Tales from the Sphincter files: Episode 2 - Trade for WHAT...???

Over the years I've been offered a lot of things in an attempt to entice me to do a trade shoot with an individual/business/model.  Thankfully 99.99% of the time it's someone who's being genuine.  It's that .01% that makes you cringe though.  :D

On the grand scale of things this barely budges the needle, but I still raised an eyebrow when I read it (not to mention I cracked up laughing).  In all the years I've been doing this, this is literally the first time I've ever been offered "TFMS" - Trade For Maid Service!  :D   
  
I swear I really don't exaggerate or make up any of this folks.  Obviously I'm not going to say yes to it; but jeeze...  that's just waaay out there!  Has the economy really gotten so bad that we've reverted to the barter system from the middle ages?  :D

Are you an Iron Chef or a Short Order Cook?

Model:  Erika

As those of you who've been following me for a while now know, it's no secret that what I'm mainly known for is my pinup work.  So it stands to reason that besides "will you work with me", the number one question I get all the time is:  "Will you teach me how you do that pinup look you do?".

It's not that it's a huge secret (believe it or not), but as a general rule I won't teach people how I do my pinup look for a few reasons.    I sometimes jokingly say that I'll teach it for a rather large sum of money (anything over $20,000 will do.  :D ).  Besides just having zero desire to essentially teach my competition for free (and I only use that word because that's how a lot of people view all of this), I've had people remark that it's because it's "my baby" that I won't do it.

While there is some air of truth to that, there's actually a whole other reason why I just have no desire to teach it.  It's not because I think "I'm awesome" (if anything I think the exact opposite).  It really all boils down to something that I don't think people give much though to:

Model:  Erika

As an artist, what would you rather be known as: a person who has their own distinct style, or as someone who imitates someone else?

Ironically I've been told several times that my work resembles that of others (some well known, others not as well known).  In one way I think it's great when I'm compared to someone who's actually good at what they do.  In another way though it's kind of a major back-handed compliment.

For example:  here's an actual email I received a week or two ago:

"I am very curious, do you know who Robert Alvarado is? You have some how managed to do the same editing technique as him which is elusive to EVERYONE.  You don't happen to have any suggestions as to how you get this illustrated like effect do you?"

  My response: 

Yes, I know who Robert Alvarado is.  I see his work around and I think it's great, but to be 100% honest with you, I don't really "follow" his work (I don't want to get influenced too much) or try to make my work look like his.  I honestly don't think my work looks at all like his, but I've had quite a few people tell me that it does (but I really don't see it!).  Oh well... at least I'm being compared to someone who's good.

I then followed that with a really brief answer declining teaching how I do it.

At the heart of it all, how I actually do that look is easy (for me).  It took a lot of trial and error over several years on my part with lighting, creative posing techniques, learning Photoshop, makeup, etc.  While I will admit that on the surface I can see some similarities to our work, I feel that boils down to the fact that there's really only so many ways to do some of this.  When it comes to technique, I have no clue what others do for their work; and truth be told I honestly couldn't care less.  What sets all of us apart is our creative vision; and in the end that's what makes our work unique.  The problem is that there's no easy shortcuts (or as they say in Maine; "you can't get there from here".  :) )


What sets apart some of us is not only patience, but also the drive and willingness to learn too.  One trait I noticed among the people who usually are asking the question is that they only want to learn the HOW's, not the WHY's.  They think that it's all just clicking buttons and moving sliders, and when you reveal just how much work actually goes into it, they freak out (true story!).  They don't want to learn WHY you have to do certain steps in Photoshop, WHY you have to pose the model a particular way, or WHY you have to light the scene a particular way too.  In a way I don't necessarily blame them for this way of thinking; it's really common these days.  People want instant gratification; or as the lyrics in Anthrax's song "King Size" goes:  "Minimum effort, maximum gain.  From the inside out it all looks the same".  With the way I do my work though there is no instant gratification.


Because they have no desire to neither learn the reasons behind what goes into all of this nor put the effort into it, they have no desire to strive to go beyond the basics (either due to lazyness or because they're afraid of failure).  The best analogy I can make to all of this is that it's like wanting to be an "Iron Chef", but only wanting to put in the effort of a Short Order Cook.  :D


An Iron Chef will spend years going to culinary schools, learning what foods work well together (and which ones don't), experiment with different dishes on their own time, and come up with their own recipes.  They have a genuine passion to go beyond the ordinary and come up with something unique.

A typical Short Order Cook (think McDonald's burger flipper) on the other hand can follow a recipe, re-heat a pre-packaged dinner, etc, but for the most part are just looking to collect a paycheck at the end of the work week.  When you compare the finished products from the two; the one from the Iron Chef is memorable and unique; people usually know the name of the chef and seek them out.  The one from the Short Order Cook is a mass produced commodity that anyone can slap together and that most people never know the name behind it.


