Makeover Vs Portfolios

Help! I've Spent a Fortune For Nothing!

That's something we hear all too often from girls who want to be models.

A whole industry has grown up to exploit those who want to be models but are tragically ignorant about how to start.

If you read some of my earlier posts on the subject of photography for a models portfolio or index cards, then you'll know there are good reasons to invest some time and money in getting pictures that are just right for you.

The problem is, there are a lot of companies who will tell you they can provide high quality photos for your portfolio when actually the work they do, though okay in it's own way, is simply not suitable for that specialised purpose.

In a nutshell, if anyone says to you that they will provide a 'makeover' service for a portfolio, you should run straight for the door! Let me explain why...

Photographs for your portfolio are meant to show you - your look, your versatility and your style. The whole idea of a portfolio shoot is to bring out the best of you, not to hide you. A little image softening or perhaps some light retouching is reasonable but you must be 100% recognisable as yourself. It may be a slightly more glamorous version of the everyday you, but certainly not to the extent that you are hidden.

A makeover hides the real you. Makeup and effects are so artificial that even those close to you will find it hard to recognise you. How can any agency or client assess whether you are suitable for a job if they can't see you properly?

It gets worse. Makeover style services are usually expensive. That's not to say that the charges are unreasonable for the service they provide, just that you don't need or want that. In fact it's the opposite of what you need, yet you'll probably spend a small fortune on it.

That's just crazy.

Now, I'll be 100% upfront here. We at gibsonsphoto.co.uk do provide both portfolio services for models and makeover and personal glamour services, too. We also provide specialised glamour portfolio services and even run a well-respected annual free-to-enter model contest. The point is, we would never tell a modelling hopeful to book a makeover. It might be more profitable for us to do that, but makeovers and personal glamour sessions are strictly for personal fun and enjoyment. Portfolio shoots are for business.

Here's a plan

Let's say you have allocated a budget of £1000 to get your modelling career of the ground. It's not an unreasonably huge sum, in fact it's a tiny amount to invest in a small business, which is how you need to think of yourself.

If that £1000 is meant to cover the cost of a portfolio shoot, making up a book and maybe printing some index cards (though they can wait until you need them to send to clients) as well as making sure you look fit, tanned and healthy, it will disappear like snow on a summer's day. You could easily spend half of it just on train and taxi fares if you have to visit a dozen or more agencies on a few different days.

Go for a makeover session and you'll easily blow that £1000 in one go on pictures that will be useless to you.

Instead, find a professional photographer who is experienced in portfolio work and happy to spend time experimenting with you photographically. He or she may well have thoughts about the type of pictures which would suit you, but you also have to make some decisions about the types of work you want to do. Enter a free modelling contest such as our own London ModelGirl.

If you and your photographer work well together, you may even be able to negotiate a time-for-print or time-for-cd type of deal where you get practice, experience and lots of pictures for free while your photographer gets to try out new photo ideas of his own with you. You'll have less say in the types of pictures that way, but maybe you'll discover new things you would not otherwise have thought of, too.

The point is, you should be aim to have several full sessions in the studio of a couple of hours each, just playing with ideas. See what you enjoy doing and what looks good. Don't expect to get more than a few good pictures from each session, though you might if you work well together.

An experienced professional should be able to advise you on the best ways to hold yourself, improving the appearance of your limbs and body. He or she should be able to help build your confidence and draw out the model inside you.

Oddly enough, this is exactly where a portrait photographer will be much better than someone who usually just deals with professional models.

Many fashion and editorial photographers find it very hard indeed to work with inexperienced models. The big names are often hopeless with ordinary people.

An experienced portrait photographer is much more likely to have both the patience and the people skills to help you make the transition from beginner to experienced model.

But what you don't want is a makeover. That's a completely pointless waste of time and money which won't give you any opportunity to explore your own style and certainly won't give you any usable pictures for your portfolio.

To explore your modelling options at a reasonable cost, just visit us at gibsonsphoto.co.uk/portfolio or the London Glamour Studio.