Reality Check: Inside The Life of a Hand Model
First of all, we thank all of the hand models and their producers. Without their hard work, this blog would be devoid of the photographs we use to showcase all the different types of nails and nail arts. While being a hand model might seem like an easy job to us at the receiving end of their final photographs, there’s more than meets the eyes.
Behind the Camera of A Hand Model
Just like for all other types of models, there are professional hand models who contribute only their hands for photos. With that as a preface, you can probably guess that some professional hand models can make as much as $75 grand annually from advertising for big brands with high budgets.
For most commercials, agencies need to hire hand models with hands that are not too distracting so that the viewers can focus fully on the products. However, when advertising for a more high-end product, you will need to have glamorous-looking hands.
What could this possibly mean?
For starters, you will need to have long, straight fingers. Your knuckles should be small and you need to have healthy, long nail beds and of course, healthy long nails to sport the high-class looks. Even your hand size matters! Many of these hand models with dainty hands are employed to advertise children’s toys, but will not be chosen to model an engagement ring due to the childlike appearance of their hands. But how is their life like? Can anyone at all start being a hand model?
Being Natural Can be the Hardest Part of a Hand Model’s Job!
Imagine having to model as naturally as possible without being able to see what you are actually doing. When hand models need to act as a hand double for an actor or actress, they frequently need to stay in contorted positions behind these Hollywood stars while attempting to keep their hand movements as graceful and natural as possible. Imagine trying to make the actress appear as if she’s eating grapes naturally while you are blindly trying to pluck the grapes from a bunch and feed them into her mouth. You can’t stay very natural, to say the least.
What Does it Take to Be a Hand Model?
There is no one single criterion for this. Depending on your hand type, you would have a higher chance of being hired for a different type of photoshoot. When agencies select a hand model, they are much pickier than you think. Depending on the ad that they are making, companies will need to choose different kinds of hands.
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A Hand Model’s Career Is Not That Simple
While being required to model only your hands can sound simple, most people forget that they need to have a good body post to achieve the shots they want. They explained that the flattering angle they use for their photoshoots are not practical poses that you will use in real life. These photos typically require the hand model to hide their body from the shot, so their arms are positioned awkwardly as they contort their body to get and maintain that pose. At times, hand models need to hold their hand up in the air holding the product being advertised for close to an hour just to get the perfect shot. You can imagine that the task quickly becomes tiring and straining for your muscles!
The Weird Side of Nail Models’ Lives
Sometimes, nail models can’t quite understand what kind of project they are doing a photoshoot for. While the usual range of products that a hand model advertises can include handbags, cosmetics, snacks et cetera, there are times when their job gets weird. As an example, one hand model had to pretend to chop up a human placenta. The hand model had to pretend to be heavily chopping something that she knew was going to be edited as a placenta. Talk about weird job requirements!
Alternative Employment of Hand Models
We all know Megan Fox. But did you know that she has brachydactyly type D, which infers that she has stubby thumbs? As such, while other actors and actresses have stunt doubles, Megan Fox has a hand double who takes over when she needs to film scenes with close-up shots of her hands.
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All these minor details about a hand model’s job eventually build up to the stress levels of any other jobs. The slightest unwanted hand movement can lead to more and more retakes of a single scene. Hand models need to keep in mind the entire time not to overthink their hand movements or to overanalyze the task that they are supposed to do so that their hand movements are fluid and natural enough in the final video.
