How To Join Top Modelling Agencies with a Portfolio Photoshoot in Sydney

How do you become a model? How do you break into the Australian modelling industry? Great questions, lets find a few answers to getting you started. There are a few different approaches you can take to make it as a model, but we have found that regardless of anything else; a great professional modelling portfolio is going to give you the edge and the best chance to break into the fashion and modelling industry. Read on below 

And here's the first reason. Model Agencies and Bookers are busy people. Yes that is 100% boring and 100% true! If you want to get their attention you need pictures that stand out too them - pictures that catch their attention in a business that is driven by pictures! That means the kind of picture they expect to see with something more - forget Instagram and the crazy creative stuff! - There will be plenty of time for that later - So why do you need straight-down-the-line pictures to get into a top model agency? Because they need clean, clear strong pictures to SEE you, YOU in capital letters with no guess work required. No one has time to guess what you look like. If they have to guess; they won't. It will just be,"next model" with good pictures that they can turn to. Your time will have already passed!!! Remember, even a Unicorn viewed from the wrong angle looks like a horses... You need to to look Unicorn-You from-the-front, at the very start, and exactly the right angle.

The  good news is my team and I have been making great looking portfolio pictures that get you unicorn noticed; for years! The kind of picture you will love and modelling agencies love too. And that is a very good thing. It is what you need. My team and I have helped a lot of attractive young people who have done photo sessions with portrait studios who do "model portfolio" pictures that were rejected. The pictures by the way were fine as portraits.. but not as model portfolio shots; and the agents agree, they are not the right stuff. What do they say, "we can't use these pictures." Portraits are not model portfolio pictures.

In today's world it's also important to put yourself out there on social media, with Instagram being the platform of choice. It is very competitive and a tough crowd so you may want to set up a modelling-only profile; so you can keep your private life private. Even if you want your IG page to look like it's your real world. There's more info, so scroll down and read on.

Next; how can we help you land a top modelling agency. By helping you be yourself. As the saying goes, "be yourself everyone else is taken!" And as true as that is, it's also helpful to work with a team that can bring out your unique qualities that can get you seen by the Modelling Industry. This is one reason we don't try to photograph you in just one hour! It takes time to make great pictures, to get to know you, your look, what makes you, you. And it's something that cannot be rushed. My portfolio shoots are from two to four hours long, I don't like to be rushed and neither should you. This is part of the approach to creating beautiful strong model portfolio pictures that get you noticed.

Talk to me to get your modelling career started today- call Kent on 0433 796 863

Of course - well maybe not of course if you don't already know. On of the biggest pictures you need for a modelling portfolio is the Headshot! The Headshot is the first hit; the hero or heroine of your comp card, your CV, your life as a model. And again, it is not a portrait! (I go into detail here)

My modelling industry ready, eye catching pictures can be the difference between getting the attention of agency bookers, talent reps and photographers looking to book models that you need. It  can be the difference between wanting to be a model and actually becoming one. I have four portfolio packages on offer and they can be customised to suit your needs. Check them out here along with a lot more shots from my modelling portfolio shoots here - www.kentjohnsonphotography.com.au/09Modelling/ModellingPortfolios.htm

Want to know what our clients think of my modelling portfolio photoshoots - Click Here to read my article Top 10 Reasons To Shoot With Kent Johnson Photography Need some tips on Headshots - Click Here and in-depth about Headshots Here. Thinking about joining the Silver Fox modelling brigade - Click Here

Talk to me about getting your modelling career started today- kent@artcommunication.com.au or call Kent on 0433 796 863!

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Kent Johnson, Sydney, Australia.

0433 796 863

kent@artcommunication.com.au

www.kentjohnsonphotography.com.au

www.fashionphotographysydney.blogspot.com/

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The Stove might be Terrific but it won't deliver Fantastic Pictures.

There is a famous anecdote about understanding creativity that still does the rounds in photography circles. The story is usually attributed to Sam Haskins of Cowboy Kate fame; he is being greeted by the host who is a great fan of his work and it's told like this.. "A photographer went to a socialite's party in New York. As he entered the front door, the host said ‘I love your pictures - they’re wonderful; you must have a fantastic camera.’ He said nothing until dinner was finished, then on leaving said to the host ‘That was a wonderful dinner; you must have a terrific stove." Continues after illustration.

Now there is nothing new in the flawed logic that it is the camera that makes the picture, even though the camera itself is an inanimate object with no mind of its own.. And that is as true of today's highly programmed digital cameras as it was of whatever film camera Sam may have chosen to create his iconic pictures with. I think we can all agree it's the chef that makes the meal, not the stove after all and the same goes for the camera; it's the photographer that makes the pictures.

So what caused this old photography anecdote to pop back into my mind? On the one hand I have been reading a fascinating book about how our brain really works, how we think and how we perceive the outside world - the world we think we see. In a nutshell we all see a lot less than we assume we do, and the brain is very very good at filling in the visual gaps on the fly.. So that's one part of why I am thinking about Sam.. And then there is the growth of online web sites for booking photography services; with the one I came across most recently referring to itself as the UBER of Photography. This site also prominently featured the stoves, I mean the cameras the photographer will make your pictures with. And I reckon brains are busy filling in some very large gaps and thinking that the camera makes the work - it doesn't.

