Get her out on a busy street and let her work her walk and stop traffic!. It's amazing how the confidence will take over the girl and how powerfull that will make your image.
7.
Change your angle. Normally a rule of thumb for shooting fashion is for the photographer to be low or close to the ground in order to shoot up towards the model. This elongates the model. But what did I say earlier about rules? I move around a lot when I shoot to get a variety of angles.
8.
Get a prop involved! How interesting is it when a model is playing with a handbag or a tube of lipstick. It adds a sense of reality to the shot.
9.
Grab those random candid shots. Watch for those moments when the model is adjusting her skirt or reaching down to fasten the strap on her shoe. When the model is looking away and her attention is somewhere else for a moment, it's unexpected and it's sexy! Because it's a real moment. Shots that aren't posed are usually so dynamic!
10.
Play with emotions. Get the girl to pretend to cry or get her to laugh wickedly.or even sneer. Have them act! It's another way to engage your viewers and hold their attention on a photograph longer than just clicking another image.
