Modeling advice

I've been getting a lot of people from both sides of the camera asking me for advice.

I NO WAY consider myself an expert on the matter but here is my attempt to help you out & also keep in mind I'm writing this as a brokeass college student. But whatever the dealie is I'll try to be as diplomatic as I possibly can. Furthermore if anyone reading this has ideas of their own, don't be afraid to make your own suggestions &/or debate what I wrote. Just TRY to keep it civil when you do.

Models, I'm going to start with you. In no particular order, here are a bunch of stuff that I've come up w/...

1. Prepare to invest. This means you might have to invest in any of a number things whether it be in the clothes, travel expenses, time, waking up at the buttcrack of dawn for an awesome shoot involving the sunrise, and so on.

2. Modeling schools like John Casablancas, avoid like the plague. In my opinion, they are not officially a scam but like any good salesman, they convince an eskimo that they need snow. They're usefulness in the real world is highly overrated by those that don't know any better. Its essentially a charm school. The money you'd invest there would be better served hiring out quality photographers & having them do the content you need done.

3. You will have to find your niche and where you fit in within the industry.

For example the body type that you see on runways, are specifically tailored to what their clients want, which are essentially walking coat-hangers. This is because the thinner the model is, the less material the designer has to use when they make the wardrobe.

Lingerie, glamour, editorial, and commercial markets, fetish, art nude markets all come to mind but are hardly the only things out there.

4. Americas Next Top Model is NOT a realistic representation of reality. They have demographics they have to meet which makes for good entertainment and ratings. Don't believe me? Read this from an insider's account:

community.livejournal.com/ohno…

5. You're going to have to be brave and put yourself out there. There are a litany of websites that you should check out to see if they are right for you. A few that have helped me out along the way are...

OMP www.onemodelplace.com/
DeviantArt www.deviantart.com/
ModelMayhem www.modelmayhem.com/
Musecube www.musecube.com/
MySpace www.myspace.com/
ModelInsider www.modelinsider.com/
ModelBrigade www.modelbrigade.com/
ModelRun www.modelrun.com/

I could sit here & debate the usefulness that I've gotten from each one for hours. However the fact of the matter is is that each caters to a different sort of market. A lot of it to depends on where exactly that you live. For instance, a model in NYC will get a lot more oppurtunities to work w/ photographers than Bismark, ND...which is not to say that its impossible to get work in ND but you get what I'm trying to say.

6. Once you do put yourself out there, DO NOT be afraid to hit up photographers in wanting to work together, even if you think he's is out of your league. Its always going to be a no unless you try. Sometimes they just might surprise you.

7. Look at the photographer's portfolio. What is he showing people as his best work? There are going to be those whose works just aren't that good. There are a number of reasons why this could be it:

A- They could be just starting out and shooting and might not have much to show people. B- They might not have much experience shooting people. C- They might just be busy and havent been able to upload their newer stuff. D- They might not care as to what they have displayed. E-They just might not care of their quality of their work.

In essence, you'll want to avoid photographer D and E. Everyone else, might be a good candidate to work with to keep you in practice. Besides those photographers with whom you wouldn't give a second look now, might be the ones who become kickass in the near future. Sorta like a "be careful how you treat people in the present because they might be useful in the future." That sorta deal Y'know?

8. Somewhere along the way you'll definitely need professional pictures. The better the pictures, the greater the likelihood people will come to you as opposed to you going to them.

9. Come up w/ a stagename.

10. People should be able to supply some sort of reference upon request, whether it be other models, their boss at the burger joint, a MUA, or whatever.

Keep in mind if you're ever able to hookup w/ an agency, different rules apply. What exactly, I don't know.

11. I'm kinda old-school. Even though I, as a photographer, have primarily converted completely to digital, there's just something thats endearingly special about a hard-copy portfolio.

12. Your portfolio is only as good as your worst image. Think quality over quantity. If you have 20 slots & you only have 10 quality images & 10 medicore images, only put the 10 quality images in. The mediocre ones will drag your entire port down.

