Getting Started As a Model

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Getting Started As A Model

“People are always telling me I should be a model.”

“I love having my picture taken: I’d like to try modeling.”

Comments like this are very commonly heard in online photography circles, and offline, too. I wrote this article to answer a few of the more common questions and concerns about getting started as a model, and provide a little guidance to your first steps toward becoming one. It’s a very brief and introductory piece: there are lots of entire books about modeling. This is just to give you a few ideas.

Hey, I think I could be a model...

Well, then, you probably could. Somebody out there would be overjoyed to take your picture. More than one somebody. I absolutely, positively guarantee it.

That being said, let’s do a quick reality check. Attractiveness is subjective, but if your features aren’t symmetric and fairly pleasing to the eye, or you’re morbidly obese or pathologically thin, the people who want to take your picture are going to have some fairly specific reasons for wanting to do so and you may not like them. That’s just how it is. It’s not pleasant, but nobody said this was going to be easy. If you can’t deal with that, then forget about modeling. For that matter, if you can’t honestly evaluate your physical faults and discuss them with other people, then forget about modeling. Personality shines through in good models, but never forget that what you are offering as a model is your physical appearance. All else is secondary. You don’t have to be Helen of Troy, you don’t have to have perfect 36-24-36 measurements, you don’t have to have long beautiful hair and startling green eyes. But you do have to have an appearance that a reasonable number of potential viewers will find appealing enough to look at the photograph and achieve whatever its goal is, be it advertising, editorial enhancement, artistic vision, or whatever. If you can’t honestly evaluate your physical appearance, or you’re not comfortable with the idea of other people evaluating and, yes, judging your physical appearance, then forget about modeling.

The other important thing which many people don’t know about modeling is that it is a job. It’s hard work! You have to act professional, even if you’re just an amateur, or you will quickly find that there are no shoots for you. You have to show up when you say you will, you have to stay as long as it takes to get the job done, and you have to be able to take direction well. You need patience, humor, and enthusiasm. If you’re easily bored, don’t like being told what to do – although of course you don’t have to be a doormat – or can’t display animation and interest when you’d actually rather be home in bed, then forget about modeling. It can be great fun, it can be very rewarding, and you can make very good money. Most of the photographers and models I’ve met have been wonderful people and I’ve enjoyed being around them. But you have to be able to deal with the parts where it’s not fun, not rewarding, and you’re doing TFP or low hourly rate work to get experience, pay your dues and build your portfolio and smile, smile, smile! If you can’t do that, then forget about modeling.

But if you can, then read on!

Well, I think I could be a model, but I’m too short/tall/fat/thin/ethnic/...

First, the bad news. Some types of modeling do have pretty rigorous requirements. For instance, runway fashion models need to be tall and preferably slender. If you’re not at least 5'7" or more, the odds of your getting work doing runway fashion are not good. There are exceptions – Kate Moss, for instance, is only 5'6". But exceptions do not disprove rules. Modern haute couture show-fashion is designed to look good on tall, slender models (although this is changing.) If you aren’t tall and slender, the clothes won’t look good on you. If the clothes don’t look good on you, the designers won’t want you to wear them. That’s life. It’s nothing personal.

Now the good news. Runway fashion is a tiny, tiny fraction of all the modeling work in the world. Think about it: which do you see more often, pictures of Tyra Banks in a New York fashion show, or pictures of attractive people in everyday settings doing fairly ordinary things to try to get you to buy something or otherwise catch your interest? Commercial, print, casual and editorial work, let alone glamour and art photography, constantly require a huge number of interesting, attractive people of all shapes and sizes for modeling duties. And in today’s market-driven, targeted advertising world, every advertiser with a customer base – tall, short, fat, thin, ethnic, you name it – tries to appeal to its target demographic by using models who look like them, only maybe just a little more attractive. Unless you’re a Martian, whatever you look like, somebody out there is trying to get the attention of people who might identify with you, and will be glad to use your image to do it. (And if you are a Martian, your modeling career should be fairly easy to establish, but that’s beyond the scope of this article.)

Some other potential problems:

I’m only (some age less than 18).

Not a problem, just something which has to be kept in mind. Your parents will need to sign your model releases, and be actively involved in every facet of your work. They, or a legal guardian, should be on hand for every shoot. If a photographer has a problem with this, you have a problem with that photographer. Stay away from them. That being said, if your mom makes a nuisance of herself to the photographer, it’s not going to look good. Have a talk with your parents. See how they feel. If they think they can work with you, then go for it. If not, then you'll have to wait a while. There’ll be plenty of time later.

I live in a small town out in the middle of nowhere.

Well, that’s a problem, all right. It can be hard to find a lot of photographers in such an area. But take heart. Odds are you live only an hour or two from a reasonably sized town or city. Photographers are much more common than you might suppose. Check the Yellow Pages for your nearest large town or city. Use an Internet talent search. You’ll find somebody. And once you get good, people will come looking for you.

What about modeling schools?

Now, I, personally, have never attended a modeling school. So this is just my opinion. But I have worked with a few models who have, and I have talked with many other models who have. So far as I can tell, what they do is try to turn you into a runway fashion model. Specifically, they teach you not to smile and to move in a certain highly controlled way. Runway fashion models are basically animated mannequins: the focus is supposed to be on the clothes, not the model, so it only makes sense that the model would try to make herself as unobtrusive as possible. And, if you want to be a runway fashion model and nothing else, that’s fine.

