raveneyes wrote:
are they fiberglass?

Okay, I think I'm talking about this kind of stuff.  It's rigid foam, not fiberglass.  And brands that are not this one are not pink.

Lavette wrote:
Hun, grow up. This isn't high school anymore. I'm the same age as you, but you're in a professional industry, so you need to learn how to act a little more mature. Take people's comments and criticisms into consideration, but don't sink to the level of "you're just mad because..." That's very elementary school ("you're just mad because I won't be your friend" sound familiar?) As to your point about your mother having 3 kids and being small, it's called having a high metabolism. Everyone's is different. Some people gain weight as they get older, and some don't. Get over it.

On to the topic at hand.

I find shopping off season the best way to get clothes. You can get $30 or $40 swimsuits for 10 bucks in late August. Sure, you have to go through a little work finding the right size, but it's definately worth it. Also, there are some great stores out there with inexpensive clothes, like Burlington Coat Factory (yes, they do sell more than coats), TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and K&G. One store I like is actually online:
www.the15dollarstore.com
In case you haven't guessed already, everything is $15. Tops, bottoms, jeans, skirts, shoes, hats, everything. So, that's my two cents...

thanks for that link. i checked it out and i think i'm going to be getting some stuff from it. thanks alot!!

Robert Cooper wrote:
Reflectors: You can pick up "sun shades" for cars from places like Walgreens for a few bucks. They come in your standard silver, gold, and even a few fun colors like purple.

Dollar stores:  If you're the least bit creative, you can find all sorts of bargains here. Currently working on a set of props for an upcoming shoot that started off with things from here.

Off season: Already mentioned, but worth mentioning again. Picked up a 7ft prelit Christmas tree from Walmart at almost 60% off what it sold for the week before.

EEEK! Walmart!?!?!?! Sorry, I couldn't resist. I hate Walmart.
Instead of owning a crap load of full flash units, I own 2 without modeling lamps, and a whole slew of slave bulbs with colored gels. I pick up junk lamps on the side of the road ( the kind with flexable necks) and modify them on the cheap. Home Depot Clamp dome lights work awsome with these bulbs.
You just gotta spend a little more time learning how to position them, beacause they don't have modeling lamps, and are a bit brighter than normal strobes.

raveneyes wrote:
Photographers  Join a collective - I just started one in Philly, and rather than the seven of us each investing in our own studio, we're splitting the costs, and it brings the cost considerably down very quickly...much cheaper than renting the two or three times a month I shoot in studio, and I also get to have access to equipment and a great community.

A collective huh?... novel concept, a money saver for sure and something we've been doing for 14 years (since 92).  Here's an example of how photographers saved BIG money by attending our Dec 18th 'Flashbox Glamourshoot'.  Photographers were invited to the Flashbox Studios in Orange CA, for the 3 hour SM photoshoot (studio normally charges photographers $50 an hour to use).  They had access to the 3 powers supplies and 5 backgrounds.  They worked with four intermediate and professional models for 3 hours (who normally charge photographers $50 to $100 per hour for their modeling fees). 

Renting this location for 3 hours and hiring four models to work with during that time could have easily cost them anywhere from $400 to $700 and more.  The total photographer cost to attend our Dec 18th photoshoot was $60.  Now THERE is a BIG savings!  All models attending received cash pay and free images.  A 'win-win' situation for all who participated.  Three of the four models who attended are on our MM photo page, including the model in this avatar, Crystal Nettles...

area291 wrote:

Bad suggestion...Really Bad Suggestion.  These are tools and should be invested in, not bought on the cheap.  Brushes to the MUA are what knives are for the chef.  They should be purchased at a level of quality that should last a lifetime.

Seriously, without the right tools I would just be GWMU (Girl With Make Up).  I spend a lot of money on my brushes because I know that they are the foundation for an awesome kit.

raveneyes wrote:

I'm sorry...but you are both very very wrong.

Makeup brushes are made no different from fine quality artist's brushes and are more inexpensive because they don't have some name brand on them.  Fine quality art brushes, just like fine quality makeup brushes, are NOT cut at the ends, they are cut at the mount.  They are usually made of horse hair, but are also available in acrylic and other hypo allergenic options.  EVERY makeup artist I've ever worked with on a real shoot (catalog) uses brushes from art stores.

Know your products before making such baseless accusations.

Never used a make-up brush made of horse hair.  I'm a big fan of goat, black squirrel and sable.

