What does an Industry professional want to see in a Model´s Portfolio?

Part Five:

How do I go about getting good pictures for my folio?

There are several avenues available to a would be model to get photos for her folio...called a "book" in professional circles, and a "port" by the general run of internet wannabes.

Some avenues will provide good portfolio standard pics...others will be a complete waste of time and energy, and the worst will be a complete waste of money.

• Go to a legitimate agent - (really you only have a choice of about ten or so here in Australia) - they will most likely recommend suitable photographers.

• Go to an ¨agency¨ : they will probably insist that you go to their own in house, or highly recommended ¨Internationally Famous, Award Winning Photographer¨ and cost you anything from $500 to $3000

• Go to one of the glamour portrait studios (Starshots is the kind of thing I'm talking about). Cost anything up to $5000, and you will get pictures totally unsuitable for a folio, simply because they are designed specifically for the lady who wants a feel-good pampering, a boost to her ego, or an intimate glamour portrait for her husband, boyfriend or lover (existing or potential): a different purpose entirely to a portfolio.

• Go to an amateur photographer, friend with a camera,or the guy down the street with a studio in his garage ; no need for me to comment further.

• Go to a commercial ¨social" photographer- you will get varying quality, some tenuously suitable for a portfolio, but the majority will be really portraiture rather than showing you off as a potential model.

• Volunteer to pose for a camera club model night, or a meat market ¨theme" shoot,: you may or may not get pictures from it, but those which you do get will be all about what the photographer thinks a model should be, and the ¨skills¨ of the makeup artist : not about you as a potential model: pics will vary in quality from average to abysmal,  and unfortunately, especially with theme shoots, will be almost identical to hundreds of other theme shoots from around the country.

• Go to a professional photographer skilled and knowledgable in shooting model/actor portfolios. Cost will be about $300 to $500, but you and your photographer will be dedicated to getting pics which will showcase you and your potential as a model, and nothing else.

A pic specifically taken for a portfolio by a practising portfolio photographer, but just different enough to grab attention

Remember, that all photographs accompanying this blog are Copyright (All Rights Reserved) and may not be used for any purpose whatsoever without written permission from the photographer.

NB: It has long been a tradition that professional photographers will work on a TF* basis with a beginner model who shows better than average potential.
However most, these days, are wary of such arrangements for a variety of reasons :

•  Internet experts have decided that models have a natural born right to free photos.

•  the concept of TF* has been distorted and corrupted to such a degree by the concept of ¨internet modelling¨, that very few newcomers actually know what TF* actually means any more.

•  girls use the term ¨model¨ loosely to get free pictures to impress their Facebook friends, with no intention of becoming models.

No legitimate photographer has a problem if a girl decides during or after her first shoot that modelling is not for her...after all that is a prime reason for a first folio shoot...but if a photographer is used by a time wasting wannabe,  it is a completely different matter: and professional photogaphers do talk amongst themselves.

( I myself have been almost ´burned´ twice in recent months; a girl wanted foliopics ...I think she was quite relieved that the pictures she was under orders from your boyfriend to do, although a valid branch of the industry, would never be done during a legitimate folio shoot..
The other girl was simply testing whether her ¨posing techniques´ would still have an effect after a few years away from the dating game, but why she picked a jaded, useless old git like me to try out her ´charms´ is beyond me.)

So if you are a model who would benefit from a TF* folio shoot, make certain that you impress your chosen photographer with genuine enthusiasm, dedication, and at least the promise of ability.

Also keep in mind if setting up a folio shoot is too easy, too cheap, or too expensive , especially if ¨photographers¨ are leaping at the chance to get a totally unknown and inexperienced girl in front of their camera) the results from the shoot will probably be of little or no use to you in the long run


https://www.facebook.com/groups/645731338825617/
https://www.facebook.com/thedefinitearticlephotography
http://publicize.me/definitearts
https://www.pond5.com/artist/definitearts