I do mainly TFP, so my models are a blessing that I never fail to appreciate.  The less experienced models always want everything, and they want it all now.  “Just send me all the raws!,” they say, often not understanding that RAW is a different format than JPG.  While this is unrealistic, I really try to avoid bad blood at nearly any cost.  I’ve only ever had one photographer/model relationship go bad on me.  Like one commenter noted, the model’s needs/tastes are often radically different than mine.  So I like to have the model choose which files she wants edited and finalized for her portfolio which naturally entails having her see them.  Rather than dumping a couple of hundred RAW files on her, I opt for a good solid contact sheet.  I was exceedingly pleased with the quality of the contact sheets done in Lightroom compared to those in Photoshop.  This seems to be working well for all of us.  Now, if I can just train them to give me the file numbers instead of texting me screen shots of which ones they like.

My experience has been that new models tend to want lots of (or ALL) images, but the more experienced the model the fewer images requested. A very experienced and successful model once said to me "why would I want to have to wade through the hundreds of bad to almost good images looking for THE ONE or two that are actually useful? Too much work, I'll let you do all that, just give me the best one or two. That's all I can possibly use anyway."

Depends on the level of retouching honestly.

1-2 images is standard. But if you are turning around 20+ images in a couple days. Im gonna say you didn't retouch a whole lot. Most of it is probably done in Lightroom or Capture One, then finished with a skin plugin.

For me, its definitely 1-2 images (never all even for previews unless I screen shot a few to share) unless the shots are so amazing I hit a selection block and edit a full set worth, 5-15.

The amount of photos returned generally reflects the quality of a trade shoot or test shoot. The more professional and magazine quality the results are, the less images you get back because it takes more time to edit. The more un-retouched and "artistic", the more you get, because its not at that level yet. Granted this isn't absolute because some photographers who rush edits might still only give you 2 images even without it being retouched to a higher standard. But its good general rule of thumb when gauging a photographers work. If they promise you a lot, don't expect the moon and the stars. Shooting is the easy part. Its the time after the shoot where photographers spend the most time.

I never rush turn around times on trade shoots. It doesn't take priority over paid work or side projects. They get done when they get done, but I never skimp out on quality so models really appreciate that even if they wait.

Typically I don't even provide paying clients with a choice of more than 4 or perhaps 6 frames, not without good reason that is. Last year for example I produced 11 frames for a slide show of images used in a commercial for one of my clients. You certainly can't build a decent slide show with 1 or 2 images so of course I produced more.

I believe every trade shoot is a collaboration and both parties should have input and get to decide which photos are used.  The trade should be equitable.  The only two people that can decide that are the individual model and photographer discussing the shoot. 

It's not necessary to give the model all of the images or go overboard on the number of images provided.  I don't care if the model sees all the images from a shoot, but she can't have them all.  After a shoot I delete all of the obviously bad images and then post a private web gallery of proof images.  The model can choose up to 3 images to have retouched.  I provide copies of images I choose to retouch in addition to the ones the model chooses.  They usually end up with 6-10 total images.

The number of total images should be based on what's reasonable to that person in terms of their time and effort.  Each image I retouch can take up to an hour, so by the time things are said and done, I've usually invested at least 8 hours of my time for each trade shoot.  It's up to each photographer to determine what is "fair" based on their available time and how much they value their finished product and the amount of effort they put into the shoot.  There is no one size fits all "right" answer to this question.

The model has the opportunity to decide whether that compensation is equitable for her time spent modeling.  If so, great.  If not, next.  It has to work for both parties.

While reading the replies in this thread, a thought occurred to me that I believe it relevant to the discussion.  It's been said that inexperienced models are more likely to demand more images and that more experienced models appreciate seeing a select few.  Do the inexperienced models understand that an experienced model, or even anyone for that matter, is more likely to see the unbiased best images?  We each know our own real and perceived flaws but another person may not see those same flaws as detrimental but rather just another part of the model's look or persona.  I'd be interested in hearing the views of my peers here to that aspect of the issue.