Marin Photography wrote:
...hot plus four to six NUDE full-figure body shots (front and back views). You must submit at least four NUDE photos. The photos do not need to be shot by a professional, but they should be in focus.....

Do you think Playboy wants those photos to be the more sterile mug shot type full body nudes, or would full body nudes done by a professional in playbody type poses carry more weight giving the model an advantage?

For the full body nudes, how much 'pink' do you think they want to see or not see in the full nudes?

Randall_Oelerich wrote:

Do you think Playboy wants those photos to be the more sterile mug shot type full body nudes, or would full body nudes done by a professional in playbody type poses carry more weight giving the model an advantage?

For the full body nudes, how much 'pink' do you think they want to see or not see in the full nudes?

What they DON'T want is a professionally-taken image in Playboy poses. They want simple Polaroids that adhere to their submission guidelines.

A Playboy-style shoot is very different than images for submission to Playboy. The model probably thinks she needs to submit Playboy-style so she contacted you. Images for submission could be done by a friend of even the model herself using the self-timer feature.

M Pandolfo Photography wrote:
...What they DON'T want is a professionally-taken image in Playboy poses. They want simple Polaroids that adhere to their submission guidelines.
....

So maybe mug shot full body nudes, and headshots, just using my home studio with softbox lighting against a light gray paper background.  Not much in it (artistically) for me doing that (unless I decide to go for a career taking mugshots of arrested criminals, lol), but perhaps I can help her in exchange for her doing say a beach photoshoot. At least the mug shot photoshoot for her will be simple, easy few hours in controlled studio lighting.

Fred Gerhart wrote:
...  unretouched...

I would assume by 'unretouched' they mean no cloning out blemishes (no digital airbrushing). But that it would be okay to crop the initial image, even e.g. adjust RAW image exposure, white balance?

Jay Lee Studios wrote:
... If she wants to have a shot at playmate she can NEVER be a cyber girl. So if they offer her cyber girl she is pretty much out of the running for playmate. BTW Cyber girl and playboy online pay CRAP. Make sure she knows this.

Let's say she decides Playboy/Cybergirl is not for her, what other options could you see her pursuing to make the most of her looks--- maybe build a nice glamour portfolio to go the route of potential lingerie modeling with an agency, somewhat like Emily Ratajkowski did (although she started at age 14 if I recall; but she did lots of beautiful nudes including fine art b/w, albeit of course not at age 14).

Jay Lee Studios wrote:
You can also contact the playboy scouts. Have them meet her directly and set up a shoot. Playboy uses 3 main photographers for the publication and the others are just playboy cyber girls. If she wants to have a shot at playmate she can NEVER be a cyber girl. So if they offer her cyber girl she is pretty much out of the running for playmate. BTW Cyber girl and playboy online pay CRAP. Make sure she knows this.

Not sure this is true.

Amelia talon was in special editions and I believe cyber girl before she became playmate.

Tropical Photography wrote:
Treat the shoot as if you were shooting with a polaroid.. No retouching, just keep your exposures decent, no need for a full studio set up, bounce flash at most.. This is a *KISS method style shoot..  *keep it simple stupid

Who owns the photos for such a shoot, since Playboy specifies they do not return photos, etc. (odd since they are just digitally uploaded anyhow). What I mean is, if I spend the time to do such a shoot, including headshots, do i still own the copyright to the images even if i license them in the model release so the model can freely use them to promote herself including her uploading them to playboy.com?

Tropical Photography wrote:
Treat the shoot as if you were shooting with a polaroid.. No retouching, just keep your exposures decent, no need for a full studio set up, bounce flash at most.. This is a *KISS method style shoot..  *keep it simple stupid

I would use a light gray background paper, softlight, just to avoid harsh shadows. I don't see that as retouching at all. And I would crop just to remove any stray roller bar holding the paper, the ceiling, etc. Just seems professional to do that, and it is very easy and fast to crop that, and still the photos are not retouched; I mean i get that playboy wants to know there are no surprises if they decide to fly a model to LA for a playmate shoot, as in they want to know there was no digital removal of blemishes or ink, etc.

Randall_Oelerich wrote:
Who owns the photos for such a shoot, since Playboy specifies they do not return photos, etc. (odd since they are just digitally uploaded anyhow). What I mean is, if I spend the time to do such a shoot, including headshots, do i still own the copyright to the images even if i license them in the model release so the model can freely use them to promote herself including her uploading them to playboy.com?

As long as they don't specify in the agreement to upload that you are legally signing over your copyright, you technically retain ownership of the photos. You will most likely be granting them rights to use/publish..etc..etc. any images that are uploaded though. I'm not a lawyer, but most sites that anyone submits to say something similar to this.

