How do I take pictures for a Model Portfolio?

[Not_Your_1993_Steppin_Stone]

I just got asked to take pictures for a modeling portfolio. Now I know how to take pictures of people, and I'm comfortable with taking portraits but I know that portraits and model portfolio's are 2 different things
So if anyone could please share any and all information that they can I'd be very grateful!
Also how much should I be charging for this?

Thanks for all the help!

[JFSanders]

Depends on the kind of modeling that the model wants to do. Check model mayhem (nsfw) for a broad spectrum of types of models and you can look at their profiles to see what kinds of photographs are in their portfolios.

Jim

[OsmosisStudios]

Portrait: Headshots for my friend Catherine.

Model shots: Fashion photos of my friend Tiffany.

[Carsten]

I know quite a bit about the modeling world, because my EX girlfriend was a model and i shot alot of things for her.

The modeling world works like this, you start with head shots, head shots get the model jobs, jobs lead to photos, photos lead to a portfolio. A model portfolio consists of photos of the model taken my many different photographers to show the models ability as a model and to show her ability to work with different photographers with different styles.

so technically she is going about the modeling thing wrong, you don't pay a photographer to build a portfolio for you, a modeling portfolio is supposed to show case your past work.

But whatever the case, here is some advice.

first you need to find out if she needs head shots, or completed portraits.
head shots are taken at the begining of a modeling career to assist in getting jobs.
and completed portraits are fully edited and are added to the models portfolio as examples of her past work experiance.

Head shots are a no brainer, and there are tons of guides online on how to take head shots.

as for completed shots, my advice is too shoot several different styles, poses, and looks.
Nothing is less attractive to a modeling agent than a portfolio that was shot entirely by the same photographer, and same style. Modeling agents really like diveristy, they want to see the same girl preform amazingly in drastically differant situations.

Here is some examples of my EX girlfriend, You'll notice the diversity in both the model and the photography. But everything is the same girl and the same photographer(me)

1.Kira | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

2.Kira | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

3.Kira | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

4.Kira | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Hope that helps somehow

[GreggObst]

There are three books by Billy Pergram that might be helpful in this area.

Amazon.com: Professional Model Portfolios: A Step-by-Step Guide for Photographers eBook: Billy Pegram: Kindle Store

Amazon.com: Lighting Techniques for Photographing Model Portfolios: Strategies for Digital Photographers eBook: Billy Pegram: Kindle Store

Amazon.com: Posing Techniques for Photographing Model Portfolios eBook: Billy Pegram: Kindle Store

Each one has a lot of overlap with the other two. The links above are for the kindle version which is cheaper and since there is free kindle reader for the PC, that's how I bought them.