Modeling & Acting 101 - A Model/Actor's Diary

As always, I value the clients that continuously hire me for their projects. Saffron Rare Threads is one of them. For those of you that have been with my blog for a while may remember me posting about the fashion shows I've done for them before. I was very happy when the owner of the chic boutique in San Francisco's Embarcadero Center, Priya, contacted me and asked if I would rock her clothes again in their latest show, which actually takes place in the boutique itself. I rarely need much pressure from Priya to do her shows so of course I was more than thrilled to come back. What I love about Priya as a client is that she makes exceptions to the height rule. The models she chooses to walk in her shows are of different heights...I'm typically the shortest and the others are around traditional runway height. But it doesn't matter and it doesn't look odd because what's important is that Priya and her crew focus on the fashion and choosing outfits that fit each ...

It's that time of year for me to update my portfolio so that I not only get the looks/themes I'm lacking but to also include images with my most current look (for a long time I had my hair short and it is now longer so many of the photos I normally would submit to castings are no longer useable). I've scheduled 3 test shoots to get the images I need. I knocked out the first one last weekend and teamed up with Peter Kyong of Kyong Photography for the job. I've worked with Peter a handful of times and continue to enjoy shooting with him. He's got a great eye and is able to capture images in a very natural way, which is just what I was looking for. This particular shoot was for lifestyle themed images. We met up in Union Square in San Francisco and literally just walked around and shot on location. We even got permission to shoot inside a designer shoe store but we didn't take any pictures with the store's products because of branding/legality issues. It ...

I'm super excited because I'm waiting to get my copy of the shoe catalog I shot a few months ago in the mail. I haven't done any posts about the Alegria shoot yet because I want to wait until I have the photos and stuff to share in the posts but I've been in contact with the photography, Jay Canter, and he got his copy before mine. He was such a doll and uploaded two of the images from the catalog onto Facebook and tagged me in it. The lighting isn't great but as you can see, it's me! I'm on the cover and the other photo is from inside of the catalog: The cover: me (on the left) and my two model gal pals, Jenna and Oasis. Inside page. Me, Jenna and Oasis in Union Square, SF. The other pic of me is probably the one they're gonna use as the display ads in Nordstrom and Dillard's. I'll find out soon! What's even more exciting is that the line is supposed to debut in Nordstrom stores this Fall and the image of me wearing the oran...

With so many people taking/uploading/editing their own photos, most are up to date on the lingo that comes with digital photography. Terms like DPI are often thrown around and while I would like to assume that everyone knows what that is, I know that's not true, which is the point of this post. :-) Even if you're not a model that retouches or prints his/her own photos, it's still important to know what DPI is...after all, a good model knows his/her craft and that includes more than just the modeling aspect of things. So here is a basic post that'll give you a crash course into what DPI is and how it is relevant for modeling. Below is a great definition for DPI, according to the site WiseGeek.com : DPI ( dots per inch ) is a measurement of printer resolution, though it is commonly applied, somewhat inappropriately, to monitors, scanners and even digital cameras. The higher the DPI, the more refined the text or image will appear. Based on this definition, it...

Category: N/A For: Male & Female Models My name is Dania, not Diana, Dana, etc. LOL. I know most people either misread my name or when typing it, they're so used to typing those other names so I know it's an easy mistake to make. I don't get mad about it or anything--I'm so used to it--but just thought I'd put it out there for my readers that my name is D-A-N-I-A. :-)

Category: Portfolios For: Male & Female Models When choosing images from your shoots, stick to the best 1-2 shots per look. Translation: if you have 3 outfits, that means you have 3 "looks." By the time you're done going through all the photos, you should have at least 1-2 of your favorite images for each outfit/look you've done...so that would total 3-6 images. When it comes to portfolios, you should not have a bunch of photos with you wearing the same "look." It may be hard to decide but you want diversity in your portfolio and that can't be achieved if you have 5-6 pictures with the same outfit on. Having trouble narrowing it down? If you just can't pick 1-2 final images from a shoot and instead you have 3-4, then consider putting together a collage or having a 2-in-1 photo instead. Below is an example of 2 photos that were combined into 1, which would count as 1 shot for your portfolio: Below is an example of 3 photos that wer...

Category: Modeling Portfolios For: Male & Female Models When it comes to traditional hard copy modeling portfolios, your photos should be printed on paper that is all the same size. 8"x10" is the most widely used. Your portfolio shouldn't have images that are a combination of different sizes like 5"x7", 4"x6", 8"x10" and so on. That would be a portfolio I'd call a "hot mess!"