If only you could have seen this process...

Photographer: 

Andrew Kufahl

I had some lights in my bathroom that had chains connected--it was neat. I always liked it. There's got to be something that can be done with this, someday, photographically, I always thought.

That was the beginning.

And the day to use it was approaching. Years after moving in. After tons of self portrait shoots. After turning these lights on day after day. Waiting for the pieces to fall together... After meeting the talented Andrew Kufahl...

Andrew Kufahl and I had the itch to create. And we finally found the time to do so. We wanted to do a model shoot-these are quite different from the concept shoots. We wanted to play with lighting, techniques, poses, expressions, hair/makeup, etc. We wanted to practice getting into a flow with one another, feeding off of each other, letting the shoot turn into whatever it happens to turn into, and we shoot until we've got nothin' left. We wanted to simply PLAY and create.

Photographer: 

Andrew Kufahl

I had an idea for hair/makeup-a lot of my self portraits stemmed from some sort of vague idea, like a really vague hair/makeup idea. I wanted to use this gold headband, and style the hair around it...That's all I knew. I wasn't sure how... As I mentioned, I start with very vague ideas sometimes, but once we committed to doing a shoot, I rolled with it real time, getting Andrew's feedback along the way.

Oh how I wish there was behind the scenes video of this shoot! I don't know if there's ever been a goofier set up in my experience-for me as a model, or for the photographer.

I climbed on top of my bathroom counter, straddling the sink. I had to squat or bend some how, to avoid the ceiling. My space was quite limited. Making this look good was going to take some effort! As silly as it sounds, it was completely necessary due to the position of the lights/chains that inspired us to begin with. I was set!

Photographer: Andrew Kufahl

What's even better was the position Andrew needed to be in.

He wanted to be around my height. How could we do this in a bathroom? There wasn't much room to bring anything in to help him out.

So without a second thought, Andrew climbed onto the toilet--my toilet seat was quite flimsy, and I'm renting...we don't need to break anything... so the seat cover and seat had to be up. Yes, Andrew was balancing on  an open toilet, while holding a camera (above toilet water) and dealing with lights and chains and angles, oh my.

We added a few more chains for depth and interest.

Photographer: 

Andrew Kufahl

I wanted to push my expressions again. He helped me push 'em. Look! We even got a smile! We wanted PRETTY, but we still wanted emotion as that is a huge part of our work-our work together and our work individually.

It was awesome getting into the groove of things. I have no idea how we were able to make it work so well. While the we didn't have much space, and we couldn't move very much, and none of this was terribly comfortable, the shoot felt limitless.

When I saw some of the final images, I was blown away. I'm pretty sure with the first image, my response was just pure awe of how pretty it was... I couldn't believe that was ME! These were some of the prettiest images I have ever seen! And the prettiest I have ever felt! That seriously can't be me... And the colors! All while we straddled a toilet and a sink.

To see more of these images, check out my artist page: www.facebook.com/NFGartist or Andrew's artist page: www.facebook.com/AndrewKufahl

LIVE Hair and makeup competition, Chicago

Ok. I'm just going to talk honestly about this experience. This is not to complain about anything or sound down on myself. Just raw honesty.

I was asked to model for a hair/makeup competition in Chicago. Holy crap.

It was a live event, with judges, models, and some really amazing hair/makeup people.

I can be quite shy. And a live event took away my ability to control my poses/expressions to make sure whatever the outside world saw looked as good as possible. Heck, it took me a long time to just feel comfortable with regular photoshoots! In real life, someone like me is not going to look perfect at every angle, in every lighting-how many of us really do?! Well.. there were some really gorgeous models there that seemed to not have that issue. And seemed to have far more experience. But what do I know? We're far more critical of ourselves, everyone has flaws but we can see ours much more clearly than we can see them in others.

To top it off, I was going to have to walk, in heels. Oooh boy.

