thisismyurl wrote:
Hey Kaitlin,

Is your problem that he touched your ass or that the shots sucked?

See, if it's a problem that he touched your ass, you have to assume that he's either an unprofessional perv that gets off touching girls butts or he did it by accident. If he’s a perv, then there’s a problem (for the whole profession) and you should do what you think is best for both you and other models.

If on the other hand, you’re unhappy with the photos … well that’s sort of too bad. Bad shoots happen.

(btw, in the future you should remember a photographer is there to photograph you, not touch you, there’s never a good time to cross that line)

Definitely not that the shots sucked...that was sort of just the icing on the cake. I've worked with people more than once though when their photos weren't very good if they had a great personality and we got along. I was bothered by the ass touching and the closeup of my crotch. He totally crossed a line there that I feel other models should know about.

rdmdc2000 wrote:

I don’t know what you are searching for as far a closure but I don’t think it’s worth the time and effort to pursue “justiceâ€? with this photographer.

This post makes you seem rather vengeful and that you have a strong dislike for what you say this guy did to you. May be it’s not only a dislike of what you allege that he did to you but also that you let him do it and you are still mentally kicking yourself for that.

Perhaps one of the reasons that he gets these glowing comments and reviews is that he learned from shooting with you that he crossed the line and he makes sure that he doesn’t do something like that again. Alternatively, the models that are giving him the praise are just juicing him for another paid shoot. Maybe there are actually some people that don’t think his photography sucks and appreciate it. Who knows?

So let’s assume that you blow the whistle on this guy. It then basically becomes a he said/she said which neither of you win.  Sad to say but there are models that will shot with any photographer that pays them (gasp! shock!) and their standards for shooting all of a sudden drop. It never seems to occur to them that perhaps a reason for offering the payment is that the photographer is not that good and is looking for skilled models to help them.  Also, unless the images were part of the compensation (i.e. reduced rate shoot) why would you be expecting images from a paid shoot? Personally, I will offer an image(s) to a model as a “tipâ€? or sign of appreciation if I pay for a shoot but getting paid and getting images leaves me to wonder what this guy was shooting for (which in mind goes to support your allegation that this guy was up to no good)? I digress. So you tell on this guy, there is no upside for this especially if it is as you said you gave him “permissionâ€? to touch you (albeit, somewhat coerced), which will end up in some “blame the victimâ€? interpretation – like asking a rapist to wear a condom.


The major point is that you learned a lesson from your experience and I’d advise you to stop dwelling on this otherwise the negativity will cloud your willingness to be open to photographers that don’t deserve a presumption of perversity that this experience will has created for you if you let it.

You do have a choice with how you deal with this experience. You’ve learned your lesson so give yourself permission to move on and stop worrying about things that you can not control (like the fact that others may like his work).

*Sigh* No one's getting the point of this...the point is not to bitch and moan and try to find some closure. I've gotten over far worse than this with no problem. I'm not still angry at him, I'm just concerned for other models. That's all. I made a mistake that I'm sure many other girls could just as easily make because this fellow seems to be a nice guy (and his wife is just absolutely the nicest lady ever) so it could be really easy to trust him undeservingly. I'm not trying to sound bitter, and I never said he was a bad guy...I don't think he is...I have no idea whether he's a perv or he just doesn't know where the line is...I'm just saying he acts in a way that might upset other girls. Who wants to come home with their photos and find a closeup of their crotch when they thought all the pictures were going to be completely innocent? I personally don't care that much...I never signed away the rights to those photos, so no one's ever going to see them but him and maybe a few of his buddies, but some models may not be quite as strong emotionally and I don't want to risk anyone feeling violated unnecessarily. That's all.

MarkMarek wrote:
I'm just taking this opportunity to hijack this thread - Kaitlin, you're really pretty

*blush*

Kaitlin Lara wrote:
*blush*

Skinny girls rule. And I mean it in the most honest way. No funny business. You are a beautiful girl




PS - I swear I don't brown nose often.

Vivus Denuo wrote:
OK, the lessons here are clear:

1.  If there's an escort in the room and your wife is in the kitchen, you can feel the model up freely, since she'll think you wouldn't dare.

2.  If you're paying for the shoot, you can shoot worthless pictures.

3.  Don't show the model the crotch shots you took of her.

Just kidding!

Lol...I agree! Photographers, for future reference, take all the crotch shots you want...but damn...at least have the common sense not to put them on the CD you send to the model!

Kaitlin Lara wrote:

Lol...I agree! Photographers, for future reference, take all the crotch shots you want...but damn...at least have the common sense not to put them on the CD you send to the model!

But how else will they know that I want to date them?

DigitalCMH wrote:

But how else will they know that I want to date them?

Ok...correction...only leave the crotch shots if you're hot :-P

DigitalCMH wrote:

But how else will they know that I want to date them?

Telephoto Lens and a trenchcoat?

Kaitlin Lara wrote:
Ok...correction...only leave the crotch shots if you're hot :-P

Wait, are we talking about MY crotch shots or theirs?  I think I'll need that 105mm Macro lens.

