Tag: advice

For models just starting out

If you scan through many modeling websites, you’ll see there’s a common question asked by new comers who want to be models: “What do I need to do to become a model?” Ironically, that question often goes unanswered, even on professional sites. Maybe it’s that the answer is a little more complex than a quick answer. However, as a photographer, I decided to take a shot at answering the question.

If you scan through many modeling websites, you’ll see there’s a common question asked by new comers who want to be models: “What do I need to do to become a model?”

Usually members skip that question. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s that the answer is a little more complex than a quick answer. Perhaps it’s that a good portion has to deal with genetics. It could even be experienced models don’t want the new competition entering the field.

I decided to take a shot, however, at answering the question.

What can I do to become a modelQ: What can I do to become a model?

A: To a writer, the advice is read as much as you can. To a model, I’d say look at as much as you can — in particular other photos of models.

Analytically, try to figure out what it is about the models you like. Is it their pose, is it their facial expression, do they look into the camera? Try to emulate that pose in the mirror.

Study books on posing. And if you’re really clever, study books on photographic composition. If you can deliver what the photographer is trying to capture, you’ll make life so easy he’ll be raving about you.

Another thought is to find pictures of models that look like you. There are some web sites where you can beam up a picture of yourself and it will give you celebrity matches. Perhaps hair styles, makeup, and clothes that work for them will also work for your looks and body type.

Take care of your body; keep your skin clean and healthy. Apart from good diet, steer clear of all the things you know you should. Modeling is based upon looks, and you have it in your control to keep them.

Know your body, be comfortable with it, and find make up that works for you. Photographers often go for the natural look, so keep that in mind the next time you want a sprawling tattoo or obvious body piercing. These won’t necessary stop you from being a model, but it can raise unnecessary barriers to entry. Imagine a bank looking to fill a teller position, which candidate has the higher probability of landing the job: someone dressed in punk with a lip ring and colored spiked hair, or, the candidate in an pressed shirt, tie, and jacket. Both might be equally capable and friendly, but one will have a harder time than the other.

Work on building a decent portfolio. The best way to do this is to find local photographers you trust and negotiate a Time for Prints/CD shoot. It costs you nothing but some time, and in return you get some great pictures.

Ideally, you want more photos that you know what to do with. Cull them down to the best of the best, you don’t need to show every photo you have. Make sure you get a variety of looks. You want to show you’re versatile. Demonstrate that you’re adaptable.

Post your portfolio where photographers can see you, and let them know about your availability, interest, and boundaries. You may get more TFP offers, you may get fixed rate sessions, you may get a set hourly rate. Take only the jobs you feel comfortable with.

Seek opportunities where the photography is going to get exposure, even if you have to do it at a reduced rate. The more exposure you get, the more you’ll be able to command later.

It’s important not to let things get to your head. When a model without serious experience wants to be compensated as someone who’s done it as a career, opportunities can start to dry up. Photographers just want to take the picture, not deal with a diva. Think of it much like a job interview; you wouldn’t hire someone to be your doctor if they simply wanted to be a doctor all their life and took a class in first aid. Experience is important. And you can get all you want with TFP/CD.

Be professional, be on time, and know when to say no. Consider setting up a website, something which doesn’t say “I got a MySpace account.” Show your styles and answer the who/what/when/where/why about yourself; let people know how to contact you, and get back with them promptly. Sometimes photographers are working under horrific deadlines, and reaching a viable model is all that’s needed. A quick response can give you the edge.

You might want to forge a relationship with a makeup artist and/or a favorite photographer. If you have a solid relationship with good communication and trust, the photo sessions will go seamlessly and productively. They in turn will become part of a mini-network and potentially bring opportunities to your door that you’d otherwise not have known about.

Eventually, demand may increase, and if it does you may want to get an agent. Usually it’s a while before one gets that far. You might not even need one.

Modeling is a competitive field, with new and younger models entering all the time. Switch your mental role about how you’d market yourself and you’ll see what you need to do to become that. You’re selling an image: yours.

Models: Getting more from a TFP/CD shoot

TFP/CD is an arrangement whereby a model and a photographer exchange professional services instead of one hiring the other. Surprisingly, though, many new models don’t know it exists, and those that do have some serious misunderstandings about it. Here are two secrets models might like to know.

Getting more from a TFP shootTFP/CD means “Time for Print” / “Time for CD,” and it’s an arrangement whereby a model and a photographer exchange professional services instead of one hiring the other.

