Model Portfolio: tips please...

This week, I'm doing a photoshoot with a would-be model. She's young and has a lovely smile, to give you the most needed background info, and she thinks about a career in modelling. Therefore she needs a portfolio but at this time lacks the money to pay for it. So I offered to give it a try. Though I'm used to put people in front of the camera and make the best out of it, this is my first experience with making a portfolio. Therefore I've compiled a list of questions that may seem silly to you, but I really would appreciate your help. Thanks in advance!

1. Preparation
- do I *need* to offer a "model release" or other contract? (makes things so formal)
- what do I tell the model to do for her preparation?
- I'll take her through the plan for the fotoshoot: poses, clothes, locations. Good idea of waste of time?
- special preparations needed for my equipment?

2. The fotoshoot itself
- duration of each sequence: about 30 minutes with 5 min breaks in between?
- number of sequences: about 6 or 7?
- background: unimportant, white, black, structured?
- any poses/clothes/location​s that are a "must" for a portfolio?
- both in-house and outdoor sequences?
- tips for using my equipment? (I'm used to P-mode with walk through EV - will use my speedlite all the time, plan to use mainly Tamron 28-75 f/2.8, but also try Canon 70-200 f/4L and Canon 50 f/1.8)

3. Afterwards
- tips for choosing the best shots? (f.ex. is sharpness always the top requirement? what are the other requirements a model

bureau uses to determine if the photo/girl is OK or not?)
- size of the pictures: 20x30cm (about A4-size) or smaller?
- matte or glossy finish? (I usually work with matte)
- colour or B&W? (I read that it's better not to mix them up)
- number of pictures: one per shoot, about 10-12 in total
- also include a CD with a digital portfolio?
- what other info to include (model's name, contact data,...)?
- standard black paper as background with semitransparant paper in between is OK?

Any other tips welcome!

Read this book.

Wow! Short & to the point. The book isn't expensive either. Thanks, Tim.

if this is TFP / TFCD, then yes, get a release form, that way you can sell the image later if you want.

have the model be ready to shoot or close to ready to shoot when she arives, have her hair / make up done already. i strongly suggest having her use a mua, or have an mua on set to do when she gets there

its a good idea to have structure to your shoots, but be very open to anything. if you have really high expectations in your head for locations and poses, you could end up disapointing yourself and missing some great shots because you had tunnel vision. you need to capture the model

for your gear, make sure you have your batteries charged, spares, memory cards, image tank (if you have one), lenses, filters, hoods, flash, omni-bounce, lens clothes, rocket air blower, flash bracket. don't overpack,

2. The fotoshoot itself
- duration of each sequence: about 30 minutes with 5 min breaks in between?
- number of sequences: about 6 or 7?
- background: unimportant, white, black, structured?
- any poses/clothes/location​s that are a "must" for a portfolio?
- both in-house and outdoor sequences?
- tips for using my equipment? (I'm used to P-mode with walk through EV - will use my speedlite all the time, plan to use mainly Tamron 28-75 f/2.8, but also try Canon 70-200 f/4L and Canon 50 f/1.

there is no set duration. shoot until you think you have the shot, compose each one and don't overshoot. take a break whenever the model wants to, do not force her to work longer or hold poses longer then she wants, it will show in their body language in the photos

backgrounds - is this studio or location? in either case, this is a model porfolio shoot, not an architecture or art shoot... fill the frame w/ the model. the background should compliment her, not overpower her

in house and outside? sure... if you can get outside 1.5 hrs before the sun sets and use a fill flash you'll get some great results... or if its an overly cloudy day, you will have god's softbox

lenses - generally speaking, a portrait lens is 70-135mm in lenght... so id shoot w/ the 70-200 f/4 as much as you can. i'd also try to get away from P mode and shoot more in apreture priority and shoot wide open, to get a nice bokeh effect. the 50mm f/1.8 will do this, but might not be as pleasing due to its short focal length... don't be afraid to shoot that long lens @ 200mm either

tips - go w/ your gut instinct for shots first... post some here and on other forums and ask for honest feedback...

if you are printing for the model, 8x10 or 8x12 is generally standard...

matte

color / bw - you choose base on what you think looks better, some of each is ok

number of photos is something you need to work out w/ the model

cd? again, work that out w/ the model. id give one or the other, a cd w/ print ready AND web ready files or a few prints and she can buy more if she needs

Mike, thanks for the answer. We had a first try yesterday so I can now appreciate your tips better The 70-200 worked well, especially for the outdoor shots. I shot more than half in Av mode and that too worked well. Definitely the way to go.

I've uploaded a few pictures here, chosen together with the model herself: http://www.aboriginemu​ndi.com/nicky/

Two questions for all topic readers:
1) Feedback/tips welcome, though there are a few weaknesses I already discovered (mostly to do with shadows, the real hard part of model photography).
2) please pick the best picture and tell me the number. (her favorite is 8407)

Thanks,

PeteR.