13. Everyone has their own personal comfort zone. If something makes you uncomfortable and/or a photographer broaches into yours, you NEED to open your mouth. Don't try & "work through it, hoping he'll get the message." Don't be afraid to ask questions either. We're not mind-readers after all.

However, never compromise your personal safety. Take it as a war loss and leave immediately. No amount of money is worth jeopardizing your personal safety.

14. If you have the opportunity to collaborate with a photographer on a weekly basis, I highly reccemend doing so. From a photographer's standpoint, theres nothing like a girl who can creatively push me beyond my comfort zone week-in and week-out.

15. Somewhere along the way, you'll need something beyond a pretty face. Something that sets you apart from the pack. It could be your own sense of style. It could be the content you're willing to do. It could be the ideas that you bring to the table or whatever.

16. In case I haven't said so, PREPARE TO WORK YOUR BUTT OFF!!! Behind every image that you see, there are about 5-10 different things going on that you don't see.

17. Need clothes & short on money? Think about going to chain stores (like JCPenny's or Fashion Bug) & buying what you need & then returning them later. Be sure to keep the receipts & tags though. Yes, it is unethical...yes, they'll complain that its not store policy yadda-yadda-ya but 9 times out of 10, they WILL accept the return in lieu of permanently losing your business.

If you're open nudework, you'll save a fortune on wardrobe expenses.

18. A LOT of money can be thrown your way & its easy to be seduced by it. You'll have to make a desicison as to whether you want the quick buck & crappy pictures. Or the even bigger bucks you'll see a long way down the road when you have marketable pictures that justify paying you those big bucks.

19. In the unforeseen event that you need to cancel, be honest & give us as much advance notice as humanly possible. In addition to that, be the one to iniate the contact. How you handle this will tell a lot about your character as well as if you come to mind for any future projects.

20. He who needs the images more, is the one who pays. Sometimes to, newbies can talk me into working on a trade basis. A lot of times, it'd depend on what they're bringing to the table. If its something that I haven't done yet or are willing to do something that I could use for my port. I'm more inclined to do the trade. If not, sometimes the prospective model's powers of perusasion can be enough to be nice, meaning it clearly is more of a benefit to them than it is to me (Hey, we all gotta start somewhere).

21. There are benefits of waking up at the butt-crack of dawn for a natural light sunrise shoot. Temperaturewise, its cooler especially during the summer. Its easier to keep getting useable material during the morning, instead of trying to guess when the good light is & hope like hell you get what you need w/n the allotted time.

22. Emailing or instant messaging someone enquiring if they've finished the photos yet will NOT get them done any faster. Please wait for the allotted time that they've said (w/ me I usually say about a month...mostly to cover my own butt in case I get bogged down w/ something). After that (in my opinion), its best to politely enquire.

23. This is a relatively small business everyone talks to everyone else. Be careful of the smack you talk about people because they'll eventually find out. Be weary of the smack you here of someone else, you're only hearing one side of the story. However if someone specifically asks what's the scoop on so & so, then its fair game to be HONEST (relaying 2nd hand info does not qualify as a primary source though). Anything else is considered gossip & that's not looked on to kindly, especially if its negative.

24. What you do now, could effect your image down the road. Consider if you're comfortable w/ a future employer randomly finding out what you did 5 years ago or a super-conservative boyfriend finding out that his sweet, innocent princess did way back in college. Once you sign that release or once the images are out there, its extremely difficult to "make them go away."

25. You're going to meet a lot of douchebags in this world that get off on tearing people down to build themselves up. You're best having nothing to do w/ them & not losing sleep over what they say to you.

26. Take everything w/ a grain of salt but here are some other links that might illuminate you on the subject matter:

farenellphotography.blogspot.c… rubiacaea.deviantart.com/journ… www.newmodels.com/ travelingmodels.blogspot.com/2…