Update: Deadline to sign up will be Saturday March 16th.  For those that paid deposits the balance will also be due on the 16th. 

2 spots left, sign up soon before the last minute rush!

Tired of flakes and unreliable models?  Want to shoot fashion but can't find a qualified pool of models to pull from?  Want to shoot with professionals who can deliver good results almost effortlessly?

Well I've got an easy solution for you:  Start testing with agency models!  The benefits are numerous to your portfolio and your ability to improve the quality of your work...and the best part is it's really quite easy to do once you know the intricacies of how to get started and what is expected of you.  Several students of my past "Agency Testing" workshops are now approved and testing with LA and OC/SD agencies. 

Purpose:
We will begin with a lecture where I will discuss what worked for me to get to the point where I can now pull models from ALL the major SoCal agencies, and more importantly: how you can too with a little dedication and effort!

What we'll cover:
The introduction/first impressions
- We'll cover what is expected on their end, and what should be  expected on yours.
- We'll go over how to communicate with the agencies effectively to maximize your benefit of working with them.
- We will go over my approach to communicating with the models and how to effectively get your ideas across to them to get the type of images you want.
- We will go over what works, and what is usually acceptable by agencies; as well as what doesn't.  This is very important, there is a lot of misinformation out there that is hurting photographers and their chances.  You need to know what agency likes what, and what they don't like in order to increase your chances of impressing them when you make your initial query. 

Guest Speaker
Once I'm done with the lecture, we'll have a special guest speaker.  I figure it's one thing to hear all this from a photographer...but it would mean much more to you the student if you heard the words directly from the mouth of a booker at a major agency.  For those of you that don't know, a "booker" is the person you'll be asking to shoot their models.  They're the person who will review your work and make a decision, and they're the person who (if you make the cut) will be your connection at the agency. 

This person will be discussing what they like to see and don't like to see in portfolios, turn-offs, what is good to do to increase your chances of success, and answering any questions with an open Q&A.  The booker will then stick around and you can bring your portfolio and get an honest critique about what works, and what you should change.  This is perhaps the most important part of the workshop to you the aspiring agency photographer because you'll gain insight as to what you should change before you actually go out and contact some agencies.  It's like taking the SAT's and have someone give you the answers prior

After this, I'll show a couple examples of studio concepts that are "go-to" looks that I've found have the best success for usable agency quality images.  After a final opportunity for Q&A we'll split up into small groups and begin actually shooting with some agency models.

Photographer/model ratio will be low (3-1, possibly 2-1), allowing you to work on communicating with the models and developing a good working relationship with them (ie. allowing you to get better photos through trust/comfort). 

Models will be of the same caliber (all major agency signed, this is not a workshop where you'll shoot the same 3 MM girls everyone else in SoCal has) as I shoot for my personal projects.  You can see examples throughout this post.




Fee:
$300 ($150 deposit required at minimum to confirm your space)
Paypal email addy: [email protected] (msg with details including name and phone#)

Refund Policy:
Cancellation prior to 3/9/13 = Full refund
Cancellation prior to 3/16/13 = 50% refund
Cancellations after 3/16/13 = No refund

Location:
Studio OC, Fountain Valley CA

Time:
11am-5pm Update: Time pushed back to NOON-6pm.

What to bring:
Camera/lens(es)
Pocketwizards
Portfolios

Will be cutting off registration a week prior (March 17th @ Midnight) and all fees (including balance on deposit) must be paid in full by then.

RLA Photo wrote:
sign me up. 

Marked you down Randy, will be great to see you again