I could've said more, but the book will say more, and better, than I possibly could.

Pretty girl, they're all nice photos. But, I think 8353, 8372, 8415, 8427, and 8522 are my picks for the five best.

they seem underexposed to me - could be the crappy lcd monitor im on at work, which is likely the case... however i also think you could fill the frame a bit more, theres a lot of dead space going on

are you familiar w/ the rule of thirds as well?

Regarding those photos, some things stand out:
- Flat, boring lighting. Try to get some shadows across the face, it makes the photo more interesting. Did you use a flash? Ideally use a couple of flashes at least.
- Fill the frame. Get closer, then closer again.
- Focus is off on many of the photos. Focus on the eyes.
- Beware of your backgrounds. There are a few with trees growing out of her head. Also brown hair and a brown background means she blends in, try to go for backgrounds that are different colors and/or brightnesses. Alternately use a hair light.
- Use photoshop to remove blemishes on her face, and to clean up the white backgrounds that have marks on them.
- Again, don't underestimate the importance of lighting.
- The makeup needs work IMHO.
- Have a thumbnailed gallery, and have less photos in it I think, it's too much trouble for most people to go thru them all.
- If you're trying to show her off as an attractive young girl, work on the clothes - probably tighter, different clothes
- Read this book.
- Remove the almost-duplicate shots.

For a girl that young make sure you have a signed release from her and her parents. You have some nice poses in there

Hope that helps.

Mike: the underexposure could indeed be a monitor problem, I have the reverse problem here with my crappy LCD monitor at work. Concerning the dead space remark: you're right, I'll pay attention to that. The rule of thirds (or tic-tac-toe rule as we call it) is indeed something I know, but I find it difficult to keep that in mind with portraits. Need exercise...

Tim: I order the book today (when at home). Thanks for all remarks, seem very sensible to me. The reason I have these many different shots is to have people help me weed out the bad ones and get some comparisons. Up till now, a few photos seem to stick out.

PeteR.
PS. I have a second try tonight.

Phew, did de second shoot yesterday while keeping all of your advice in mind... (head about twice its normal size now ). I also updated the gallery and I now have 25 shots that need post-
processing... which ones are most worth it?

http://www.aboriginemu​ndi.com/nicky/

Tim: you'll be happy when you see the thumbnailed index page and I'm in the process of ordering the book you recommended.

Greetz,

PeteR.

1. Preparation
- do I *need* to offer a "model release" or other contract? (makes things so formal) no idea
- what do I tell the model to do for her preparation? professional makeup preferably & and bring along a bucketload of her favourite clothes (girls usually know what looks good on them)
- I'll take her through the plan for the fotoshoot: poses, clothes, locations. Good idea of waste of time? waste of time, but ask her if there is anything she'd want to do.
- special preparations needed for my equipment? a good clean maybe

2. The fotoshoot itself
- duration of each sequence: about 30 minutes with 5 min breaks in between?
- number of sequences: about 6 or 7?
- background: unimportant, white, black, structured? all!
- any poses/clothes/location​s that are a "must" for a portfolio? my favourite, back against a wall.. i have no idea why. - and maybe some sort of in-water shot.. waist high in a lake?
- both in-house and outdoor sequences? both i reckon
- tips for using my equipment? (I'm used to P-mode with walk through EV - will use my speedlite all the time, plan to use mainly Tamron 28-75 f/2.8, but also try Canon 70-200 f/4L and Canon 50 f/1.

3. Afterwards
- tips for choosing the best shots? (f.ex. is sharpness always the top requirement? what are the other requirements a model bureau uses to determine if the photo/girl is OK or not?) make a cheap online gallery with all of the ones YOU like (plus 50 more you think are 'ok') and ask people on here maybe?

- size of the pictures: 20x30cm (about A4-size) or smaller?
- matte or glossy finish? (I usually work with matte) i prefer glossy
- colour or B&W? (I read that it's better not to mix them up)
- number of pictures: one per shoot, about 10-12 in total
- also include a CD with a digital portfolio? good idea
- what other info to include (model's name, contact data,...)?
- standard black paper as background with semitransparant paper in between is OK?

i'm not a pro, so i don't know how helpful i can be, but once you look at the shots, i'm fairly sure you would be able to tell which do her justice, and which don't. - keep in mind, you're showing her off - not your photography skills.

hope i helped if even a little bit.

oh, sorry, i jumped straight into replying without reading it all
HAHA

*reads thread AGAIN a bit more*
2 5 and 10 will look great with some hard yards in post processing - they're already my pick of the bunch.

if you're going for another shoot, try number 20 again, in more suggestive clothes, and a different background - i really like the pose.

10 was also her favorite and comes out n° 1 with other people as well...

Suggestions for "hard yard in post processing"? They're welcome... TIA.

P.