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I have to say this is a first
So as some people know I have been trying to get out of the tfp buisness and decided to do a last hurrah. 4 days, 4 themes, 45 hours of prep. Day 1: 2 models no show, 1 mua writes the night before to cancel. The shoot ends up costing me over $300 Day 2: very smooth, but less wardrobe than I thought I was being given so I have to run and spend $60 in downtown LA to make up for the lacks Day 4: Models get very very very lost, cost in time about 1 hour. Unfortunately I had a late start time (my fault I know) and we lose a location. My fault. Lost an MUA a few days before the shoot. Lost a model when she didn't show for the first day. Wait, what about day 3 you ask? Day 3 is my avatar. But, well day 3 is also when something happened that was almost amusing. The MUA just didn't show up, she didn't call, she didn't write, she didn't show. (That isn't the amusing part.) All four models showed. While we waited for the make-up artist one of the models tells me she brought no make-up with her. That is fine, I will figure something out. I always do. (I do also however ask models to bring their make-up with them so we are always good.) An hour passes, I have picked all the wardrobe and gotten looks together, but still there is no MUA. I make some calls but no one is available at such short notice. While I am doing the model who brought no make-up decides to sneak out while I am not present. Perhaps she felt the images wouldn't be good that day. All I know is her port is not good, and not representative of how beautiful she could look. In other words, even if the photos were the worst photos of my career, she could still use the images. So just so models know, crap happens. Photo shoots go south and great images can still come out of them. If you are uncomfortable in a situation and scared to talk to the photographer LEAVE A NOTE. But even leaving a note is just plain stupid. Leaving a session before one shot has been done. You have no idea how good the photos could be. It is cowardly and childish, more so since you just wasted 20 minutes of my time while I got your wardrobe together. The other models are now justifiably on edge. It creates a more than weird vibe. It also weirded me out since nothing like this has ever happened to me. I waited to post this to see if it felt less weird but it stills feels really screwed up that the model did this. Any thoughts? edit: is it weird or wierd? Sep 28 06 02:13 am Link Star, that's just plain weird. I before E except after C and in last names like Blei. Honestly, some people don't know the real value of a tfcd shoot. If the models were to give me a bill for their time and I were to give them a bill for mine (along with rights and usage), their bill would quickly be absorbed and they would still owe me a lot of money. You are a pro. You made lemonade AND lemon merangue pie out of the lemons that those shoots offered you. Keep up the good work and remember that with MM, you are taking the chance that the model you are booking is simply the prettiest girl in her trailer park. Tony Blei SmartAz Photography Sep 28 06 02:26 am Link Makes me glad I still do TFP.. For all the talk of how much happier I'd be if I tried to make this my career.... Star is way better than I am.. And it doesn't sound like it's making her very happy at all.. Trying to make a business of what we enjoy makes my brain wobble. Sep 28 06 02:29 am Link yer, thats weird alright ,right outta the twilight zone kinda stuff, and my photo career is pretty much in the toilet right now because of this kinda weird.. Sep 28 06 02:39 am Link W.G. Rowland wrote: I hear what you are saying. I shot a big-wig CEO the other day on the 25 floor of his office building. I brought my assistant an' all my lighting equipment an' everything. The one thing that I couldn't prepare for was the fact that he was overweight and every time he smiled, his chubby cheeks made it look like his eyes were closed â in every frame. Sep 28 06 02:43 am Link Stop searching for models on MM...its not a pro site...start going to Ford, Willy, Next and get the good stuff. Pros won't bail and understand that they get what they pay for...TFPs never existed until the internet...yes one would test, but mostly photographers were paid for their time. I use to get between $450 and $700 a day to shoot models for their books and obtained the trust of the agencies. It is a different world today, but why had the work ethics changed so much...I would say in my experience and awareness, is that due to the internet and the freedom of discovering so many photographers...the "choice" had replaced talent and mediocrity has found its way to become the norm. So if a so-called amature model feels like leaving, she has no one to answer to...if she were with an agent, and one who you as the photographer has a relationship with, she'll find a problem awaiting her the moment she walks into the agency. Move yourself up to a better lot of models and start being serious about this business. Hey even if they don't pay anymore, at least start shooting the new girls they are representing...you know that they will be using your work and word of mouth will beget the same and soon you can charge for your talents. PixelFisher. Sep 28 06 03:03 am Link Pixel Fisher wrote: Just goes to show that you get out what you put in. I've never had anything less than a totally professional working experience with any model I've met through MM. Now agency models is a whole different bag. Maybe it's just my boyish charm though. Sep 28 06 06:32 am Link So far I have been lucky through MM. Had one model from Myspace ( I know) contact me here and she flaked. But i chalk that up to Myspace not MM. Shit happens. Sep 28 06 07:02 am Link the last shoot I did, the photographer brought in an awesome MUA and she did my makeup for the first round of shots/outfits. this was around 8:30am. we were expecting the other model around 10 or 11am. she was driving in 2 hours from Richmond, VA. Well she never showed up so that benefited ME and we got to do more outfits/makeup styles than I would have if that other model hadn't shown up. the photographer wasn't pissed because he liked me so much. I'm sure that isn't always the case but it worked out well for me! Sep 28 06 08:18 am Link SmartAz Photography wrote: Round-cheeked and squinty-eyed isn't always a bad thing. That's what I look like in the best photo ever taken of me, courtesy of Brian Diaz: Sep 28 06 09:10 am Link WIERD?? i think thats just plain RUDE!! well unprofessional and inconsiderate. I assume the model must have natural beauty to not carry make up in her purse. As for the MUA....sheesh! same thing goes for him/her. Sorry s3xyinsomniac Sep 28 06 09:32 am Link I may have to stop reading these threads, at least the ones started by photographers. It's just too bizarre. Let's see, a model travelled for x amount of time to get to a shoot- a TFP shoot where she would only be one of 4 models and had no control over what kind of pics would be taken (since you make it very clear that they show up and take whatever they get). Then she waited over an hour, and decided to leave. Sure, she should have told you, but you obviously had been gone a while, and you had 3 other models, so she certainly wasn't leaving you in the lurch. As for the 20 min you wasted getting her wardrobe, well, that's a lot less time then she had just wasted herself. Your ego amazes me. Sep 28 06 09:54 am Link Miles Chandler wrote: Ummm... there were two changing rooms. I was in the other one. You never have control over what you get, but you commit yourself to a shoot. Sep 28 06 11:56 am Link Star wrote: okay, so Star....on another thread you mentioned that your getting $350-500 for headshots/portfolio development. You can clarify that if I got any part of that wrong, but looking at the tags you have and the feedback you get on critique boards, and probably your own self-analysis is that you're pretty good, right? Sep 28 06 12:10 pm Link Shyly wrote: You are so sweet. Sep 28 06 12:43 pm Link KM von Seidl wrote: That is why I did this last little bit, to get away form the gothic and go more mainstream so I could start taking my port to agencies. Sep 28 06 01:08 pm Link Star wrote: I've found that if you tie them up tightly enough, they can't go anywhere. Sep 28 06 01:41 pm Link Melvin Moten Jr wrote: I've found that too. Oct 05 06 05:53 pm Link Melvin Moten Jr wrote: Ball gag in the mouth stops the bitchin' every time Oct 05 06 06:00 pm Link |
