How to select photographs for a model portfolio

If you are one of the lucky few to be taken on by a major agency, you do not need to worry about this question. Your agency will produce your first promotional shots for you (which will not cost you anything). After that, your portfolio will consist mainly of tear sheets.

For the purpose of this page we are talking about a model at the beginning of her career, either with a smaller, local model agency or working freelance.

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Digital creation of images has made it possible to supply hundreds of photos relatively easily and cheaply. Quality has decreased to the same degree. I still come across aspiring models who boast about having received hundreds of images from a shoot, paid or for time.

Receiving a very large number of images may make you feel important and it may impress your mates - and that's just about it. No photographer or agency wants to look at more than a handful of photographs. They do not have the time. Besides, once you have seen five headshots of a model, you know whether she has more than a single facial expression.

As your career progresses, you will have a larger selection of unique photographs to choose from and you may want to compile a showcase, which serves an entirely different purpose.

For a portfolio, think quality not quantity. Ten or twenty strong, unique photographs will serve you much better than fifty or 100 mediocre ones.

For a beginner's portfolio, aim to have between 12 and 24 images in your portfolio.

Ask the photographer to put together a small selection of the best photographs from a shoot. You do not have the experience or the expertise to make that choice from a large selection.

Consider the potential shots for your portfolio side-by-side. Every photograph should be different, unique and memorable. Avoid repetitive poses, facial expressions and set-ups.

In your portfolio, you want a combination of headshots and half, three quarter and full length shots.

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