Marketability

As an aspiring model you need to know how to market yourself. After spending time with numerous models and photographers at different stages in their careers I have found a few helpful tips.

• When meeting a photographer or agency representative you should always remember you have to sell yourself. 

•  Act like a professional. 

•  Make eye contact, smile and give a professional handshake. 

•  Make sure you wear clean, casual clothes, choosing fitted rather than loose garments. 

•  Use minimal make-up and keep hair clean and simply stated. 

•  Your hands should be manicured and you shouldn't ever paint them any particular color. 

•  Always keep them simple, French manicures are best. 

•  Bring paper and pen for notes and information, you never know what tips a photographer or other model may give you. 

•  One of the most important things to always remember is to BE ON TIME. 

•  Wait for the agent or photographer to ask for pictures do not force your portfolio on them. 

•  When having a discussion, do not fidget. 

•  Make sure you always use proper English (or other dialect) and refrain from slang or inappropriate language. 

•  When calling or e-mailing an agency or photographer: 

•  You should be prepared with current, accurate Composite Card. 

•  You should include a head shot, a full length shot, and a body shot for proportions. 

•  All shots should look like you. Models looking to be discovered should email pictures to the agencies and photographers they are interested in. 

•  Each email should have a brief introduction that contains your name, contact information, current true measurements, height, and age. 

•  It could take several days/weeks to be contacted in return, so be prepared to wait. 

•  You should keep track of where and when you sent emails and who responded.

• It is also very important to discuss rejection. Becoming a successful model takes hard work, beauty, a good personality, and self-confidence. Rejection is a daily part of a career as a model. It should not be taken personally and reasons for it may not always be known.

• To avoid being scammed: remember to do homework, use common sense, and thoroughly investigate a company before doing business with them. There is not an easy way to break into modeling. If there was, consider how many models there would be.

Show Some Personality

Facial expression can make or break a great photo. Be sure to practice expressions at home. Simply look into your big bathroom mirror and experiment with a variety of expressions. Sure a nice smile is great but there are also some powerful expressions with small smiles, closed mouth, open mouth, big eyes, looking over your shoulder back at the camera, and more. Grab a handful of fashion magazines and looks to see what expressions the models are doing – then you copy their expressions in the mirror. Don’t be afraid to try these in front of the camera. You might be surprised at how great you look with an expression you never would have thought of on your own. Don’t forget to experiment with how much you open your eyes for the camera. There are times when big eyes look fantastic and other times when squinting works best. Photographers are going to be excited that you are working your face through a full range of expressions. You will eventually find that you have your own “look” with a handful of expressions that work best with the shape of your face.

Top 3 things to bring to a shoot

1. Enthusiasm: Models that come in with a fierce energy and are truly excited are opening themselves up to make the best portraits of their lives. Enthusiasm is exciting and brings energy to everyone involved.
   
2.  Wardrobes: Whether you are working with your Photographer on a simple headshot or a full Modeling Portfolio it is still important to bring plenty of wardrobes. A smart model will put together several complete outfits days before their photo sitting to make sure all the elements are included in the “look”. This includes the shoes (boots, heels, kicks, etc.), accessories like jewelry, hats, belts, scarves, and also any Props that might add energy and interest to a shoot. Even if a photographer has a wardrobe planned for you still bring your own, you never know what might work. Most of all, DO NOT bring wardrobe with logos on it unless you, your agency or representative for the shoot represents that brand.
   
3.  Bring basic make up (MU): Try to put together a small MU kit to bring with you. It's always important to bring a moisturizer and concealer that match your skin tone. There are a lot of shades of concealer out there and a MUA will not always have your shade. The concealer you use for photos should be 2 or 3 shades lighter than your skin tone. You will also want to use a good, solid foundation that matches your chin and neckline. A good powder is necessary to create that beautiful matte finish which is always present in a great portfolio. Powder makes the difference between a beautiful photo and just a photo. In order for your lips to stand out and be noticed, be sure that your lip gloss is a solid color and at least one shade deeper than you normally wear it. Your lip liner should be the same color as your lipstick. Bring eyeliner and light shades of eye shadow consisting of a few basic colors. The two key features in a photo are the eyes and lips. 
1. Try to stay away from: too pale tints of foundation, blush, powder that will bring you a vampire look. Black lip liner. Sparkling or frosted lip gloss as it can behave unpredictably on the photo. Dry and matte lipsticks that make the lips look old and thin. Any contrast color compositions.
   
