AlexzandreaArt

I hate it whenever I ask a friend or relative to model for me and they get shy, moody, irritated, or embarrassed. No matter how nicely I ask, or explain to them how much they'd be helping me out, or how beautiful they are, they always have the same answer for me: "No thanks."
People photography is extremely difficult when you don't have any models to model for you. I always have these great ideas that would look so beautiful, but no model to help me complete my vision. It gets so frustrating, but of course, I try to be a completely understanding person—even though I want to silently chuck my shoe at them—say "I understand" and leave without a model Every time  I ask.
Now, of course I do understand why they would be shy or embarrassed, heck, even I am whenever people ask me to pose for them, but I know how difficult it is to get a model so of course I always say "yes." One thing I don't understand and frustrates the heck out of me is why do people always take it as if it's not a compliment that I want them to pose for me, when really it is?
When somebody gets asked to model for someone it's usually because the photographer noticed something about them that makes them unique and can help express what the photographer wishes to show. See? It's a compliment! I have had a couple of people say yes to modeling, but only two out of fifteen is not a great number, and I was lucky to get at least one photo of them both. I hope that in the future, people will start to realize no matter how insecure they are, if a photographer asks you to pose, it means you have something about you that will stand out in a photo.
Everyone is unique and looks beautiful (or handsome for men) in front of a camera, they just have to believe in themselves and take the leap to say "yes."

So, what do I do when I don't have a model? I do something I really do not like, I model for myself. Sounds pathetic huh? But it's the only thing I can think of when I don't have volunteers ready to pose in front of the camera. Now, I know that my People and Portraits folder only has two people other than myself in it. Just to let everyone know, its not my fault, and no, I'm not conceited and love taking pictures of myself, in fact it sucks and I've grown to hate it strongly. I honestly do not like my face, and when I say face, I mean bone structure. I think its plain, so whenever I see someone who's bone structure is strong, high, broad, etc. I automatically think of the best poses and lighting that would compliment their bone structure. But, of course, 99.9% of the time, they always say "no thanks" if I ask them for a (quick) photo. What a downer. But that's life apparently for a photographer who's trying to sharpen their people photography skills. Yippee.