Starting a modeling portfolio: Gretchen’s three-look session
A couple weeks ago, Gretchen came to my studio in Provo because she’s interested in modeling and needed solid, professional images she can use to approach local modeling agencies. For someone just getting started, the goal isn't simply to make one great portrait, but rather, to make a collection of photographs that show some of a person’s range and to give casting directors an accurate idea of who will walk in the room if they’re called in for an audition.
We have a few options for actor and modeling headshots and Gretchen chose the option that includes three looks. We tried three different wardrobe options and three different backgrounds to get a good amount of variety.
What Does A Beginning Modeling Portfolio Need?
If you're in the same boat as Gretchen and interested in cooking up your own first modeling portfolio, it’s likely that you aren’t going to need a huge amount of images, like, dozens and dozens. It might make more sense to have a smaller group of strong, varied images. That tends to be more useful than if you have a large collection that are all really similar, obviously from the same shoot, and pretty much all say the same thing.
When I’m doing these kinds of beginning portfolios, I try to get a good amount of variety, and I for sure want some of the images to be simple and direct. So, we’ll shoot a pretty straight-forward, head-and-shoulders portrait. That’s going to give casting directors or whoever is looking, a good sense of the person's face. After that, maybe we’ll back up and get some full body images. At some point in there, we’ll do a wardrobe change.
But most of all, what I’m digging deep to get and why most folks that come here give as their reason for doing so, is in addition to good variety, what I really want is for the image to not only look like the person themselves, but that it also feels like what it is like to hang around that person. I’m trying to get their personality in the picture, too. It would be so easy to just do the same light, same pose, same distance from the camera to the subject and just repeat that person after person, but then all the pictures start to look the same no matter who comes to the studio and you never get a sense of what the person is really like.
The important thing here, is that the variety comes from the photographs themselves rather than trying to turn the subject into three completely different people.
The word headshot covers a lot of territory.
A corporate headshot, an actor's headshot and a photograph intended for a modeling portfolio can all be framed fairly closely, but they don't necessarily need to feel the same.
For a beginning model, I'm less interested in creating something that looks overly polished or heavily retouched. I’m more interested in making a strong picture that will give an agency or casting director an accurate sense of the person. Good lighting, expression, styling and direction matter.
The objective isn't to make someone unrecognizable. It's to photograph them really well.
If you're an actor or a model in Utah and need a modeling portfolio you can see more of my work here, or give me a jingle and let’s talk about how I can help you best.
