Inspirational words to share
Woah San is a very laid back kind of guy. I'm one of the few photographers you'll meet that actually has a college degree in photography. Which is no surprise seeming as though only five photography majors graduated with me and only two of them were in my starting class. A lot of people wonder why I charge so much more than the mall photo people. Well when I graduated from the Art Institute I had a fairly good following however I took a job managing a portrait studio in a mall. There I would shoot 50 to well over 100 people a day. Take 4 generic photos to choose from and on to the next one. Basically it's a job anyone can do. It's true, I hired teenagers to do it. When you go to a real photographer you have their attention for 2-4 hours not minutes. I make sure you get great art work not just another generic photo. Custom lighting and many Images to choose from. Compairing mall portraiture to my work is like compairing a middle school play rehersal to the opening nite of a broad way musical. Bottom line is I encourage you to go to another photographer for less and I will be here to retouch the photos that you could have done a better job taking yourself, with an additional "I told you so fee" tacked on of course.
Should the model pay the photographer or vice versa?
There's nothing easier for an aspiring model than finding several
people who will offer to shoot her for free. So, on principle, a new
model does not need to pay any photographer. And the reality is that a
model does not really need pro-level pictures in her port to show a potential employer what she looks like.
A couple of clean, average pictures in her port and an experienced
casting director can tell what a model looks like. However, amateur
pictures do not provide an employer with any clues as to her work
ethic. Which is really the purpose of a portfolio with pro pictures. In other words, a portfolio will tell an employer that this model is serious about working,
drove to forty casting calls, has twenty shoots under her belt,
understands that this is a business and time is money, and that she'll
be on time, have a good working attitude and that she'll be a good
hire. (Answer provided by friend Mr. Gregory Maxx)
So, why would a commercially viable model ever pay a photographer out of her own pocket?
The operative qualifier here is "commercially viable". If a model
has the looks to get work, but may not be head-over-heels "agency
standard" she might have to make an investment to shoot with a good
photographer to get her book/port where it needs to be. A model can be
shooting TF over and over again, and never be getting the type and
quality of pictures she needs for her port. If she keeps getting offers
to do glam/lingerie or nudes, but she really has the looks for
mainstream, fashion or catalog work, shooting glam over and over would
amount to nothing more than making giant steps sideways, never
advancing her port to a level that agencies will take her seriously. In
addition, if a model decides to make the investment and pay a
photographer, she calls the shots. She can tear out setups from
magazines and tell the photographer "that's what I want to shoot". And
that may be the fastest way for a model to get her portfolio where it
needs to be. After all, if you think about it, that's what agencies do.
When a model is signed with a top agency, the agency will send her to
test photographers, to shoot specific looks, so they can market her.
But if you've tried agencies and you have not been signed yet --in
which case the agency will cover the cost of your tests--, and you
sincerely believe that you can eventually be signed or you are a
commercially viable model, shooting specific setups you need with a good
photographer, might be a the best investment you ever made. (Answer provided by friend Mr. Gregory Maxx)
From the model’s perspective, another answer to the question
"why should I get paid by the photographer" is that “I’m so hot that he
needs me in his port.”
Ah, but a photographer does not really need a super hot model to
showcase his skills. An average or okay-looking model will do just
fine. If he’s skilled he can make the average model look above average
and the good-looking one look smoking hot. At any case, a photographer
is not judged on the looks of the model, but whether or not his picture
is well lit, the composition good, the concept interesting. If a
potential employer sees all that, he can definitely envision the
specific photographer shooting a hot model advertising his product. (Answer provided by friend Mr. Gregory Maxx)
Tips for models
a) Get reliable transportation and get to a casting session ON
TIME or ten minutes before if you can. Showing up early will always
score you major points. ("My car blah, blah, I forgot the map at home, I
dropped the iPhone in my soda, the dog pee'd on my GPS, traffic, blah,
blah," will not fly. And NEVER, EVER use the "I feel so sick because I
drank too much last night." Every professional photographer will show
you the door and tell you to google the nearest AA meeting. Here's some
insight to the professional photographer's mind. Of course the
photographer gets excited when an attractive model walks into the
studio. His first reaction is "I bet she'll look great in this or that
setup." But if she shows up late, she's got an attitude, that initial
excitement quickly gives way to the following thoughts: "Hmmmm, if I
schedule a shoot, will she show up or will I waste my time, will I be
paying my assistant(s) for nothing that day, will I be able to make the
rent in my studio..." So --to quote Tony Soprano-- never forget that
"this is a business" and even when it's TF, the shoot has to have
business-oriented results, i.e. to produce the best possible pictures
that can bring clients to the photographer. Bottom line, if you show up
on time and it's between you and a better-looking model who was late,
95% of the time you'll get the gig. (Answer provided by friend Mr. Gregory Maxx)
b) Approach a TF shoot as if it were a paid gig. Remember, the
photographer is not getting paid either, so do not make the fatal
mistake of treating a TF shoot as a "free" shoot. The only way to get a
photographer to bring his A-game to the table, is if you bring your
A-game as well. (Answer provided by friend Mr. Gregory Maxx)
c) DO NOT photoshop or modify the crap out the pictures you post.
This may seem like an odd statement, in a business that's all about
beauty and perfection, but altering your appearance significantly on
the pictures that you post, is actually detrimental to you getting
gigs. Fixing a pimple, a drop of sweat or stray hair on your pictures
is, of course, okay. If, however, your pictures are overexposed and
filtered beyond recognition in Photoshop to hide age lines, your actual
body shape liquified and skewed to make you look thinner, in other
words, a different person shows up to a casting session than the one in
your photographs, what do you think the photographer is going to do? (Answer provided by friend Mr. Gregory Maxx)
|