However, as we already saw, this is a pretty limited area of modeling. And for any other area, these are exactly the traits you do not want. It is very difficult to take a good casual or glamour shot of a model who will not smile and who does not look comfortable in her environment! Modeling schools, at least the ones I am familiar with, are not greatly helpful in becoming a general model who is attractive to photographers. If you really want to learn to move and to project different presences, take some acting classes or a dancing class. Some modeling schools also provide lessons on makeup and/or beauty regimens. You can learn all that from a good book much more cheaply, or go to a makeup class at a cosmetology school.

As an aside, let me note that I consider the fees which modeling schools charge to be nothing short of rapacious. That is, again, purely my opinion. Given the lack of practical value I have found they provide models – and the frankly dreadful “test shots” I have seen them include as part of the deal – I can’t imagine why anybody would want to use one.

Okay, so then how do I get started?

First, you need some photographs. Good photographs. Unless you are really stunning, really broke, and really impatient, or you’re looking for erotic/adult work, don’t even bother with webcams or cheap consumer digital cameras. Likewise bad scans of 4x6 snapshots. And never, ever use a picture of yourself with somebody else in it, especially if you’re standing behind them. Photographers find this maddening. We want to see you. We are not interested in your friend or your prom date, especially if all we can see of you is what is projecting out from behind your friend or your prom date.

If you have a friend who has a good digital camera, or a good scanner and you have some good film shots of yourself, that’s a start. You need, at a minimum, a picture that shows your face well and a picture that shows your general body shape well. Find a simple, uncluttered background. Make sure you are well lit and none of your face is in shadow. Look at online portfolios, find poses which you think would flatter you, and copy them, if you like. Take a well-framed, level photograph which doesn’t have a lot of empty space all around you, with a simple, pleasant expression. You can click here to see some samples of agency submission guidelines and photos.

Using a friend to take your starter pictures is okay if it’s all you can manage, but it’s better to find an experienced photographer. If you can afford it, hire a professional to do two or three “looks” for you. (A “look” is a set of pictures with a given outfit and makeup combination.) Pick the professional by reviewing their work, and not just whatever they have hanging in the studio window. Anybody can get lucky once. You want to look at their portfolio and see consistently good output. Make sure you have a written agreement with them that says you can use the pictures for self-promotion - even if you’re paying the photographer, they still own the copyrights and you have to have their permission to publish the photos in any way.

If you can’t afford a professional, find someone who will work with you “TFP.” (You can read more about TFP by clicking here.) This is an arrangement where you get free prints and/or digital pictures and in exchange, the photographer gets photographs they can use in their own portfolios – it’s a trade. You should still find a photographer who can produce consistently good pictures, just as if you were hiring a pro. Some amateurs are amateurs only in that they don’t make a living with photography and have the equipment and expertise to provide excellent pictures. Don’t be afraid to give one a try.

Wherever you get your pictures, go over them closely. Make sure you aren’t blinking, your makeup’s not smudged, your head and limbs aren’t cut off, and so on. They don’t have to be perfect but they should not have any flaws which draw the eye and distract from you, the model. Now it’s time to start marketing yourself. Self-promotion could be (and is) the subject of entire books, but here are a few pointers. The easiest, fastest, and cheapest way to start is to find a good online model portfolio site. I use GlamourOne, One Model Place, and ModelMayhem and can recommend them, but there are many others. You can use as many or as few as you wish. Get signed up – most of them have a free or low-cost option for beginners, which you can later upgrade. Set up your portfolio – make sure your pictures are showing up properly, your information is correct, and your text is well-written. (If you’re not good at writing or spelling, get someone who is to proofread it.) Post welcome messages in the site's forum for such things, if it has them. When you start getting inquiries, respond to them promptly and professionally. Search for photographers in your area whose work you like and contact them with an offer to do a test shoot or TFP session. Follow through on any offers you get or offers you make.

I want to be a “real” model, not an Internet model.

By “real” model, you probably mean that you want to do print and/or television work, or that you want a more involved marketing strategy than getting on an online portfolio site. Let me note that lots of models who make their living from modeling get a great deal of their work from online marketing, and you can certainly be a “real” model and have an online presence. In fact, it’s hard to be a real model and not have an online presence these days. And doing online work is a good way to build up your portfolio.

If you want to use more conventional marketing approaches, then you’ll need to find an agency. There are lots and lots and LOTS of modeling agencies. Some are good and some are indifferent and some, quite frankly, are huge scams. Ask around. See who represents the models in your area. Check with the Better Business Bureau. If an agency wants money from you, other than a <i>nominal</i> fee for pictures, that’s a big blinking warning sign. Clients pay agencies, models don’t pay agencies. Other than that, I really can’t say much about modeling agencies since I don’t use them very much.

Finally, if you mean, “I want to be a rich and famous supermodel,” sorry, can’t help you. That’s a combination of hard work and good luck. The harder you work, the luckier you’ll be. So work hard and good luck!

Further Information

Models interested in working with me should refer to my Model Info page. There is also a link to a sample Model Release on that page. I provide a limited number (usually 5 to 10) of large (up to 11"x14") printed Portfolio Images and a reasonable number (usually at least 10% of total usable images) of digital Promotional Images. These are retouched final images suitable for portfolio use, competition submission, or any other standard portfolio application. I do not give out RAW images or layered files. If you have further questions, or comments on this article, please feel free to send me an e-mail.

Email me at stmarc@unspeakabledreams.com if you have any further questions.