I’ve identified an interesting trend, amongst the many nude models and potential nude models that I’ve talked to about doing a shoot. Quite often, an inexperienced model will request much higher pay than an experienced model. This seems ironic, but there are logical explanations. Part of this phenomenon is economic, and part is psychological.

The Economic Aspect

In a recent conversation, an inexperienced model requested between three to four times what I and other area photographers normally pay models. Although she was attractive, she was nowhere close to the level of physical beauty of nude models that were working for far less. So why would a less attractive model, with almost no experience ask for over three times what more attractive, experienced nude models are willing to work for? Some may think she’s simply doesn’t know the market and is just guessing at what nude models earn, but this is not the case. In her mind the sum was not outlandish. I established that she had indeed worked for this pay rate, although on a very short shoot. So the market will bear this kind of pay, even for a model that is not in the upper half of physical attractiveness.

So if inexperienced models, of moderate attractiveness are able to command large sums of pay, why are more attractive, more experienced models willing to work for less? The answer has to do with volume. This less experienced model I mentioned earlier seems to do very few shoots. On occasion, lets say a couple of times a year, she’s able to find a photographer to pay her. Although she’s earning three times the normal rate, these are one or two hour shoots and they occur so infrequently that the level of income is insignificant. That last point is the key. The inexperienced model works so infrequently that she must charge more to make it worth her while.

Experienced models know that they have to work often to maximize their earnings. Like any good business person, the experienced model knows that any missed opportunity for income is a mistake. Women who rely on modeling for a significant part of  or all of their earnings are working at every opportunity. They don’t have to rely on a few large payments, because they are enjoying frequent bookings. Attractiveness has a role to play in this too, the attractive model knows that she is going to be frequently hired, and will continue to earn.

It wasn’t too hard to figure out the economical aspect, especially after doing this for twenty years. I’ve always noticed a great range in what models requested for pay. Establishing the correlation between experience and more reasonable rates was sequitur. But it left me pondering, “Why don’t all models eventually figure out that they are missing shoots because they price themselves too high?” At first I supposed the occasional high paying shoot gave them hope of more high paying shoots, or maybe they just don’t want to model often, but I figured there was more to it.

The Psychological Aspect

There is more to a nude model’s pay than being a source of income. To some it is about self esteem. The inexperienced model may equate her rate of pay with approval about her appearance. A colleague of mine called it “ego bucks” — demanding higher pay, not because she needs the income or because she has knowledge of the marketplace, but because of the good feeling she gets when she is hired for a high paying assignment.  The attractive, self confident model has less need, if any, for ego bucks.

I’m compelled to point out that this isn’t because there is something wrong with the less experienced model. This is a natural human way of thinking that anyone can fall into. These inexperienced models are perfectly sane, good people who simply have a different set of circumstances and therefore a different point of view. Many people equate how much they earn with self esteem. Nor, however, is this universal — not everyone relies of their rate of pay to feel good.

A great many of us feel good when we work hard and produce quality results, regardless of what we earn.  Such is the case with the attractive model, earning reasonable rates. She’s secure in the fact that she’s producing beautiful nude photos. Something that I’ve found many attractive women are willing to do for free, and of course willing to do for pay as well.

This becomes relevant to the photographer when encountering a request for high pay from an inexperienced model. One might assume that they need to look for less experienced models in order to save money, but this is not the case. If you can’t afford, or don’t want to work with the model, don’t be discouraged. Keep looking for the more experienced models. Of course with very high end models, you’ll again see higher prices, but by and large they are not unreasonable considering what you get.

* I’ve avoided putting dollar figures into this because those become outdated. But I’m always asked about dollar figures, so here is some info. I pay my more attractive and experienced nude models over $40 per hour, and I’ve had inexperienced models ask me for $150 an hour. To but that in perspective, minimum wage is currently $7.25/hr and the average college graduate earns  $22/hr.