I know that sounds a little harsh and maybe even arrogant on my part but if you think about it it does have some air of truth to it all.  For the record, I'm really not arrogant about my work either.  To me it "is what it is".  I'm just happy that people actually like it!


To that end, yes I could very well teach people people how I do what I do.  Why would I want to though?  I'd much rather these individuals put the work into learning how to rise above the mediocrity that's out there by being unique, rather than them trying to be another "me too!" ankle biter that's lost at sea.

---

The two shots above are of the beautiful Erika; whom I worked with at the GMS group shoot over the past weekend.  Lighting used was my Hensel Porty 1200/AS with two EH Pro 1200 heads.  Modifiers used were a white interior Hensel beauty dish on the main light, and a 20x40 Calumet soft box on the fill light.  The background used was white seamless paper.


For the post processing I did something a little different from how I normally do my pinup look.  The technique is most definitely a work-in-progress for me, and combines elements from my painted pinup style and my other more realistic style.  I like it because it's different and although it's "plain" compared to some of the other pinups I've done, it has a girl next door charm to it.  :)

My first official shot of 2012

Did an impromptu shoot with Stacey yesterday.  Not bad considering it wasn't planned, and she's never worked with me before (as those that have worked with me know, I can be a royal pain in the ass when it comes to posing.  :D ).

OK I'm being a comedian; it came out great (if I do say so myself.  :) ).  Stacey was awesome to work with.

Here's another from the shoot:

Tales from the Sphincter files: Episode 1 - Enter the Sphincter!

Drawing by PearlEden.
http://pearleden.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=24#/d4hhufa

If you've read my earlier blog entry where I go a little into the subject, I don't make it a secret that yes I do shoot trade.  The critical difference though is that I don't do trade with just anyone, and I sure as all hell refuse to shoot trade for businesses.

There's a very valid reason for that on my part:  Businesses are in business to make money.  There's no reason on Earth why I should be working at a loss for a business that is profiting off of the work I produce for them.I can also say that at this point I think I've heard it all when it comes to businesses trying to convince me to work for them for free too.

Tony Sleep (http://tonysleep.co.uk/node/687) said it better than I ever could so I'm not going to retread what he's already said.  I'm going to recall what happened the last time a business tried to get me to work for "trade".  Now, I'm not posting this to be vindictive or because "misery loves company".  No, I'm posting it because looking back at just how absurd the whole thing went, if it hadn't happened to me I probably wouldn't have believed that it really happened. For obvious reasons I'm not going name names (so I'm going to intentionally be a little vague at times).

In Late 2011/Early 2012 I received a voicemail from the creative director of a well known business (that's owned by an even larger publicly held company) about doing some photos for them.  Before I called him back I started doing some research and the first question that popped into my mind is why he's even calling me in the first place.  Looking at the previous body of work done for them, it was rather obvious that I wasn't a good fit.  Not that I couldn't do it, but when people usually contact me it's because they want pinup. I returned his call and we set up a meeting at their offices near Cambridge, MA.

The meeting went like this: 

• Initially starts off telling me that he LOVES my work and he wants me because my work is very commercial-friendly.  They're trying to change their image and they feel that my work is classy and a good fit for them. (OK, not a bad start really…  it goes down hill at Mach 9 from is).

• Makes a comment that there's really only two or three photographers in this area that do this full time, and that if I worked for them for "trade", I could potentially be one of those photographers too.   (umm...  I must have had a sign on my forehead that said I was born last night.).

• Tells me that although it's trade, it's an awesome opportunity because of who they are.  Additionally tells me that he feels bad asking another pro photographer to do it because he's also a pro photographer.  (First thing to pop into my mind at this moment:  That's a half-truth.  If it's such an awesome opportunity then why the hell aren't YOU doing it?).

• Tells me that he's seen my work EVERYWHERE.  They've been scouring Model Mayhem and Facebook looking for potential models and I've worked with every model they've considered.   (I don't work with just anyone and I'm very selective about who I will work with.  I had taken an almost 2 year hiatus up until this point so I haven't worked with many new models (mainly just my muses), so I know he's lying through his front teeth).

• Goes off towards left field and makes a remark about how a lot of the girls they use tend to get naked and that I'll see and be able to take pics of it all.  ( (sarcasm) Yeah that's not creepy AT ALL. (/sarcasm)  Actually this was mentioned both on the initial phone call and once more in the physical meeting.  That already told me what I was dealing with before I set foot into the place.  I remind him that since neither they nor I have any use for that and can't use those kind of shots I'm not going to take pics like that in the first place (nevermind that's just being perverted, not to mention that shit will get you (rightfully) sued too).  Even though I'm straight and I love women as much as the next guy, I'm not a creep.  I do this because I love doing it and creating something special, not because I'm desperate to see "nekkid chicks").

