A Beginner's Guide to the Unwritten Rules of Photographing Freelance Models: GWC 101
A Beginner's Guide to the Unwritten Rules of Photographing Freelance Models: GWC 101
By Stephanie Edmark
For the edification of both the photographers of MM as well as our lovely models, below is a (not so) succinct series of basic rules of etiquette (something which IMHO is sorely lacking in this community, and which we can all benefit from) -- protocol for the business of freelance modeling and photography, if you will. Over the years, experience has taught me a few things about the realities of the pursuit of modeling, not all of them unicorns and glitter. This is a set of guidelines [read:RANT] borne of much trauma and frustration so I apologize in advance for the tone (sorry, not sorry).
• Deposit Fees While Touring: Deposits are really the only safeguard this industry provides against getting basically screwed in the process of putting everything out on the line to cover travel expenses and notoriously high booking cancellations. The 80% flake rate -- day-of flake rate I might add -- nearly broke me this last tour. I learned a few valuable lessons from the experience, though. You photographers are a fickle breed who lack the level of professionalism I’d previously thought. Similarly, you don’t appreciate the amount of commitment and sacrifice it takes a traveling model to coordinate a booking schedule in advance, arrange travel and accommodations, and physically make it from point A to point B to be available to shoot with you on the prescribed day and time. That takes a serious amount of commitment, dedication and professionalism on the part of the model to pull off, especially when considering the fact that travel budget is usually contingent on trip-earnings. You probably don’t realize how badly it [rhymes with ducks] us over when you cancel on us while on tour or I’m sure you wouldn’t do it. Models talk, (as do photographers for that matter), and a flakey rep in a business as tightly knit as this one will be sure to catch up with you, as it has of the many who've pulled a fast one on us before. In an effort to incentivize good behavior, I've recently instated a new policy of offering a 25% discount off my usual rate to photographers who PayPal me 50% of my fee in advance, and would encourage other models to do the same. The deposit is always refundable up until 1 week in advance of the shoot date while I'm on tour. • TFP = Time In Exchange for Prints or Digital Equivalent: Let’s think back, shall we? Remember the olden days when the photographer would hand portfolio grade prints to the model at some point after the shoot to complete the deal and bring the agreement full-circle? But now a-days, a web-sized jpeg, 800px on its longest side, has become the standard by which we trade. Frankly, this is may suffice for Model Mayhem, but I couldn’t even make a print portfolio out of this if I (or an agency) wanted to, and it just doesn’t feel like a fair or substantial trade. All that work (or play, for that matter) and all I have to show for it are a couple of web edits. Remember, this is supposedly intended to be a form of payment for services rendered. If you want to get technical, I usually spend about 3 hours shooting a TF shoot. At my rate, that’s between $300 - $500 worth of product I’m owed (and yes, you charge just as much, and thus are owed just as much. But a model’s product is her time on set with you, her expertise, and in many instances, access to her wardrobe and MUAH skills. Whereas a photographer’s product entails a slew of post work and a delivered set of finished prints or Hi-Res files.) At the very least, prints are an actual product you can physically hold in your hand, a relic of sensory experience harkening back to life pre-the Singularity — and I like prints. I like photo albums and pictures to go up on my wall. My use for prints is only ever personal and private and never, ever for the purposes of selling to a third party or to profit from your work (and I’d be happy to sign a contract stating as much). Prints are still an acceptible form of trade, offered by many a contientious and fair photographer, to this day. If you choose to go a different route, however, at least make it something the model can really sink her teeth into. We will love you long time.
