Why Should you Keep your Photos in your Portfolio Updated?

If you’re trying to sign up to a modeling agency in Pennsylvania or New York, you may have heard agents and even other models say how important it is to keep your portfolio updated.

Have you ever wondered why this is so?

Easier to Find Work

One of the secrets to finding work and staying in work is to keep your portfolio updated. So, with every new picture you get, whether it’s from tear sheets of test shoots, be sure to add it to your portfolio. Modeling agencies and clients want to look at your book and see your most recent pictures, and they’re more likely to hire you if your portfolio looks good and new.

Rules on Keeping your Portfolio Updated

Unfortunately, many models still don’t know one crucial rule maintaining a model portfolio: you should only keep current pictures in your book. Most agents and clients consider a current picture as a picture that’s less than 6 months old, so be sure to keep tabs on your pictures and swap them with new ones every six months to keep your portfolio fresh.

Changing Looks

If you’re a model who frequently changes your look, whether it’s by cutting your hair or coloring it, you’ll have to update your pictures more often. Likewise, if you’ve gained or lost significant amounts of weight, you’ll need to change your pictures to something very recent. Even if you haven’t changed your appearance in any way, seasonal trends in fashion will affect your clothing choices, which may look dated after just a few months.

Prepare for Continual Updates

If you’re a model, you have to come to terms with the fact that updating your portfolio is a never ending process. However, you don’t usually have to worry about how to keep your pictures current, since working models are given multiple opportunities to take plenty of pictures of themselves. Every print job and shoot you take as a model is an opportunity to add pictures to your portfolio. Most of the time, photographer, clients and modeling agencies in Pennsylvania will gladly give you some of the pictures from the shoot. If the pictures appearing in some magazine, brochure or catalogue, simply tear the page off the magazine and include it in your portfolio.

As a professional model, your portfolio is one of your most important tools for finding work. Work on perfecting your portfolio and you’ll find that work comes a lot faster.