The “IT” factor, WHO has it and can YOU get it?
The “IT” factor, WHO has it and can YOU get it?
Call time 7am. We are in a west Hollywood studio. The sun is just about to rise over the hills but it’s still chilly outside. The team is smoking cigarettes and joking around, a normal routine for them before the workday starts.
When she walks in no one notices her. She sits down by a table outside studio A, waiting.
After putting the team to work I find a girl sitting outside the studio, looking a bit lost. I say “-hi, who are you”.
She says “-I am the make up person” and smiles. I nod and say “welcome”. Then she laughs nervously and says “-no one recognizes me like this, in the morning,…”
My brain races and I quickly apologize (pretending I knew the whole time), “-ha ha ha, welcome, we’ll have a great shoot”. Slowly walking away I am thinking… so THAT is the famous model I booked? I am worried…
Turns out truly great models have a “switch” they can turn ON and their whole appearance changes, just like that! Her transformation is immediate, intense and catches me totally off guard. The shutter is like a machine gun, click, she switches pose, click, she smiles, click, new pose. She doesn’t miss a beat, in-between every click she changes her posture a little – just enough to tweak the shot and make it different, click, click, click … click, click, click…
My first assistant whispers “-slown down, you are gonna blow the ring flash”. -”WOW”. I stop shooting, look over at my 1st assistant, he nods at me as to say “this girl knows her stuff”.
You wonder why some fitness models get more gigs than others, this is the reason. And hard work. Really really really hard work.
The most amazing thing to watch is to see these great models turn it ON and OFF, ON and OFF over and over again, to go from an every day grey mouse to the queen of Sabah in a millisecond.
Being fit does not equal being a great model. Buying a camera does not equal being a great photographer. Being fit is a given, there are no rewards for being fit in the fitness model industry.
Modeling is a trade, you have to work at it, you have to twist and turn in front of the mirror to get to know your angles, learn your body’s strengths and weaknesses, which side of your face is best, chin down or chin up, eyes wide open or more hazy looking. Learn to hide your weaknesses, always, and highlight your strengths, always!
A good photographer can take all that and create true art. A good photographer will recognize that particular models skill set and enhance them to another level.
But the photographer has to have something to work with. You can not come in to a shoot expecting to be told exactly what to do. You have to bring your uniqueness to the table. You have to be able to move. You have to be interested. You do NOT have to have the best body in the world, it is not about that. It is about showing off YOUR physique in YOUR best angels together with a facial expression demanded of that particular shoot/client.
The worlds most published & successful fitness models right now are: Pauline Nordin, Jamie Eason, Jennifer Nicole Lee – “all bring it” to a shoot.
One might also notice that not all of these women even compete very frequently. They are true athletes indeed but not often seen in competitions which goes to tell that a “competition body” is not the same as a “modeling body”, these can be the same thing but are often not.
One more thing they all have in common is that they also contribute as writers and spokes persons. Pauline Nordin has her own very successful diet concept Fighter Diet, she is sponsored by AST Sports Science and she writes for several international magazines and websites. Jamie Eason is sponsored by Bodybuilding.com and writes for Oxygen magazine. Jennifer Nicole Lee is sponsored by BSN online, can be seen in informercials and has her own successful company and her own published book.
You don’t have to be a writer to be an “IT girl” but in the fitness world the competition is fierce and having something to say together with a beautiful body has worked for these girls.
Listen to me. You CAN work and get the “IT factor”. You can! The “it factor” is all about knowing your own body. When you learn to always present yourself from the best angle, “find the light” on set, tweak every fiber of your body to your advantage – then you have the “it factor”.
I am a photographer. I was born with talent but I work extremely hard to nourish and develop my talent, everyday, no exceptions.
Sincerely, Pavel Ythjall
Photos: Talented hardworking up and comer in the fitness world: Ashley Horner.
