Hi, I'm Briana. Maybe you've already read my Spotlights in FASHION ZZ and BEAUTY ZZ. Since leaving New York my life has taken a turn for the better ... physically, spiritually and mentally!
Going to New York, I was nervous. If people in Tampa were selective people, in New York they were going to be hard to tackle. Indeed they treated me as if i was a queen! Constant compliments and actual help ... not just from designers, assistants, and press, but also from the models!
Looking back to the time after taking on Miami and getting signed at my very first casting for a mother agency, I remember what one scout specifically told me: "GO TO NEW YORK ... YOU WILL THRIVE!
Having Florida funds and not NYC funds, I moved north east to Orlando. Orlando inspired me to do something more than posing in front of a camera for facebook likes. Now i'm hosting and coordinating runway shows, apprenticing under bridal designers and scouting models for a local agency.
The grim reality is, that fashion world is very cut throat. I began my modeling career in Dallas. There I learned, that I was in an “in demand market” regularly booked for shoots and runways. Three months into seriously modeling I moved to Tampa, Florida, and noticed, that the market for someone like me was non existent. I joined several Florida modeling networks and realized the models killing the game in this region were shorter unconventional looks. Not that I have anything against them, but i was flooded with bikinis, sunsets and sand.
My body was not ready for this. I had to work really hard. I am not one of those skinny girls. I like to enjoy life. I have a voluptuous body. I eat in moderation and I take care of myself. Especially considering, i'm constantly battling the 60 lbs, i lost about three years ago.
For the life of me i was stuck doing TFP shoots. I realized being older, darker and shapelier, that my modeling career may be at a hault. Fueled with angst, I decided to begin “branding” myself to prove i was good enough to hang in the Florida markets.
Fast forward about 8 months and I started to become really numb to the amount of “nos”. I started getting used to not receiving edits back or people just ignoring me in general. I could shock you with the amount of discouraging stories throughout my last year, but no one likes to read a ridiculously long blog.
It’s no secret, that the media has made a big deal out of youth. Think about it: How many people have you heard say, “Gosh, I can’t wait to get wrinkles!” Worldwide selling the idea of youth has made many companies billions of dollars.
If you plan on being in the fashion and runway field, the younger you are the better. The longevity for this type of modeling is extremely short for the majority of models involved. Agencies sign girls as young as 13 years old and tend to hesitate if a model is over 18.
This topic, like the height issue, is a reality of the industry, that you don’t have to agree with, but you will have to accept or at least get used to it. It’s just a plain fact, that agencies and their clients can get more work out of youthful models than those who already show the signs of aging.
When it comes to youth and modeling, it doesn’t make sense to invest time and money in signing a model, that is say 22 or 23. That particular model may only have a good 2-3 years, before they start showing signs of aging like crow’s feet or other fine lines. This means more time devoted to photoshopping and special lighting. No agency wants to deal with that.
persistancy like practice pays off. Some models do work their way into modeling. I have also heard models say, that modeling is hard work and all models work their way into the business. These models track down test shoots and put together their comp cards and portfolios. They study and practice being a model by working on their expressions, posing, runway walking, hair styling, makeup, working in front of a camera, and learning how the business works. These models may work freelance or have nonexclusive contracts with a number of modeling agencies.
Remember the story of the three blind men describing an elephant? One man felt the trunk, another felt the tail, and the third felt the leg. Each had a different description of what the elephant was like. The modeling industry is the same way. The modeling industry is big and has many specialty areas. What I've experience, will be much different what others experience, but at the end of the day you have to do what makes you happy!
feel free to leave your stories (good or bad) to be featured!
today we like to show you the photos out of a session of Sweden based photographer and retoucher Misho Jovicic. Misho was born and raised in Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and is living in the south of Sweden today. He's 34 years old, husband and father of a wonderful 5 year old girl and owner of a beautiful Golden retriever. Besides Bosnian and Swedish he also speak English and Spanish. He fall in love with photography when he was living and studying in Spain. He graduated with a Master degree of Arts in Blindness and Low Vision Therapy. Currently he is working as a photographer and when he has his eyes on the viewfinder, he really feels as he is seeing a whole new world! He loves natural light, shooting outdoor and in abandoned houses, but also works a lot in his studio! The retouching he is doing with Photoshop CC.
Misho tries always to shoot wide open with his favorite lens, a Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM with natural light. But especially this session was an exception. Here he used a speedlite through diffusion to achieve balance between natural and artificial light to lift the shadows and give some extra sharpness, but simultaneously getting bokeh!
Congrats to Misho for these great photos and thanks for sharing it with us.
"So, it was late on Friday and I hadn't made any plans to shoot for the weekend. I decided to browse through modelmayhem and see if anyone was up for a last minute shoot on Saturday evening. I saw Bree's profile and was intrigued by her look ... she had several facial tattoos and piercings. I don't shoot models with alternative looks very often, but she was tall (I like to bend people) and had a great face, so I sent her a message, along with five or six others. When I got up the next morning and saw she had responded with interest, we started thinking of where we could shoot. She wanted an urban look, so we decided to go uptown.
We met near the center of Charlotte, and my 11 year old daughter tagged along (mostly just to get away from her brothers and sister for a while). I told her that if she came, I was going to put her to work, so she carried equipment and VALed for me, as well as peppering me with questions about what was going on uptown. She did a great job, though.
For this shoot, I used my two Olympus E-M5s (mkI and mkII). Since I use primes, it's easier to put one on each rather than switching lenses on one body. I also employed a Rovelight 600B thru an umbrellabox on a lightstand. Since it was late in the day, we had good shade (summer temperatures have been brutally hot) between the buildings. As we were walking around finding shooting locations, we came across an empty shopping cart. I love props, so in went Bree, and I snapped away! At over 6 feet tall, she has long, posable legs, and we made great use of them. She was even able to squeeze into the cart entirely! As the sun went down, we found a small park and I decided to backlight her with natural rim light and used the Rovelight as main. I really love those shots, the combination of different lighting tones give them a very unique look.
We spent about two hours shooting, then packed it up and said our goodbyes when the sun finally set. Bree is a total sweetheart, and really does well posing her hands and arms about her body, something many models struggle with. Hopefully we'll get to shoot again soon!"
Thank you Justin for allowing us to share the photos and especially for the intersting story around this shoot.