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To Tan or Not To Tan that is the ?
My ancestory is English/German (Icelandic), so I am very white. I do tan well after I get a base tan, but my skin is very sensitive. I have to weigh whether or not it is worth it or not. Do photographers prefer tan models most of the time? Kisses, MEL Jun 10 06 01:53 am Link Not worth it. Tan skin today equals Wrinkled skin tomorrow. Jun 10 06 02:25 am Link I like the way pale skin looks. Tanned skin is usually gross, if not fake looking, in my opinion. And it's bad for you. Jun 10 06 02:38 am Link As a photographer I like tan and olive skin tones BUT that said tanning of caucasian skin can create problems especially doing nudes unless the tanning itself was done nude. There are still problem areas even then with skin creases where the tan is not even. Naturally darker olive skin and Black skin generally are less problematic, with or without additional sun exposure, though there is still often a natural light(er) patch of skin at the base of the spine on some normally darker skinned models that may still need a bit of make-up [or photoshop] to blend in. Bikini/swimsuit marks, however, are a deal killer in some cases even with clothing for the shoot where the intended shoot clothing does not match up / cover up with the white un-tanned skin areas. Tan-in-a-can? Almost never photographs really looking natural. Soooooooooo... if you are going to tan do it naturally and in the nude to create the least problems. If you can't do that then don't tan. Studio36 Jun 10 06 03:51 am Link Alrighty, you're a pastey one. LOL and I've had models that tell me that they're pastey too. It's good to be that way for fashion work, but look at the facts. Plus, looking at the work that you have done it looks like you could use a little bit of a tan or the photographer needs some soft gold umbrellas or gold reflector on you. If you are sticking to what you've been doing then sure go get one but not a dark one. If you are really naturally pale you want to be careful with that because it can make you look soooo terrible and like a piece of burned toast if you get too much of a tan. You really don't need one though. Like someone in here did say, tanned skin today equals wrinkled old dried out ugly skin tomorrow. well, she didn't say it to that extent but seriously, if you want one use a product for a fake tan that you can put all over that produces a gradual tan on you not one of those silly instantly tanned!!! woohooo! Anyways, this is so the more you use it the more tan you will look, just don't over do it. If you don't want to get a tan of any kind after this thread and you are concerned about not having a slightly tanned looked then ask the photographers that you work with if they use any gold or soft gold reflectors to shoot with. Those things are awesome on most people. Jun 10 06 04:01 am Link Have you considered changing your hair color for a particular shoot? It's a personal thing, but I happen to really love that pale skinned, wavy red haired Irish look. (Maybe it's because my ancestory is Irish) Pale skin with long dark auburn or black hair looks very exotic. Jun 10 06 07:28 am Link I am naturally tanned so I guess that I cant really relate.... Jun 10 06 07:40 am Link I agree with studio36uk's advice Jun 10 06 07:47 am Link I have a problem with tanning too, but it's the other extreme...I tan very easily, even with a sunblock. Where I live, there is not much to do for entertainment except to go swimming or skiing at the lake. I love to swim and obviously I can't do it nude, so then I have to go to the tanning bed to even up the strap marks. The rest of the swimsuit area doesn't matter because I don't do nudes anyway. My question is, does anyone know any sunblock product that works better than the rest to keep me from getting any more tan? Jun 10 06 07:57 am Link In this day and age your long term health is rather more important than the temporary beauty of a tan. Jun 10 06 08:08 am Link i always tell my models to stay out of the sun before a shoot because a tan line is the worst thing when you shoot body landscapes. also from a health standpoint i stay out of the sun as i already dealt with a malignant melanoma in my 30s and am luck to still be here. spf50 for me. Jun 10 06 08:14 am Link No tan! Health wise the risks are too great. Future appearance wise it causes wrinkles and leathery skin. Besides pale skin is a good contrast to dark settings. It is only a twentieth century thing anyway. A hundred years ago women carried parasols to stay pale when outside. Hmm parasol -- that isn't a cliche --yet. Is it? -keith Jun 10 06 08:21 am Link I love the models to have a tan. But I wish they would get an air brushed tan at a salon and not one from the sun or the lights..Cancer kills !! Mike Jun 10 06 08:26 am Link As you can see in my avatar pic I have pale white skin...and white blonde hair. I think the pale skin adds to my 'look' because if I tanned i'd be another bleach blonde tanned barbie girl, and that's not what I want to be or who I am. I've been in Florida for a week now, and i'm still just as pale, because I refuse to go sit outside and let my skin roast. But, sometimes pale skin works, and sometimes it doesnt. I hate orange skin because its overtanned, no matter what that will look horrible in photos. Sometimes a small golden tan will make a model look 100 times better...and other times it wont. Jun 10 06 08:33 am Link Heck... I'm not wrinkle-free at 45 for no reason ... I used to live in Hawaii in my early 20's, was the color of chestnut until I met a woman at Waikiki once who I thought she was in her early 70's ... she was 51 ... Scared the living