HOW TO START MODELING FROM HOME
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Just because you’re stuck at home doesn’t mean you should put your dreams on pause. This guide will help you jumpstart your modeling career even while staying home, regardless if you’re tall or short, slim or curvy!
Before I begin, let me remind you that you don’t need modeling experience to start modeling. Although it is helpful, it is not required. Besides, with everyone on lockdown, it will be difficult getting test shoots with professional photographers.
What you’ll need to apply to agencies are digitals. These can easily be taken with your own camera or camera phone.
Here are some digitals that I took at home with the help of my dad. Very easy to do!
Many agencies will ask for the same type of digitals so having a set of digitals “ready-to-send” will save you time and stress.
How to set up Digitals
I would highly recommend taking digitals without makeup. Yes, you read that right. No makeup.
Use a plain wall as your backdrop. Make sure there are no shapes, patterns, or other objects behind you.
Use natural light whenever possible. This light can come from a window or if you can shoot outside, make sure that the sunlight is not directly on your face as it might make you squint. We don’t want that.
If the lighting on one side of your body isn’t balanced, use a light on the other side to compensate. For example, when I shot indoors, the window was giving light to my right side and my left side was a little too dark. I added a ring light on my right to balance out the darkened side.
What do you wear?!
Form fitting clothes like a tank top and skinny jeans are great. Agencies want to see the shape of your body.
Stick to neutral colors like black, white or gray.
DO NOT: Wear clothes that have bright colors or crazy patterns.
How about your hair?
Unless there are clear guidelines, the general rule is to keep your hair from your face whether it's in a ponytail or behind your ears. Especially for close ups.
What types of shots should I take?
This a general list. Be sure to take these photos smiling and not smiling. This will give you a wide range of digitals to choose from when sending to agencies:
Closeup of your face
full side profile
¾ of profile
mid body
full body
full body side profile
full body back (facing away from the camera)
Different agencies ask for different photos, so it can get annoying when you have to re-take new pictures for every agency. But having the core group of pictures listed above, you can save time and immediately apply to those agencies you have your eye on.
Once you have all these photos, you are ready to start applying to agencies. This is all you need.
How to find agencies to apply to?
There are 4 ways:
Google “modeling agency in (X city/state)”. X being the city/state you want to be represented in. If you are not sure if the agencies you have found are legit, you can always refer to my steps on how to figure out if an agency is legit or not.
Google “talent agency in (X city/state)”.
Go to models.com . This is a great website to find legit agencies that you can apply to. Just click on the tab “agencies” and then you can easily search per country or city.
If you are petite, meaning under 5’7’’, and you are not sure which agencies are petite friendly, you can go to the list I’ve created here.
Once you find an agency you like, go to their website and then look for “apply”, “become a model”, “get scouted”, “contact us” or anything with similar wording to find an online form or an email address where you can submit your information, digitals and measurements.
If there is a space where you can write something about yourself, make sure whatever you write shows your personality. Be You. Be True.
And that’s it!
If an agency is interested in you, they’ll get back to you and offer to meet with you to discuss further representation. Once you get signed, your agency will help you develop yourself, build your portfolio and submit you to jobs.
Even after we are able to go outside freely, this method of getting discovered will be a useful tool to apply to many more agencies.