Marksora wrote:
Hopefully you all can forgive a newbie GWC like me.
Oh well,  lunch is over.  Back to cleaning the bathrooms.

Wow! NOT bad for a beginner...LOL! Righttttt! We all have our ways of shooting. I did portfolio factory work for a number of years after moving to LA and believe me there was no way to direct most of those people. So I developed a method of moving the models that I called "Playing Gumby". By saying that AFTER I asked them if it was OK to move them I made even the newbiest of models look passable. And kept things light and friendly. I am good at telling people what to do but they can't see thru the lens and sometimes it's just necessary to move them. Even with my art nudes, I use such a wide angle, do a lot of compositing and love distorted poses so I do adjust my models....I still ask first and I never adjust "vital" parts. Sorry...no back or foot rubs either. Save those for my wife!
Mike

I know what you're thinking...just get over it...well I am over it happening to me...but what about other models?

I've shot with a few like that, back when I'd just started modelling.  Word of mouth is great for warning local model friends away.  For online warnings, I post on: http://www.theindustryblacklist.com (or http://www.theibl.com ).

It keeps models posts visible only to models, and vice versa for photographers.  People with complaints get to give a rebuttal, but it's kept as anonymous as possible.

Luckily, I haven't had that sort of experience for years now.

Kaitlin Lara wrote:
I believe in giving people the benefit of the doubt.

This comment stands out to me as the #1 reason shoots go bad and/or why people get harmed. you should treat everyone as a raving psycho preveted lunatic until they proove otherwise. Doesn't mean not to shoot with anyone - but to always be on guard.

Zoe Wiseman wrote:

then you should ask to do it first. a model is vunerable when shooting. that should be respected. especially if it is a nude shoot....

At the risk of being the only photographer to agree with you Zoe, I do.  Completely.  Professionalism dictates that you keep communication open to the greatest degree possible to build trust.  If being considerate enough to say, "Do you mind if I....?" is too much to ask than it's time to reconsider your line of work.  Once trust exists, you may get the "oh, you don't have to ask...just do what you need to do" clearance.  Great, now you've got that trust and you'll have it indefinitely...so long as you don't do something stupid to blow.

Paid or not...common courtesy should be more common than it currently is.

Kaitlin Lara wrote:
I know what you're thinking...just get over it...well I am over it happening to me...but what about other models? He has all these good comments on his page about how great working with him is and blah blah blah, and maybe he's not usually like that, but I can't help but feel like other girls should know how he treated me. If he'd be ashamed of other models hearing my story, then he shouldn't have acted that way, right?

So there's the big question...do you tell and make yourself look like some bitter bitch who can't keep her mouth shut and possibly ruin your reputation, or do you keep quiet and risk other people having the same experience? Oh, and bonus points if you reply with your own awesome horror story.

First, I'm sorry that that happened to you, and no, I don't think you should just "forget about it" and keep quiet.  It's completely up to you, but, in my opinion, the right thing to do would be to let other models know about him.  There are wonderful photographers out there, but there are also a lot of them who think they can just cross the line and get away with it.  I also have a story about a photographer I shot with (he's from Hampton Roads, Virginia), and I actually had a long warning about him on my OMP profile, but I replaced it with a different message.  He tries to get models to have sex with him by suggesting that they shoot "adult content" with him, because he supposedly has clients who have paid work available.  I did a photo shoot with him last year, which was a waste of time (I could've went to karaoke, but instead I decided to shoot with that loser), because he never gave me any of my pictures.  He is known for putting his hands on models (and no, I don't mean just to position them correctly), trying to get them drunk, etc.  If you want to send me a private message, I will actually go into detail about some of the sh*t he's done.  A little while ago he found out that I've been warning people about him, so he retaliated by bad-mouthing me to others.  But I'm not gonna let that pervert discourage me from informing other models.  Other models (especially the ones who are considering shooting with him) deserve to know the truth about him.  For some reason his MM/OMP profiles will say unavailable one day, and then the next day they'll be up and running again.  I saw on his travel notice that he's actually coming to the Maryland area like in the next few days, and I hate the thought of him coming to my area and pulling his stunts on the models around here.

MarkMarek wrote:
What's that aperture you speak of, young lady?

best post ever.

Louis Braga wrote:
Hey girl .. GET OVER with ....
I massage ALL my models .... EGOS

PS .. you are so young and beautiful ..
an easy target for pervs ...

Aw...what a sweetheart...lol

Chasing The Light wrote:
"Left a little more, stop! Chin down, hold that. Good."  Works for me.

Your models know left from right? No way!

Verbal instructions don't always work for me. Even asking them not to move doesn't always work. How hard can it be not to move for 10 seconds? So sometimes I have to put my hands on them. Somehow they know that I'm not hitting on them though. Maybe it's my buging eyes and red face.

gsvb wrote:
I have never read so much rubbish

This must be the most negative comment I've ever read.