headshots in dc for actors and models

long hours at the makeup chair and hairstylist

when you see models in fancy designer clothes strut their stuff on the runway, it’s easy to fancy it’s all glitter. modeling is viewed like no more than fun activity that makes a lot of money. an aspiring model often suffers a lot of hardships before she gets represented by an agency. like any business, modeling requires work. as an independent contractor she must manage her professional activity as a business.

though fashion merchandisers are the ones who hire models, they only deal with models through agencies. so an aspiring model must first seek agency representation. agencies are in the business of making money. the model is in the business of making money. if an agency agrees to represent a model, that’s because she is marketable. the agency will incur upfront costs in trying to promote a new model. it’s in their interest to make sure that the new model has the potential of a good return on their investment. the model as a self-employed business person, should have good business sense. observing certain rules of business is the best guarantee of success. before the model gets represented, she needs to sell herself to the agencies. enter the photographer.

long photo shoots with impossible poses

though there are some notable cases of models being discovered in most unlikely places, usually models do need to send their pictures to agencies. the photographer is in the business of taking pictures to make money. many models are contacting photographers to take pictures tfp/tfcd (time for prints/time for cd respectively), a barter system that has its merits and its drawbacks. the merit is that if the photographer wants to test some ideas, he may want to find a model who’s not charging him and accept pictures in exchange for her portfolio. in each barter system the parties involved receive something of value. the drawback is if a model has very little value to offer an established photographer, she may only find unskilled photographers willing to work with her. inversely, an established model will not likely consider working with an unproven photographer.

for an aspiring model, before looking for photographers, one act of common sense is to have a conversation with her mirror. taking a hard look at oneself is a good start to evaluating one’s potentials. there are magazines that set the standard for fashion. vogue is one of them. getting a copy of a fashion magazine, looking at the models who grace the pages and asking oneself ‘what is it that these girls have that I don’t have?’ may be a natural next step. after determining you have what it takes, you’re off to a good start.