p.6 #1 · Hope you guys don't think I am a creep...
Its funny how the OP is skating by but the focus is on someone else who un-intentionally supported a viewpoint to a degree. And then clarified what she said and supported...but its not good enough for some. Hope you hold everyone to this higher degree.
Is it because she displays her work? she displays her work of models/subjects she finds pretty..so what...GTFOIT!!
The OP hasn't displayed anything so he is sorta getting a free pass other than the business advice.
p.6 #3 · Hope you guys don't think I am a creep...
'MichaelParris', not really too concerned with anything that you say, but I will say this. If you can find me one photographer who features every last session they've ever shot on their website, you win a freaking cookie.
p.6 #5 · Hope you guys don't think I am a creep...
Lisa_Holloway wrote:
'MichaelParris', not really too concerned with anything that you say, but I will say this. If you can find me one photographer who features every last session they've ever shot on their website, you win a freaking cookie.
Now your putting words in my mouth.....Never said there are those who put every session on there site. My deciding factor is not whether they are pretty enough though. It seems your is.
p.6 #6 · Hope you guys don't think I am a creep...
Wow, this is still going?
I thiought we all understood; facebook and blogs get shots from most, if not all sessions. Only the best shots of the most attractive subjects get into the portfolio. Two separate sites, two ways of interacting with current and potential clients. Why is this difficult?
p.6 #7 · Hope you guys don't think I am a creep...
I have a quick question or three for Russ. You jokingly stated that you were "taking pics of some great looking women this weekend". This thread seems to imply that you're only interested in taking photos of attractive people and not ugly people. There are attractive people in both genders, but your posts seem to indicate that you're not interested in photographing attractive males. I may be incorrect in that assumption, but you have not mentioned males specifically. There are audiences (consumers of art) for attractive models in both male and female form. If that is the case, would you then say that the art you're planning to produce is what you're attracted to, and not simply an attractive versus ugly thing? Will you be photographing only women in the age group you specified earlier in the thread? Just curious.
p.6 #9 · Hope you guys don't think I am a creep...
Lisa_Holloway wrote:
I'll be honest and say that I only enjoy photographing 'pretty' people too. So here's what I've found seems to help without sounding like a creeper. I only put those types of people on my website and blog. Now granted, I do children, teens, families, babies, etc...but if someone comes to me looking like your typical Kingman Wal-Mart patron, I will shoot them and give them every courtesy I give any other client but they will never see the light of my blog or website. When I choose my senior models/reps, I choose attractive girls. End of story. Plus, keeping your prices up there...way up there...will generally only attract those folks who enjoy being in front of the camera and like how they look. Someone who is 200lbs overweight isn't likely to drop $55 for an 8x10 of themselves, kwim? I'm going to stop now before I get blacklisted as a meanie too. haha
ETA that I do not turn away any paying clients unless I am booked or on maternity leave (as in now) and even then I just try to schedule people out further. However, my main points of advertising (my website, blog, Facebook page, business cards, etc) will only be filled with images that represent my brand and show what I want to sell. Call it shallow, call it whatever you want, but I am not going to include an image of a senior girl who is 200lbs overweight, covered in acne, and wearing a Dora T-shirt in my website galleries (this is purely hypothetical btw as I've never shot anyone that fits that particular description)....Show more →
I think this is sound. Everyone else in most markets does this. Even for let's say cars, for the most part products are created to "attract" and appeal to a generally accepted appealing concept. Being selective of your work, having a vision of your particular art/brand and being honest about it is sensible. So to the OP, I do not think your concept is at all creepy. While I shoot mostly regular people who aren't generally "hot" or super attractive, I can understand your concerns or preferences.
p.6 #10 · Hope you guys don't think I am a creep...
It’s interesting how concerned we can be with sameness when it’s the last thing our soul really craves.
Anyone with a modicum of empathy and sensitivity understands people can be surprised or hurt (or flattered) by the reactions they elicit and the multitude of choices those around them make as to how to interact with them. Physical appearance is only one of the attributes involved.
Are you, are your clients:
Interesting or dull
Smart or dim
Happy or sullen
Skillful or incompetent
Spiritually attractive or repulsive
Educated or ignorant
Courageous or coward
Etcetera or not
Many human endeavors (creative, academic, curious, scientific, casual, serious, strategic, happenstance) manifest distinct associations with specific traits. Often this is random, but if there is a strategy involved in those specific associations, we call it an essay, a study – or a brand.
Some brands hold broad appeal, some more narrow, some are revolting, some are celebrated.
Some are seen as morally, ethically admirable – some as thoughtless, shallow or cruel.
The deeply textured variety of choices made by mother nature and by our individual nature(s) is what makes the world go round. It’s never homogenous, nor should it be.
My individual personality and behavior is my brand. Yours is yours. We all make choices. We all create our brand and (most of us) hope it finds a measure of acceptance – whether sweeping or niche.
Is your brand successful for you? I hope so.
Do your aesthetic and business choices work within your world, for you and your clients?... does your brand satisfy you artistically, financially, ethically, intellectually? ? ? and ?... I hope so.
If your brand intrigues me, you have my attention. If it inspires and delights me, you have my heart, mind and checkbook. If it offends me, you may have my attention, but perhaps not my patronage.
If your brand bores me, I forget your name and often take a nap.
p.6 #11 · Hope you guys don't think I am a creep...
Lisa_Holloway wrote:
'MichaelParris', not really too concerned with anything that you say, but I will say this. If you can find me one photographer who features every last session they've ever shot on their website, you win a freaking cookie.
I do but that's mainly because I shoot clients so rarely, I don't want to miss a chance of getting business. Down the line I definitely do not intend to.
I personally am not so interested in pretty subjects, but I do have preferences and I don;t think they are any more shallow than the preference for pretty.
p.6 #12 · Hope you guys don't think I am a creep...
zalmyb wrote:
I do but that's mainly because I shoot clients so rarely, I don't want to miss a chance of getting business. Down the line I definitely do not intend to.
I personally am not so interested in pretty subjects, but I do have preferences and I don;t think they are any more shallow than the preference for pretty.
You capture the sentiment of my statement. The majority of your posts are filled with emotion. Seeing and capturing that emotion is something you are very good at. ANYONE captured with true emotion coming out of there pores, will look very good in a picture. Regardless if they make a "pretty enough" category.
The old saying is very true, "True beauty comes from within". We all have it and it is our job as photographers to strive to capture it....
p.6 #13 · Hope you guys don't think I am a creep...
I shoot professionally and I have to usually make people look better than what they really look like. Weston had this quote only thing is I don't hate my day job quite the way he did.
"When money enters in, - then, for a price, I become a liar, - and a good one I can be whether with pencil or subtle lighting or viewpoint. I hate it all, but so do I support not only my family, but my own work." - Edward Weston
My personal work is very different. I like the street and the reality of my subjects and try to make REAL portraits of them. My thoughts about my personal work are very much in line with the way photographers like Bresson and Arnold Newman approached the subject. In that they were more interested in making portraits that actually revealed the truth about their subjects rather than to make pretty pictures.
"It seems dangerous to be a portrait artist who does commissions for clients because everyone wants to be flattered, so they pose in such a way that there’s nothing left of truth." - Henri Cartier-Bresson
When I do work for a client I have to satisfy their needs but my personal work gives me the total freedom to capture the world and the things in it my way. My professional works pays for everything and gives me the freedom to do my personal work.
