Photographers and Models: Let The Market Determine Your Value
About five years ago I was doing a shoot for a big lingerie store here in Vegas. It was a multi-day shoot for the building of their website so just about every product in the store had to be shot. Yes, I know, it sucks to be me to have to shoot gorgeous models wearing skimpy clothes day after day. 
The owners of the store asked if I could hire two models…they wanted a blond and a brunette. So I went online to my usual resources to find models and found me two that fit the bill. The blond was 23 years old and the brunette was 19. The 19 year old was just on the cover of Penthouse three months prior and based on her work, I thought she would do great plus having some experience in modeling of that caliber would be a huge benefit. At the time that I booked her, I didn’t realize that with her experience also came with a pretty big chip on her shoulder to say the least. Just like any of us at the age of 19, we know everything…mmmmkay.
So the day of the shoot arrives and the blond model flakes. No call, no show. I got the excuse the next day about her grandmother dying or a flat tire or her boyfriend left her, whatever. Ms. Penthouse shows up and much to my shock, she’s now a blond too…she decided to dye her hair two days before the shoot. She never thought about how that was misrepresenting her image from when I booked her to the day of the shoot so now this is something I have to deal with. For those of you new to photography, be prepared, these things actually do happen.
OK, so now I just need a brunette. I called a fellow photographer in town who works with a lot of models casts ring girls for a lot of the big boxing matches in town too so he knows a lot of great models to work with and gets them frequently with short notice. I asked him if he knew anyone available at the last minute for a lingerie shoot and he suggested a girl he used once as a ring girl who he said was really cute. I got her number, called her, and an hour later she was in the studio. Problem was, I forgot to ask her hair color…she’s a blond too. The owner of the store suggested I put a wig on her (they sell them) and she thought it would be cool and agreed.
Throughout the entire first day of shooting, Ms. Penthouse was driving me out of my mind. She was this little prima dona who kept reminding me that she was the end all, be all of everything modeling. Aside from being as white as a ghost (she hadn’t tanned at all for months which was contradictory to her portfolio photos) she obviously had been partying really hard for the last few months and it had taken it’s toll on her. In addition, she was constantly arguing with the makeup artist, she couldn’t strike a pose or a smile well, and she was nothing but an unprofessional nuisance all day to everyone present.
The fill-in model was an absolute dream to work with. She took direction well, she posed wonderfully, she offered really good, constructive ideas to make some of the outfits look great, and so on. After Day 1, I fired Ms. Penthouse and used the second model all through the rest of the shooting and the owners of the store just loved her.
As we were cutting her a check for her work, we threw in a few extra bucks for her efforts and she said, "Wow…this is really cool. My first shoot AND I get paid for it."
HUH? First shoot? Turns out, this girl had never modeled a day in her life. Her day job was as a book keeper for a law firm. She did the ring-girl thing as a dare from a friend of hers and had no modeling experience at all. I gladly gave her a disk of the photos we shot and did one subsequent TFCD (Trade For CD) shoot with her as well. I also hired her for two other paying gigs within the next year as well before she moved out of state. What was cool though, was every now and then, I’d see her face in a magazine or on a TV commercial and she started to advance her career in modeling a bit and was having a lot of success with it.
The lesson here is that in many online modeling and photography forums, someone like her who was just starting out would not even have a portfolio to show anyone. Most likely her photos were snapshots of her on vacation or in her apartment since she never had worked with a professional photographer before. If she were to just start with an account on Model Mayhem or One Model Place, she would be that one with cell phone pictures and blurry shots of her holding up a big card in the ring of a boxing match, and would unfortunately be the topic of conversation in forum about, "Why do girls with such bad photos try to get into modeling?" Most likely, that energy would be directed by girls like Ms. Penthouse who I unfortunately had the opportunity to work with also. Some people would be jumping all over this new model to get out of the business because the person throwing the stones though she "knew modeling". Turns out, the ring-girl is 10X the success of what our little princess is, and it all started by her being ambitious, listening to direction when she didn’t know what to do, and being open minded to ideas that would help her. People like Ms. Penthouse are a cancer on people who want to have a little creativity in their life whether it be modeling, or painting, or photography, or whatever.
