Being able to work with a reliable group of modeling agencies has been essential in building up a lifestyle portfolio for me and provided a lot of fun in the process. If photographing models and working with modeling agencies while developing a commercial portfolio is something that interests you, there are a few things you’ll want to consider before you can reliable shoot a comp card and establish relationships with agencies in your area.
If you don’t have much lifestyle or fashion work in your book (some senior portraits may work but family photos definitely will not) then you’ll need to start building up a base of work before reaching out to an agency. It takes an agency time to call their models and find someone available to test, in addition to the fact that they put their reputation on the line by sending someone to you, so don’t expect them to start working with you right out the gate. I’d recommend starting on a site like Model Mayhem, which will allow you to start building a book on a trade basis. As your images get better, the talent you work with will too. Keep fueling this train (it may take a few months, a year or two years depending on the effort you put in) before you’re ready to meet with an agency.
While you start building a portfolio, he’s a few things you may find helpful. Check your wedding, engagement and family portrait post processing effects at the door. When it comes to commercial images, these cutesy or arty effects really don’t hold much weight. If you’re aiming for a commercial look in your book, then you might want to consider keeping it simple on your post production. Fashion work can go many ways. You can add some surrealistic looks and tinting to your images, or keep it very minimalistic. The thing to remember is where you may have skirted by in family work by covering up mistakes with a processing effect, in commercial work it’s all about the right light. No amount of processing is going to cover that up to someone with a trained eye.
Compiling images that speak to your vision is critically important. You need to be building a style that shows who you are as a unique artist. However, don’t forget to curate photos that a model would include in their book. I’ve got a few images that are my favorites for my own book, but I wouldn’t include them in a visual to an agency because the model may be a distant part of a scene or is spinning with only hair visible. Those are great abstracts for my book, but useless for a model who needs to show their features to be considered for castings.
Establish a network of make-up artists, hair stylists and wardrobe stylists that you can trust to put out consistently reliable work. Again, this may be a building process as your work progresses. Don’t expect to work with the very best first, but there are a lot of great people struggling to make it into the market at the same time you are who are willing to trade work for their portfolio as well.
Determine where your shooting location(s) will be. Do you plan on doing solely studio or location work, or a mix of both? Have a few areas planned out that you’ve used before and you know how to work properly to get the best images. It’s the same principle that often applies to family and senior photographers.
So you’ve found some great locations, established a network and built up a book that you’re ready to finally take to an agency. It’s time to send out an email and request a meeting. Be flexible to the agencies schedule. If you have a book put together, be sure to bring it in. If not, ask if they’ll be ok with viewing your images on a laptop and bring that in. Check to make sure the colors and contrast aren’t way off or you may seriously dislike showing the images on there. Let the agency know that you’re a new face in the market looking to continue building a book and working with their talent.
If they’ve agreed to work with you, make sure you both can agree on a price point. This will usually include a fee for hair and make-up as well, so you’ll need to make sure you’ve budgeted that in. This is where your network comes in handy. From here, this is where the little details start playing a large roll.
I’ve found call sheets to be a tremendous asset to the agencies I work with and prepare them for every photo shoot. These are a one piece of paper that include details such as your contact information, location address, times, your stylists, the models, any wardrobe recommendations or other special requests you have. It saves the agency a lot of time when they don’t have to try and piece together information from several emails and can just send the call sheet directly to their model. Make a template sheet and plug in the details you need for each shoot. It’s well worth the quick time it takes.
On game day, be professional and polite. This rule really applies to any type of photography, so remember it! Bring a light snack and definitely some water if you’ll be shooting for longer than an hour. Photography isn’t just great images; it’s a service you’re providing.
You’ll need to put together three to four different looks for a good comp card. Each look is a different wardrobe and make-up/hair change. They don’t always have to be drastic, but they should be enough to provide some versatility for the models portfolio. If you’re not supplying wardrobe, you’ll need to feel it out when the model arrives, but also have a few ideas floating around that you can tap for almost any look.
Whew this post went on quite longer than I thought and I’m sure I missed a bunch, but hopefully this helps those of you interested in eventually working with modeling agencies and building up a commercial portfolio. Feel free to ping me any questions on Facebook.