bejesus out of me and I never sat in the sun (for the purpose of tanning) or went outside without sunscreen since. Jun 10 06 08:34 am Link Whether a tan is required is dependent in part on what type of modeling is done. For figure nudes, a moderate allover tan yields a superior rendition of skin tones, providing a smooth gradation of color density that gives a nice three-dimensional effect. Pure white skin gives the model a more two-dimensional, flat appearance. Strong bikini tan lines totally break up and destroy the lines and curves of the figure. Speaking as a very fair-skinned person who was raised in the pre-sunscreen era, who was sunburned severely many, many times as a child because his parents didn't know any better, and who has consequently had surgery some five times for skin cancer, slowly acquiring a moderate tan does not instantly give you an ugly, wrinkled look and does not mean that tomorrow you will have skin cancer. Jun 10 06 01:35 pm Link I'm in your boat (same ancestry too). I'm very pale, but I haven't had any problems with people not wanting to work with me due to that. Though I'm getting a light tan this summer for summer's sake, I don't tan the entire winter and end up usually white as a ghost and most people think it's ok. If I do tan, I never get crispy...just a light one is good for me. Jun 10 06 01:39 pm Link The search for To Tan or Not To Tan https://www.modelmayhem.com/search.php? … mit=Search the search for tanning https://www.modelmayhem.com/search.php? … mit=Search tanorexic https://www.modelmayhem.com/posts.php?thread_id=47910 Salon tan... https://www.modelmayhem.com/posts.php?thread_id=48123 Mystic Tan ....does it look good ? https://www.modelmayhem.com/posts.php?thread_id=37063 Jun 10 06 01:41 pm Link Whatever your look, keep it natural. Different photographer have different preferences, and when I discussed this issue before going to Puerta Vallarta last summer, the overwhelming consensus was that if I am white or pasty or translucently pale, I should stay that way. The only reason to be tan is for swimsuit or some outdoor artistic nudes, and in both cases, women who have naturally darker skin usually are so numerous in those areas that competing is not worth it. Don't try to be something you aren't. You can't please everyone, no matter what you look like, and the photographers who DO prefer pale skin will certainly provide enough work for you. Jun 10 06 01:47 pm Link I hate the way tanned models look,but I am biased cause that isnt my thing, I think it depends on the photographer you work with & how you look with a tan. I think pale skin gives that classic beauty appeal & whats wroung with a classic beauty? Jun 10 06 01:49 pm Link I would never recommend someone lay in the sun for the sake of a tan; it's not worth. Don't trust the sun -- it is out to destroy you. Having said that, if a person does decide to tan I completely and fully agree with those that said you have to tan nude. Tanlines will destroy an otherwise good photograph, whether the subject is nude in those photos or not. And personally, I like light or pasty-white models -- maybe it's a Goth thing or something. Or perhaps I like an "old fashioned" look. But really, the best way to stay healthy and avoid tanlines is to not go out and get a tan. I used to subscribe to a nudist magazine years ago, and I was shocked at some of the photos in it (there were pictures of naked people in it!  ). Many of these nudists had the most leathery skin I'd ever seen -- I couldn't believe it. They were dark like shoe polish and encased in leather hides. Not that I was ever a "sun worshipper," but those photos actually had a lot of impact on me. And I've been avoiding the sun ever since. The moon is so much nicer... So, if you're very light in complexion I say that's fine. You should be who you are and not try to conform to someone else's standard or idea of beauty. -P- Jun 10 06 01:58 pm Link You are what you are. I tried to work with as many different models as possible so that I can handle any situation that comes up. I have shoot a few models with very white skin and I still am able to get great results. By the way, I am hoping to have a chance to shoot you soon on one of my trips home to Fairfield. I sure that no matter how white your skin is that we will get some awesome pictures! Jun 10 06 01:59 pm Link I concur with the 'you don't need to tan' group. You have a beautiful fair complexion. Just go with what you have naturally. Tanning is BAD for your type of skin. It's not worth the time or the possibility of damage for the future. Jun 10 06 02:01 pm Link The obvious is don't tan if you are concerned with the health risks involved. As far a marketability, a deep rich tan would increase your demands by tenfold, there are a lot of markets suited for your look and height, sexy blonde babe with a tan can work a lot more than a pale skinned model. The market is somewhat over saturated, but, usually you can get work that ordinarily wouldn't be available. If your specialty is bikini, swim wear and such, having a tan is the way to go. Some skin does well with a combined tan studio with a quality topical bronzer, I have seen some great deep tans using that method, nice dark and even. good luck on which ever choice you make. Jun 10 06 02:18 pm Link Being mainly a swimsuit photographer... it is a must that you be tan... and i disagree with some that say " a tan in a can doesn't look natural " 7 out of the 20 pics on my page... i spray tanned the model, and i bet you can't pick out the 7.... So in short i believe it is only important to be tan if your shooting swimwear... Jun 10 06 02:33 pm Link Mirror Image Photograph wrote: I do lingerie photography