Quote:
Originally posted by charly
I've been shooting gilrs for over a quarter of a century so got a bit of experience at it.
Dealing with different types all the time but the one motive that runs through them is the need to earn quick, easy and a lot of cash. Few will ever have the chance to earn in a week what we pay for a day, some will never earn it in a month.
You have students, unemployed, poorly paid girls normaly. You do not get PAs, doctors and executives turning up to pose nude. They don't need the money.
There is also other themes that run models, lack of trust and boyfriends. The problem with doing a deal, where she's not paid off, is in the future when the earnings drop or don't come up to what she expects she will blame you. She would never admit that she is not as good as she thought.
She may have earnt twice what she would of by taking the money on the day, but this will not be considered. All she will think, with or without the boyfriends prompting is that you are ripping her off. Never that she's not good enough.
The fact that she turned up at the studio knowing nothing about modelling. Without make up, clothing and walked out of the studio 6-7 hours later with a months wages in her hands, relieves my conscience.
Plus if the pictures bomb and I never sell them she does not give me back the money I lost.
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Every one of these points is valid.
And I deal with each of them all the time.
BUT there is one thing that over comes most of these issues: knowlege. Most objections are simply an expression of "I don't understand this, please explain it to me". ESPECIALLY the boyfriend's objections. Too many off us HATE the boyfriend and show a real major flaw by not dealing CORRECTLY with the boyfriend. HE is not the asshole you think he is... he's just asking for information. If you give it to him and treat him with respect he is a non-issue. Actually, I LOVE the boyfriends. After they understand what's going on and feel comfortable with you (take a boyfriend out for a coffee break: just you and him) he becomes one of your BEST allies. Before you know if the girl is feeling REALLY DAMN GOOD about what she's doing. Why? Because her BOYFRIEND feels really damn good about the situation.
I face this ALL THE TIME. Just last night I faced it again.... the boyfriend of one of the models that has a site with me was very concerned about letting his girlfriend shoot one-on-one with a photographer I brought in from out of town. He had all these reasons why he didn't want it to happen. I talked privately with him, one one one, and addressed each issue. I also pointed out to him that his real issue was control, and that I completely understood (BEING UNDERSTANDING is a VERY vital ingredient when dealing with boyfriends). Once the guy was able to get all his concerns out in the open, without getting attitude from me, he was completely cool with it. He and I hung out at my office and talked about his girlfriend's site while she had her photos taken by a good friend of mine that I consider to be a superior photographer to most in this business.
It's all about HOW we deal with people. If we step up to the plate and be MORE PROFESSIONAL than others, by dealing with the HUMAN side of things, business goes so much better.