• Name dropping companies and making statements that he's not necessarily authorized to be making statements about (mainly liquor companies, but also a few other local businesses), alluding that they'll hire me if they see the work I do with them.  (In my head I'm calling bullshit on this as fast as it's leaving his mouth).

• Asks me to be a talent scout for them, specifically saying that I would bring in some of the models.  (I declined since that's even more work that I don't want to do for free, and I'm not going to ask the models to work for free or foot the bill for this company either).

• Tells me that because what he wants to do is "out-of-band" of what they normally do, he doesn't have a budget for this and that he needs to prove to his boss and to corporate that it'll work.  (I took a page from Tony Sleep's play book and looked up the finances of their parent company (they're publicly traded).  They grossed almost $400 million in 2010 (and were on track to make that in 2011).  I was also failing to see the point of how if his department legitimately didn't have a budget how it was somehow my problem too.  (*Update Feb 2020:  I actually was technically wrong here.  Yes the parent company did gross $400 million that year, but overall the company has been losing money since 1999.  Still, the point is the ability to pay is THEIR problem, not mine.  I'm not a charity.)).

• Proceeds to tell me that a very well known and liked local professional sports player is a horn-dog, a womanizer, and that if I get some models in there and do some shoots with them, most likely I'd get to meet him because he'd be calling me so he could fuck them (I'm paraphrasing there, but that's pretty much what he said).  (SAY WHAT??!?  I still can't figure out the point of telling me this.  I mean, even if it's true that this sports star is perpetually horny and has enough clout that he can get models to bang, why should I give a shit?  (*Update 2020.  The sports player he was name dropping was Rob Gronkowski.  Rob had/has no knowledge of this guy dropping his name so don't go demonizing Rob for someone else's stupidity)).

During all of this I couldn't help but think that he was trying to convince himself that this was such a great deal and that if he kept repeating it, it would sound that way to me too.  Eventually I managed to make him see reality and we settled on some terms that if they stuck to, it would have been a pretty cool gig and I would have actually done it!  I still would rather be paid for my work but in this instance under the scope we first agreed to, it would have legitimately benefited me. My work would have appeared to a new set of eyes that normally doesn't see it and I would have actually enjoyed doing the work.

That's not how this ends though.

Second meeting: 

• Wants to recap what we talked about earlier and in the process, tries to completely change the terms from what was agreed upon the first time.  (Instead of only doing a "key" shot for them, now they want me to do general photography two to three times a week IN ADDITION to everything else (which meant I'd be working nights and weekends on all of this… a full-time job....  for free... IN ADDITION TO ME HAVING TO HOLD DOWN A FULL TIME JOB!)).

• Instead of a contract, wants to work under a "letter of intent".  (Umm.. yeah…  no thanks.  Legally that would have had less value than a wad of used toilet paper after Taco Bell runs one of their 99 cent Fourth Meal Burrito Extreme specials).

• Goes on about the nekkid chick thing again, including telling me about how some previous models they used were skanks (telling me about how "one of the model's 'box' fell out at an event).  (Ok, and this is relevant in what way to the task at hand??).  At first I thought he was going on about it because he was at first telling me that that's NOT what he wanted.  Later on in our meeting he did a complete 180 though (which you'll see later).

• In addition to the aforementioned work starts hinting that he wants me to do graphic design work for their website (or at least graphics that are ready to just drop into the web page).  (The word "no" comes to mind…  ).

• His assistant makes a remark that their customers don't really care if the model is photographed in front of a green screen with a low-end camera.  (My answer to his assistant (that I actually did say to him):  if that's the case then why do you need me? ).

• Asks me about three times (once at the initial meeting, once over the phone, and once at the second meeting) if I do corporate headshots.  (I can do it but not for free.  I tell him no, but I know some people that would gladly do it for a fee; me included).

• Wants me to take the workload off of his assistant by acting as an unpaid talent scout/coordinator.

• Proceeds to remind me that even though I was doing work for them I wasn't their "official photographer". 

• Wants me to photograph events for "trade", telling me that my name will be on their promotional materials, on signs, etc.  

• Proceeds to name drop other business names again, this time telling me about one particular liquor company that uses pin up in their advertising.  (I tell him that I happen to know that this one particular business that he's trying to convince me will hire me for my pinup work WON'T hire me.  The reason?  I happen to know who their photographer is and I know that they did all of the work for that company FOR TRADE; exactly what he's trying to get me to do for HIM!  *Update 2020:  The business he was name dropping was Narragansett Beer.)).

• Apparently now he doesn't want pinup but he won't actually tell me what he wants (he keeps flip-flopping).  I try to nail down precisely what he wants but instead he keeps skirting around the issue.  Instead he keeps wanting to focus on what *I* want in return for working for them (since money apparently isn't an option here).  When I press about what exactly he's looking for, he then starts showing me previous work from another photographer (and the models they've used before) that was done for them.  (Ironically he used the same photos at the last meeting to show me exactly what he DIDN'T want, which now has become what he DOES want.  He then proceeds to start ripping apart the previous photographer AND the models too, calling some of them fat, ugly, etc.  He picks apart the photographer in question too over his photoshop skills!  ALL RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!  I don't know if the previous photographer(s) and models did the work for "trade" but my gut is telling me yes.  So not only do they want top quality work, they want it for free. That and I can tell that if he's going to do that to them, I *KNOW* he'll do it to me too when they try to get the next person in).

