What are digitals and polaroids?
Digitals, often called polaroids, are the unstyled photos an agency or client uses to check your current look. A typical set has a headshot, profiles and full-length shots in natural light against a plain background. Agencies differ in what they ask for, so check each submission page.
The guide to taking model digitals at home covers clothes, light, phone setup and the shots to take. ViaCamera only decides when to press the shutter, and the rest is up to you.
How do you shoot a set of digitals with ViaCamera?
Set up one wall, two heights
Stand your iPhone upright on a tripod, a shelf or a stack of books, facing a plain wall in daylight: at about eye level for the headshots, then about chest height for the full-length shots. Choose the front or the back camera and frame the shot. Between those two setups, only you move.
Work through the angles
Tap the shutter once and step into the frame. For the front headshot and the three-quarter view, AI-FACE takes a photo when your face is in frame and your eyes are open. For a profile or a full-length shot, use AI-BODY, which takes one when it sees you in frame.
Choose the clearest of each
Turn to the next angle between photos. ViaCamera keeps taking photos each time it sees what the mode waits for, until you tap again to stop. You finish with a run to go through, and you keep the clearest photo from each angle.
What should you keep in mind?
Keep your digitals honest and simple: fitted basics, light makeup, daylight and no filters or retouching. Agencies often have their own instructions, so read the submission page before you shoot. Be wary of anyone who asks for payment up front to represent you, and read the guide to sending polaroids to modeling agencies for the details. If you are weighing a self-shot set against paying someone, the comparison of ViaCamera and hiring a photographer lays out the trade-offs.
