№ 06 — FAQ

Terms of the trade

The fashion business talks in shorthand. Here is the folio's, written out — so a first booking reads like a second one.

The pictures

Contact sheet: A print of every frame on a roll of film at negative size, made by laying the negatives directly on the paper. Photographers review it with a magnifier and mark the keepers. Our roster pages are built as contact sheets: strips of small frames you scan before committing to anything larger.
Frame numbers (FR 22A): Film rolls number every exposure along the edge of the negative; the “A” frames sit between full numbers. We keep them as captions under each image the way a darkroom would — they are how a photographer and a client point at the same picture without ambiguity.
Plates: In printed books and magazines, a plate is a full-page reproduction of a photograph, numbered in sequence (Plate 01, Plate 02). A photographer’s profile presents selected work as plates: full-width, captioned with film stock, lens, and light — the technical footnote under the art.
Selects & the red circle: A “select” is a chosen frame. On physical contact sheets, editors circle selects with a red grease pencil (a china marker). Here the red circle appears when something is genuinely chosen: the frame you focus with a keyboard, the active frame on a comp card, the photographer you just booked.

Comp card: Short for composite card — the modeling industry’s standard one-page document: a lead portrait, a few frames showing range, and the model’s measurements (height, bust, waist, shoe, hair, eyes) with their agency’s contact. Casting directors read them in seconds, which is why ours are set as bare tables: numbers answer “does the sample size fit” faster than adjectives do.
Agency / “Represented by”: Most working models are represented by an agency that negotiates rates, checks contracts, and fields bookings. The agency line on a comp card tells you who to call. Requests made through Photograffiti go to the model’s agency, not around it.
Verified: The white stamp on a profile means the desk has confirmed identity and portfolio ownership — the work shown was shot by the person named. Response times and completed-shoot counts come from marketplace records, not self-reporting.
New faces / test shoots: A “new face” is a model at the start of their book; a “test” is an unpaid or low-fee shoot where photographer and model both build portfolio. You will see tests in recent-work lists — they are how half the roster met.

Day rate band: Photographers publish a range (say CA$ 1,300–1,600 / DAY) rather than one number because scope moves the price: crew size, retouching depth, how far the shoot travels. The band is a commitment — your quote will land inside it. Studio rental, if needed, is separate.
Hold (48 hours): Holding dates takes them off the market while contracts are read — like an option on the photographer’s calendar. A hold lasts 48 hours; it becomes a booking when both sides accept, or the dates quietly return to the date book.
Escrow: When a booking is accepted, payment moves to a neutral account — not to the photographer, not back to you. It releases when you approve the delivery. If the delivery is disputed, the desk decides against the contract terms, not against whoever shouts loudest.
Usage rights: editorial · commercial · campaign: Usage is what you are allowed to do with the photographs, and it prices differently from the shoot itself. Editorial covers magazines and press. Commercial covers your own site, social, and lookbooks. Campaign covers paid advertising — the widest reach, the highest rate. The booking form asks up front so nobody renegotiates after the fact.
Deliverables: What actually arrives: usually a number of retouched selects plus the full contact sheet. Left unspecified, the contract lists the photographer’s standard set — stated on their profile, priced into the band.