Be kind and make plans

Be kind and make plans

This blog’s addressed to a very small part of the photographic community, and while I hope that it will spark one or two ideas for other people, I’d better specify my target audience. It’s retired photographers who photograph models regularly: people who have a thoroughly stable (and often quite good) income, and who are used to working with a group who, generally, depend on working every week to pay their bills.

One or two of them (the models) were offering deals during the first lockdown: pay now, in whole or in part for a future shoot, and receive a discount. This was entirely separate from the smallish proportion of professional posers who routinely require a deposit before accepting a booking. Yes, there’s a risk to paying a deposit to an individual: I can only say that I find models to be generally thoroughly trustworthy: if they aren’t, they rapidly acquire poor references.

With a second lockdown in England which is due to last at least a month (and may well need to be extended, whatever our esteemed Prime Minister is saying this week), this is an idea that may, as they say, have legs, though not necessarily as shapely as the models.

So here’s the thing: if you know a model who you want to work with, contact her and ask about paying a deposit against a shoot to be arranged when it is both legal and safe to do so. The latter condition is important: along with having a decent and stable income, many photographers are in or close to being a vulnerable group, and definitely shouldn’t be pushing the envelope of what’s legal.

If you’re a member of Purpleport, you may have seen one or two casting calls: but interest in the idea isn’t confined to models who have actively pursued it. This is an opportunity to help someone out a little bit, with the prospect of both spreading the load of paying for shoots, and getting full value from doing so. Please, though, don’t ask for a discount if the model doesn’t offer it!

You then have plenty of time to do storyboards, research makeup and different lighting, and all kinds of other interesting things to make sure that the session runs like clockwork.

And finally, if this is an area that you’ve thought of exploring, but haven’t set foot in yet, why not spend some time on setting up an account on a modelling website? If you need advice on this, please contact me – maybe there’s scope for a further article on the subject?

It’s a chance to make someone head over heels happy, like Aimee_is_Weirdd in the picture below.