The bottom line is, let people express themselves and let the market determine their value, not a 19 year old with an "opinion". In time, the market will dictate someone’s value in, say, modeling based not just on their looks, but also on their ability to work and play well with others yet also be a professional as well. The funny thing is, years later, I still see the "ring girl" model from time to time and I have yet to see Ms. Penthouse appear in anything other than that Penthouse issue. The market determined their value. The same thing holds true for photographers. I’ve seen many newbies with a lot of expensive gear who can’t shoot a headshot to save their life get booked over and over and over again. Why? Because they know how to create perceived value in their work and market them selves better than the photographer next door who knows photography inside and out but can’t make a buck to save his or her life. Ultimately, the market will determine any one person’s value so rather than worry about what the next guy or gal is doing, worry about what you can do to make YOUR body of work even better or make YOUR marketing and business savvy even better. JUST BE BETTER, and let the chips of the market fall.
Vegas Photography On A Budget
Recently in an online forum someone was requesting information on sight seeing in Vegas on an extremely low budget. It got me to thinking, if I were a photographer with just a few pennies to my name, where would I go? What would I shoot? A few things to understand about Vegas though. Being a native to the city and have lived here my entire life, I’ve seen trends come and go through this city but some things never change…Vegas is a very "pay to play" kind of city but for photographers visiting the town, there is a lot to see and shoot all within a very short distance.
So if you’re coming here, staying on The Strip and on a tight budget, there is still hope. I would suggest just taking a walk south down the Strip is your best bet. You won’t have to spend anything and you’ll be able to see tons of beautiful resorts, malls, etc. If I were you, here is where I’d go and be sure to bring your camera.
The first, and most cliche’ icon of Las Vegas is the "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign. You can get there easily with a small cab fare from the Mandalay Bay. By foot, it’s about a 20 minute walk. If you’re not near the Mandalay Bay, take the monorail from any of the major resorts that have a station and exit at the MGM Grand. Cross the street to the Excalibur and take their shuttle over.
If you’re headed to the Vegas sign, understand that many other tourists do too. Your best bet for killer shots is early in the morning or very late at night. If you want the killer shot of the sign, go when I go…20 minutes before sunrise. The above image is a 5-image, HDR composition shot at 6:20AM on a December morning as the sun was rising.
The next thing you should do is pick a starting point on the Srip to use as your base of travel. Of course, if you are staying on the Strip, use that but another place might be one of the locations on the northern end of the Strip. It has been my experience that far more photographic opportunities present themselves in that location than on the southern side so for the sake of this blog, we’re going to focus on that. So our starting point for walking will be the Wynn property.
At Wynn/Encore, there are a lot of hidden gems to shoot including waterfalls, light fixtures, even the tiled flooring in places can be a photographer’s dream with a macro lens. Beauty is all around you here, you just have to look for it. From Wynn, you will cross the pedestrian bridge to Palazzo. Just like how Encore and Wynn are owned by the same company and are connected properties, so is Palazzo and the Venetian.
The decor inside the Palazzo mall is always fun and I’ve done several shoots there…
Palazzo connects up with the Venetian hotel through this mall and there are a lot of really nice things to go and look at in there which won’t cost a dime. Even if you don’t spend any money in any of the major malls in the city, you still can still find many unique things to photograph in the Las Vegas malls that will keep you plenty entertained including animattronic shows, human statures, grand architecture, murals and paintings and so much more. Be aware that in some of these resorts, just walking around looking at all the cool stuff can EASILY kill an hour or more per location. The malls here on the Strip are unlike any you’ve seen before.
Once you’re done with the Palazzo/Venetian, cross the street to TI (Treasure Island). They’ve got a few cool lounges in there with some very unique lighting conditions that create some awesome images and you can watch the Sirens of TI show out front which is free. Here is a link to the show times:
http://www.treasureisland.com/shows/sirens_of_ti.aspx
I’m not going to lie to you, the show is terrible. It’s beyond terrible..I can safely say it will be the worst show you will ever see in your entire life and I’m safe on my bet that if you live for another 100 years, you’ll never see a show worse than this in your lifetime. When Steve Wynn opened the property in 1993, the show he created for the front of the hotel was absolutely awesome. Back when Vegas was going through it’s "family friendly" phase, the show was put in as a draw and it worked like a charm. After the property was sold, the show was changed to something more "edgy" and it’s a sorry replacement. But hey, it’s free, and you’d be remiss if you came to Vegas and didn’t see it. Even bad cheese is still cheese when you’re on a budget. Get there EARLY before each showing as the crowds still gather in big numbers (remember…free) and you’ll want to make sure you bring a good telephoto lens to shoot the details.
After the show, make your way next door to the Mirage. They have a beautiful domed atrium there which is stunning. For $15 you can go through the Secret Dolphin habitat which I’m sure you’ll enjoy and get a lot of awesome photographs.
