Test Shoots
Whether you are working with a modeling agency or working freelance you will need photos - photos for your composite, portfolio, and web presence. With a modeling agency, they may try to help you find test shoots. Working independently, you will have to track down your own test shoots. Test shoots or testing has become a generic term for photographic shoots where a model acquires photographs to use for the model's promotional materials.
You have two basic goals when doing test shoots. One is to get good quality photos as fast as you can to start getting work. The better quality (more professional and creative) photos you have in your portfolio the better paying jobs you will get. The second is to get experience in front of the camera and learning how to find your way around a studio or location shoot.
Test Shoots - Advice for Models
My definition of a Test Shoot (also refereed to as a photographer's test shoot and Time For Prints [TFP] shoot) is when a photographer wants to try out a new creative idea, test some new equipment or film, wants to build the photographer's portfolio, or just wants to practice and figure out how to take pictures, he sets up a photo session. In the case of a fashion or people photographer he needs a warm body to put in front of the lens. This is where the volunteer model comes in. This can work out well for both parties. The photographer does not want to pay for a model and the model does not want to pay for a photographer, so by trading services both get images for their portfolio and gain experience. In some cases the photographer might give you a couple of prints for your services, in other cases you may have to pay for prints. In all cases you will not get the original and don't even ask to borrow them.
A Need for Photos
Whether you are able to track down free test shoots or have to pay for photo shoots as a wannabe model you will have to have photos. You also have to have experience working in front of the camera. The photos are needed for your marketing materials - portfolio, comp card, and web site. The experience in front of the camera is how you truly learn to be a model. During your first few photo shoots you may be just trying to get comfortable in front of the camera. As you do more shoots you will pickup how to move, how to work in the light, how to hit your mark, and the routine of a studio. After you have 30 to 50 shoots you will have a handle on working in front of a camera. At this point you become a valuable asset to a shoot and no longer a wannabe. It always amazes me how modeling schools offer to train you to be a model but either never or maybe one time put you in front of a camera. Regional modeling agencies send models out on test shoots to gain experience and build a portfolio. That is how they start and train the top professional models. Tracking down test shoots is essential for a beginning model. |
