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Shoe Catalog Shoot: How I Booked It

The cover of the shoe catalog.
A few posts back I talked about a great modeling opportunity where I was in an international shoe catalog for a company. I hadn't done any posts about the actual casting, shoot, etc. because at the time I didn't have the actual catalog to share...but now I do!

I decided to do a 3-part blog post series about this particular gig instead of just writing one long post about it (you know I tend to get long-winded in my writing, lol). So this first post will be about how I got the catalog shoot. It's actually pretty crazy because I got this job without even submitting for it!

As per my usual routine, I was submitting to stuff on Model Mayhem (one of the resources I use for finding modeling work) and received a message via MM from a local photographer, named Jay. In his message he explained that he was casting for a huge shoe catalog and was in need of a few more models. He asked me to check out the details of his casting call and to let him know if I was interested.

I definitely was and told him so (after checking his profile, portfolio, resume and other resources to make sure he was legit, of course!). He said he would forward my MM profile and info right away to the client. I asked him if I would need to attend an in-person casting or interview and he said I didn't need to because he knew based on my resume, portfolio and tearsheets that I had experience and knew how to deliver. It was definitely very flattering.

Jay got back to me the next day to let me know that I got booked. I was super excited, especially since it was a direct booking, which means the client hired me without ever meeting me in person. Direct bookings happen in the modeling industry--not all the time but occasionally and to receive a direct booking is a huge compliment to the model.

Anywho, in talking more with Jay, he told me that he was pushing for the client to hire me because based on how timely I was with my email communication, he could tell I was professional and serious about this opportunity. Apparently, I wasn't the client's first choice but it turned out that one of the models originally hired for the catalog never responded to Jay's emails in a timely manner and was even rude in her attitude/interaction with him. Basically, the client let Jay (who was the photographer chosen to shoot the catalog) decide what to do about that...well, his reply was to kick that model to the curb and replace her with me. As he told me, "If I'm going to work with a model, I want her to at least be nice...why would I shoot someone that's rude to me?" Heck, it made sense to me!

Even though I wasn't the client's first choice, by the end of the shoot they knew I was the right choice.

After a few days of ironing out details, all that was left was to wait for the day of the shoot!
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Comments

BAM Marketing said…
Looks like a great shoot! Love the photo of you packing up the truck :)

<3 The B.A.M. Girls
July 18, 2012 at 11:09 AM
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