How to submit pictures to agencies

Almost every agency in the world asks you to submit basic digitals rather than portfolio pictures. It sounds easy right? But the thing that we don’t tell you is that we are super judgmental on “how” you take those basic digitals. As basic as they are there is a science to it. If you don’t take them correctly, you may miss out on your chance to be discovered. Agents are sometimes too busy to help each person get it right. They are more apt to delete and move to the next person. This is how you do it.

When shooting indoors, the light source should be behind the photographer taking the picture.

Model should be fresh face and wearing an outfit that is form fitting, showing their proportions and body shape clearly. The outfit should not have a lot of graphics or pattern distracting the viewer from the model itself.

Model should stand straight and tall highlighting the length of their body.

No posing necessary. No heavy makeup or heavily product’d hair. The objective is to show your face naturally and your proportions.

You should always take a headshot, both profiles and a full length, with 3/4 shots also being helpful. The most important thing you can do is have great natural lighting.

You should never use a flash, or shoot with the light behind or directly down on a model.

When shooting outdoors, you should never shoot in the middle of the day such such as 12pm or 1pm when the sun is high or it will create shadows over the models face distorting their features. Always shoot first thing in the morning or end of day like 5pm.

Once you have the basic shots, you are allowed to go outside the rules a bit as far as stances. The most important thing is being able to get an idea of the body shape. Notice her arms and long legs being showcased, in addition to showing the model’s neckline.