Photography_by_Danny wrote:
Hey, I'm new to this website and perviously have only photographed family members and friends. So, positioning them right in front of the camera was no issue. When photographing strangers, women in particular, should I bring a female assistant to help out with posting my models and fixing their hair? I know that it is very often a no go for male photographers to touch a female model. Looking forward to your replies.

It's not entirely a bad idea to bring a female assistant in the beginning until you feel more comfortable giving directions to the model. With me, if it's something as simple as a hair adjustment, I just ask the model permission to make a small fix and they never have a problem with it. When it comes to body positioning, you just have to learn how to give good directions and explain what you need done. If the model is good, she'll adjust to your requests with no problem.

Photography_by_Danny wrote:
There are just situations where I need to fix her hair and I wasn't sure if it would be better to have another woman fix that for me in case the model can't do it.

maybe the model doesn't want to be touched at all regardless of who you think is ok to do the touching.

having a mirror is cheaper than an assistant.
if something needs adjusting use a mirror to show the model the hair that is out of place.
or just ask permission to fix it, or perhaps the model will just tell you to go ahead and make the fix.
depends on the level of professionalism in the room.

Photography_by_Danny wrote:
Hey, I'm new to this website and perviously have only photographed family members and friends. So, positioning them right in front of the camera was no issue. When photographing strangers, women in particular, should I bring a female assistant to help out with posting my models and fixing their hair? I know that it is very often a no go for male photographers to touch a female model. Looking forward to your replies.

Danny much depends on the situation...  As a makeup artist I'm rather comfortable around either gender... and occasionally I style hair on the shoot also when a hair stylist isn't in the mix... Thus by the time the talent is on set this is virtually a non-issue... Especially with agency talent who are totally comfortable with collaborating with a full team... 

However it appears that you may be the one who is having an issue here (I'm trying to help) so I suggest that you consider assisting other fashion and/or beauty "photogs" to better get your head around "set etiquette" which indeed is a learned art...  Like all creatures talent can quickly sense a want of comfort level (apprehension) on the part of the photographer in responsible charge and thus create tension on set... not a good thing...

Again, with time/experience you'll likely look back at this and smile...  but for now it may seem so very real and possibly disconcerting...

Since this is primarily a hobbyist portal please allow me to provide some "general guidelines" (SOP) for hobbyist working for the first time with naive new talent...  Suggestion 1. Always let your model know what you intend to do if you have to groom flying away hair... (a very common issue) or adjust wardrobe (another extremely common issue) and ask if they are "Ok" with this first...  Suggestion 2. If this is your first session together with a new naive talent by all means either have an assistant (makeup artist, hairstylist and wardrobe stylist are superb here and again one of the stellar benefits of working with a full team) or another neutral party on set in the mix.   Suggestion 3. if the talent is not of the age of majority it is mandatory that you have a parent on set at all times... Suggestion 3 isn't optional... hope this makes sense...

Danny all the above are for either fashion and/or beauty genre... btw, it's the only genre I work in... If you are inclined on shooting glamour then this may not be appropriate nor germane... the lion's share of females may feel rather vulnerable when clad in lingerie and/or in an implied scenario...  albeit many of the traveling nude models are indeed quite comfortable in this respect... Like everything else there are many, many shades of gray in between... Understand comes with tenure... the longer you're in this industry the more obvious protocol and set etiquette become...

Hope this helps or is at least food for thought Danny...

Thomas Van Dyke wrote:
Suggestion 3. if the talent is not of the age of majority it is mandatory that you have a parent on set at all times... Suggestion 3 isn't optional... hope this makes sense...

actually it is completely optional. just use discretion, especially on an amateur level.

there's no requirement that a parent go to work with their teen and most teen models won't want their parent around when they're trying to work.

obviously if you're photographing a little kid then a parent is particularly beneficial and helps limit liability.

sorry for going off topic, but I felt the need to point out that it is not mandatory.