I photographed the lovely Caroline from Oxygen models. Caroline, from Germany, shot some outdoor portraits with me.

I photographed Charlie Jane Wood, a well-published glamour model. She was a posing machine, and was lots of fun to work with.

I recently photographed Claudia from Max 1 Models (Romania). Claudia was in in London for fashion week, and Jess from Zone Models was nice enough to arrange the details for me.

David Thomas
www.fashion-photographer.org

Sending files to clients is always a bit of an issue, especially when I have many files to send, which, in total, exceed 25MB. Some clients like to download from my FTP server or mediafire. This is quick and convenient. But many have problems downloading large files, or even opening zip files.
Problem.
So I have a small list of clients to whom I email all the pictures. This usually takes 6 or 7 emails.

This doesn’t cover everyone, though. Some can’t receive a hundred megabytes of emails all in one go! What do do?

Answer: Sneakernet. Sending them the files on a CD. Is this old, obsolete technology? Who uses CDs anymore? The post is so 2009. So I looked into it. It turns out, a lot of people don’t send files electronically, and these people aren’t exactly computer newbies.

Google – They physically truck hard drives around – it’s faster than sending large volumes of data electronically.

SETI uses it to transfer radio telescope data, from Puerto Rico to California (for processing).

The Internet Engineering Task Force has released standard RFC 1149 – A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams on Avian Carriers. Yes, that’s right – a standard for transmitting data via carrier pigeon. And it’s not too shabby either. It’s faster than BT.  And used by a rafting company to transfer photographs.

I’ll leave you with a figure of how fast you can transfer data, by abandoning the internet and just using a plane.

Boeing 747-400 carrying capacity in cargo configuration, in cubic meters:159
Volume of 3.5″ Drive (102mm x 25mm) in cubic meters: 0.00255
Number of 3.5 Drives per 747: 62,353
Data capacity of 3.5 Drive (TB): 3
Data capacity of 747 in Gigabytes:187,059,000
bits per byte: 8
In Gigabits: 1,496,472,000
Distance between LAX and JFK in km: 3,983
Speed of a Boeing 747-400, in knots: 507 (940 km/h)
Time to fly between LAX and JFK at 507 knots, in seconds: 15,254
Bandwidth of the 747 in Gbits/Second: 98,103

A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams on Avian Carriers

I came across a lovely video made by photographer Charles Yeh, who brands himself Lucima. Charles is an amazing photographer from Los Angles who shoots editorial fashion. You can see his website here:

http://www.lucima.com/

and his blog here: http://lucimablog.blogspot.com/

And his video here:

L U C I M A | Kate Compton from Charles LUCIMA on Vimeo.

I recently photographed Samuel from Oxygen models. I’m rather proud of the photographs, but even more proud of how well I tied the bow tie.

See my portfolio at www.fashion-photographer.org

I receive a large number of requests from aspiring models who ask me to shoot a portfolio for them.  Of course, I’m usually available to do this for a reasonable fee.

However, talking to many, it seems that hiring me is based on a fundamental misunderstanding. Specifically, many think that the pictures I, or any good photographer would produce, would help them get signed to a fashion agency.

Integrity, of course, requires me to put them right, and this is what I say.

Aspiring models who seek representation with a fashion agency do not need professional photographs in order to get signed. Paying for such photographs before signing with an agency is putting the cart before the horse. Fashion agencies don’t want to see photoshopped pictures, or theatrical poses , lighting, and outfits. They want snapshots of you. The only real exception to this is if you are moving from one agency to another.

Seeing exactly what they want is as simple as calling the agency, or looking at their website.

By way of information, see www.albamodel.info, and look at the agency boards, being realistic as to whether you look like the people on there.

And here are the submission requirments for most leading London agencies:

IMG: http://www.imgmodels.com/become.aspx?cityID=3

“ Please provide Snapshots/Polaroids that show very clear headshot and full length images.
No makeup, shot outside with natural light and in a basic color top and bottom.”

FM: http://www.fmmodelagency.com/become.aspx

“FM Agency has an open call between 3pm and 4pm when potential models can walk in without an appointment (but with some pictures) and meet one of our agents; or you can send us pictures of yourself (one headshot and one full length) by post, or by email to beamodel@fmmodelagency.com with a note of your height. If you would like your pictures returned please include a stamped and addressed envelope.”

Models1: http://www.models1.co.uk/become.aspx?nav=25

• Professional Pictures are NOT necessary
• We want to see NATURAL photo’s where we can see your bone structure.
• The photo submitted alongside your application needs to be a FRONT FACING headshot.
• Try to RELAX your face, do not smile or pout!
• Keep hair as natural as possible, but make sure it is not obscuring your cheeks.
• Please DO-NOT wear make-up, sunglasses or hats etc.
• In a side profile we need to see the jawline, hair needs to be kept away from the face.
• Photo’s need to be in COLOUR with no computer effects or re-touching.
• Do not submit a body shot, we will contact you if necessary.
  Avoid wearing baggy clothes and simply stand up straight with your shoulders back.

Storm: http://www.stormmodels.com/become-model-holder/become-a-model

The quickest & easiest way is to send your images via our website. Just fill in the application form on this page and press ‘submit online’ or ‘print and post’. Please ensure each image is less than 100KB in size. If you have any problems resizing your images, you can email them to info@stormmodels.com.

Pictures: Front, Side, Mid-Length, Full body

Visit Us

If you live locally or are visiting London, you can visit Storm without an appointment, between 10am-12pm and 2pm-4pm, Monday to Friday. The address is 1^st Floor, 5 Jubilee Place, London SW3 3TD. The nearest tube station is Sloane Square.

M&P : http://www.mandpmodels.com/  

“Send and email with clear photos of your face and body; stating your name, age, height and contact details to: apply@mandpmodels.com”

Nevs: http://nevsmodels.co.uk/wannabe.html

“Get a clear recent snap shot taken and come into the agency Monday to Friday between 10.00am and noon only. If this is impossible, then send your photo (or photos) in with a S.A.E. or email your photo to wannabe@nevs.co.uk. Be prepared for rejection: even at this early stage it can hurt. Address: nevs, Regal House, 198 Kings Road, London SW3 5XP. “

www.fashion-photographer.org

I visited Edinburgh for the Fringe Festival, at which I saw some fantastic plays, notably ‘Counting Syllables’ by Julia Hartley, directed by Fiamma Mazzocchi Alemanni.

I found some time to take snaps of Chelsea from Colours Model Management, who showed me Holyrood palace, as well as some enormous swans!

See more of my pictures at www.fashion-photographer.org