How to Take Model Digitals for a Swimwear Casting at Home

Model digitals are the plain, current photos a casting team looks at before anything else, and models preparing for a swimwear casting often have to shoot them at home. For the official Miami Swim Week® model casting application, that means five required images: a natural headshot with hair pulled back and no sunglasses, full-length front, side and back photos, and a swimwear photo, with a comp card optional. A phone, daylight and a plain wall are enough to take all of them. This guide explains how to set up, shoot and check each one.

What model digitals are

Digitals are simple photos of a model's face and body taken to show what the model naturally looks like, not how a stylist or retoucher can change it. Photographer Brandon Andre's guide to modeling digitals describes them as unedited and unretouched and explains that agencies use them as a first look at a model. That is why they are kept plain: the clothing, light and background stay out of the way so proportions, skin and features are easy to read.

The Miami Swim Week® casting call puts digitals next to measurements and the walk. Its model application asks applicants to submit their measurements, current digitals and a runway walk for consideration by the casting team for Miami Swim Week - The Shows.

What the Miami Swim Week® application asks for

The photos go in the fifth step of the form, titled Photos & walk. The form asks for recent, unedited images with no heavy filters, and it prefers natural light, a solid background, minimal makeup and high-resolution files. These are the image fields:

• Natural headshot (required): hair pulled back and no sunglasses.
• Full-length front (required).
• Full-length side (required).
• Full-length back (required).
• Swimwear photo (required).
• Comp card (if available): the only image field that also accepts a PDF.
• File rules: JPG, PNG or HEIC, with a maximum of 100 MB per file.

The agreements at the end of the form ask applicants to confirm that submitted photos and videos are current, so digitals from an earlier season or a noticeably different look are worth reshooting. For every other field on the form, see what the official Miami Swim Week model casting application asks for.

Set up the space and the light

Good digitals depend more on light and background than on the camera. A corner of a room usually works better than a studio set.

• Choose a plain, solid wall. White or a light neutral color is easiest; avoid patterned wallpaper, shelves, mirrors and doors in the frame.
• Face a large window so soft daylight falls on the front of the body. Standing with the window behind turns the body into a silhouette.
• Avoid harsh direct sun and mixed light sources. Turning off colored or warm room lamps keeps skin tone accurate.
• Leave a little space between body and wall so shadows fall softly behind rather than sharply beside the outline.
• Mark one standing spot on the floor with tape, so the front, side and back photos are all taken from the same distance.

Set up the phone

• Use a tripod, or prop the phone on a steady surface, and use the self-timer or a helper so the framing does not change between shots.
• Use the main rear camera at its standard zoom. Turn off portrait mode, beauty filters and digital zoom.
• For the full-length photos, set the phone at roughly waist to chest height and hold it level, so the angle does not shorten or stretch the legs.
• Frame head to toe with a small margin above the head and below the feet. A vertical frame suits full-length photos.
• For the headshot, raise the phone to eye level and frame from the top of the head to the upper chest.
• Take a test shot, check exposure and focus, and adjust before the real set.

What to wear and how to prepare

The form names the swimwear photo but does not set an outfit for the full-length front, side and back photos. Plain, fitted clothing or the same plain swimsuit both show the figure clearly. For the swimwear photo, Brandon Andre's guide to taking swimsuit model digitals recommends a standard black two-piece and suggests avoiding color and busy designs so attention stays on the body and the fit. The same guide advises against spray tans, noting that agencies want to see natural skin tone.

• Pick a solid swimsuit with no prints, logos or embellishment.
• Remove jewelry, which Brandon Andre's digitals guide also recommends, so nothing distracts from the face and body.
• Keep makeup minimal, as the application asks. Skip false lashes, contour and heavy foundation.
• Pull hair back for the headshot, as the form requires, and keep it neat for the rest of the set.
• Leave sunglasses, hats and other accessories out of every frame.

Shoot the five required photos

1. Natural headshot: face the camera at eye level with shoulders square, hair pulled back and no sunglasses. Keep the expression relaxed and natural, and take a few frames.
2. Full-length front: stand on the tape mark facing the camera, feet about hip-width apart and arms relaxed at the sides. Keep the whole body from head to toe in frame.
3. Full-length side: turn a quarter turn on the same mark so the body is in profile, with posture natural rather than posed.
4. Full-length back: turn to face the wall, keeping the arms relaxed, so the casting team can see the back view.
5. Swimwear photo: in the plain swimsuit, stand on the mark facing the camera in a simple, upright stance, framed head to toe.

Take several frames of each photo and keep the clearest one, with eyes open, posture natural and the whole body in focus.

Check every file before uploading

• Unedited: leave the files as shot, with no filters, retouching or beauty effects. If a frame needs fixing, reshoot it instead of editing it.
• Complete: check that head and feet are fully in the full-length frames and that the headshot shows the face clearly with hair pulled back.
• Sharp and well lit: view each photo at full size and reshoot any that are blurry, dark or lit unevenly.
• Current: the look in the photos should match how the applicant looks now, including hair color and length.
• Format and size: save as JPG, PNG or HEIC and keep each file under 100 MB. HEIC photos straight from a phone can be uploaded as they are.
• Named clearly: label each file, such as headshot, front, side, back and swimwear, so the right image goes into the right upload field.

Upload the digitals with the rest of the casting media

The photos are uploaded in the same step as the runway walk video, so it helps to shoot both on the same day with the same look. The guide on how to record a runway walk video for a swimwear casting covers the clip's setup and checks. The form asks applicants to choose one event per application, and the current options are Lincoln Road Fashion Show on December 2, 2026, NYFW Shows on February 10, 2027 and Miami Swim Week - The Shows on June 1–6, 2027.

Agency representation is not required, and drafts save automatically on the device used to fill in the form. The agreements also state that submission does not guarantee selection, and that selected models agree to attend required fittings, rehearsals and assigned runway shows.

Frequently asked questions

What are digitals for modeling?

Digitals are simple, unretouched photos of a model's face and body that show what the model naturally looks like. The official Miami Swim Week® model casting application asks for current, unedited digitals alongside measurements and a runway walk video.

How do you take model digitals at home?

Stand in front of a plain, solid wall facing soft daylight, set a phone on a tripod or a stable surface, turn off filters and portrait effects, and shoot a natural headshot plus full-length front, side and back photos. For the Miami Swim Week® application, add a swimwear photo and keep makeup minimal.

How can designers, brands, media, or models participate?

Use the official application and credential links for designer submissions, sponsorships, media access, model casting, and backstage opportunities.