• Tries again to remind me about how potentially I could make this my full-time job and all the gorgeous women I'd be working with. 

• Goes on again about how he doesn't have any budget for all of this.  I remind him that I'm not footing the bill for them in lieu of them not having a budget.   (Again, this is my problem in what way exactly?  He did agree to pay for my expenses though... provided I tell him in advance what I need to spend, but the impression I got was that he wanted me to absorb any costs involved).

• At this point he starts telling me again that I'd have to get some of the models in for them because they were having problems with models not showing up.  (I tell him that the type of models he's looking for (basically Playboy/Maxim type) WON'T work for trade and that he'd have to pay them at least $100-$150/hr.  He tells me that that's not a problem and he'll gladly pay… (…..So, you *DO* have a budget, you just don't want to pay!) ).

*Update Feb 2020.  In hindsight now it's obvious why they were having problems getting models to work for them. Besides expecting people to work for free they must have screwed over enough people that word was getting around)

There's more that happened but I that's the gist of it. I eventually managed to bring him back around to what we originally talked and agreed to.  He was then going to write up the paperwork based on that and he'd get back to me.  A day or so after leaving the second meeting I sent him a message politely declining to work for them.

Honestly, after reading the above wouldn't you do the same?  They couldn't have paid me enough to take the gig at this point just on the sheer principle of the matter.  Even ignoring the ethics reasons I could tell that the relationship would have become toxic rather quickly afterwards.

It's been a few weeks since I declined them and other than a question a day after asking why I had a change of heart, I haven't heard a peep about it.

Silent corruption and a lack of integrity

No I’m not talking about our current political system here.  :)  I’m actually talking about something a little more serious in relation to us Photographers.  A couple of months ago I was toying with the idea of putting together an eBook about redundant data storage and backups, but geared towards photographers who have little experience with data storage.  These days I’ve been thinking that instead of that; run a special workshop specifically towards photographers that want to learn this.

At any rate, if you were to ask a group of typical digital photographers what they do to preserve their irreplaceable digital files, you’d get a smorgasbord of different answers like:
 

• Keeping multiple copies of their files on external hard drives. 
• Backing up their files to CD/DVD/Blu-Ray disks (or other media).
• Using a commercial product like a Drobo, Apple Time Capsule, Windows Home Server, Thecus, etc.
• Using cloud storage to back up their data to a remote datacenter somewhere.

...and my personal favorite from the more tech savvy individuals:
 

• A RAID(1/5/6/etc) array (either software or hardware based RAID) that is backed up locally and to the “cloud”, along with some combination of the above.

To these people I usually ask this one simple question:

“How do you know your data is actually intact and readable on those devices?”

The answers usually range from a blank stare to in some instances anger that I’m even questioning their practices.  I’m not asking the question to be a jerk; I’m asking it because it’s actually a very valid question that very few people ever think about.

Those of you reading this are probably saying to yourself “ok smart guy what is the answer is then?”.  The answer is:

“Chances are that unless you’re using a file system that’s specifically designed to prevent and correct file corruption, you actually DO NOT KNOW.  If you’re using a traditional storage system you potentially won’t even find out until it’s too late.”

I'm going to avoid talking about specifics here because it gets very technical, so instead I'm going to give a very high level overview of it all.

The root of the problem isn’t necessarily the methods used to back up their data/photos (although obviously some methods are much better than others).  Rather it’s what’s going on behind the scenes that people are using to store their precious data that is the problem.

Currently no affordable main stream RAID and backup system has in-built data integrity checks at the file system level (although that’s about to change.  Read on and I’ll explain).  Windows Server (all variants), Apple Time Machine, Drobo, etc.  None of them.  While all of these products are great in that they protect you against accidental deletions and against (depending on the product) hardware component failure, they don’t necessarily protect you against the data going bad on the media itself.  That's because they can't!  The problem is at a different level than what these products are designed to service.

Wait?  Data can go bad?  You better believe it can!  Your data can silently go south for the winter from a very large pool of variables and there’s a good chance you may not even notice it until it’s too late.  Variables like:
 

• Accidentally cutting power to a system that’s in the middle of saving a file.
• A component or cable problem that’s not “obviously” failing.
• Power spike.
• The physical media failing (but not generating a S.M.A.R.T alert).
• and as dumb as it may sound, even a stray cosmic ray.

