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My Experience As A Fitness Model
Article care of tonyaelliott.com
Exercise
One of the first things that I would say anyone needs to do to get ready for a shoot is make sure you always exercise and lift weights every other day. Your cardio should always be very, very important. The camera shows everything and the last thing you should be worried about is your weight. You should also make sure that you drink plenty of water and always take supplements to help improve your performance during the workouts.
The Photographer
When you get with a photographer you should always make sure that the two of you get along very well. The situation should always be professional, but when you are with the photographer for such long hours it becomes a very intimate situation and you should get along with them well enough that you can feel relaxed enough to be alone with them for hours on end. Feeling relaxed is one of the most important things because you cannot get a great picture if you feel weird around the photographer.
Make-up
Always try to find out for certain if you are going to have a make-up artist available to you or if you will have to do your own make-up. Trust me it is a whole lot different than putting your make-up on for everyday. If you are not used to wearing a lot of stuff on your face you will feel like you have a mask on. You may look freaky in real life, but your make-up has to be dark for it to show up on camera. I learned this the hard way. I went to my first shoot with no idea what to expect and you could tell that I did my own make-up. The first photographer that I shot with didn?t take the time to make me correct this and I had no make-up artist in sight. I learned from that experience, and will always be prepared from now on. Even down to the false eyelashes!
Tanning
Another thing to remember is to always show up with a great tan. It can be out of a bottle or from the regular sun. I do a little of both. I get a good base tan, then I smear on the sunless tanner. I like the cheap Coppertone self-tanner. I have tried all the more expensive name brands and none of them work any better. I also like pro-tan. It is not available in local stores, but you can order it on the internet.
Getting ready to go
I also think that it is very important to have everything put together well in advance. What I mean by this is that you should have all clothing and all accessories put together well before you ever have to leave for your trip. I usually have to travel to the photographer, and I get everything ready to go at least five days in advance. I put all of my bathing suits and clothing in plastic bags, I know this is a lot of work, but when you think about how much money you spend, it is so worth it to take a little time to put your clothing in a safe package for travel. So, in closing the basics are to do your cardio, take your supplements, show up with an awesome tan and a positive attitude. Also always be prepared to do your make-up. You should have a great experience. Have fun and be very safe. Always trust your instincts, if a situation does not feel right to you then there is a great possibility that it is not.
Best wishes,
Tonya Elliott