Deadly Design Make-up wrote:
attention make-up ppl and models too or anyone who like to make the stuff in their kits smaller. I am the queen of makeing big stuff smaller and makeing products last longer.
Keep nail polish in the fridge
get little "bead" containers that stack ontop of one another , and with a candel and a metal spoon  place your either broken tubes of lip stick or new tubes onto the spoon, one colour per spoonfull, and heat dont burn just heat the lipstick untill it is all liquidy, pour into one of the bead stackers containers, and whipe off spoon and repeat. I have found this as a great theft deture aswell  as no one will steall soemthing that they cant see the name brand on , i write down what it is on a sepereate peice of paper in may make-up file book.  Thisis a great trick for when you over twist your tubes of lipstick and they are "wercked" and you dont want to use them, dont chuck it melt it down and use it you will acctually get more out of a tube this way too.
you can do this with foundations aswell.
I have alot of loose powders and the containers are often really large.  So i found at an art store twist top containers that are about the size of a film container these hold lots of product and take up 1/2 the space.
you can use film containers for things like boby pins and safety pins just mark it on the out side. Dollar stores are also a great land of "smaller" containers some times you will find something thats the right size but full of "junk" so i usually by buy the item heck its only a buck, and i dump out the "junk" into a zippy bag or what not and i use these perfect sized container.
and i always have lots of zippy bags get the noname ones
ohh dollar stores are great for disposible items like cotton swabs, tissues and other make-up stuff.

Yes, that lipstick thing works great.  And the dollar store is awesome for cotton swabs and q-tips.

Tati wrote:

youre just mad because i said i didnt like your photos. Sorry for being honest.

WHo really cares what you like??  DO you know how to save money?  That's what this post is about.  Stick to it or hop off...I'm tired of the whining.

JBPhoto wrote:
Anyone ever find cheap mylar backdrops?  Always wanted to shoot w/ one...possibly one of the "shredded" ones too.

Party City, Alen Party Supply, Harbor Freight tools, or Walmart for the silver space blankets. Johann Fabric or Michael's for the fringe cutter to shread the mylar. If you want different colors the party supply stores have table clothes in various sizes that can be used instead of the blankets.

I use off camera fill flash for outdoor model shoots, and I'm currently building a 6v power pack for my flash. Cheapest web price I've found is ~$160 plus you need to invest in the flash cable. Currently have all the parts for ~$60 so the $100 will go to the 20D fund, yeah!

Amanda Schlicher wrote:
a question for the makeup artists

I have a very high sensitivity to any type of animal hair.  Have any of you run into a model like this where you couldn't use natural hair brushes?

no i have never run into this situ but i have with other things that i couldnt belive some one could be allergic too. like alo vera and camimile.  but itsa thing i will now obsess over

raveneyes wrote:

Ok...as to both of your laughter points...EVERY MODEL who has EVER tried to justify TFP to me has said their main expense associated with modeling is working out and eating healthy to maintain their look...  Is that some sort of lie?  Am I that gullible? (yes)

heh. yeah. i do yoga @ home off of a tv show. (INHALE) and it keeps me in plenty shape. if a girl wants to sit there and be out of shape or fat or just not the measurements that she promised,then let her, and shoot those of us who WORK OUR ASS OFF to be the product that we put out there for sale. If you bought a car and it wasn't what was promised, you wouldn't keep it would you?
the gym should be their last excuse. if one at all.

*silly rabbit.

Timothy M. Hughes wrote:
I read photo zines in the coffeeshops of bookstores (Borders, Barnes & Nobel, etc)....

If you follow magazines on a regular basis, subscriptions can be written off. If you buy them on a per issue basis, they can as well as long as they have the name on the reciept and not just "magazine."

Barnes and Noble has a 10% discount you can sign up for. Cost is around $10.00/yr if I remember correctly. It can save you quite a bit over a year if you buy a lot of reference books such as the Kevin Ames, Martin Evening types.

Back when I was in the tech sector, some of the reference books I needed were in excess of $100.00 each. The savings was huge over the course of a year when one had to spend $1500.00 - $2000.00 yr on books.

Amanda Schlicher wrote:
Models:
For the wardrobe challenged, look around your area for aspiring fashion designers.  they are often willing to send unique clothes for a shoot.  Ask the photographer if he/she would be willing to do a CD trade in exchange for "rental" of clothing.

YES! I cannot emphasize this enough.
Us fashion students are ALWAYS looking for ways to get our clothing out there, and many will generously lend, sell (or even give away) clothing samples and such to models for photo shoots, in order to get more exposure for our work. Try contacting any nearby fashion schools, if you can. Fashion students are a great resource for unique, unusual and sometimes custom-fitted clothing and this sort of exchange benefits everyone.

Hell... photographers need to work out... wait this is off topic

I'm an outdoor photographer, just starting to shoot models and I looking to shoot indoors when the weather doesn't co-operate
On sheets and lighting.... any ideas about covering up flooring ?  Do people run a sheet/some paper on the floor or just use whatever is on the floor for full figure shots?

Dave Moore wrote:
On sheets and lighting.... any ideas about covering up flooring ?  Do people run a sheet/some paper on the floor or just use whatever is on the floor for full figure shots?

Seamless paper is really cheap.  Get some of that, and for an added effect/to protect it from damage when being used you can put a piece of plexiglass over it

If your floor is carpet, you'll need something hard to lay under where the paper will be, like a sheet of finished plywood or luan