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GWC or just Photographer with no creativity?
Ok...I'm not gonna single this guy out. That wouldn't be nice. But, I was just looking at a photographer's portfolio. This guy had 20 pictures that were almost all the exact same three poses over and over again with different models. His quality seemed a little better than amature, and he seems to be popular enough. But, it was just the same three poses, of different nude women, hanging out around his swimming pool. They were like 5 or 6 of them that were right next to eachother, same pose, same lighting, different model.... Sometimes, I wonder if real photographers just run out of ideas and start shooting the same stuff all the time. Or, get caught up on the wrong things. Like, a photographer that stops taking good pics over time and just starts focussing on getting the models to take thier clothes off... I've met photographers that have great work, from the past, and seem to be caught up in the "wrong things" now or have run out of creativity. I'm begining to theorize that photographers can regress to the GWC stage... I already know that someone will take this wrong and start asking me what my deal is. So, let me clarify: I don't have anything against nudes. I take plenty of them myself. By creativity, I don't mean that everyone has to shoot "fantasy" stuff like I do. But, 20 of the same pic, is a lack of creativity. And, I recently escorted a model to a shoot, where the photographer repeatedly asked if the model would take her clothes off, after she already said no. If, I hadn't been there, he might have pressured her into doing so. While showing me some pics of other models he had worked with, he mistakenly showed me some pics of a model that I know quite well. The pics were not even of her, but rather of certain body parts... I know that she wouldn't have been cool with that, and talked with her about it. I was right, and there was more to the story, but lets stop there. In the past, this guy came highly recomended. And, his finished product looks great. But, he's lost his professionalism, and now focusses on "the wrong things". I've seen this happen to more than a couple photographers. This is what I mean by regressing to the GWC stage... Any thoughts from anyone else on this? Jun 13 06 04:16 am Link There's no accounting for some people's taste. Chris ::rev Jun 13 06 04:18 am Link you've certainly singled him out. you haven't told us his NAME, but you've singled him out like whoa, haha. Jun 13 06 04:19 am Link well, i guess he's going back to a state where he feels safe and secure at. most people who regress into a certain stage do so because that is when they felt safe and secure with themselves and their life. he might be doing that. Jun 13 06 04:22 am Link He may just be learning. /tim Jun 13 06 05:28 am Link I am at a loss to understand why, after working hard to become respected and established among your peers, one would find the need to throw it all away for a glimpse at a breast or two. What a shame... Jun 13 06 05:41 am Link EA Photographics wrote: Do not underestimate the power of the breast. LOL. Jun 13 06 06:00 am Link For a second, I thought that I was the one being referred to in the title.... Jun 13 06 06:07 am Link I would say that, I am guilty of having a limited portfolio in regards to posing and style. And my only defense is that I am indeed just learning. I have taken the difficult road to learning photography...that is not having someone teach me (books and other's work teach me), not going to school and starting off with mediocre tools. I suspect that there are a lot of people just like me who figure they will master lighting techniques before the move on to posing. It also serves to remember that in this community there are photographers who have every level of skill...not all PROs. Eli Jun 13 06 06:20 am Link Of all the things involved in photography......lighting is the most difficult to learn....and it's the basis for all phototography.....doesn't make a differerence what type of camera....film or digital....lens....long or short....real or artificial....it's the lighting that makes the photo..... As far as creativity.....photographers all have it......but at times you begin to reach the bottom of the tank like a car running out of fuel......you just have to find a way to "re-fuel"...... This photographer you speak of may just be reaching the bottom of his creative fuel tank and coasting until he reaches the gas station...... Jun 13 06 07:14 am Link LOl..........Glad I took all the pool shots out of my portfolio. Wait,,,,,,,,I don't have a pool........damn. Jun 13 06 07:19 am Link FKVPhotoGraphics wrote: Ditto. Jun 13 06 07:32 am Link yeah the opinion may be fine and dandy but photographers always "single out" another photographers folio, and the comments are never fair because every photgrapher has creative differences, which always leads to "cheap heat." but also, you mentioned the one word that matters to the models - popular, and as long as he appears to be popular, the models will always flock to shoot with them, creativity or learning from a pose on a shoebox, he will always have people to work with regardless, lol. but in order to achieve a certain level of momentum, they have to start somewhere. as much as you guys are programmed in those narcissist minds to believe so, photographers dont pick up a cam for the first time and automatically have the midas touch, just like kobe or dirk didnt jump right into the NBA and automatically get the concept of hitting the game winning shot. Jun 13 06 07:42 am Link this is the definition of GWC  Jun 13 06 07:48 am Link I guess what I should have mentioned, is that this guy has been a photographer for over 30 years. And, as popular as he was in the past, recent models that he has worked with have all felt pressured to undress and have been a little creeped out by him. There aren't as many