Next, head to Caesars Palace. You can easily kill an entire afternoon just walking through this property. It’s my favorite place in the city by far. The Forum Shops set the standard for cool shopping in Las Vegas and to this day is still the most expensive commercial property to rent on Earth. There are two free shows inside there which you’ll enjoy also and each one rotates on the half hour. Definitely worth seeing. It’s an awesome place to people watch and window shop. You’ll love it. There are more shops to look at also in the Apian Way which is their older mall area which has been remodeled and added on to as well. The giant stature of David is worthy of several shots to take home with you. Caesars Palace is, without a doubt, the original masterpiece of Las Vegas and remains as that to this day.
The above shot, another 5 photo HDR composition, was shot in the late evening on the Caesars Palace property but many of the exterior items worthy of photographing are even nicer during the day when you have better light.
Next, cross Flamingo Road to the south and go to Bellagio. You definitely want to see the fountain show out front (free) and there are many beautiful places to see and explore in this hotel which will take your breath away.
At this point, I’d perhaps go see the just opened City Center next door. I haven’t been there yet but it JUST opened and suppedly is very nice. Once you’ve done this, cross The Strip and head over to Paris.
The Paris hotel is really cute. There is a connecting mall that goes to Bally’s which might be a great place to grab a light bite to eat.
There’s not much at Bally’s but you can then go over to the Flamingo which has a lot of old, Vegas heritage to it as it’s where Bugsy Seigel started the entire Vegas craze. They have a gorgeous pool area worthy of looking at. and their big neon entrance of yesteryear is a beautiful thing to capture in the evening. Because you’re so close to that neon though, you may want to consider having a wide or ultra-wide lens handy.
Next is the Imperial Palace. Not much here to look at other than they do have an amazing antique car collection. It’s pretty cheap to get in and if you like looking at amazing, multi-million dollar cars from yesteryear, it’s an absolute stop on your travel. You can get pretty close to the cars to capture some detail with your camera so it’s a fun way to spend an hour shooting if you’re a Gear Head, like me.
Next up is Harrahs. They often have live bands playing for free out in front and it’s a good place to hang out, have a drink, and enjoy some great music. You can walk right up the the stage if you want, providing the crowds are small, and get some fun shots of a band in action if that’s your thing. A great rock-and-roll opportunity!
At this point, you’ll be heading back to the hotel. You’ll be passing by a lot of small gift shops which you can get souvenirs for dirt cheap. Many of them sell T-Shirts 3 for $10 and the like.
Now that you’re back at Palazzo, now is the time to hop in a taxi and go north to the Stratosphere. The view from the outdoor observation deck is simply awesome. I shot this one right as the sun was going down. Camera settings were used with a 50mm Tamron VC lens at 1/100, f2.8.
From the Stratosphere, head north again to Downtown Vegas. Here, it’s like time traveling back to the past. The Fremont Street Experience is definitely worthy of several photos and there are some great neon pieces and vintage signs in the area. Just be aware that the surrounding neighborhood is not of the highest caliber so walking alone with thousands of dollars in gear several blocks way from the tourist areas is a bad idea. Even still, it’s a photographer’s dream out here so have fun.
So with this outline, you can EASILY spend an entire day and not spend more than 20 bucks or so plus you’ll have an awesome time. One suggestion though, be sure to pack some VERY comfortable shoes. These resorts and malls are way bigger than you think they are and on this journey you can easily find yourself walking many miles so take a bottle of water with you along with your camera, a few lenses, a cleaning kit (those fountains and waterfalls do spray a little mist once in a while) and be prepared to walk a lot. If you’re making this trek at night, you might want to consider a monopod to get the longer exposures without a lot of blur. Plus it will help you to look cool while you’re shooting.
Are Tripods Obsolete for Photographers?
In a recent photography forum, a photographer created a discussion asking that with the current technology getting so good with image stabilization in camera lenses, are tripods even necessary any longer. In this blog, I want to address the massive importance and versatility in using a tripod or even a monopod in modern digital photography.
Photographer and author Sanders McNew has a saying which has always stuck with me, "A camera off a tripod is a camera in motion." He’s absolutely correct. While Nikon has it’s "VR" (Vibration Reduction) and Canon with IS (Image Stabilization) in their newer lenses and companies like Sigma, Tamron, and other lens manufacturers following suit, this newer technology virtually allows you to gain a full f-stop more than the lens’ actual rating. By assisting the photographer with reducing the vibration caused by the human body holding an object still for longer periods of time, you can create sharper images with longer exposure times. It still does not eliminate the need for a good tripod or other similar, physical image stabilization system though. For example, these are two recent shots I did for Las Vegas Net magazine which will appear in their September 1st issue.
