Over the years I’ve noticed professional photography taking a turn for the worse. I’ve noticed long time friends and associates are no longer friends and associates as well as the obvious; a HUGE dip in what is considered professional quality. I’ve thought about this a lot as of late and have come to one conclusion; the plague of professional photography is the photographers themselves.
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Yesterday I hosted my last workshop of the 2011 year! It was a shootout (shootouts are no instruction just shooting) and it was fun. I had four models scheduled, but two of them had to last minute cancel and the two that made it were BEYOND success! The two that made it were the two I advertised as being there so it was all good. Today is stressed for time but I wanted to put up two quick edited images:
Here’s some more old school photos for ya, only these are from some magazines I was in. I’m sharing because these are fun for me to look at and see not only how my work has improved, but see where I was with what I was shooting. Meaning posing and connection with the model which I now think is the most important aspects of a shoot.
Today I want to blog about something that is very important to many photographers across the world, Modeling and Acting schools and agencies.
There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t hear reference to “JRP” Or John Casablancas “agency” and how a model is going to make it big. Far be it from me to say they won’t make it big, but I don’t tell them those two schools won’t be a contributing factor to their success! If you’ve spent any time doing any sort of research, then you know it takes more than a school, person or connection to become a top model, it takes drive, determination and total honesty with yourself. Sadly, these “schools” can’t teach you this. Who and what is JRP and Casablancas? Let’s find out!
I will forever and always remember this shoot. The model’s name is Katy and she was a total sweetheart. She was a dance choreographer for kids and the local college. She was at that time, the first person I shot that had a great body and beautiful face.
I first met Lauren in April of 2010. When I saw her photos, I thought “Wow! She’s really pretty!” In her photos, she never smiled and the mystery of her intrigued me. Right away I thought she was a glamour girl and I wanted to shoot her. I honestly forgot how we actually started talking, but not soon after we had a date to shoot. If you know ANYTHING about models you know that 10am your and my time, is actually 10:20-11:00 model time. I was on my way to the studio at 10am when she text’d me and told me she had been outside since 9:45 waiting for me!
One of the things we hear time and time again is “Shoot it right in camera and you won’t need Photoshop” If you didn’t know, this is a very, very old saying that came out when everyone went digital. This saying came from the fact that photographers and our egos didn’t want anyone thinking some stupid program could do anything to enhance our work. That amazing photos were created in the camera and that was the end of it.
What do you think is the #1 career killer of many up and coming or want to be models? I’ll bet it’s not what your first guesses are! What do you think it is?
Too short? Nope! Not at all.
Too limited on styles? Nope, not at all.
No money to work with professional photographers? Nope, not even that!
There are many things one can say that will put people off. Most times, we don’t realize that it’s the most innocent of questions that will get us “blacklisted” from many established photographers. As we all know, I preach the…
Is one that provides you with a ton of photos that can keep you editing for months to come.
For every serious photographer I stress two things;
Have a QUALIFIED mentor
Have a Muse
With these two things, there isn’t anything you can’t do in the photography and business world. The reason this is so important is a mentor has been where you are or going and can usually help steer you in the right direction. A good mentor is much like a psychologist; they will never come out and tell you exactly what to do, but will suggest or lightly nudge you. A muse will bring out your creative side as well as allowing you to try new things and work with you to evolve your ideas into more. I think it’s important to have several types of muses and mentors, the more diverse, the better.
Here’s a photo from a shoot with one of my muses Lauren V. This photo was taken in April and today, this session STILL allows me at least five new photos to clean up and post. Obviously there’s no purpose to have that many on the blog, which is why I’ll have my portfolio paysite coming out soon. Until then, enjoy this photo!