models and photographers here as there are up north. So, all the photographers here tend to work with the same modles. I have not been hearing great things latley. And, this isn't the only Photographer I've seen go through this... Jun 13 06 04:39 pm Link may be that is what the majority of his paying clients wont and he is showing off what he is getting the $$$ for Jun 13 06 04:51 pm Link bumpo Jun 13 06 05:28 pm Link Don't know about the extortion part, but getting deeply into a particular style or theme is not only very common for artists but for commercial photographers as well. When you've been doing it for a long time you begin to do things linearly, rather than in parallel. I am not scattered at all. Same camera, same theme, too often same poses or same lighting. But what I'm doing right now only really began in earnest last August. A couple years back it was an entirely different light, film, camera, stage and theme. And a few years before that yet another. And right now it's that third style back that's selling. I expect my current work to be gaining favor with buyers in about five years. That seems to be the shared experience of other artists I've known as well. Again, I don't know about the guy you're talking of, but while sticking with one style can be boring, it can also be the way to perfect it before moving on to something else. (Commercial work is different. Some clients want a shooter who can do everything acceptably; others want a guy that can do one thing exceptionally.) -Don Jun 13 06 06:09 pm Link hey ... i resemble that remark Jun 13 06 06:12 pm Link Damnit! I've only been here two months and already people are making threads about me! Oh, wait...this one isn't about me...oops... Jun 13 06 06:19 pm Link What I find most interesting is the models flock to photogs like that. These guys, as you said have mastered the 3 poses and must have some great lines that they put into their emails. There a quite a few of those types in this area and the shame of it is that many models fizzle after shooting with them. There are days when I get a reply from a model who has worked with this type and I usually end up pounding my head on the desk questioning why, after I saw their images in her portfolio, why I even bothered contacting them. The model, because she shot with such a superstar, now thinks she is worth her weight in gold. I currently have 53 images in my portfolio, I don't think the same pose is in there twice. There is something in there that seems to scare many models away. I have too often considered simply changing my portfolio to show the standard portfolio work that I do but my art comes before the cash since I have a dayjob. blah blah blah I want to live in a cave and avoid all this drama. Jun 13 06 06:47 pm Link I know some fantastic bartenders who like to go home and swill cheap wine with me. There are a lot of portfolios on MM that do not reflect a photographers/models best work. They reflect what makes them popular on MM and what will get them more modelss/photographers on MM. GWC is all about the intentions, he may have been a GWC all along in his 30 year carreer and is now taking some time off from profesional shooting to shoot some fun smut. But he should be clear that he wants to shoot smut though...... Jun 13 06 07:57 pm Link Iona Lynn wrote: That last line is key here. This guy is offering headshots, and then when the model gets there, he tries to get them to strip. Then, there are a few good shots, followed by closeups of body parts that aren't artistic or marketable or anything. Stuff playboy wouldn't even be interested in. Stuff that makes the models not want to shoot with him again. His portfolio doesn't have any of this type of work on it. And, he doesn't offer it. He offers straight forward headshots and then starts asking the girls to strip after 20 minutes of shooting. No one sees those photos except him from what I've gotten. I saw them because he accidently past some of a model that I know and work with frequently, while looking for another picture. Oh... And one more thing. He doesn't have paying clients. He offers headshots for tfcd. And his headshots are good. But, once the model gets there, they find out that headshots are what they get, but not what he's after.... Jun 14 06 04:22 am Link Ok, I don't get the issue here. The guy is shady by flipping the script on what is supposed to be shooting and the model agrees to this by shooting it. If they did not want to shoot the images then they could have left the shoot. Where is the problem? These are consenting adults with the ability to reason and decide for themselves what they will or will not do, right? He could not have gotten the images with out thier cooperation. Is this guys rep so great that they feel that if he doesn't so what they say then their careers will be ruined? Again, I don't get this. Where is the self responsibility here? Jun 14 06 05:59 am Link there are a million half assed photographers out there who wish they could master the three poses a GWC is good at, it has nothing to do with what a GWC says in an email, it has everything to do with what the models see as the end result. I've known dozens of photographers who slag walmart and complain that their photos stink but guess what ... that's all 90% of the people want and so while a GWC may not be much more than a walmart photographer... of the 10% of the market who are looking for something better than them most thing a GWC is pretty impressive. Another, easy way to look at it is this ... a really good photographer is like a free range, organically raised chicken. We all know we should be eating them but for most of us? McNuggets are pretty tasty. Jun 14 06 06:12 am Link Actually, I think you are right. Amateur Models just want to see themselves. Simple, sunlight, obvious and they are happy. A GWC fits the bill. Or we would only have 200 photographers here, not 40,000. Jun 14 06 07:15 am Link |