Shall I remind you that for a large part of my life I was a tshirts/jeans/tennis shoes kind of girl? Who's talent is not necessarily walking pretty or graceful? And outside of modeling, has very little experience in heels. At least for a photoshoot, I just have to stand there (yet that simple task can still be trickier than it sounds at times ;) ).

But I got back in the mindset that has helped me out immensely throughout this modeling thing: I just tried not to think about it, I had to just jump in. What is the point of worrying and freaking out about something when you have NO clue what is going to happen anyway?! And I had to remind myself of the fact that I was given the honor of being one of 3 models for this team. That's pretty darn cool! Not to mention this was one of my first modeling things OUTSIDE of my home state.

It was a struggle to maintain this mentality throughout the event, I'll admit. It was intimidating. I'm no size 0 and I was reminded of that quickly. There were size 0's. And they were tall. And pretty. And confident.

Stop thinking so much brain! This was an honor. And fun!

A BTS photo of our team's models. Photo: Ladie K Mraz

Event photographers were everywhere-another new thing for me... candid shots, ugh. And what are the chances they're going to edit these like a photographer would edit images from a regular photoshoot? And can I trust that they won't release the horrible ones?!--thinking TOO much again. That is out of my control. It was great practice to just be aware, however--to be aware of your face and body. Nothing wrong with practicing self awareness.

I looked around in awe. Watching these people work, as teams, to CREATE in a way that I'm not super familiar with--hair/makeup pro's can do some crazy schtuff.

We had a time limit. The hair person had to work at the same time as the makeup person. Now THAT is talent folks. My head is being jerked in one direction as makeup is trying to be placed in detail, and music is blaring to the point where there is no way for me to be loud enough to communicate to the hair artist that I think the hair dryer is actually burning my scalp-until I simply move--oops. However, outside of that, we all seemed to be in sync with each other. We all have our own tasks to focus on, yet we have to work AS A TEAM.

This wasn't so bad after all, why had worry tried to sneak in there so often?! A better question: why did I LET it?!

As I mentioned, there were 3 models on each team, for the 3 categories. My category was "natural"--my hair and makeup had to creatively be done in a way that was very natural. And I was in the very first category.

After hair/makeup was complete, we had to line up to take our turn in front of the judges. The way the venue was set up made it difficult to see our route and to see what we were walking into. But I was much more relaxed at this point, and enjoying myself and the event...

...Until my team had to be the very FIRST one judged, meaning not only was I in the first category, but also the first model to have to walk out there! Oh goodness. I had NO idea what I was doing and was reminded of that oh so quickly. Cue the high speed butterflies in my belly. So I awkwardly walked into the center of the room, PACKED with onlookers, photographers shooting my every awkward move. I tried to guess how to walk, where to turn, how long to linger and where. It felt like forever before the judges asked for a closer look. Finally, some direction! It is an interesting experience to be stared at more closely than ever by strangers, who's job was to judge--not to judge me necessarily, I reminded myself. I'm showing off the hair/makeup. That's my job here.

By the end of the event, the models in the following categories blew me away with their confidence and the personality they brought to their time in front of the judges.

Crap, I started worrying again. What if the fact I was so clueless made me so boring for the judges that I ruin this for the team?! Ah!

Scratch that, let's think about this differently...how I could approach it in the future to do better? All kinds of ideas! The past was past and I made it out alive, with lessons learned and experiences gained. ;)

And guess what? We came in 2nd!

Although I was guilty of over thinking and second guessing myself quite often, I am thankful I was able to get out of my head enough to actually just DO this, to BE there, and to stumble my way through as best as I could-even if it was awkward and not as good as others had done, or as good as I wish I could have done. I DID it! And I am so proud and thankful to have worked with such a wonderful, inspiring, and talented team who gave me this amazing opportunity.

A huge thank you to Colour Law for asking me to be a part of this. And my teammates! Ladie K (our category 3 model) was also so helpful when it came time to socializing--thank you for helping to push me to network and say hello to people when I got in my head again!

Check out the screen shot of the winner's below- I was on team Colour Law.