On the surface these online photography booking systems seem attractive because they attempt to make photography into a fixed commodity, like a taxi trip from A to B or buying a new stove. Simplistic price points and deliverables (number of shots - hours worked) give an illusion of choice and that one has control. A final fixation on the camera (just one part of a photographer's tool kit) is an easy point of reference. No really it's an amateurs most obvious point of photographic reference, much easier than understanding the nature of the photoshoot itself. "What camera do you use? Nikon or Canon.." Not that it probably matters anyway. All in all you have something that feels like it should be all you need to know to take control of your marketing, and at a price point you can choose for yourself. It's a trap!

Which brings me back to how our brains work. Now I am no neuroscientist, nor am I a psychologist with a degree in marketing. I can however tell you that when I go to a life drawing group and put pencil to paper, my eyes and brain tell me I am doing well; until I need to join the last lines together to complete the picture. At that late point in time, unless I have been practising regularly I find out I am not so good a judge of what I thought I saw and what I put down on paper after all.

My brain filled in the gaps for me, but in the end, I have a gap I cannot fill, the drawing is imperfect! This is why I practice my photography every day. If not on commercial jobs, then on personal projects or just photographing things that interest me. This is also why I went to art school and assisted photographers - back in the day - who were much better than me. So I could learn to see what was really there, to reduce the brain-filled-gaps with what is really there - and see what is not! To learn to see creatively and develop a vision for my craft as a professional photographer.

While cameras may be a commodity; photography never will be. There are just too many variables. And as the saying goes, "if you are not sure where you are going, you might end up somewhere else." This can be true of photography. So thrill of the unknown journey aside.. when it comes to choosing a photographer, take a good look at their portfolio or website; keep an eye out for consistency; if you don't know what you are looking at, or for, enlist specialised help - editors or designers. When you find a photographer with the photographic vision that suits you. Give them a call or send them an email, I can assure you, they will be very happy to hear from you; and you will be making the best decision you can to get the most fantastic pictures possible!

Telling Stories in Pictures all over the world..

Kent Johnson, Sydney, Australia.

0433 796 863

kent@artcommunication.com.au

www.kentjohnsonphotography.com.au

www.fashionphotographysydney.blogspot.com/

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Hannah - Five Versatile Looks - Modelling Portfolio Photographed in the Studio.

It may seem a little odd, but it's not unusual for me to not see the person or a picture of the person I have been booked to photograph until they walk into the studio for their portfolio or portrait shoot. And that's quite fine with me. Sometimes however, as in the case of Hannah's portfolio shoot there were quite a few pictures for to me to see as Hannah has already been modelling for some years. It was Hannah's mum who booked the shoot and sent me through some of her shots, along with the information that they were about a year or so old and she needed some new ones, ones with more edge to them. So what I knew from seeing those pictures was that I would be photographing a lovely, fair skinned and blue eyed young woman in those fast-changing and oh so important mid to late teen years.

And as I do before most of my portfolio shoots, Hannah and I spoke a few days before about what she was bringing, and what looks and styles she was thinking of for the shoot. As we style from the models own wardrobe it is important to make sure we have covered all the bases with shirts, dresses, shoes accessories etc. and better too much than too little.

On the day of the shoot, after laying out the clothing, creating the first looks and establishing a creative direction for the pictures and the Hair and Make-Up. I then take a simple 'Digital' or 'Polaroid', a completely natural picture of the model like the one below which was also as it happens taken in natural light. its then time to start on the hair and make-up for our first look which typically takes about an hour. We always start with the simpler, more natural looks and then build on those with ever more elaborate H&MU changes. For this shoot we started with sporty look, moved into a natural sophisticated look, the comp card headshot;  went a bit biker/rock chick with the black jeans and white tee, then onto a high fashion swimwear look finishing with a sleek contemporary look in the orange long sleeve knit top, black skirt.


All in all our fashion and modelling journey took us about four hours and created just under 400 files to choose from; with a lot of  good shots or 'keepers' as we say. Of course what we are after is not just the good shots but the best of the best! Here is my selection from this shoot and there could easily have been many more. Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we enjoyed creating them.

Hannah - www.spectrumagency.com.au/
Hair & Make-Up - Nikita Lauren

Photography - Kent Johnson
(61) 0433 796 863
kent@artcommunication.com.au

www.kentjohnsonphotography.com.au

www.streetfashionsydney.blogspot.com/

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Pro Modelling Portfolio - Model Style in the Studio..

I love it when I get to produce my  "Here I Come - Pro Modelling Packages" this is the package with more looks, more shots and the model comp card too. We always have a great time working together and making the shots and word about the "Here I Come" must be getting out as this has become my most popular model portfolio package, you can check the deal out here. These shots are from Erica's recent shoot in the Balmain studio; Hair and Make-Up was by the Uber talented Rafal Gaweda who worked with me on the very successful Uscari Campaign last year.. I hope you like our photos and if you are thinking of doing a model portfolio, (and you don't have to want to become a model to do one) don't hesitate to call me to find out all the details and which package is best for you.

 To book you Fashion Portfolio Photoshoot; call Kent - 0433 796 863 or  Email kent@artcommunication.com.au

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