Digitals first
Digitals, or polaroids, are the unglamorous photographs every agency asks for: front, profile, three-quarter, full length, a smile, no smile, in a plain top and jeans, against a plain wall, in daylight or clean flat light, with no retouching whatsoever. They exist so a client in New York or Los Angeles can see precisely what will walk into the casting. Bad digitals (over-lit, filtered, phone-shot in a bathroom mirror) get models passed over before anyone sees their book.
I shoot digitals to the standard the Salt Lake agencies and their out-of-state partners expect: natural light or a single soft source, neutral background, correct colour, sharp, unretouched, delivered as a properly sequenced set within 24 hours. If your agency has a specific list, bring it. Most have the same list.
A digitals session is thirty to forty-five minutes and is the cheapest thing I do. It is also the thing that gets you signed, so I take it seriously.
Then the test
A test shoot is where a model's book gets built. It is a collaboration between photographer, model and usually a stylist and hair-and-makeup artist, with no client, shot to make images that show range. For a new model the point is to prove you can hold a mood, move, and take direction. For a working model it is to update the book with something current.
My tests are mostly black and white and mostly quiet. Agencies in Salt Lake tend to have books full of bright, commercial, smiling work because that is what the local market buys. A few strong black and white editorial frames get a book noticed in that stack, and they travel: they are what a Los Angeles or New York agency will look at first when your mother agency sends you out.
Tests are two to three hours, in the studio or on location. Salt Lake's industrial west side and the salt flats are my usual places. Hair, makeup and styling can be arranged; some tests are stronger without them.
What you get
Digitals: the full set, unretouched, resized for agency submission, within 24 hours. Tests: a proof gallery, then eight to fifteen finished, retouched images sized for print and for Instagram, within two weeks. I do not deliver a hundred half-finished frames. Your book needs ten great images, not a hundred fine ones.
For parents of young models
Salt Lake has a lot of young talent and, unfortunately, a lot of people who take advantage of that. A few things to know. Digitals do not require a photographer at all; an agency will accept phone digitals shot correctly and will tell you how. If a "scout" says your child must pay for a portfolio before being considered, that is a red flag. Nobody under 18 is photographed by me without a parent present, and I do not shoot minors for anything but digitals, headshots and fully clothed commercial-style tests. If you have questions about how the Salt Lake agency landscape actually works, email me and I will answer honestly.
TFP, trade and collaboration
I occasionally test with agency models on a trade basis when the concept is something I want in my own portfolio. That is a creative decision, not a discount. If you are represented and have a specific idea, send it; if it fits, we shoot it.
Rates
Digitals are a flat fee and inexpensive. Tests are priced as a session and the pricing page gives the range. If you are also looking at commercial headshots for acting work, the two can be combined in one session.
Questions I get asked
Simple, unretouched photographs in plain clothing against a plain background: front, profile, three-quarter, full length, with and without a smile. Agencies use them to see exactly what you look like right now.
They are the same thing with different names. A test is a shoot done to build a model's book rather than for a client. Mine lean editorial and black and white.
No. Unsigned models book digitals and tests to approach agencies. If you want advice on which Salt Lake agencies to approach, ask.
For digitals, headshots and fully clothed commercial tests, yes, with a parent present. Nothing else.
Within 24 hours, usually the same evening.