and I prefer no tan. In the end, photographers and models work together to create specific pictures. Whether to get a tan depends upon what kinds of pictures you want to appear in. Jun 10 06 02:38 pm Link I prefer to not tan. I work in a studio and I do makeup on models, and lots of times end up doing some of the shoots. Makeup does not look as good on the girls that tan. Not to mention, half the time their skin looks like poo. They tend to have an ashy look to their face and body.Be pale! Jun 10 06 02:46 pm Link Kizzy wrote: My arms get really tan it is rediculous looking LOL but I do live in Cali. Jun 13 06 07:36 pm Link Personally, I think a tan of some degree looks better than pasty skin. Having said that, I may soon be rethinking my perceptions of what is beautiful where skin coloration is concerned. What's changing my mind? I had a thumbnail sized basal cell carcinoma removed a couple of weeks ago. I am not all that fair skinned and I have never been one to go lay out in the sun for hours, although I have always enjoyed working or playing in the sun for short periods of time. The diagnosis could have been much worse. My doctor told me that skin cancer is at epidemic level, and that young people are getting it more and more--something that was much more rarely seen even 10 or 15 years ago. I am in my mid forties and believe me, this kind of news will put a scare into you. Not trying to rain on any parades. Just mentioning the need to consider everything before you make a decision about tanning. Do it in moderation, if at all. Alan Jun 13 06 08:51 pm Link I'm a Tan-In-A-Tube girl. My opinion, don't tan. It's SO horrible for you. It's just not worth it. Jun 13 06 08:56 pm Link Constance Hilory wrote: What about the spray on tans or just going to a tanning salon? Jun 13 06 11:12 pm Link I prefer natural, healthy, youthful skin, not tanned. Women who bake themselves in a tanning machine are making mistakes, in many ways. Jun 13 06 11:48 pm Link Your skin coloring is great. Tanning in the sun can just cause burns, uneven skin tones, and wrinkles. Don't get me wrong, if I'm dating you Tan is great as I think it can look really healthy. My belief. But for a model I can always bring along an airbrush artist for tanning or I can send you to do a Mystic Tan. A great model that has the same belief is Kate Moss. She is a WHITE girl, but tans, dies her hair or wears a wig, etc for a shoot. Just go to Google images and type her name in. Lots of different colors there. -Bill Jun 14 06 12:57 am Link While the sun can be really bad for your skin, don't forget that getting sun produces vitamin D within your body, which helps in the asorbtion of Calcium. If you don't have enough vitamin D, then your body can't absorb Calcium, which leads to all kinds of problems. If you're not getting much sun at all, it might help to take a vitamin D supplement. (I can't spell, I think I need more coffee...) At any rate, beyond that. I just started using Dove's gradual tanning lotion. I started with the pale skin, and will be working my way up. I haven't noticed much change yet, but hopefully it will work. I have trouble that I am outside working with horses two or three times a week, which means that because its hot, my arms are pretty much exposed. They're already a deep rich golden brown color that I adore. The rest of my body is nice and pasty white as usual, lol. so yeah, thats a problem. I don't do booth tanning because I think fakenbake is a really bad idea. I'm hoping that working with the lotion tanners will help give the rest of my body a bit more even coloring, well, not even, but at least some coloring. I am also hoping that sometime in the near future I'll be able to spend at least a little time nude outside just to even out the color. Jun 14 06 08:32 am Link Healthy skin never goes out of fashion. More often than not, this kind of question ends up being "the grass is greener on the other side" kind of thing, kinda like straight hair vs. curly hair ... Jun 14 06 09:40 am Link I tan nude so no tan lines. I only go 10 minutes at a time maybe 2-3 days a week so it doesnt look fake. Definately dont do any tanning lotions or spray on tans or youll be orange. If you want something faint, try Jergens daily glow lotion. After about a week of using it after your shower you will be more peach and less white without looking fake. Jun 14 06 09:45 am Link It is totally up to the dynamics of the shoot. Fashion/Glamour clean pale is wonderful to work with. Bikini/Lingerie a golden tan is best. Commercial/Editorial in between with a healthy glow. It's all up to the type of modeling you want to pursue  Jun 14 06 09:48 am Link That Look Photo wrote: You're right, there are great risks, but it looks so much more natural from the sun! Jun 14 06 09:52 am Link Kizzy wrote: Believe it or not I also tan very easily. I use plain ole banana boat but I make sure it blocks both uva and uvb rays, I get it in spf 25 and wear it everyday including winter days. When I go out in the sun I try to cover up with a big floppy hat that reduces shoulder lines quite a bit. I also try to adjust my straps up and down side to side so if there is any difference in color it's gradual not a big line. but during the midst of summer I usually just give up except for shoulder strap lines because those are pretty easy to avoid. I hope this helps! Jun 14 06 09:56 am Link the problem is over-tanning, not tanning in and of itself. like someone already mentioned, sunlight is important for your health. i try to sit out in the sun for 10-15 minutes everyday. not for tanning, but because it makes you feel better. like pretty much everything, it's all about moderation. Jun 14 06 10:03 am Link |
