GLB Graphics wrote:
I have yet to attend one, but would like to in the future. To be honest, they seem a little confusing though. The ones I have read about seem to be nothing more than organized chaos.

Most of them are.  If you grow at all as a photographer, you'll probably grow out of them pretty quick in terms of trying to get good photos.  They may still be good for making contacts however, and sometimes you can get a model away from the pack and get some decent shots.

So how do they work when you have a photographer/model ratio of 3 or 4 to 1, with every camera trying to capture the best of the best? Do photographers scramble around for 3 or 4 hours trying to get their fair share of images, while the models suffer from fatigue or burn out half way through trying to keep up with the demand?

You get a mob of photographers snapping away at a very confused model.  Some models figure it out and go down the line to give each photographer a chance.  Often it's a battle between the photographers to get the models attention.  Really depends on the group and how respectful they are of others.

Besides camera, lens, and flash, what other equipment is required?

For outdoor events that's all that's really required.  A reflector might be helpful too, sometimes someone else will have one and share though.  For studio, a sync cord or pocket wizard is essential to plug into the lights - you probably won't want to use an camera flash.

Since the photographers do pay a fee, do the images they take become their property? Are releases still required? Though technically the models receive monetary compensation, do they still have rights to all images taken of them?

Photographers always own the images regardless of whether they paid, unless they explicitly sign the rights over.  What they don't automatically have is the rights to publish, sell or use commercially.  Check with the event coordinator as sometimes they will include limited self-promotional rights, full rights (rarely) or expect you to negotiate the release individually with the models.  The models don't always receive anything and the don't automatically have any rights either.  In many events it's expected however that you give the models some images to use in their port.  Again, ask the promoter about what is expected and make sure you get the contact info of any model you owe photos to.

So photographers, what do you think about these type of shoots?

If you're just starting out and don't have any experience, might not be a bad way to start if you find a good group.  You can focus on figuring out your camera, exposure etc. with out worrying about making the model wait around as there are other photographers to fill in.  You can also learn a bit from the others.  If you're already used to working with models one-on-one, you probably won't get much out of it other than maybe making connections.  That's been my experience.

These and a million more questions, but wanted to just get the thread started. I was going to place it in the events forum, but thought it would be better here.

Thanks for your participation...

Gary

wait, what?  I'm answering myown questions?  What's going on here??