A couple of months ago I almost got into a “religious” debate with another individual about the merits of hardware based RAID controllers.  I say almost because I refused to get wrapped up into it.  He couldn’t get around the fact that RAID and backup systems are based on two ideologies:  REDUNDANCY and HIGH AVAILABILITY.  The problem, and how this directly relates to us photographers, is that neither ideology has any safeguards to protect the INTEGRITY of our photos.  I’m typing that in all caps because it’s a very important concept that you need to grasp for this to make sense.

Here’s a real-world example that happened to me that hopefully conveys exactly what I mean:

Back in 2007 I did a car calendar photo shoot of some classic muscle cars.  Back in those days, even though I knew it wasn’t the best medium to do so, I used to back up all my .cr2 and .psd files to DVD’s.  What wasn’t obvious from looking at a directory listing of the disc was that the actual file system of the disc was corrupted.  You could call up a directory listing, see the actual file sizes, etc., and from the outside everything look fine.  It wasn’t until you actually tried opening those files that it was blatantly obvious that there was something seriously wrong.  The first two photos on the disc were perfectly readable, but anything else would cause Windows to lock up, the disk would trash, and eventually everything came to a grinding halt.

Thankfully I was in the habit of burning two copies of everything so I didn’t lose anything, but truth be told, I got lucky in more ways than one.  Although the data ended up being readable on that disc, had the problem actually been with the data on the hard drive that was being read to burn that disc, I would have been screwed six ways from Sunday.

In another instance I had a RAID-1 (disk mirror) array that had silently failed, but wasn't reporting any errors initially.  Unfortunately for me the disk controller was mirroring data from the bad drive onto the good drive in the process!


So yes, it DOES happen.  I've seen it myself.

The reason I almost got into a “religious” debate over all of this was that last year when it came time for me to update my local file storage solution, after a LOT of research into the matter I finally went with something that’s borderline blasphemy:  I went with a software based RAID/filesystem NAS/SAN solution that was based on ZFS and used commodity hardware instead of a traditional hardware (or software) based RAID setup!

I went with it because besides being able to use common computer hardware to make a dedicated file server, after reading up on the benefits of ZFS it became pretty clear just how much better it was and I became a believer in it.  It turns out I was more correct about that decision than I realized at the time.

Until recently the only file systems that were specifically designed from the ground up to combat the issue were ZFS (and it’s ports to various *nix based systems, Solaris, OpenSolaris, OpenIndiana, FreeBSD, as well as specific distributions like FreeNAS and Nexenta which are FREE), and Btrfs.  Today I read that Microsoft has *FINALLY*, after years of relying on NTFS as their file system of choice, has been developing a new file system that for all intensive purposes is a clone of ZFS:  ReFS (short for “Resilient File System”).

Silent data corruption is a very real issue that not many people know or even think about until it hits them, and if you’re a Photographer, chances are it’s going to hit you when you least expect it (usually when a client is yelling at you to deliver under a deadline.  :D ).  If you’re religious in your backup habits there’s a good chance that you may come away unscathed.  If you’re one of the unlucky few out there though that end up backing up corrupted data though (because of silent corruption), you’re going to get a rude awakening when you restore your files and discover that those files are just as corrupted as the ones you’re trying to replace!

At that point you either pray your earlier backups are good (you ARE doing incremental backups, right??), or you start looking for a better solution.  If you’re a Windows Server user things are about to get a lot better.  If you’re not, it’s time to look into storage solutions that use a better file system like ZFS.


Don’t think it can happen to you?  Think again.  This happening to me is what started me down this whole rabbit hole myself.  :D

Here’s more info if you want the info behind all of this.  Be warned that it gets really technical at times:

http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2012/01/microsoft-introduces-new-robust-resilient-file-system-for-windows-server-8.ars

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012/01/16/building-the-next-generation-file-system-for-windows-refs.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZFS




(*the shot above is of one of my muses, and was one of the images on that DVD that I nearly lost.  It's actually an outtake shot that I remember taking as a lighting test (and completely screwing up the power settings).  After a little post-processing I ended up loving the shot.  Go figure.... :D.  Shot on-location in an undisclosed industrial park using my older Alien Bees B800 ring flash).

Shoot or Learn?

For those that are unaware, I periodically run group shoots and I also run workshops from time to time.  I have a group on Facebook that I use to organize said shoots, but I've left it dormant for the better part of 2011 for a few reasons.

The group can be found here:

http://www.facebook.com/groups/102602213167358/

The last group shoot I ran was back in early February 2011 (a Valentine's day themed pinup group shoot).  Overall everyone seemed to enjoy it but a few things became readily apparent:

1. Some of the attendees had explicitly told me that they were only interested in shooting.
2. Other attendees told me the exact opposite; they wanted to learn how to shoot, learn about lighting, etc.

It became brutally obvious to me that I couldn't do both at the same time though, and in the process things got really hairy.  I could barely keep up with everything; meaning that I didn't have time to teach people who legitimately wanted to learn, set up lighting, coach models through sets, keep tabs on what people were doing, etc.  Thankfully it didn't end in disaster but that last experience left a bad taste in my mouth.   It's the reason why I haven't run anything since.