Fred Gerhart wrote:
From the website at http://www.playboy.com/pose-for-playboy


"Please upload a minimum of 4, and up to 6 NUDE photos of yourself, including your face and full figure front and back. Photos must meet the following guidelines:

    Full color, unretouched NUDE images
    Recently photographed (last 3 months preferred)
    Only include the model submitting this application
    Upload in .JPG or .PNG format
    File size limit (per image): 100KB to 1MB"

I think they also might want the images clear of any photography studio logo or name.

You are  a lucky duck. I hope the shoot goes well.

So we are clear, this is for Playboy, not playboy.com, Cybergirl, Playboy TV, etc.  That link now goes to the Playmate group, but it is accurate.

As for what they want, simple shots are all they need.

Jay Lee Studios wrote:
You can also contact the playboy scouts. Have them meet her directly and set up a shoot. Playboy uses 3 main photographers for the publication and the others are just playboy cyber girls. If she wants to have a shot at playmate she can NEVER be a cyber girl. So if they offer her cyber girl she is pretty much out of the running for playmate. BTW Cyber girl and playboy online pay CRAP. Make sure she knows this.

Sorry, that was then and this is now.  Playboy contracted with ManWin to operate both playboyplus.com (there no longer is a Cyber-Club) and Playboy Television last year.  There are no longer Special Editions and there remains very little that Playboy produces other than the magazine itself.

Playboy no longer has the restriction regarding prior nudes.  Originally, Cyber-Girls were girls who tested for Playmate, but didn't make it.   That was the consolation prize.  They were paid $750 and went on the website rather than becoming Playmates.  When the feature became popular, they started recruiting girls specifically to be Cyber-Girls.

Now that ManWin has taken over the operation of the paysite, not only can a Cyber-Girl become a Playmate, at least one will become one every year.  That is part of their Playboy Plus marketing.

What is important to know, however, is that if you are posing for the website, you are no longer posing for Playboy.  PlayboyPlus.com carries the Playboy logo (by contract), but you are working for ManWin, not Playboy.  The photographers are all different now. The casting process is all different now.  But more importantly, there is no further path with Playboy, such as Special Editions that used to go with working for the Playboy Cyber-Club.  In short, most of the website was produced by the Special Editions group, which no longer exists.

So, it is possible to become a Cyber-Girl these days and become a Playmate, but it is very unlikely.  If you submit to Playboy, you are not submitting to playboy.com, since the Cyber-Club no longer exists.  If you work for PlayboyPlus.com you are no working for Playboy.

GPS Studio Services wrote:
...So we are clear, this is for Playboy, not playboy.com....

I am confused, is there a difference between Playboy and Playboy.com? Isn't playboy.com for Playboy magazine? Isn't that link to upload the mugshot photos for the purpose of being considered as potential playmate material for the magazine?

Randall_Oelerich wrote:
Who owns the photos for such a shoot, since Playboy specifies they do not return photos, etc. (odd since they are just digitally uploaded anyhow). What I mean is, if I spend the time to do such a shoot, including headshots, do i still own the copyright to the images even if i license them in the model release so the model can freely use them to promote herself including her uploading them to playboy.com?

Playboy just wants to see what the model looks like.  You still own the copyright and can re-license the images any way you want.  You should be aware that, on the chance that the model becomes a Playmate, Playboy might ask you for a license (or even copyright) to the images so that they can display the original submission images.  You won't have to cross that bridge unless and until she becomes a Playmate.  In the meantime, the images are yours and will remain yours unless you sign documents down the road.

GPS Studio Services wrote:
...So we are clear, this is for Playboy, not playboy.com....

Randall_Oelerich wrote:
I am confused, is there a difference between Playboy and Playboy.com? Isn't playboy.com for Playboy magazine? Isn't that link to upload the mugshot photos for the purpose of being considered as potential playmate material for the magazine?

Playboy.com and playboyplus.com are two entirely different websites.  If you look, very carefully, playboy.com no longer has any nude images on it nor does it have a membership site.  If you want nude images or to login, you are shuttled over to playboyplus.com.

So, if you submit images through playboy.com, you are indeed submitting to Playboy.  However, you are submitting the model to be a Playmate and that is it.  In the past, the images were actually handled by the casting people who would first review them for Playmate, and if they were not selected, would then shuttle the images to the Special Edition group in Chicago.  They in turn would look at them for the flats as well as features on Playboy.com.  Since they don't publish the Special Editions anymore and no longer operate the paysite (now PlayboyPlus.com), the only people looking at the images are the Playmate group.

They receive 5,000-10,000 submissions a year for just twelve jobs.  Since you are no longer being passed onto other divisions of Playboy, the chances of getting accepted are much, much smaller.

Marin Photography wrote:
How to become a playmate
If you can't make it to a Playboy Casting Call,  ....

