Hiring Models for Portrait Photography

[Vincent Tay]

Hi,

I will be visiting Chengdu in a month or so.

I was wondering if anyone knows how and where I may hire local models for outdoor or studio portrait photography.

Also, where are some scenic areas for location shoots?

Thank you in advance.

Vincent

[Charlie]

Difficult to give advice for this, but the only person I know in this scene is Aaronsky, check his weibo account here: Aaronsky on Weibo. I’m publishing an interview post with him on Chengdu Living before long. As you can see from his photos, he’s a really skilled portrait photographer in Chengdu with a large following. You could contact him directly, but it might be more effective to just locate models on weibo and contact them with your portfolio and your budget if you have one (most of those models will probably have a fee). This will also require Chinese.

[Vincent Tay]

Thanks Charlie, and others who had PMed me with advice and contacts.

I am certainly not a skilled professional photographer like Aaronsky. I enjoy photography as a hobby and like making good portraits of friends/family and hired models.

For others whom may have similar interest, I shall share what I have gathered.

So, I have learnt that you can easily hire a model (male/female) for a fee (ranging RMB250-2000/day). I was provided with this URL pointing to a model agency in Chengdu (http://www.cdqingmodel.com). You need to be able to communicate in Chinese – fortunately, I do.

Apparently, there are other ways of getting aspiring models to pose for your shoots in exchange for photographs but you probably have to be quite established, conversant in Chinese and well connected to the locals. I still believe in paying them for a hard day’s work and provide them with meals & transportation. In any case, labor costs are quite low in China.

I will try to provide updates when I have tried it out on the ground e.g.. how such arrangements go in Chengdu.

Cheers.

[Lus Pinto]

Hey!

I’m a 23 year old student from Portugal and

I’m going to Chengdu in October for 5 months.

I’ve done some modelling jobs, and i’d like to do that in Chengdu if possible.

So, if anyone could help me, i would be very thankful!

Best regards,

Luís Pinto

[Author]

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