For more photos: www.facebook.com/NFGartist

.

The kiddie camera shoot!

Photographer: 

Tiffany Lindemann

Photographer: 

Tiffany Lindemann

Have I introduced you to my goofy side yet? If not, hello. I'm a goofball. :)

Amazing how well that trait fit in with this shoot.

I had another shoot with All-Star Studios. I arrived at the studio ready to go like we usually do-a large amount of "wingin' it"...spreading my wardrobe options all over the room, hair/makeup materials hogging the bathroom, the usual.

This was an all day project. There were a few things he wanted to play around with.

Photographer: All-Star 

Studios

Part of the shoot was turned into a photo lesson for his wife--which was so much fun! To watch her learn and get a taste of what he loved to do was a pretty neat thing to be a part of. And to top if off, she was a natural! She was able to get some really great shots.

Then he and I shot a bit. Always fun and we got some more great shots. He used his photography gear to create a set--umbrellas. It was dreamlike on camera.

Photographer: All-Star 

Studios

Kiddie camera

Suddenly a new camera peaked through this "umbrella land"... a bright blue child's camera. I couldn't help but giggle! How awesome! How fun! We were going to do a surprise shoot with this- I had NO idea about this prior, but he knew I'd be up for something so silly. The purpose was to emphasize lighting, primarily, but also touched on connecting with your subject, and emoting.

The camera made silly noises... tough to keep a straight face as this brightly colored camera is making "boing" noises!

What ended up being a nice touch was the one thing we kind of feared- that the images were very low res... for this purpose however, this lower quality added a very artsy touch to the images. They looked like a painting!

Photographer: All-Star Studios

Kiddie camera

Photographer: All-Star Studios

Kiddie camera

As I mentioned, this was a full day shoot. While I was having a blast, I could feel a massive headache coming on. We still had playing to do, however! So I tried to tough it out.

Photographer: All-Star Studios

Eventually, every flash hurt. I was actually wincing in pain, and could barely keep my eyes open. Not to mention, it was getting late and I had a long drive ahead of me.

Photographer: All-Star
Studios

I decided to try something else before calling it quits... I used that pain I was feeling. I'm so glad I did, because I was able to try out other expressions and poses I may not have tried otherwise! And just for funsies, we through in a couple experimental shots... one included tinfoil on the ground, which created some neat effect.

To see more from this shoot, including additional kiddie camera photos, check out my modeling albums on my artist page: www.facebook.com/NFGartist 

Where did I leave off... Oh yeah! I had hair again!

Photographer: Dan Frievalt

One of the first shoots after the "hair butchering" where I sort of had a weird realization of just how much hair I suddenly seemed to have back was with Dan Frievalt and Shanna Koltz. Dan had some new backdrops to play with and contacted me to model. You know this is going to be fun...

Alissa Kristine did some killer hair/makeup-dark and edgy, gotta love it! I got a mohawk! at the time, I didn't think much of it, except "Sweet! Let's do it!" Let me tell ya, every part of this really drove home the fact that MY HAIR WAS GROWING (I'd occasionally forget, considering the circumstances...just waiting for it to be where I had originally wanted it). It was interesting navigating myself around walls and mirrors and people, with hairspikes a foot long. And don't even get me started on the drive home or cleanup. Ok, ok, I HAVE hair. ;) 

Photographer: Shanna Koltz

As if the hair/makeup wasn't cool enough, Dan and Shanna went to town on creating my outfit. It has always blown my mind how good Dan was at things like this... thinking on the spot, using whatever he could find, to create an awesome look. So standing in the middle of the studio in a tank, tights and boy shorts, totally open to whatever their creative brains came up with, they went to town...wrapping me up in all kinds of stuff...leading to the rockin' chicken wire skirt. This was by no means a practical outfit. ;) 

Shanna and Dan each had their turn behind the camera... both brought something different to the table. I even got to model a few shots with another model at the shoot, the beautiful Tiffany Lavender, who also was sporting another amazing look created by Dan, Shanna, and Alissa. 

