Advice for New Male Models

I have been helping new male models get started for many years. I have talked with literally hundreds of guys as they have started their career. This is the advice I have given every guy I have talked with. Many of them have commented that they are smart guys; which they are. However, when you are entering a new industry and don’t know about it there are many ways you can be taken advantage of. I will discuss the industry warnings, photographers you should work with, explain a model release and how to avoid scams. Read the entire article here. You are the only one in control of your career and your image.

Any male model is welcome to contact me  for advice on how to get the best start to their career. We have existed to help models have a positive career. I am most proud of the hundreds of potential male models that I and the team have helped. Good luck!
Alan Rust is the founder and owner of On Display Men.  He has been working with male models for years to help them have a positive start for the best modeling career possible.  Find out more at About.Me/AlanRust

When a guy finally decides to start modeling he is excited and wants to do everything he can to make his dream a reality. However, what they don’t realize is that there are more bad situations in the industry than good ones. Many new models get taken advantage of because they believe what they hear. I can strongly tell you… don’t believe anything you are told. You should always do complete research on the situation or photographer. You should ask questions to find out what you are really signing up for. You should ask to read anything you will have to sign in advance.

A common misconception among new male models is that they should do every photo shoot they can get. That is not true. You need to manage your image from the very beginning which means you should only work with photographers that are better than average. There are a lot of guys who buy a camera at Target, get on Model Mayhem and call themselves a photographer. You want to work with someone who has skill, creativity and understands lighting. There are photographers who are still building their portfolio that have the skills to make you look professional. Also, for those of you in smaller states and cities; avoid building your portfolio with a ‘portrait’ photographer. You don’t need to spend time or money to get pictures that look like you had your senior pictures taken again. When you are starting out you can certainly do free (tfp or tfcd) shoots but as you get better and learn you want to start working with better photographers with network connections.

There are a lot of photographers, seems like most of them on Model Mayhem that you want to understand their intentions. You should make sure you are clearly understood before a shoot; you may not want to do anything in less than your underwear. There are photographers that will agree to that just to get you to book the shoot; then they force you to do it when you are there. Be polite and leave the shoot if that happens. There are photographers that tell you to just change in front of them; that is just creepy and you don’t know what cameras are shooting. There are photographers that tell you that no one will really see everything; you don’t know what they are shooting. This is a point that I remind you to not believe everything you are told.

I tell all models that they should have a Model Release for every photo shoot they book. Some photographers tell you that you don’t need one. That is not true. This is the paper that tells you what the photographer is going to do with the pictures. It should also tell you how many pictures you get and when you will get them. I strongly suggest that you have the release emailed to you before you agree to book the shoot. That way you can review it in advance and ask for advice from someone else if you have questions. Almost all photographers will wait until after the shoot to have you sign the Release. At that point, they have all your pictures and if you don’t sign it you won’t get your pictures. If a photographer is doing a tfp or you are paying them… they should never be able to sell the images. Remember, if you sign away all rights to the photographer so they can do anything with the images… you have NO control over what website or advertising you will be on.

I suggest to our new models that they don’t get on a site called Model Mayhem. It has been the experience of most of the models that it is about 95% creepy guys and scam offers. The best advice I can tell you about scam is: if an offer sounds too good to be true; it probably is. Do a lot of research about any offer. NEVER give out your personal phone number, address or financial information. There are identity theft scams that are part of the bad modeling situations. The other advice I give is: you have not earned the right to earn money. I mean that if you have not even built a portfolio yet or are not with an agency; then why do you think someone is offering you money. Most of the time it is because they want to see you naked (no matter what they say) or if it is a lot of money from a foreign country it is a scam.

I wish you all the best and again I will tell you that we are always here to help. Remember, don’t believe anything you are told; do your research!