Well....  I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about starting up some group shoots and workshops again (varying from pinup, lighting, and potentially art nude).  The problem is I can't do a repeat of the last group shoot (making my own lighting available, setting up predetermined sets, and taking time to teach people).  Physically and mentally I nearly went nuts.  Financially it was a bust for me as well too.

The conclusion I came to is that if people want a group shoot it's going to literally be a group shoot in every sense of the word.  No teaching, no mentoring, you basically pay to come in an shoot models (and you'd be responsible for your own lighting to a degree too).  Truth be told though, everybody and their mothers are running group shoots these days.  What differs between the group shoots I run though is that I select the models who are there (and I only use experienced models), and in the case of both group shoots and workshops, the majority of the money you're paying is going directly to the models.

For a workshop, I'd provide lighting and literally walk you through setting up the lighting, coaching the model and the photographer, etc.  It'd be a lot smaller in the number of attendees (say six max) and would be specifically geared towards those who legitimately want to learn.  Cost wise I would be charging appropriately for this too so it would cost a lot more than a group shoot.

I'm also in the process of running a "portfolio day" specifically geared towards models who've never shot pinup before (or just want to get my work in their port).  I'll be divulging more details about this at a future date, but suffice to say, yes I will be charging for this but you'd be getting A LOT for your money (including shooting in a really cool location, have their hair and makeup done professionally, AND receive coaching from a published professional model who's been in the industry for longer than I have been shooting).

Anyways, this is the point where I need your input.  What is it you most want most:

Do you just want to shoot:  a group shoot?

or

Do you want to learn:  a workshop?

Keep in mind that there's no right or wrong answers.   Please either leave a comment on this blog, a comment on my facebook page, or private message me on facebook (or send me an email @ mannyATmregophoto.com)..

(the shot above is of my muse Laura B.  I forget exactly when I shot it, but I think it was taken about four years ago by now...  )

Once you go Mac...

...You're gonna need a wheelchair (or at least a few third-party apps).  :D


So a few weeks ago I bought a MacBook Pro...


Overall I really like this thing (I'm typing this blog on it).  After doing a few upgrades on it, namely upping the RAM and installing an SSD, the thing flies.  I bought it not to replace my systems that I use to edit my work on; rather I bought it to brush up on my Mac skills (last time I worked on one was back in the days of OS9!).


Being that I'm an IT guy by trade you just know that I can't leave well enough alone though. I tend to tinker with systems at a deeper level than what your average user does, so I'm going to see and find things that the average user isn't going to find.  :)


Some of the nice things I *REALLY* like:

• Boots to the desktop in about 10 seconds from a cold boot (SandForce2 SSD for the win!).
• At moderate screen brightness I get almost 6hrs of battery life out of it.  My old laptop barely got 1.5 hrs!
• It's the perfect form factor for toting around (13").
• Runs cool
• Slick UI.  It reminds me of Intuition (w/MagicWB installed) so much that it's scary.
• Default color calibration for the screen is almost dead on out of the box.
• The multitouch gestures integration into the system is a really slick touch.
• The physical build of the laptop is literally hands down the best I've used.  The only other laptop brand that I've used that even comes close is Lenovo (if they only made a Thinkpad in an all unibody aluminum shell...).
• Magsafe:  Best-Invention-Ever (assuming that the newly re-designed connector doesn't fall apart like the old version was prone to doing. :D ).
• Close the lid and it goes to sleep.  Open the lid and it wakes up almost instantly.  Niiiiice!!
• Backlit keyboard.  'Nuff said!
• The ability to do a full system restore from a time machine backup directly from firmware...  FREAKING AWESOME! (cmd+opt+r at boot). 
• Expose is pretty cool.
• Can open my Canon .CR2 raw files (and give me thumbnail icons) right out of the box.   Sweeeeet!

Now let's take the Red Pill shall we?  Now that the reality distortion field has worn off, let's look at some of the "not so nice things" I've found:

