Model calls...what are they all about?

Maybe you are following a photographer on social media and you see a post about model calls. Or perhaps you stumbled upon a blog mentioning model calls and you wondered what it is all about and why photographers do this. There are so many different reasons pertaining to each photographer so I will share with you some of my main reasons to do them!

Training - There is so much training that goes on behind the scenes before and while working with newborns. Safety is a huge factor and also understanding how to get the correct angles when shooting newborn sessions. After doing either hands on training, like I did with my mentorship or virtual trainings which I have classes signed up this month, I need to put those new skills to use right away. Because I am testing out new wraps or different angles it is definitely not something I would do with a client that has booked a session. These are skills I have not yet perfected and are not yet ready to be included in my work flow.

New Props/Gear - Every once in awhile I will get new props or gear which may include new posing cloths, bonnets, outfits, wraps, baskets, lighting etc., etc., etc. and I want to test them out. If I do not have a newborn scheduled to use these types of items I will do a model call so that I can work with the new items. The model calls are great because it gives me a visual for other parents to see and say "ohh, I would love that setup for my newborn session". It is so much easier to visualize with an actual baby rather than me just taking the items on the counter. It also helps me understand the new gear in a working environment.

Promotional Material - The busiest time of year and most popular time for families to have pictures take is the fall. That is great and I love all of those sessions but heading into Spring I realized that I didn't really have any spring/summer images to use for social media and to promote summer mini sessions or anything of that nature. Cue the model call! I sent out a model call request to all of my previous families to do a spring/summer session. It works our great because it not only gets the family images during a different time of year than they are used to but I also now have images to use for that time of year. I have also done these for first birthday sessions, maternity sessions as well as holiday sessions.

So there you have it, some of the reasons I personally do model calls! With all of my models calls the family receives a few complimentary images with the option to purchase more. If you think that you and your family may be the perfect fit for a session like this, follow me on social media and watch for model call posts!