Casting Calls. . . !

Hi Friends & Bloggers! As part of the new magazine format that we have changed to, one of the interesting parts of that change is the behind the scenes workings of jlamore.com and all the effort that goes into it. One important part of who we are is the look and feel from the models and talent that we have the opportunity of working with and it's very important to us because these women will represent us to the world.

We recently had a "casting call" for model talent that we need for our newly arriving spring fashions and we will also photograph these women for the lookbook, homepages, mailers, brochures and a long list of other marketing material we send out, so there's a process that goes into this.

A model has to have "the look" for us to choose them and the look can mean so many different things. There is a minimum criteria for height and weight but the face is really important. The face sets the tone that everything else follows. We're not interested in large implants or tattoos and piercings but we are interested in a great face!

During the casting calls appointments are made and a schedule is set and when the model arrives there's a little bit of setup and instructions but for the most part we're off and running. We shoot the model in two of our outfits and spend very little time with hair and makeup as we want to see what she looks like as if she was having a normal regular day.

Round one! We turn on the music in the studio and try to get them to move and be as comfortable in front of the camera as possible and we shoot about 500 images. Once the first round of images are shot, she will change her outfit as we look at the first set of images and offer a critique to the model about what we see. "Too stiff!" "Too scared!" "Too flat with no expression!" "Don't round your shoulders!" We show them every picture and mark the ones we like and skip past the ones we don't! When round two ends they usually improve a great deal.

Being a model is hard work and looking like a "model" in front of a backdrop in a cold studio is even harder but a model has to have thick skin and self confidence because it's an industry that's extremely critical of how you look, but, when you find one that has the "look" you know it from the first frame.

We also surprise a lot of people about how advanced we are with the studio lighting, professional camera equipment, and the overall set up with computers and software. Some models think they're just going to stand in front of a wall and we snap a few pictures of them with a little point & shoot camera. The jlamore.com studio is 1000 sq ft., and we're growing out of it.

The model pictured here is Alex and she has the "look" if anyone does. We did nothing to her hair and nothing to her makeup and no computer touch up. This picture shows the tag still on the Black Orchid jeans and part of her bra is showing. She walked in the door looking like this, and, she happens to be one of the nicest people you will ever meet. We used Alex for our Facebook page just from the casting call test shoot. You don't see that very often! Click the image to see it big and then let me know if we should use her as a fashion model.

Jim
jlamore.com

P.S.
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