A few years after getting into photography, I reached out to modeling agencies to work with their new face models. I did this because I wanted to know my equipment, and also have enough pictures to show them in case they wanted to see more of my work.

When contacting modeling agencies to work with their models you want to contact them about doing a test shoot or a TFP with their new face models. A test shoot, or TFP (time/ trade for print) is when models, photographers or any creative, work together in order to build their portfolio, and they are usually unpaid. I got more into detail about test shoots in this blog post.

First, google modeling agencies near you to find out if there are any legitimate modeling agencies in your area. Next, I wrote the names of those agencies, their email address and location. When emailing them, you want to keep it short and simple and include 3- 4 pictures of your work. This should be enough because you do not want the email size to be too large to where the pictures won’t load and you may miss out on your opportunity.

In addition, include your name, type of photographer you are and the type of photoshoot you’re interested in doing. If you already have the mood board created, attach that in the email as well. Here is my blog post on what a mood board is and how I create them.

Here are a few pictures I’ve taken the first time I worked with models and a modeling agency.

Models from left to right: Maeracle, Manavvi, Tati

Agency: Ursula Wiedmann Models

MUA: Michaele