• A Note on Communication: Specifically communication style. Personally, I think it's rude when someone sends me a message in preparation for the day of the shoot that says, "Model is to arrive hair and makeup ready." "Model to provide wardrobe." "Model arrives 30 minutes ahead of schedule." Just think about it for a second ... How would you like it if I wrote to you, "Hi Joe, in preparation for our shoot: Photographer to maintain 5-foot radius around model at all times. Photographer to sign compliancy agreement 30 minutes prior to start of shoot. Photographer to deliver retouched final images within 7 days of shoot date. Photographer to provide portfolio links of MUA and Wardrobe Stylist for model's approval. Photographer to arrive 30 minutes prior to shoot time/set-up time."You'd be saying to yourself, whoa... who does this chick think she is? It isn't what is being asked of me; it's how it's phrased. Sure it's matter-of-fact, and what's wrong with that? But pushy lawyer-speak in an otherwise friendly exchange can be construed as talking down, presumptuous, invasive, a little disrespectful and dehumanizing. Communication should be conversational; it should leave you feeling positive about the collaborative effort you are about to embark upon with the person on the other end -- JUST AS IT IS WITH ANYONE YOU EVER SPEAK TO. IN LIFE. EVER. This doesn't change because of the context of the working relationship, or the nature of the work, or because of the framework of socially institutionalized misogyny in which you've already mentally projected your patriarchal male gaze upon and dominance over my systemically oppressed female body, or whatever. Guess what, buddy, it's not the 1950s anymore. It's not even the 20th century anymore! And women are not objects, we're not your sidekicks, we're not your property, Holy Toaster-oven! And we don't give a shit if you're brain is stuck in your grandfather's boxer-shorts because those aren't the rules we play by! Get with the times! Be civil. Instead of "model is to...", let's try going with, "Would you be able to do your own makeup and hair or should we arrange to bring in an MUAH, or what would work best?" So I inquire as to why I would need to arrive 30 minutes ahead of schedule if not to do my hair and makeup (as I would already come 'hair and makeup ready'). Answer: ... Oh, just because "models are always late." LOLOL. So, you're paying me for an extra 30 minutes of my time just to sit around? Answer: "No." HAHA go to hell. • Talking Down a Model's Rate is a Sheister Move: Don't be a sheister. There's a lot that gets put out on the line to do this type of work, and I really tend to lose respect for photographers who think that it's perfectly appropriate to try to talk down the model's rate as low as humanly possible. This includes a generally wheeling-dealing, nickeling-diming, cheap-ass attitude. Ultimately, I feel that this service really ought to be compensated a little bit better than your average crappy job, yet it seems a lot of photographers don't seem to agree. As a model, we put our personal reputations on the line every time we give a photographer permission to propagate photos of us out on the internet and elsewhere, depending on the nature of said photos, not knowing where they'll end up, what they'll be used for, who will profit or how much. It's also risky making ourselves available to random dudes we don't necessarily feel comfortable with every time we do a shoot. At best, we look forward to the objectification and violating gaze of a complete stranger, or at worst, cornered in a room alone by someone who turned out to have less than upstanding intentions (this has, sadly, happened to me on shoots). But it doesn't always have to feel violating or negative; frequently it's exhilarating, creative and exploratory. However, I think most models who make their living in front of the lens feel this way, yet we suck it up because 'that's the job'. As such, please have a little respect and consideration for exactly *what* you're getting for your money. • Do Not Use a Model's Last Name When Crediting Her: This one’s real easy. Please don’t ever associate my legal last name with any photos you post up of me online, in a book, in a gallery, etc. In fact, don't ever do this to any model unless you have asked her expressly and she has consented. Just leave my last name off. If you ask for a contract, I will add this clause to it. My model name is “Stephanie". Despite that, however, a lot of people know me on other sites, such as Facebook or Google+ where going by one’s legal first and last name is obligatory, and have casually posted NSFW photos of me online using my full name. Not cool. You’d think it was common sense to not do this sort of thing. But between the number of people who I’ve had to contact after the fact to have my last name removed from their photos (who I explicitly asked not to do this beforehand, no less), ya’ll are giving me a F#$king headache. Last thing we want is to have to hassle