AJ Bella wrote:
I see. Thanks for the link. Now its a little bit more clear. Just wanna make sure I'm on the right track before I spend what's suppposed to be my tuition money for next semester.

No no no girl, not the tuition money!  Better to invest in what you can do with your head than your body.  Your looks are only good for a short while, your smarts are for a life time.  The chances of building a long-term, high-paying career in modeling that competes with what you could learn in school is about the same as being struck by lightning.  Modeling is fun, and if you are lucky and work really hard in a big market like LA of New York, then you might make some money for a few years.  My advice: Do it after you graduate.

Jay Dezelic wrote:

No no no girl, not the tuition money!  Better to invest in what you can do with your head than your body.  Your looks are only good for a short while, your smarts are for a life time.  The chances of building a long-term, high-paying career in modeling that competes with what you could learn in school is about the same as being struck by lightning.  Modeling is fun, and if you are lucky and work really hard in a big market like LA of New York, then you might make some money for a few years.  My advice: Do it after you graduate.

YES,YES,YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Listen to Jay

Listen, this is so "on the money" that there is nothing more to add.
School first.

Jay Dezelic wrote:
No no no girl, not the tuition money!  Better to invest in what you can do with your head than your body.  Your looks are only good for a short while, your smarts are for a life time.  The chances of building a long-term, high-paying career in modeling that competes with what you could learn in school is about the same as being struck by lightning

I understand that but school will always be there. My education oppurtunities won't go away anytime soon. Nobody will ever say I don't qualify to be in school. But this is my one chance at this. Everyone's gotta take that chance at least once in their life. If it does not work then at least ya know you tried.

Richard Tallent wrote:
Uhm, you must be going to a CHEAP school. A decent set of portfolio images from a reputable photographer (i.e., not one who's a shill for some "modeling agency" that holds auditions in malls and hotels) shouldn't cost as much as a semester of school.

School might "always" be there, but the money for it won't. Education isn't a fall-back, and modeling is like playing high school basketball--do it because you love it, because most people will NEVER earn a living at it, even the REALLY good ones.

Also, while picking TFP/TFCD photographers randomly won't *consistently* give you the same quality as paying a photographer, if you carefully select a photographer for TFP based on his portfolio, there's no reason you couldn't walk into an agency with a few great shots at zero expense to you.

Agreed. I haven't spent a single penny on photo shoots and just this weekend I shot with Tito Trelles, Daniel Norton, Ched, and James Graham, all of whom are exceptional pro photographers. It's a lot easier to get a free photo shoot than it is to get a free college education.

AJ Bella wrote:
I don't see myself spending much to get a few strong looks. It seems everyone has their own set of rules. do a portfolio/don't do one. have polaroids/don't have one.

this buisness is just one of those that just does not have a set of rules.

This is my very unprofessional opinion, but here's one practical way to go about it...

Go to an open call of whatever agency of which you want to be a part.  Go in with snapshots.  If they sign you, they'll recommend people to shoot with.  If they don't sign you, see if you can find out why.  If they tell you it's because they want to see a better book, do your research and find out what kind of imagery you need.  Get that and go back.  If they don't sign you after that then they probably just don't need your look.

Keep in mind,though, this (Atlanta) is a very commercial market.  As mentioned, the likelihood that you'll make even halfway decent money modeling, especially here, is less than being struck by lightning right this instant, and I don't know what it looks like in your part of town but I can only see clear skies outside of my window...

Don't kid yourself on your potentials, possibilities or options in "this business"...