For the record, there are no more "Casting Calls."  That was operated by the Special Editions group out of Chicago.  It was mostly to provide content for the "casting call" section on playboy.com, however, some of the girls did end up getting booked for the flats and playboy.com.  Towards the end, Casting Calls was expanded to include the search for Playmates.  That is why that paragraph is included on the site.

Alas, with Special Editions gone, there are no more Casting Calls scheduled.  If you look on the site, all they have is "Los Angeles - Ongoing" listed.  Basically, if you are local, you can go in to meet with an assistant in the Playmate Group.  Unlike the past, you are not meeting for anything other than Playmate.

It is amazing how little remains of Playboy from the glory days of the past.

Blue Group wrote:
Good luck!  I worked with a model a couple of years ago with this dream.  We did a shoot (she's the African-American in my portfolio).  We just did a regular shoot, 2 sets, and I let her pick the pics she wanted.  It worked, she has worked with Playboy several times, particularly on their cybergirls line, and although we've pretty much lost touch, I do know she was in LA a while back doing work with them.

It's looks, but it's also stamina, for the girls.  Tiffany promoted the hell out of herself to get into Playboy.  It's not just a matter of sending in pics, which--now that I write it--seems duh-obvious.  Also, she isn't allowed to work nude with anyone on non-Playboy work, apparently that's a thing of theirs.

Again, two years ago, that was then and this is now.  It has all changed since then.

Tropical Photography wrote:
Treat the shoot as if you were shooting with a polaroid.. No retouching, just keep your exposures decent, no need for a full studio set up, bounce flash at most.. This is a *KISS method style shoot..  *keep it simple stupid

Randall_Oelerich wrote:
I would use a light gray background paper, softlight, just to avoid harsh shadows. I don't see that as retouching at all. And I would crop just to remove any stray roller bar holding the paper, the ceiling, etc. Just seems professional to do that, and it is very easy and fast to crop that, and still the photos are not retouched; I mean i get that playboy wants to know there are no surprises if they decide to fly a model to LA for a playmate shoot, as in they want to know there was no digital removal of blemishes or ink, etc.

If you've ever seen some of the polaroids that were taken, they were basically taken against an office wall.. Nothing special.. And they want the makeup light at best, and I do believe none is preferred. Honestly, there is nothing really special about these shots. They're just a clean shot to see what the girl looks like, as opposed to photoshop or even lighting skills of a photographer.

Tropical Photography wrote:
...
If you've ever seen some of the polaroids that were taken, they were basically taken against an office wall.. ...

That being the case (against a wall), stupid question-- when Playboy says they want a full frontal and full back, do they expect FULL in the sense of head to toes, or do they often get shots missing the feet, simply because of the logistics of getting the entire body head to toes in a frame with a polaroid lens, etc?

Tropical Photography wrote:
...
If you've ever seen some of the polaroids that were taken, they were basically taken against an office wall.. ...

Randall_Oelerich wrote:
That being the case (against a wall), stupid question-- when Playboy says they want a full frontal and full back, do they expect FULL in the sense of head to toes, or do they often get shots missing the feet, simply because of the logistics of getting the entire body head to toes in a frame with a polaroid lens, etc?

I don't think they really care about feet, but they do care about legs.

GPS Studio Services wrote:
...I don't think they really care about feet, but they do care about legs.

Imagine that.. me too! I care about the legs of gorgeous models too! lol.

Okay thanks so much all of you for sticking with me on this thread. Never shot mug shot plain polaroid type shots for a model to submit to playboy, so I had to ask the questions, as this is not my art at stake but her dream, I just do not want to blow it on my end. Thanks again!

GPS Studio Services wrote:
...For the record, there are no more "Casting Calls."....

Confused-- this webpage seems to indicate Playboy still does casting calls in LA.
http://www.playboy.com/casting-call

Randall_Oelerich wrote:

Confused-- this webpage seems to indicate Playboy still does casting calls in LA.
http://www.playboy.com/casting-call

GPS said that.
The only open casting calls for the magazine are in L.A. anymore.

If you hear of a casting call anywhere other than that, it's for playboy plus, which is NOT playboy. And they're really shitty about it, too. The last one I knew of was in Vegas for a national bikini competition where they very clearly (and misleadingly) stated that the casting was for a chance for the $25,000 playmate possibility. This was simply not the case.

I tried to explain to several of the girls what it actually was, but only two bothered to do any checking on their own.

Good Egg Productions wrote:

GPS said that.
The only open casting calls for the magazine are in L.A. anymore.

If you hear of a casting call anywhere other than that, it's for playboy plus, which is NOT playboy. ...

Okay, thank you, I am crystal on that now, much appreciated! So this model can still travel to LA for casting, I believe that is what she was planning, so good to know that is still available.