Looking through the other photoshoots around that time, I am pretty happy to see a handful of edgy shoots. 

There was the other super dark shoot with Dan: Dark, emotional, edgy, expressive...

Photographer: Andrew Kufahl

And a fun shoot with Andrew Kufahl in my basement with my guitar, purple/blonde hair, a layered outfit we put together, and a pierced lip. I loved being able to play around with my inner rock star, trying out new expressions and poses, and shooting with my guitar for the first time since my self portraits. Andrew was moving all over the place, playing around with motion, lighting and colors. With so many factors to balance, we also had to figure out one of the most important parts to a successful shoot: how to get into that "flow" with one another. It is easy to forget about that--you each have your own job, and what you want out of the shoot... you get your own idea of what you're going to do, while the other person has their own idea... it can be a disaster when no one is really "directing" anything. But that is one thing I LOVE about working with Andrew, we always seem to find that connection and flow. 

To see more from any of these shoots, check out my artist page: www.facebook.com/NFGartist 

Or for more from my shoot with Andrew, he also has the images posted on his page: www.facebook.com/AndrewKufahl

My long lost blog

For a while now, I've felt like I SHOULD get back to blogging... it had been a while... more time passed... I reminded myself that next time I had a computer with internet access, "Just jump back in!" More time passed...

There are a million excuses. But the simple fact remains, I never made my way back here. There were other priorities at the time, and I really didn't know what to write about! I've never been one who believed in forcing these things... Just like forcing a painting, if it isn't driven by passion, it will probably suck. Or if you at least have the talent, it'll be good, but will lack that "IT" factor. This blog started out as a way to tell the stories about my experiences. To document the things I've been learning. It was another creative outlet, it was for me... parts of my life, of my passion that I wanted to share. It started getting to some difficult parts of the journey, where I questioned if I'd continue with this (modeling/photography in general), I lost a lot of trust in people, and all kinds of other struggles, blah blah blah...

The honeymoon stage was over.

And where I was in real time was so very different. I was over a lot of that stuff, yet going through the photos and trying to figure out what to write about them and how to do so, to be forced to reconnect myself to those things that I had let go of and did not want to be reattached to, it was a strange and uncomfortable  place to be.

So... where am I now? vs Where did I leave off?

Now (nearly a year?!): I'm still creating. I've been fortunate enough to have a gallery show with a photographer. I have also been able to find my way back into other creative outlets, such as painting, some of which have gotten into a few shows as well. I was painting and creating like crazy, basically! The show with the photographer was wonderful and included massive prints with custom made frames. More on that later. ;) Currently, I am sorting through the mess my lack of organization skills has left me with, taking inventory on the large amount of paintings I've created over the past year or so. I'm also building displays, so I can get these babies OUT there for you to see! These particular paintings are made of upcycled materials, and I've been creating the forms of display from upcycled materials, too. It has been a lot of work, but I love it all. I have also been traveling more than I ever thought possible-trying to enjoy this while I can and eliminate excuses. Every trip is life changing. These aren't vacations, as they are usually tied in with some sort of event/workshop/shoot. But I always make time to SEE something, to explore. I'm so thankful for these wonderful experiences that continue to help me grow.

Needless to say, I have also been learning a ton about life. How wonderful, seeing as that is one of my biggest sources of inspiration!

I've had some eye opening experiences. One of the things I've realized over the past few months is just how much I truly LOVE what I do. I mean, I must love it if I'm willing to put everything I've got into it, despite any financial return...despite what other's say...despite the struggles...despite the physical, mental, and emotional pain that sometimes comes along with it...despite the loooong hours... There are times when I'll run my body into the ground to the point where I'm about to collapse out of complete exhaustion and I'll hurt for weeks--thank goodness for a wonderful chiropractor and massage therapist! Yet it all feels amazing, because I'm doing what I love. And how incredible is that?