Surprisingly, though, many new models don’t know it exists, and those that do have some serious misunderstandings about it.

I happened to be reading a discussion forum where some photographers were discussing photo shoots and the models were wanting quick turn around times on CDs. Reasonable. But then it dawned on me, perhaps it wasn’t clear too all what caused the delay. By the time I was done, I derived two secrets models might like to know.

For photographers, setting expectations up front is really important. Failure to do lets misconceptions propagate.

For instance, an inexperienced model may do a 2 hour shoot and roughly estimate the photographer took 500 pictures based on shots-per-minute during a scene and how long the total session was. When a CD doesn’t arrive within the next few days, anxiety replaces anticipation, and when it does arrive there may be only a handful of images leaving a model to wonder why it took so long. But what’s really happening? Did the model get screwed? Was the photographer lazy?

Is there anything that could have been done to get even more images, get some them sooner, or even get even higher quality images? Actually, yes.

The photographer in a TFP/CD deal is just as concerned about his or her reputation as a model is and doesn’t want anything substandard floating in the wild. As such images rarely go from camera to CD to model without review and processing.

Here’s the same scenario from the other side of the camera:

In reality, the photographer may have taken only 200 pictures. Photos are often taken in bursts and during makeup and wardrobe changes the camera isn’t firing; this counts for a lot of down time.

Of the photos, there will always be some that didn’t turn out: eye blinks, unwanted motion blur, lens flare, a horrible facial expression, hair obstructing the face, an unflattering fold of skin, an oil shine, a harsh shadow, undesirable lint, fly away hair, hot spots, exposure alterations, etc. The bursting allows for lots of micro differences to choose from, so that the best of a given set can be selected. To the untrained eye it can simply look like a lot of the same picture. This narrows down the usable images considerably.

Also neglected is that many photographers now also do their own photo editing. And that’s where the really time-consuming part starts. A single photo might take an hour just to get right. The higher the resolution photo and the sharper it is, the more time it takes. Often a photographer inspects every pore of skin. So, even if 20% of the photos are usable, this can represents a full-time week’s worth of editing.

Think about it; that’s 40hrs of follow-up work from a mere 2hr shoot. The misconception is that pictures are ready once taken, usually they aren’t. And, in a TFP/CD shoot, there’s no cash income from this job, so it’s very likely that this post-processing time has to come from in-between other paying gigs, which pushes out the delivery further depending on other commitments and schedules.

A studio uses TFP/CD to put their best foot forward, and that’s why the model greatly benefits from this. It’s unspoken, but often TFP/CD shoots get a little more time, care, and attention; one isn’t producing product, but art.

Sometimes whole segments that looked like a good idea during the shoot just don’t have the magic when everything is seen in context. As such, the photographer will often cull down from the usable photos to just the absolute best of the best and then spend a lot of time and detail on just those.

Believe it or not, the photographer also wants the model to have the images as soon as possible, because if they’re ready for the model’s portfolio, they’re also ready for the photographer’s.

I think the best advice to a photographer in this case is to under commit and over deliver. Don’t say it will take a week if it will take two. Explain that the goal is to get some small number of high quality photos, regardless of how many are taken.

And as for information to the model, the shoot isn’t over for the photographer when the last picture has been taken; that’s when the laborious and time consuming meticulous editing begins.

But here’s some secret advice that will get a model better product, sooner, and more of it:

1) If you are patient and have the extra time, offer during the TFP/CD shoot to allow the photographer to experiment with the lighting. Almost always there are a number of experimental configurations a photographer is secretly wanting to try, but he knows it’s high risk because it might not work perfectly and he doesn’t want to send you home with nothing. Conversely, it could really work out special and you’d have something new, amazing, and highly creative for your portfolio. By allowing for creative freedom, which might not work out, you actually increase your chances of getting super-spectacular shots. Photographers kill for models who let them tinker with experimental lighting.

2) If you are a tech-savvy model and are willing to accept electronic delivery instead of a CD, many photographers will happily send you email attachments or URLs where you can get your photos as they become ready. Because there is no bulk collection with a looming deadline, the photographer will often end up giving you more photos over the course of time, but you also benefit from getting those already done sooner. Plus, since you’ve set up a venue for delivery, a photographer revisiting prior shoots experimenting with new editing techniques has the means of sending you future updates for your portfolio as well.