with getting photos pulled off Google Images that you posted of us because you decided to use our real name instead of our industry moniker. Please guys, use a little judgement when it comes to this one. • Put Her Up in a Hotel, Not on Your Couch: In this biz, the lines between personal and professional tend to get a little blurrier than they should, which probaby has to be the single most unforgivable aspect of the industry. It's just flat out not OK to even remotely view the relationship between yourself and a traveling model as anything less than professional. Trust me, we're already primed to fend off wayward advances, undoubtedly the quickest way to lose a shoot before it even gets started. A hotel for a traveling model shouldn't be viewed as an extravagance -- it's a requirement. However, if you do not posess the finances to make that happen (as many of us artists do not), an honest and genuine intentioned offering of couch space is an acceptable alternative. On that note, it is imperative to me that I develop a level of trust with you before agreeing to stay over at your place. Usually this requires at least one face to face meeting. If you live out of the area and a meeting beforehand isn’t exactly feasible, occasionally a phone conversation will suffice. Don’t disrespect my boundaries by attempting to negotiate me on this. I don’t deal with disrespectful people. Of course if I'm going to be traveling with my partner, this rule is waved. Models reading this: trust your intuition! I can't stress this enough. If the energy of the exchange doesn't feel totally clear and above board, IT's NOT. Guys that come off as erratic, anxious, demanding, persuasive, intense, like you feel like there's something else underneath what he's saying but you can't quite place it, are NOT SAFE, regardless of what they say. I can't even tell you how many times I had to re-learn this lesson the hard way, attempting to extract myself as gingerly as possibly from a scenario of potential victimization. Set your boundaries and don't let them wear you down. Don't be afraid to be rude! If the guy was a decent guy to begin with, you wouldn't be in the position to even have to remind him of your boundaries. Trust me on that. Message me if you need advice! • Flying A Model To You Means All Expenses Paid Plus Model Fee: Yeah, this gets kind of prohibitively expensive for those less financially endowed. In all reality, it doesn’t make monetary sense for a photographer to undertake flying a model out to shoot because you’ll have to pick up the flight and hotel, and then pay her on top if it. If you’re wondering if we’ll just stay at your place, refer to my previous point. You have to make it worth my while for me to take my time to come out there to shoot with you and “going on vacation” to your house doesn’t quite cut it (yeah, I've heard that one before). Contrary to popular belief, I have better things to do with my time. I need to be paid, period. I don’t care where the location is or how I got there. Those details are superfluous. • Group Shoots: Group shoots are a tenuous endeavor I'm willing, but reluctant to consider. Photographers who host group shoots mostly as an opportunity to recoup the rent on their studios are the ones I'm not willing to work with, unless they deal with me with the utmost fairness and don't view me solely as a money making venture. In other words, if you stand to profit from the group shoot I'm probably going to decline. And not that you'll overtly reveal to me that you're skimming 50% off the top, however, your negotiation tactics will convey that to me with resounding clarity. So you really need not mention it at all. Let's be honest, group shoots really aren't a thing you should be looking to for added income (speaking to the organizers here). The profit margin just isn't there. We all know the photographers who sign up for your shoots aren't getting paid for the work they produce; we know they're on a budget to begin with which is typically their motivation for doing a group shoot in the first place; and we know that the model in question is a working professional who needs to be viewed as such and deserves to be compensated adequately for her contribution. And yet, in that equation it's usually the model who gets stiffed. I recently did a group shoot of this nature in which the host photographer had 2 additional shooters over the supposed maximum, which I was not informed would be present, and did not compensate me for those extra shooters whatsoever. This photographer promised me a rate based on the fact that he would cap the attendance at 8 people. But if you promise me a rate with the understanding that there will be no more than 8 shooters, then end up hosting 10 shooters and don't compensate for the other 2, I consider that disingenuous. I won't work with that guy again. On the flip-side, photographers who are transparent in their dealings with me, courteous, considerate and fair, are the ones I welcome group shoots from every time.