Another realization was that I was letting other people have an effect on me and my passion... I ran into a few who wanted to ruin it for me, or who used me, or who were selfish... I continue to run into those who don't believe in this or understand it... who don't value it... who judge it and me... who miss the whole point... There are those who tell me how it has to be done, and none of it fits with how I WANT to do this. Heck, sometimes what is suggested is completely against everything inside of me! And the fact I even let that sit in my brain for a while, I can't believe it. It makes this, what I do, exhausting... it takes the fun out of it. Who wants to have to cave into "selling out" just to have a taste of what they love? I want to be proud of my work, and I have been every step of the way! But what I realized is: it is not my art that is exhausting... it isn't my modeling, or any of my work... what is exhausting is listening to those things, and letting that distract me from the core of this... and what is at the core, is the fact that I simply LOVE what I do, regardless of how other's pursue their lives/passions or think I should pursue mine. I have always had a passion to create, I still have it. And I want to continue living it.

So not that this is any excuse for neglecting my blog, but I think it was necessary to let it slip away for a while... if I am not passionate about it, it isn't fair to you... it isn't fair to me. What's the point? I have to love it and want it in order to actually DO it. It can't be forced, it can't be fake. That just isn't me.

*deep breath*

I fought to clear all the crap away, so I can see things clearly and remember what was at the core of all the past, present, and future shoots--the passion of it, the art of it...and to let go of all the crap...but you know what? That "crap" is just as valuable, as there are a lot of lessons to be learned from it. I already knew that. For some reason I just needed a reminder. And I had to learn to take it a step further: Take that crap, learn those lessons, and learn to love it just the same.

Now...Let's see where I left off... ;)

Dark, emotional, edgy, expressive...

Jumping back in time yet again to just a couple months after the big bad haircut...

Life had thrown a handful of curve balls my way, and this was one of them that effected what I was pursuing... It seems like such a stupid thing, to have to care so much about something as silly as hair... but my job was to be in front of a camera, where appearance matters. I was not shooting nearly as much as I had been prior to the cut, but was slowly finding ways to work with my look or to work around it. The emotional drama that went along with it, and dealing with everyone's questions-everyone wanted to know why and how this happened but even I couldn't answer that beyond speculation-was also draining...It made me sick to my stomach that someone intentionally did this and I had to look at it every day wondering why. I did my best to just accept it, ignore it, and keep doing what I was doing while always pushing to be better.

I had worked with Dan Frievalt a few times... He loves the dark, emotional, artsy stuff and it is complimented perfectly with his gritty rockin' style. Dan was going through his own rough patch at the time, that was also emotionally draining and involved some difficult decisions. He too was trying to just push through, to keep doing what he was doing-what he loves. We had shot recently by accident- I was supposed to assist- but Dan was still itching for something edgier, darker, more emotional... he wanted to use the same location we used in the previous shoot-it was amazing and inspiring! He pitched his idea to me. I loved it. We set a date, I picked up the necessary pieces and I met him at his house to get ready.

What I love about Dan choosing me for this project was he knew my love for dark, emotional work, and that I could deliver. The fact that I have blonde hair, and no tattoos makes me easy to overlook for something as edgy as this. But appearance does not matter nearly as much as the ability to emote. As I had learned very quickly with my hair, appearance can be changed... easily... Your ability to get into a role and make people feel deeply, that is not easy. It takes a combination of things to make a photo successful in this way...

I had bought a few wardrobe items that Dan planned to ruin. So we stood in his kitchen, I held up the wardrobe items as he attacked them with an exacto knife. Therapeutic in itself. ;) He had a few accidental cuts in unfortunate places, I wish I had photos or videos of his face! But no one was bleeding. We were pumped and would work around anything!

