Guidance needed

kelack

kelack

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Kelly
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A friend of mine's girlfriend texted me today to ask if I could do her portfolio as she wants to take it to some model agencies. She said she'd pay me for it but I wouldn't know how much to charge?

Where do I start? :thinking: Do I need studio and all that? :thinking:

:help:
 
First thing to find out is what she wants exactly. I'd say for her to have any kind of decent chance the shots need to be top notch (unless she's stunning) so proper lighting setup and a large enough space so that you're not cramped.
 
With a question like 'Where do I start' I'd say the answer is you don't bother

There are plenty of well equipped younger studios around that do 'TFP' or 'TFCD', meaning, they don't charge you as their model and give you either prints or a cd of your images. What they are doing is practising & building their own portfolio; you're helping them & they you

A pal of mine does this in north London and he's great at it with a fully equipped studio; another pal of mine in Sheffield has actors sent to him from their London agencies for their portfolio! Weird eh! The point is, you need to be good at it

But to get ahead (pun) as a model, you really do need good images, so anyone wondering what to do is very unlikely to produce anything near good enough

I don't intend this as a way of cramping your photographic journey, but it'd be a shame for a budding model to not have it done properly when it can be had for free

Steep says it all - proper lighting setup and large enough space to get top-notch images takes time, experience and serious investment

Oh, and some TFP/TFCD characters can be a bit... odd... so make sure she has a big pal with her just in case!
 
it'd be a shame for a budding model to not have it done properly when it can be had for free
Click to expand...

I wont put you off doing this as I think it'd be a good opportunity for you but I don't think you should charge for this due to your lack of experience (unless you are 100% sure that you can deliver a pro standard portfolio for her)
I do however think that it'd be a great opportunity for you to further develop your portfolio & that you should jump at the chance.
After all, if the images are not good enough then she can go to someone else for it to be done for free as Dave suggested.
See if you can arrange a "pay if you are happy with the shots" style thing just to get some experience - that way neither of you lose out, she gets some time in front of the camera & you get the portfolio work to further progress from.

Do you have your own studio setup/flashes/reflectors, etc? (I'm presuming not) - Your on location skills are going to have to be spot on imho for you to get the best results.

Good luck :thumbs:
 
Thanks for your comments. Taken on board :D

Yes, maybe the question was a bit stupid - where do I start - reading retospectively, I should have thought before I spoke (something I get told most of the time :lol: )

I think I will tell her about these studios and as her boyfriend and boyfriend's Dad are big burly rugby players, I think they're big enough to look after her :D

In the back of my mind, I probably needed someone to tell me it wasn't a good idea for me to do it as sometimes I get a bit carried away. Although a friend did ask me to do their wedding photos and I said no cos of my lack of experience so maybe I can say no!

I have no specialist equipment and no studio as you rightly assumed so now, thinking about it, no, I couldn't do pro quality stuff.

Phew, glad I came on here now, would have hated to lose a friend by his girlfriend feeling obliged to say my pics were good when they were really crap :lol:

Great help - thanks muchly :)
 
And thanks for being honest by the way - there's no cramping my journey or putting me off as if I didn't want to get honest answers or only hear what I wanted to hear, I wouldn't have asked in the first place.
 
Cheers - we live by a country park so might do that, then I can stick the on DVD for her I suppose - no charges necessary :o)
 
Yep they can spot potential, sometimes - then they send them to a Pro to have them reshot in the format they want

Check out my pal's site, example here http://www.enigma-photos.com/expose/expose.html for what TFCD can give you

The park shots are nice shots, but look like someone with an idea of photography's taken them of their girlfriend, but not in the same league, IMHO, as a Pro modelling shoot would do; and first impressions count in modelling more than most

I'm not suggesting a Pro here so anyone can earn money, just a few years experience and several £thou of lighting gear in a controlled environment give anyone a better chance of looking good, then there's the retouching skills to add in too! I'm sure we all know no models actually look like they do in mags these days

If you do whisk her off to a park, try to get a small reflector to take with you (about 3ft square should be enough) to throw light back into her face - even a big bit of cardboard painted white on one side and folded for ease will help - oh, and a mate to carry & hold it is even better!

Good luck
 
Purely my opinion of course but, I would tell the girl in question to get some studio shots taken AND have some natural/outdoor minimal/no make-up shots taken by you.

From what I gather, for a model starting out, she needs a port with nothing more than a few strong images showing her as she is, certainly not what clever lighting/processing can do for her, as potential clients need to see the blank canvass.
Obviously some full bodyshots and some headshots with some variation in facial expressions.

Maybe you could offer to do some headshots, if she uses them great, if not, still good practice ... what have you got to lose?


Btw, Carole... your sons girlfriend is gorgeous!:thumbs:
 
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