In my head, models always were confident and successful girls as they all look so wonderful and elegant in their photos. Just recently I realised that they're like me and you except they have amazing skills to pose and present themselves from the best angle. In my opinion these qualities are very useful for every single girl!
P.S. Some photos are mine and for the other photos (with me on it) I have full rights to use it or my purposes
It's good to do your first practice with your friends or with people you enjoy to spend time with. More important is that you should feel comfortable otherwise you won't get any good results. One of the best options in this situation is to take a walk to a nice place, maybe even bring a picnic.
For our photoshoot-walk we went to Howth. It's a small fishing village 40 mins away from Dublin City Centre. There're few nice walks, cliffs, beaches and a lighthouse.
The most difficult thing I found is not to be stiff in front of the camera, you need to be completely relaxed. It's not easy when you don't have any experience. There's a lot of distractions, having constant bright lights in front of you and a few people staring at you through lenses.
Sometimes the idea of a photoshoot is so good that there is no need to worry about your facial expressions.
Unfortunately (or fortunately!) it's always better not to hide your head at all. In Russia we say that eyes are the mirror of the soul. Than more shots you do then the more confident you become. How to smile, in which way to place your hands, how to relax your body and even which angle to turn your face.
If you will think about something nice in the moment when the picture is taken, your smile definitely is going to be very natural.
All professional photos in fashion magazines seem to be so fascinating and so easy to make! The reality is not like this at all: photographers use a lot of special equipment for which they need an assistant or even a few of them. Models sometimes have to spend a day lightly dressed in bad weather or do the same things hour by hour until they get the perfect shot. The background looks completely different from the beautiful final result.