We talked about hair/makeup. This was unlike anything I had ever done before. This wasn't about being pretty and perfect. I'm not sure it could have been more opposite! We whipped out the black eye shadow and we darkened my eyes in a messy, raw, almost haunting way. Then Dan started with the rest of the makeup... he created what looked like bruises, cuts, scrapes, needle marks, dirt, etc. all over my exposed skin. It looked quite convincing and I was just in awe of the transformation. This beaten up look was symbolic, something we both could easily related to. This shoot was a great way to express those feelings we were dealing with. With my look complete, we were ready to roll...

We headed to our location. Excited. Once we arrived, I was reminded of how amazing this place was! There were so many beautiful spots all over the property, but we decided to stay in the abandoned house. I get pretty excited to explore these things and having someone like Dan around is perfect to balance things out...I'd say "Oh my gosh! Look at that amazing balcony!" And Dan would say, "Umm, we're not going up there... there are holes in the floor!" Thanks for keeping me from falling through balcony floors Dan! :) Although, seriously, how sweet was that?! hehe

Each room had something different. Dan scoped things out and I believe he primarily used the beautiful natural light that was pouring in... We got started. It was easy to get into character... I loved this stuff... We moved from room to room, we were like little kids in a candy shop.

We shot far later than expected, and on the way home, we talked excitedly about the whole thing. We passed a cop and suddenly Dan switched from excited to terrified, he realized he was driving a bit too fast and to top it off, we were in a construction zone. Now THAT would have been a heck of a story... I can only imagine what a police officer would think to see me in the passenger seat, looking like a beat up mess. Dan's expression was enough to make this memorable and entertaining enough. ;)

To see more from this shoot, please visit www.facebook.com/NFGartist 

To see more of Dan's work: http://www.frievaltphotography.com/ 

Reasons to use a model...

Photo by Mark Anderson, in the name of art,
personal project

While I really love the artsy kind of photography, and have a blast modeling for that style, I understand that the majority of photographers do not necessarily do that kind of work for a living... The majority of photographers are probably more focused on seniors, babies, families, couples, weddings, etc.  So... what use could you possibly have for someone like me? Why on earth would you ever consider working with a model? I bet there are plenty of beneficial reasons. :) 

When I started out doing this modeling thing, it was because someone asked me to model for them... I was just assisting for a shoot, and they had seen some of my own work, and just simply wanted me to model for them...someone who loved photography, the really artsy kind, and was simply passionate about creating. I was doing my own self portraits for similar reasons. The purpose was to create art. Purely for the sake of art.

Other photographers started to ask me to model for them. The more I modeled, the wider range of reasons popped up... Sometimes it was just for fun-maybe the photographer needed a break from their usual work to do something more laid back, or emotional, or creative, or crazy. They needed to do something totally different. 

Photo by Andrew Kufahl, his final image of his 365 project

Some were doing larger projects, like 365's.

Some shoots were totally random, completely unexpected. 

Some photographers incorporated their shoot with me into building their actual portfolio. 

Some shoots were for clothing or jewelry pieces. Or promo images.  

Others just wanted to practice...from practicing lights and technical stuff to practicing getting creative, or directing/posing people, or just being comfortable working with others. There are a million things to practice in a field like photography!

Sometimes it was a hair/makeup artist who needed a "canvas" -my face. Sometimes they just had creative ideas they wanted to try, other times it was for competitions for their craft. 

All-Star Studios, Rummele's winter
catalog cover, modeling their jewelry

I've modeled for workshops, from local ones, to out of state ones, to national ones... my purpose with these was to give students something to photograph, without them having to think so much about posing, expressions, hair, makeup, wardrobe, etc... This allowed them to focus on the technical stuff they were learning. They could focus on learning as much as possible about their camera and their field and did not need to worry about a darn detail about the subject (me). Photographers have actually been blown away with how nice it is to not have to worry about posing-because I just move. It takes some of the responsibility off their shoulder so they can worry about other things.

On a smaller level, I modeled for one-on-one lessons. This is where a photographer takes a private lesson with another photographer... My purpose for these is the same as it is for a workshop... just on a much smaller scale, usually catered to that specific student. They don't have to worry about shooting in front of others, or not being able to get a good angle because they're sharing one model with a group, they don't have to feel intimidated asking questions in front of a larger amount of people, and they can actually interact with me and the teacher more. 