• Is it too much to ask that when you insert an SD card into the system that it fits further into the slot so I can leave it in there during transport without worrying if it's going to break either the card or the port (like almost every other laptop out there)?  There's times where "thinking different" pays off.  This isn't one of them.  :D
• The default Apple photo viewer app sucks harder than a Hoover vacuum on overdrive with a supercharger strapped onto it (I ended up buying Viewer 4.1 from the App Store that supports the multi-touch trackpad AND works like you think it should out of the box.  :D ).  http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/viewer/id414653494?mt=12
• Expanding a window to full screen doesn't work like you think it would (coming from Windows).  Scratch that, even my old Amiga 500 w/Workbench 1.3 understood what "expand to full screen" meant.  :P  Granted I know that's because "full screen" apps on the Mac literally take over the screen like they did back in the good old days of the Commodore Amiga.  Unlike  Amiga full-screen applications though,  Mac apps don't call up custom resolutions that completely take over the screen and have different bit-depths than the desktop (best way to describe it is that it's getting it's own page to itself on the Mac).  It'd be really nice if you could click that "+" button to maximize a window to take up the entire screen on the active window without having to resort to a third party app.  :)  http://www.blazingtools.com/downloads.html#RightZoom
• Aero's snap feature is sorely missed coming from Windows (yeah I know it's technically not a ding, but for all the moaning that your average MacLuser does about how Microsoft stole so much of their UI from Apple, you'd figure that Apple would learn a little tit-for-tat and put it in.  :)  You can add it using a third party app but that's besides the point).  http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cinch/id412529613?mt=12
• I decided to use this system as my main system that my iPod will sync to.  After copying my music files to the system and importing them into iTunes, I quickly discovered that some of the music files became truncated.  Remove and re-add them and they're fine though.  It's not a major problem but the only way to figure out what files didn't get imported correctly is to either listen to every track in my collection or just remove and re-import them all.  Greeeaaaat.  :/
• Unlike Win7, if you buy a system that comes from the factory with a hard drive, if you upgrade the HDD to a solid state drive, TRIM doesn't turn on by itself (bad Apple!  Bad, Bad!).  Of course there is a way to turn it on manually but being that this is supposed to be the Etch-a-Sketch of computers that "just works", I find it mildly amusing that it doesn't do it on it's own like Windows 7 without... you guessed it, yet another third party app.  :D  Here's that utility BTW:  http://www.groths.org/?page_id=322
• CTRL+SHIFT+EJECT activates the screen saver (and locks the screen if you have it set that way).  COMMAND+OPTION+EJECT puts the system to sleep....   try not to confuse the two or you may end up accidentally rebooting the system trying to wake it up.  :D
• I'm a keyboard junkie.  Although I can use the mouse I just find I work faster by hitting keyboard combinations to get done what I want done in the fastest way possible.  To that end, COMMAND+TAB doesn't work anywhere as efficiently as it does on Windows.  If you press and release it, if the active app is minimized, it won't un-minimize the window.  If you do some finger-gymnastics it will though (CMD+TAB to desired application then hold CMD.  Press Option key, release CMD).  So much for simplicty, huh?  Here's an app that fixes that default behavor.  :D  http://manytricks.com/witch/
• Finally, for a system that's supposed to be more stable than Windows, I've already gotten the spinning beachball of death four times (update:  I've gotten it about four more times already), lost a document I was writing in OpenOffice when it hung, and had to hard-restart the system twice when it became unresponsive.

Apple reality distortion field my ass.  :D  Overall though even with the annoying things and quirks (not to mention some learning curve stuff) I've found so far I actually really like this system though.  It reminds me so much of my old Commodore Amiga that I jokingly call it my "Amiga on Steroids".


That's a compliment, not an insult BTW.


Now I just gotta figure out how to make a "Guru Meditation" error screen show up when something goes wrong.  :D



*+10 Internets to you if you got the "White Chicks" reference.  :)

 

TFP doesn't mean "Totally Free Pictures".

One thing I've noticed about models, photographers, and other entities involved in photography is that people's definition and ideology of what constitutes trade varies wildly.  Some people embrace it; others are almost violently against trade.  Rather than go into what others feel regarding trade I want to take some time and talk about how *I* feel about trade.


The number one question I get (besides how I do the pinup effect I do) is "Do you shoot trade (TFP)".  This may surprise some of you but the answer is a resounding: "YES, YES I DO!*".  I'm not going to lie to everyone and say that I don't; because I do.  If you noticed though there's an asterisk (*) at the end of that "yes I do" statement.  The full statement:


(*Yes I do, but only with the right people and only if certain criteria are met.)


I used to get literally red-faced angry whenever a model would ask me for trade (complete with seeing red and having a throbbing vein in my forehead.  lol!).  It wasn't until I matured both as a person and as an artist that I came to something of an epiphany on my part.  Getting angry about it was about as useful as getting angry at a weatherman for predicting a rainstorm.  As a photographer I now pretty much expect that models are going to ask me for trade.  It's just the nature of the game really:  Do trade with those that will legitimately benefit you, charge those that won't, pay those that you need to get to the next level if they won't trade.


It works both ways for both models and photographers.  The end result is supposed to be that you both elevate each other's portfolios so that you can sell your services or products to those that have the budgets to pay you.  In my opinion though it's almost nauseating just how badly TFP has been perverted in that some models and photographers think that they're entitled to it, and even multi-million dollar companies think TFP means "Totally Free Photos" too.


With the exception of doing trade for business (which I feel is just a bad deal no matter how the scene is painted), overall when it's mutually beneficial there is absolutely nothing wrong with doing TF .


The key words there are MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL.