I shot both of these using a monopod. There is no way I could have gotten the crispness of the Bellagio shot or the tail lights on the street shot with just a VR lens. Not possible. A tripod would have even made these better.
So obviously shooting in low light is a no brainer that a tripod is a huge asset to have, but what are some other great uses? Here are a few tips for any photographer where a tripod is either a must or crucial in the creative photographic process:
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Shots of the moon with a large focal length lens. Try shooting the moon with a 500mm lens any other way and all you’ll get is a blur. In celebration of the 40th anniversary of the moon landing being today, this is one that should inspire any photographer to do today.
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Shooting stars. When the Earth passes the tail of a comet or when we experience a metor shower, a tripod is a must.
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Panning shots, such a s a wide landscape shot or the interior of a large ballroom. Virtually impossible without a good tripod.
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Lightning.
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Long exposures for crispness. In low light situations, sometimes you want to shoot with the fastest lens you can get. But there are those other times where you just want the sharpest image possible in low light and instead of shooting at f/3, you shoot at f/11 and do a several second exposure. It’s a look that is just wonderful for certain conditions and can only be achieved by using a tripod.
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Animal photography. Shooting the family bet can be a real challenge sometimes. With a tripod and your camera on a remote trigger, you can stand away from the camera and entice your pet off camera to get the look you want and then CLICK! One of my three greyhounds, Tyler, is a bit spooked when he sees me behind the camera. Once I move away from it with the camera on a tripod, he’s much more comfortable and I get some great shots of him this way.
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Heavy lenses. If you’ve ever walked around with a 70-200mm 2.8 lens, you’ll know it gets heavy real quick. Mounting it to a tripod with a quick release is a life saver (or certainly an arm saver).
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With Independence Day just passing a few weeks ago, many photographers I know got some amazing shots of fireworks around Las Vegas. While you can get OK shots of them without a tripod, you’ll get exceptional shots of them with one.
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Waterfalls or long fog shots.
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Light painting. This is a popular technique used by some creative photographers to take a flashlight or laser pointer and, with the camera shutter wide open in a completely dark situation, start painting the landscape with your beamed light source. Impossible to do without a tripod.
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I have a Sunpak tripod that I spent about $120 on. I like it because you can adjust the way the legs spread and you can have it totally spread out with the camera just 1 foot off the ground. I took the center pole on the tripod and sawed it off and got the camera less than 8 inches off the ground and got some unbelievable insect and wildlife shots that way, Impossible to do any other way at the angles I got these shots.
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Using a tripod in a studio or modeling situation is a great way to have the camera be away from you while doing a shoot. Some of the best studio candid shots I’ve ever gotten were done this way, using the Tripod as an extension rather than have the camera attached to me. What I do is compose the shot and leave the camera on a tripod with a wireless trigger. I walk away from the camera and tell some stupid joke or I’ll say something like, "Hey, seriously, I have to tell you something really important." and go from a straight face to a silly face and go "BLAH" at them and when they react, fire the shot. Another way to do it is to walk away from the camera and start to approach the model real slow and say, "Hold still, there is a roach in your hair" and when they freak out, snap the shot. I get so many awesome results from this it’s unreal and every model I’ve ever done this with loves the shots we get. It makes it so much easier and un suspecting when you do this away from the camera. Another great line when you’re away from the camera is, "You know, if you make a funny face at the camera, nobody will ever know" ….CLICK!
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Time-lapse photography. Good luck doing that while holding the camera.
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I shoot about 4 or 5 trade shows a year where we setup a green screen and have attendees stand in front of it then I composite the background in of a Vegas skyline or something like that. We print them and give them away type of thing. It’s SOOOOOO much easier doing this with the camera on a tripod. You get real consistent shots time after time after time.
There is no doubt that with the advent of digital photography and the constant advancement of technology with digital SLRs, photography as we know it today is radically different than it was even just 15 years ago. Still though, as good as the technology gets, there will always be a need for the "Old School" way of doing some things. The way I see it, in 100 years when photography has completely changed the way we know it today, we will still have a need for a tripod. I don’t use mine frequently but I certainly do use it along with my mono pod as well. Image stabilization is so important with getting some shots. For any professional photographer, a tripod is just a tool. It just so happens to be an extremely useful tool that will, in my opinion, never go obsolete.
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