How to book a professional model for a photoshoot

(in a reply to one of the questions from IG)

1. You need a portfolio. If you don't have a single picture to show, nobody will accept your invitation even if you offer thousands of dollars (literally happened to me yesterday)

What to do if you don't have a relevant portfolio but still want to work with models.

• Start with photographing your friends/family/acquaintances in a similar style to one you plan to work in later with a professional model.
• Sign up for photo events, meetups, private couchings, lectures and courses. If you have no budget, meetups are great to start cause it lets both photographers and models with no experience practice with each other for free. Also you can find TFP models online in local facebook groups etc.

2. after you get a portfolio, it's time to book a model. What do you need to mention in the first message:

• Who are you, the link to your portfolio and photography-related social media, and the city where you plan to organize a photoshoot? How many hours do you plan to book, and what style are you looking for (show some photo examples ideally). If the photoshoot requires some special skills (smoking? flexibility? not being allergic to specific animals? swimming?), please mention it in the first message. A few more things that can be useful for a model to know - what kind of a location you plan to use and is it difficult to get there, how many people will be at the set, do you expect a model to prepare her own look or someone will be hired for it. Is the photoshoot commercial or you plan to use the photos only for your portfolio.
• Money. It is crucial to mention if you are contacting the model for a TFP project or intend to pay for her skills. Many times, models reply with their rates only to find out that they deeply offended a photographer who was offering an unpaid collaboration. Please never play a mysterious person and mention it in the first message. If it is a paid booking, you can ask a model for her rates or mention your budget for this photoshoot; both ways are acceptable.

3. what does not need to be mentioned in the first message. The entire pitch of a photoshoot, your artistic intentions, symbolism, plot, literally anything creative - this will be discussed after you get a positive reply to your request.

Anything negative about the model's portfolio, experience, and taste. Some people choose a strategy like "your portfolio is not good enough, let me photograph you better," yet they are surprised models are not replying to their requests.

Also, on behalf of all models, I want to advise you not to get offended if you don't get a reply even though you wrote a perfectly friendly and professional email. Most traveling models do all the admin work on their own, so sometimes, some emails/DMs remain unnoticed. If you don't get a reply within 2-3 days, send your message again. If there is still no reply - there might be many reasons why, but don't take it personally. In a modeling world, no reply is considered a polite way of saying no.

Let me know if it was helpful! :)

Photo: IG @sicksyn