Photo by Casi Lark-Sitterly at a one-on-one 

lighting workshop

Every single time I've modeled, there was some purpose for it. And I think everyone involved learned something. 

While you may not think you have use for a model, think about what you do... during a senior session or during a wedding, do you really have the opportunity to experiment? To push your work to the next level? To practice a new technique? To familiarize yourself with new gear? I am assuming your usual gig has a fairly tight time frame, and your clients have high expectations as they are expecting the most for their buck. Using a model gives you the opportunity to do all of these things in a very low pressure situation, with as much time as you need... where you can't upset a client, or screw up someone's big day, or bore the heck out of a senior. You may be great at what you do, but there is always room to learn and grow. And time/money is never wasted on something like that.

I won't go into it in detail now, but I have tried to continuously improve what I do to cater to your needs. From building a wardrobe (including clothes, accessories, shoes, belts, etc) to expanding my hair/makeup materials and skills, to practicing posing/expressions, and so on... As I mentioned earlier, I have done a bit of the photography side myself... so you don't have to worry about fumbling around with new gear, or spending time on a new technique-I won't get bored, I repeat, I WILL NOT get bored... I understand what goes into these things, and I'm there to help YOU. I've also assisted for various photographers, so I'm not afraid to set up a light stand or carry some bags, even in heels!

Photo by Mark Anderson from a themed
group photography event

When I hear people talk about ways to improve their photography... one of the first things that comes to my mind is education. It never EVER hurts to learn. Whether it is from a local workshop or statewide convention or bigger... Or a private lesson from a photographer you admire... or a college class... etc... Another option for learning is for you to simply practice, to teach yourself, to push yourself. There are various ways you can go about doing this, using a model is one of them, for all of the reasons I mentioned above. Ultimately, fine tuning your eye, honing your skills, practicing, learning the gear you have inside and out (who knows the tricks your camera can do! You may be surprised!), pushing your creativity, working on your people skills, learning about posing (you can learn a lot about this just by watching/working with a good model!), all of this will have more of an effect on your work than a new camera... or expensive lights... or any other new toy--don't get me wrong, those can be fun, and some times upgrades are beneficial, but they aren't going to MAKE you into the photographer you want to be. You need a good solid base. YOU need to be good at what you do... so YOU have control over the tools you use. 

Photo by Brandon Swanson from a photography workshop

As an art major, we had models for our painting and drawing courses. Their purpose was not for us to create an amazing museum worthy piece of work off of. Their purpose was for us to learn how to see the art elements, to practice seeing these and translating them onto the paper/canvas, to learn our medium and techniques, to learn how people move, to watch how light affects a face or body... Their purpose was for us to practice, so when we worked on our own pieces, we had more knowledge, we were more comfortable with our skills and our medium, and we knew our field better, so we had a solid base... which made our art better.

Photographer: Kara Counard ...Began as a part of her 101 Women project, 

and we just shot for fun afterwards with Seth Nayes

Some of the sketches we did of models actually were used later down the line to create more developed pieces. This is similar to when a photographer gets a little creative/artsy with a personal photoshoot. We get to put our creative spin on things and go beyond the learning process and actually MAKE art! (but only because we had that solid base) You would be amazed at the creativity you have inside of you. Exploring the creative zone is probably one of the most rewarding and fulfilling experiences I've ever had. And I thoroughly enjoy modeling for a photographer using me in this way...because I know how amazing that feels! And when you get that photograph that makes you giddy, I get just as excited. :)

To wrap this up, no matter what your style or focus is in photography, there are so many resources out there for you to help grow and become the best photographer you possibly can be. So read, take a workshop, ask a photographer for a private lesson, approach a model... and push yourself.  

If you would like to see more of my work: www.facebook.com/NFGartist