
Time-for-CD or TFCD is basically the same as TFP, but the model receives digital images instead of prints. This is typically what I offer in trade arrangements and is increasingly popular for a number of reasons.
Aspiring models often believe that receiving a large number of images immediately after the shoot benefits them. Think again! Only the very inexperienced and naive assume that this is a seductive proposal. In your portfolio, you want quality, not quantity.
There are some pitfalls that you want to watch out for:
While it may be in your interest to receive a copy of every photograph taken. The photographer should take the time and care to edit the photos and only give you a selection of the best. Typically models do not have the expertise to select the right images from a large collection. Remember, the photos in your portfolio will be looked at by other photographers, they will see in much better detail than the average person, the technical and compositional errors in each photograph.
Digital or print, a good photograph requires work after it has been taken. If you are presented with a CD immediately after the shoot, the photographer has not had the time to do any post-production work on the images.
No self-respecting photographer wants to release photos to the general public that are anything but perfect. From a large number of photographs taken during a shoot, only a few will meet the demanding criteria a photographer should impose on himself (or herself). Many photos from a shoot are just not good enough, be it exposure, composition, or a variety of other reasons. If you are offered a copy of everything, and nothing else, you are working with a photographer who does not take pride in his or her work.
While I typically do burn a CD for you at the culmination of our shoot together, it is with the understanding that non of the images will go beyond your own personal computer and that you will not post them anywhere without permission. The CD is yours as a learning experience, to see what you did and how you did it during the shoot. It also allows you to see the entire take and choose a few images that you like, and I will work and manipulate those to professional standards.
I also choose my favorites and provide them to you on a CD that I burn about a week or two later after I have had time to hourly work the images.