When it legitimately benefits everyone involved it's a great way to improve your work or expand your portfolio.  It does mean being more selective (and potentially shooting a lot less), but when done right it balances out in the end.  The true problem comes about when there's zero value in doing the trade.


Although I will work for trade with a model, I am *EXTREMELY PICKY* about it though.  I will not work with just anyone and beyond their appearance and experience, I have a few criteria that they need to meet. The two greatest being:


-  I do not work with models under the age of 18. 


The reason?  I don't feel it's appropriate to show any underage individual in a sensual manner, no matter how "innocent" it may be or regardless if even their parents were OK with it.  I won't shoot a single frame of it if a person leveled a .45 to my head.  To me that's just wrong; I don't even need a law to tell me that.  I also have absolutely no use for the photos as well; I would have to make so many compromises about what I'm shooting to accommodate the individual that in the end it wouldn't benefit me creatively or financially to shoot with them.


...and before anyone asks, YES I have been asked this before.


-  The model has to be open to and comfortable posing *BOTH* in lingerie and with implied nudity in a pinup context.


I know I'm giving away probably a little too much info here, but there is actually a very legitimate reason for the latter criteria.  Although some individuals will argue the contrary to this; pinup is about the art of the tease.  It's supposed to be on the sexy side.  Just take a look at the masters of pinup that I look up to:  Alberto Vargas (http://www.thepinupfiles.com/vargas1.html), Gil Elvgren (http://www.thepinupfiles.com/elvgren1.html), and Olivia De Berardinis (http://www.thepinupfiles.com/olivia1.html) for quite a few examples on this.  Although some of the pinup I shoot is nude, the vast majority isn't but there is some implied nudity ranging from a stray hand blocking the viewer's eye of the models' cleavage, the use of pasties (in a burlesque fashion), etc.


In the past I used to make a compromise in that regard and be more lenient about not requiring certain things for certain genres of my work.  At the time I didn't realize it but later I came to understand that I really wasn't doing myself and the model any favors by doing so.  What would happen is that the resulting work looked like garbage; the model clearly looked out of place and uncomfortable, the poses contrived, and although the model may have loved the shots, the shots were sub-par and not indicative of my standards so I couldn't use them.


Believe it or not, how a model answers that question is also very telling about how they will be to work with too.  Experience has taught me that depending on the answer they give if it's going to be worthwhile to work together or if these individuals are going to be extremely difficult to work with and going to be a waste of time for both of us.  Their answer also can tell me about their experience level and if they truly understand the ideology behind pinup.  Only if the individual is persistent about wanting to work with me (but isn't what I'm looking for and/or wants me to only shoot what they want the way they want) that I quote them a price that would make it worth my time to shoot with them.

I love working with models that "get it" and meet that particular criteria point.  Not only are they easier to work with but it clearly shows in the photos that they legitimately are having fun during the shoot and are comfortable.


To sum it up:  in my view there's is absolutely nothing wrong with doing trade when it's mutually beneficial.... and by mutually beneficial I certainly do not mean working for free either.  It's when it's not beneficial that the problems arise.  The difficult part is learning to see which is which.  It took me years to finally figure it out for myself; I guess I'm a slow learner.  :)


Of course your mileage will vary on this topic depending on who you talk to...  


(The model in the pinup photo above is from my very first shoot with my muse Heather.  It was actually shot for trade at a meet and greet where she "ambushed" me into shooting pinup of her that day.   :D  We became really great friends in the time since, and we've been shooting together for about three years now.)

We're all gonna die!!*

(*if you believe that the world's going to end because the Mayan's didn't finish their calendar because they foresaw the world ending in 2012, but couldn't see the Spanish crossing the ocean in their Gondolas and wiped them out that is.  :) ).

It's been almost a year since I first set up this blog, and I figured that since 2012 is the year we're all supposed to die in some mystical Mayan fireball of epic world destroying proportions, now is as good a time as any to finally get this thing off the ground.


Just to forewarn everyone reading this; this is the Seinfeld of photography blogs; although I'm primarily regarded as a pinup photographer, it's really a whole lot about nothing and everything at the same time.  I plan on talking about pretty much... well... everything!


Well.... *almost* everything.  ;)


There's an old saying; a magician never reveals the secret behind their tricks.  So although I do plan on going into some technical discussion from time to time, I will not be revealing exactly how I do things revolving around how I do my pinup editing work (sorry).  It's not that it's a huuuge secret really; but something I learned a few years ago the hard way that is that it's not exactly kosher to teach your competition for free so that they can reproduce your work to a tee and then try to eat your lunch. (and before anyone asks, yes I've had that happen to me.... TWICE!)  ;)


So with that said, thanks for reading and welcome aboard!  Please return your trays to the upright and locked position and get ready for a bumpy landing!  In the meantime just ignore all the construction equipment you see landing strip; this is DEFINITELY a work in progress.  ;)