Fitness: What I wish I knew before participating in a Modeling Contest

My montage used for the competition.

On August 26, 2018, Tronix Imaging Center opened up applications for their Image Model 2018-2019 contest. There are several categories to choose from (depending on what age and gender bracket the participant falls under) and application for the contest is to remain open until December 31, 2018. Lucky winners will be picked by judges based on the following criteria:

• Appeal
• Projection
• Expression
• Confidence.

They did not provide much details on the criteria, but grand winners for each of the categories will receive 20,000Php in prize money along with several gift certificates and other goodies.

In addition to this, Tronix has an online voting competition which can be accessed here -- note that the link will prompt you to log in to your Facebook and like their official page before you can proceed any further -- and participants with the most number of votes will win their own set of prizes, albeit not as glamorous as the prizes of the grand winners. One important caveat about the online votes is that they do NOT have any bearing at all on the final decision of the judges for the grand winners.

I heard about the contest from my local Tronix Imaging Center branch, which had posters of the competition displayed just outside the store. I gave it considerable thought before I applied for the contest, and after much deliberating, I decided to go along with it. Before anybody says it, I would like to beat them to the punch: no, I am fairly certain that narcissism and vanity did not delude me into joining this contest. Below are lessons that I wish I knew before I joined that I eventually learned:

1. Application for the contest is fairly quick and painless

The application process took only an hour and a half at most, and that already includes waiting in line to use the photo studio. Once you inquire about the contest at the counter, the receptionists will ask you for two things:

• A photocopy of your birth certificate
• 349Php for the picture package they'll be using for the contest

Once you have those, the kind receptionists will provide you with all the necessary forms wherein you'll fill in your basic info such as your name, email address and phone number so that they can contact you. When you're done with that they'll hand some flyers with all the important information to keep you updated. The whole affair of handing them your documents and filling out the forms will take about 30 minutes.

You can then decide if you'd want to have your picture taken for the contest already, or you can do it another time. Since you've already paid for the pictures I highly suggest that you go through it right away, even more so since it'll take them a few days to edit the pictures.

2. Bring more than one set of clothes

When I went to apply for the competition, I had a feeling that the photo shoot would take place at the same time so I wore clothes that I knew I looked good in, but I could have done better than that. Don't get me wrong my photographer said I looked great, but she also asked if I had another set of clothes I wanted to try out. Their other model competition participants prepared all sorts of clothes that they put on for their own photo shoots.

3. Already have some poses in mind for the photo shoot

Your photographer will have some poses in mind, but it'd be great if you came in prepared with your own poses. The photo studio should have a small movable staircase that you could sit on if you'd like to pose that way. Confident, open, and smiling poses are most attractive, and it's the norm among all the contestants.

4. You'll be taking several photos, but only a few of them will be used for the final output

I already knew this from the beginning, but nonetheless, it still feels kind of disappointing to know that the particular shots wherein you feel you look the best don't end up on the final selection. Your photographer will be taking dozens of shots, but in the end they'll only be using three pictures of you.

I mentioned that I carefully thought about joining the competition. What finalized my decision was that when it comes down to it, I simply thought it'd be fun to join, and it'd be a great story to tell one day. I also thought that it'd be worth it, because the age limit to joining was 24 years old and below. I'm already 23. If this competition doesn't accept applicants older than that, then what of the other competitions? I would have regretted not joining any modelling competition when I get old.

I recommend everyone give any competition they're interested in a shot. If by any chance you don't succeed the first time, you'll learn just like I did, and do better on the next competition, right? I'm looking forward to more things out there that I could learn. What other things are there to know about modelling?