Model Shots

This morning I Googled “jewelry models” in Google Images and ran into some wonderful model shots of jewelry. I then found some model who started her own jewelry line and ran into controversy since it seems she copied another jeweler’s work. Interesting, I wish she would copy mine. Years ago I had investigated the possibility of having my designs made by less expensive labor in another country and I actually did that for about a year. One of the problems with subcontracting is design security and I became afraid that my designs might be copied and available all over for much less than I could make them. Then I started to worry that my designs might NOT be copied and that worried me even more.

Anyway, I have worked with models over the years and wanted to share some of those photos.

Pendant by Sam Patania

I ask women who work for me to model, their friends and have advertised at the University of Arizona art department for models. Models in photos add so much. Most of the time they brought their own clothes, did their own hair and makeup. For jewelry the shots are so tight that the face often didn’t end up in the cropped image. I worked with models often when I was learning photography when I still used film. I have to scan all those photos but that will be for a future post.

Pendant by Sam Patania

I would work outside with out any special lighting against interesting backgrounds and very seldom used Photoshop. In this picture I cropped out all the background. The women I worked with had never done modeling and were all to a fault very patient with me. We always had a good time. I could never photograph for more than one hour at a time, if it was my ADHD or what but the energy would just run out after an hour. The shoots always started slow, the model and I would take a while to get going and the first several shots were just terrible, then somehow , every time, the energy would click and we would really get into it and get a couple good shots. I would be happy if out of 30 shots, I would get one that I really loved. I made posters with these photos and in store displays. I built up my portfolio with these pictures and was forced to think about what clothing my jewelry could or would be worn on. This is education my father could not provide and being male it forced me to think in terms of fashion and not think that my work would just be loved for what it was. Working with models taught me to think of my work as part of a look, not separate from what client would be interested in. My work was not a painting which would be hung up but be combined with the client’s look and come alive when she wore it.

Necklace by Sam Patania

I got to see how my work would move as I directed the model to look right and left, up or down and chin up or chin down. Some models worked very well and some didn’t have what I was looking for when I got them in the camera.

Working with pretty young women is great fun.