The other thing I see a
lot is models who will only shoot with a photographer
another hot model has shot with. There's nothing
wrong with working through the referral system, but
don't turn away a good photographer that wants to
shoot with you just because he hasn't just shot with
Melyssa Ford. Use common sense about this. If the
unknown photographer is talented and dying to shoot
with you, chances are he will go the extra mile to
make things work out because he's looking to attract
interest in his work through shooting with you. The
flavor-of-the-month photographer, on the other hand,
is more likely to put you on hold and take forever.
Remember, long lulls between photo shoots will cause
people to lose interest in you, and often it never
returns to the level it was before you disappeared
from the scene.
Model Summer Walker is a good example of both the
negative and positive examples I'm referring to. When
Summer first hit the market in 2004, about 5-6 sets
of photos were produced of her. She also shot with
XXL and Smooth. But for a long time after her initial
heat wave, no new photos of Summer hit the net. Then
she shot with Zigga Zagga Productions. Those are some
the best independently produced photos of an urban
model I've ever seen. But it may have been too little
too late. I'm convinced the lack of a consistent
stream of photos of Summer significantly reduced
her popularity, because the interest was there.
I'm not saying it's easy
to produce your own shoots, but it can be done
because I've seen other models do it successfully.
The days of just being pretty and getting ahead in
this market are over. Today's urban model has to be
as equal parts business savvy and attractive.