A good commercial portfolio will get you PAID. A bad one will get you disregarded. Your portfolio is your visual resume, besides your comp card, it's the most important thing you'll need. I'm going to show you a few examples of good and bad commercial portfolio pictures. Try your best to ignore the actual model in the pictures and pay attention to what she is doing (or not doing). #1 The bathing suit shot. Click on the links below to see the examples of GOOD and BAD!!! bathing suit shots.
GOOD.
This is a good bathing suit shot. The model looks relaxed and natural, her expression matches what she is doing. The picture shows what her face and body look like and her bathing suit top and bottom are solid colors. She is in the water, which makes sense considering she is wearing a bathing suit. The picture on the right is better than the one on the left becasue you can see her entire arm and hand in the picture on the right. You never want to put a picture in your portfolio where it appears you are "missing a limb" or any other part of your body. Her hair and make up are natural, as they would be if she were really at the beach. The belly ring should be removed but other than that, that's the GENERAL OUTLINE of what a good bathing suit shot should be. I am not going into lighting and shadow in depth right now. In general, as long as the lighting is natural and there are no awkward shadows, you're good to go!
BAD!!!!!!
This is an example of a bad portfolio picture! The models pose is unatural and awkward. The props don't make any sense. Her expression is cold. Her make up is over done. She is wearing distracting gold jewelry on her wrist and ankle. YOU SHOULD NOT WEAR JEWLERY IN YOUR PORTFOLIO PICTURES. It takes away from YOU in the picture and in addition, different people have different taste in jewlery, you don't want the person flipping through your portfolio to be distracted by a necklace they hate.....or love, when they are supposed to be thinking about HIRING YOU! The models bathing suit is a busy print. The picture is just unflattering as a whole.
In the next post I'll be giving you examples of a good and bad commercial FITNESS shot, so check back soon for updates!
