Digitals and polaroids: what models need

Digitals — also called polaroids — are simple, unretouched photos that show a model exactly as they look right now: front headshot, left and right profiles, and full-length shots, taken with minimal styling against a plain background. Agencies and casting directors use them to judge a model’s current, natural look.

The name “polaroids” is a leftover from the instant-camera era; “digitals” is the same thing shot on a phone or camera. Every agency application, most casting submissions, and many client requests start with them — and models lose real opportunities by sending digitals that are over-styled, over-edited, or six months out of date.

What a standard digitals set contains

Requirements vary slightly between agencies, but this checklist covers what almost every one expects:

• Front headshot, neutral expression — face relaxed, hair pulled back or tucked behind the ears
• Front headshot, smiling — a natural smile, ideally showing teeth
• Left profile and right profile — head-and-shoulders, both sides
• Full-length, front — standing straight, arms relaxed
• Full-length, back — same stance, turned away from camera
• Minimal or no makeup — agencies want skin, not coverage
• Fitted, simple clothing — plain tank or tee with fitted jeans, shorts, or swimwear; nothing baggy, patterned, or branded
• Plain background — a blank wall, no clutter
• Natural light — daylight from a window or shot outdoors in open shade

If an agency asks for something extra — swimwear digitals, a short walking video — they will say so. When in doubt, send exactly this set and nothing more.

The rules that matter

Three principles separate usable digitals from wasted ones.

Unretouched, always. No filters, no skin smoothing, no reshaping. A casting director is measuring you against the retouched work in your book; digitals are the honest baseline that makes the book credible. Editing them defeats their entire purpose — and experienced eyes spot it instantly.

Current, always. Digitals have a shelf life. Reshoot every three to six months, and immediately after any change to your look: a haircut, new color, a piercing, noticeable weight change. Sending old digitals to a casting is the fastest way to burn trust with the client.

Honest, always. Stand naturally, don’t pose your way around what you consider a flaw, and don’t shoot from angles that hide your proportions. The job of digitals is to show what a client will see when you walk in.

How to shoot digitals at home

You do not need a studio — you need a phone, a window, and twenty minutes.

1. Set the phone on a tripod (or a stack of books) at chest height, a few meters back, in landscape or portrait depending on the shot.
2. Face the window. Soft daylight, front-on or slightly angled, is more flattering and more accurate than any ceiling light.
3. Have a helper frame and shoot — a friend or family member tapping the shutter is enough — or use the self-timer and check framing after each shot.
4. Work through the checklist above, keeping your posture and distance consistent from frame to frame.

If nobody is around to help, AI CAM in CLOS guides a solo shoot: it watches your framing in real time and tells you how to adjust — step left, chin down, move back — so headshots and full-lengths come out level, centered, and consistent without a second person in the room. These are real photos from your own camera, just framed with assistance.

The remote upgrade: directed digitals

Self-shot digitals have a known failure mode: every model frames, exposes, and crops differently, so an agency reviewing fifty submissions is really comparing fifty photography styles instead of fifty faces.

The fix is remote direction. With CLOS, an agency scout or photographer connects to your phone camera and controls it live — framing, focus, and exposure — while you simply stand where directed. The result is full-resolution digitals shot to one standard, with instant cloud previews the agency sees as you shoot, over an end-to-end encrypted connection. Every model’s set comes out consistent and correctly exposed, whether they are across town or on another continent.

That is why agencies run virtual casting sessions and remote model management on directed digitals — and why a model asked for “fresh polaroids by Friday” can deliver them from their bedroom. If the workflow is new to you, start with our guide to how a remote photoshoot works.

Digitals vs portfolio: different jobs

Your book and your digitals are not competitors — they answer different questions. A portfolio shows range: styled, retouched, editorial work that proves what you can become in front of a camera. Digitals show reality: what you look like today, before styling and retouching. Agencies want both, and freelance models need both — a strong book gets you considered, and honest, current digitals get you booked. Keep them separate, and never let portfolio polish leak into your digitals.