   
   

Composite Card

The Composite Photo Card (Comp Card or Zed Card) helps to get you noticed and considered for projects. A comp card provides a small collection of pictures and basic stats on card stock or rigid paper. It is a standard marketing tool that has been around for many years and is still very essential to have these days. A comp card essentially serves as a models’ business card, it should aim to leave a lasting and favorable impression upon first glance.

What you should include on your Comp Card:

• The ultimate success of a comp card lies in the quality of the photographs. This quality comes not only from the level of professionalism and creativity of the photographer and his team, but also from the level of the model's talent. An effective comp card requires an excellent set of photographs. Most important is an eye-catching, grab- your-attention-from-across-the-office head shot for the front of the card.

• Your comp card should include your first and last name, as well as your very best head shot. Your head shot is the most important and immediate first-impression that you can make. Be sure to choose a high-resolution image, one that is free of grain or static, and one that is rather simple; NO excessive Photoshop, no graphics, no filters or any other distracting and unnecessary features. Just remember: Your head shot should showcase your natural beauty, not detract from it.

• Your comp card should include 3-5 of your strongest and most striking photos from your modeling portfolio. You want to showcase your variety as a model, so be sure to choose an assortment. If you have 4 photos of you in a white t-shirt, how are you going to convince potential clients or agencies that you can handle fashion, swimwear, or beauty shots? These photos are your opportunity to show your range, variety is the key.

• Also, include your basic stats: height, weight, bust, waist, hips, dress size, shoe size, hair color, eye color, and your preferred contact information, cell phone and email address at a minimum. Make sure that the font can be clearly read.

Here is a good example of a front and back of a comp card:

Seven Things To Think About When Posing

1.             Is my whole body posed or just certain parts?

2.             What do my hands look like? Are they posed in a way that will photograph well?

3.             What am I doing with my feet? Are they positioned in a way that makes the pose look good overall?

4.             Are my arms blocking my torso in any way?

5.             Am I sucking in my stomach?

6.             Is the pose I'm doing flattering to my body shape?

7.             How is the angle/position of my head/face? Is my chin properly posed at the right angle?

Know Who You Are And Where You Planned to Go

Contacting a photographer and saying, "I need photos to make a portfolio," isn't going to get you very far or result in any serious takers wanting to work with you. It is important that you know what type(s) of modeling you plan on specializing in.

Knowing you want do swimwear for example will narrow down what photographers to look for. Most photographer do photograph various types of modeling so this will also help the photographer to in-vision the same things you do.

The best way to get usable images for building your portfolio is to collaborate with the photographer so that you both know what you're shooting and why. Set up a meeting before the shoot date and discuss the nitty gritty: locations, wardrobe options, types of poses, themes, etc. Doing this will give the photographer plenty to work with and allow him/her to prepare accordingly once a shoot date has been set.

Simply scheduling a shoot, showing up and "seeing what happens" is a waste of both a model and a photographer's time and doesn't always guarantee good results. Plan ahead and make life easier on yourself. The sooner you get the shoots done, the sooner you can get your pictures and begin putting your portfolio together so you can start submitting for modeling gigs.

Undecided on where/what you’re looking to do is OK too.  There are a ton of beginner photographers who are looking for someone to photograph. Don't know where to find them? Schools with photography departments are always in need. This is great because both parties are learning who they are so therefore there isn't time/money wasted if you’re not quite perfect but do remember to keep an open mind they won't be quite perfect either.