There is a mantra in real estate and retail business that touts the value of location, location, location. That axiom is valid in the modeling profession, as well.

Common sense dictates that it would be tough to make a career as a bikini model in Alaska. But, most locations choices require more evaluation.

Ever wonder why a donut shop on one side of the street flourishes and one on the opposite side of the street fails?

Obviously, it can be the quality of the product or service. But, just as important is the location. Workers tend to buy more coffee and donuts on their way to work than returning home. Sounds simple enough. So, how does that apply to a modeling career?

Have you ever considered why most of the working fashion models have agency representation in New York?

Or, why a majority of successful swimsuit models have Florida addresses?

Or, why the stars gather in Hollywood?

Or, why the busiest spokesmodels live in or near Las Vegas?

It is all about the market. The volume of work has less to do with qualifications, beauty, and desire than it does about location. It's all about the location of the talent in relationship to the market. Location, location, location.

Based on sheer numbers, Las Vegas is the most popular convention destination in the world. Hollywood is where most movies are cast. Florida means sandy beaches and a lower cost of living than Southern California or Hawaii. And, New York is the heart of advertising. Not everything is done in these locations, but most of the decisions are made in these locations, using talent readily available in these locations.

Location also brings association and networking. Are you currently networking with more successful models, photographers, agents and potential clients? Or, is your circle of associates a local group of other "wanna be" models, or even family and acquaintances that simply suggest you look good enough to be a model?

If your goal is to be a working professional model, here are a few of the major questions regarding location that require honest consideration:

1) What are the strengths and weaknesses of your current location?
2) Does your portfolio appeal to those strengths?
3) Can you make a career in modeling in your current location?
4) Would living in a more favorable location be a positive career move?

The correct evaluation of the answers to these questions should begin to provide a guide to your marketability based on where you live. It may not be your qualifications or desirability, getting more jobs may simply be a matter of location, location, location........

David Allio - (BIO)

David Allio is an international award-winning photojournalist and digital artist. His professional portfolio ranges from sports, editorial and corporate to glamour, fine art and portraiture. Since 1974, his unique photographs have appeared on album covers, postcards, posters, billboards, calendars, display advertising and in movies, books, catalogs, magazines and other periodicals. Outside North American, Allio is best known and honored as an accomplished traditional and contemporary nude figure artist. In North American, he is better-known as a professional photojournalist defined by his vivid editorial and feature images.

Since 1978, this self-taught photographer has been a featured instructor and lecturer at a variety of photographic workshops and seminars. His instructional topics have ranged from traditional darkroom techniques to elements of digital sports photography. His audiences vary from high school students to senior citizens, and beginning amateur shutterbugs to career professional photographers. Allio has also been a guest professional lecturer - along with career photographers from "National Geographic," "Time," and "Rolling Stone" - at the International Society of Photographers annual convention.

His photography and digital artworks have been exhibited in museums, art galleries and private shows throughout the United States, in Japan, Australia, New Zealand and several European countries. An Allio image has been featured in NY Arts Magazine. And in 2006, an Allio art exhibition was presented in The Saatchi Gallery, London Contemporary Art Gallery. His original Limited Edition Prints and Commissioned Works are prized by private collectors worldwide.

Allio's commercial client list contains several Fortune 100 companies, including: RJR, Time Warner, UPS, plus ad agencies for General Motors and Ford. His extensive portfolio contains a variety of celebrities and sports figures, including: Burt Reynolds, Sandra Bullock, Paul Newman, and Willie Nelson, winners of both the Miss America and Miss USA pageants, plus professional football, baseball, basketball, motorsports and golf athletes.

Since the start of the new millenium, Allio has won special awards in the annual Photography Unlimited international photo competition. A recent recognition came for a scenic landscape image from Kaua'i, Hawai'i.

Throughout a professional career that spans four decades, he has won an assortment of American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association (AARWBA) awards for motorsports photography. He is a former official NASCAR photographer and spent 17 years as a contract sports marketing photographer for the RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company at various AMA, IHRA, IMSA, NASCAR, NHRA and USHRA series events. Since the mid-1970s, he has served as the chief track photographer at ten different race tracks, including the Bristol Motor Speedway. Allio is currently the Chief Track Photographer at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

In November 1999, David Allio was selected by Lycos, Italy, as one of the top four modern erotic artists/photographers in the world. According to Tatiana Tartuferi, Editor, Lycos Bertelsmann: "Allio's work represents a great mix of traditional influences in modern artistic techniques."

In 2001, Allio and his images - photographs and digital artworks - were the subject of a 30-minute feature broadcast on PBS. The program entitled "Impressions" was produced by South Carolina Educational Television.

In July 2006, Allio hit the "trifecta" of big-three stick-and-ball sports magazines by selling photos for publication in Sports Illustrated, ESPN-The Magazine, and The Sporting News.

Allio is currently a contract photographer with the New York Times, Stephens Media, Knight Ridder, United Press International/UPI Photo, Gannett, and Reuters. Professional representation of his digital sports photography is provided by Icon Sports Media.

Born in 1955 in the Commonwealth of Virginia, USA, David Allio is a graduate of the University of Virginia with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Communications and Visual Arts. When not traveling on assignment, David and his wife, Jacqueline, a UVaW summa cum laude and CPA, reside in Kaua'i, Hawai'i.

David Allio - International award-winning photojournalist and digital artist.

Tel. 808-651-4197

d2007@davidallio.com

www.davidallio.com/art/art.htm