Why Your Portfolio Needs Ugly Photos
As an agency director, I'll tell you this: hyper-polished, airbrushed studio portraits can hurt your chances. Casting directors want to see how you move, react and look when the light is unforgiving.
Want to shoot at any of these with Dante's Models? Book a session or apply to be represented.
The awkward transit snap
Forget the perfect wind-machine hair. A shot under the harsh overhead fluorescent lights of a transit station shows scouts that your bone structure survives the worst lighting. It has grit and an edge that a clean studio backdrop doesn't.
Do not look at the camera. Look past it, as if you are scanning a train schedule, and let your jawline do the work.
No-makeup Polaroids
Agencies don't want to guess what's under your foundation and contour. A physical Polaroid shows the true texture of your skin, the actual color of your eyes and your real proportions, with no digital retouching. It takes confidence.
Pull your hair completely off your face for at least two of the shots, exposing your ears and hairline.
The in-between motion blur
Perfectly frozen poses can look dated and catalog-like. Have your photographer lower the shutter speed while you walk across the street or turn your head quickly. The motion blur gives you energy and an editorial feel that a static pose doesn't.
Keep your spine straight and your eyes on a fixed point so your face stays relatively sharp while your limbs blur.
The mid-meal candid
Brands sign personalities now, not cold, robotic poses. A shot of you mid-laugh, holding a half-eaten fry, or looking up from a menu shows charm and commercial range. It shows you can sell a lifestyle, not just a garment.
Actually eat the food and talk to the photographer. The moment you stop 'posing' is when the good shot happens.
The overexposed direct-flash portrait
Softboxes are for corporate headshots. A harsh on-camera hot-shoe flash pointed at your face gives high-contrast shadows and saturated skin tones. The look is common in indie brand campaigns, and it moves your book from 'aspiring model' toward 'downtown cool kid.'
Slightly squint into the flash to avoid the deer-in-the-headlights look. Red-eye is fine if it happens.
That's the inside look. Save this one for your next shoot.
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