The Editing list

As some of you may already be aware I've put my camera away now  so that I can concentrate on my editing, as I have a mountain to get through. Most of you will also be aware that my editing doesn't consist of tidying up images and skin smoothing etc. and anyone that has tried to have a go at anything reasonably elaborate in terms of digital art will know that one image can take quite a few hours if not longer....and as you also know I do not put limits on the numbers of edits that you request.

So for those of you waiting for images, here is the list of shoots I've had in chronological order, for which I have outstanding editing to do.

Pretty Pink
Sin City - mini group shoot
Dora Miller
Violet Raven & Crimson Raine
Monika Wozynska
Laura Marquick
Alexiel Sama
Michelle DeFeo
Sharuzen
Anna-Marie Trzebinski
MurderMile - mini groupshoot

Yes thats tons!!
I wont necessarily be working on them in this order, as some I'm waiting for edit requests (no rush for them!) and one or two have got deadlines.

I'll come back to this and edit out any that are completed if you want to see what progress has been made or how many more years you have to wait for the final images.

Much as I'm addicted to shoots I wont be doing anymore until this lot is cleared. I'm not going to rush them as this doesnt do justice to you or to me if I'm just trying to get images finished asap. One or two will be quite elaborate and may need all kinds of additional work doing on them. The sooner someone invents a device that can plug straight into my head  the quicker I'll be able to churn stuff out.

The Frustrations & Disappointments

Before I go any further I need to point out that in this blog I probably sound very scathing of models, thats because the people I deal with in photography are models. I know there are plenty of prat photographers out there, but I rarely have to deal with them, so they are not relevant to this. I suppose its a problem with people rather than models, but its models that I'm arranging shoots with. So the models that this does not apply to, you'll know who you are.

This is about the disappointments and frustrations that I've gone through this year. For me the most annoying thing is the discussions you have with models that never turn into shoots. I've heard other photographers say, that every discussion that fails is a potential no-show that you've avoided. That may be true but the fact is I get very few no-shows but plenty of frustrating discussions.

Last year I lost track of how many I had, so this year I decided to get involved in as many 'possible' shoots as possible, that way with the usual discussions that suddenly stop I'd be left with a good number of shoots. This generally has worked although a few weeks I was shooting quite a few times a week if not everyday. Its not the number of shoots that makes it difficult, its the fact that the sort of images I produce can take alot of time, and that means backlogs when I get a string of shoots close together.

To keep track of the various stages of discussions and arrangements I found the best way was to keep a spreadsheet, so that at a glance I could see where I was waiting for a reply, where I needed to reply and where I'd arranged a shoot date. If I dont get replies from a model for a few weeks I put the name into the disappeared list. (Occasionally they reappear!)  At the moment I have 41 names in that list.....wtf! I hear you say. Yes thats alot of people.  Even though I've had a lot of shoots this year, much more than any other, it doesnt take away the sheer frustration and disappointment that comes with each and every one of those failed discussions . At times I've gone through every single one to see if theres any pattern, are they all wannabe beginners, have they all got poor refs, ....No, most of them have had quite a few shoots, a few have good reputations, big names etc.

I 've also tried to see if there is a pattern as to which stage does this occur, but no pattern, some start off with a very interested message and then never reply again. Others drag on and on. I'm in discussion with one well known 'respected' model since February with about 40 messages going back and forth, and constant cancellations/postponements.

Sometimes the model has been abducted by aliens, no logins on any modelling site, they've just disappeared, others carry on with their everyday modelling lives, logging in, ignoring your messages as if you dont exist anymore.

Its a total mystery to me.

Speaking of no-shows, i've only had two no-shows this year. One was particularly disappointing as I'd worked for hours on an elaborate setup only to sit there for a few more hours before receiving a text to say something else had overrun. Personally had I done something like that I would be moving heaven and earth to make up for it, but instead this 'well-respected' model attempted nothing and despite plenty of opportunities to make amends has done nothing. I don't understand that aspect of no-shows. Another no-show from a couple of years ago for which I never got an explanation or apology I added as a friend on facebook (at my request)...did I get so much as a hello?

People have said to me that I should be just working with the models I know that I can rely on and should never work with newbies that have little or no refs....note that on Modelmayhem you dont have refs. There is a great attraction in working with someone new, they look different, they pose differently, they have different mannerisms, different rapport. Its abit like travel photography theres always something new to shoot in the next valley, around the next mountain, in the next village. I also naively have faith in people, so when they say 'Hi hun love your work can we shoot' I take that at face value, that what they say is what they mean....but as I've found out over 40 times this year I've been wrong. 

Possibly the biggest disappointment is lies. Cancellations and postponements only to find new images appearing on modelling sites or facebook and its quite easy to backtrack a little and work out the date of the shoot..... wow they must have recovered from that illness fast and been lucky to find a local tog that day!

Many of the individual disappointments are not so bad on their own, but when you have say six shoots booked over a two week period and each one cancels, it does all add up.

I find now that whenever I start a discussion with an enthusiastic model I have to try and dampen my initial excitement as I have to accept that its a toss of the coin whether or not it will actually happen.

I would hate to add up the number of these that have happened over the years.

I know this happens to other photographers and I've heard models complain about the same regarding photographers  although not to the same numbers. Yes its a waste of time, its frustrating, its disappointing.....but for me for every one that disappears, cancels, noshows its another model saying 'Your work isnt good enough to make me want to bother to turn up',and so it becomes a faliure on my part.

In the end it grinds you down and you realise that what should be a fulfilling, creative, enjoyable activity, is something that becomes quite negative and soul destroying.

So on Sunday I have my last shoot for  the forseeable future, after that I can just concentrate on editing and creating images with the photos I've already taken.

Maybe afterSunday I can write a positive uplifting blog about the successes of this year.

First blog

Most people (if any) reading this probably know who I am already as you'll have found this via my facebook. I could go on and on about what I do etc, but lets just plough straight in.

We're a week from December and I hope to have finished all my shoots by 5th December, so that I can go heads down no-nonsense editing upto xmas. Actually its plenty of nonsense, I dont do no-nonsense, otherwise theres no point in doing it. Why photograph a model in a studio when you can stick her on another planet, make her a sorceress or if in doubt chain her up and thrust a sword in her hand!

So 2010.....busy busy busy. Lots of highlights, lots of sucesses, lots of amazing models. Also lots of frustrations and disappointments, but I've learnt that comes with the territory. It shouldnt do....but thats the topic of another blog to come. I'll leave the highlights for mid-december when I've had my last shoot and then disappeared down my burrow to hibernate.

At the moment I've got a mountain of editing to do...again! It would be alot easier if I just took photos and went through the mechanical process of re-touching etc but wheres the fun in that. Lets spend hours working on an image that eventually I have to admit to myself, doesnt work...delete the bugger!

The images will appear soon enough! Patience....just wait!

Also time to start thinking about next year. New projects, everything this year has to be outdone, bigger better stronger faster.
Lots of ideas, some that may be too ambitious hmmm......what is it with running out of ideas I cant imagine that, my head will explode if I dont get all these ideas shot!

Models get off your bums and get in touch, there is a universe to ignite!

More to come!

Oooh I enjoyed that.....maybe I should blog more...thats a naff word isnt it ..... blog! The Blog that lived in the woods....The Blog I found at the dump.....Blog me thats a interesting concept.....
Blogging off until next time......

shit! how do you publish this.....oh there it is