PART FOUR - Guys With Cameras (GWCs) Are NOT The Poster Child For Photographers
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 พ.ย. 2023
- #Photography #PortraitPhotography #PhotographyForBeginners
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In part four of this five part interview, I talk about what's known in the industry as "guys with cameras" and the impact they have on the perception of male photographers.
PART ONE
• PART ONE - Collaborati...
PART TWO
• PART TWO - Models Aren...
PART THREE
• PART THREE - Models La...
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Very well said. I’ve always said the great thing is that anyone can be a photographer, however, the worst thing is anyone can be a photographer.
That is SO true! Hell, I may put that on a t-shirt, dead serious!
This is the video that everyone needs to hear. We talked about this topic and I agree with your perspective wholeheartedly. I’ve always hated seeing an individual with a camera, consider themselves a photographer, without ever having gone through any of the cost and time required to truly hone the skills to be a real photographer. It drives me nuts to see someone spray and pray on a static pose, like wtf are you going to really capture differently than the previous image. Whenever I see that I know that individual doesn’t have a clue 😅. I’ve also ran across models that had to feel me out just because of the creeps in the business 🤷🏽. I honestly dislike boudoir, because of the negative stereotypes created by the creepers, and only shoot it when the model/client keeps pressing the issue. I say it’s always a red flag when a less than attractive individual pressures a model into boudoir and sexually suggestive work 🤦🏽.
This is completely random but a thing similar to the spray-and-pray that gets me is when I see people outdoors using the pop-up flash on the camera and the subject is ten feet away, I’m like “that flash is doing absolutely nothing”, but that usually tells me the camera is on auto, which there’s nothing wrong with that, but it goes back to the understanding and learning of photography. Anyway, I always appreciate your insight dawg, thank you for commenting!
@@AnthonyToglife 😅 right. On that topic, it bothers me to see someone do a portrait session with on camera flash pointed directly at the subject. At least bounce it off a wall, ceiling or something 🤷🏽. Now if you are going for creative paparazzi look or if you are shooting events, that’s cool. Slap a Gary Fong attachment on there and get a little more dynamic lighting. I see so many little things like this and those really be the guys that will critique your work like they’re top of the line and haven’t even held a camera for a year, But to each there own 🤷🏽
Thiss is the one the people need to hear. It's reallly gotten out of hand with how many guys are out there just trying to use their cameras for their spank banks now and it's disgusting what I hear from models we've built rapport with. It made it incredibly hard in the beginning building my Boudoir business as a male photographer, so I brought my wife in with me to have that level of comfort.
A few weeks ago a model I was talking to in TN went to a home studio for a boudoir shoot and the 'GWC' started getting hard during the shoot and coming on to her and locked the door where she could not get out. It's BS that this is happening and what is worse is models are afraid to call out these photographers because they don't want to ruin their career and fans of said photographers not working with them. It's got so bad that my wife and a seasoned model that I work with rebuilding my portfolio are going to start holding brunches for upcoming models to warn them of the red flags out there and share their lists of black listed GWC's that have been pervy across our state.
The incredibly sad part is I've heard stories like this from SO many models, it's ridiculous! I know the world is crazy, there's a lot of creeps and bad people, but it shouldn't be like this. Models should be able to do what they do without having to feel like they have to be super on-guard the entire time. I'm brainstorming ways I can help to make things better!
I totally agree. I’ve seen propels with $2k-$3k worth of gear, and don’t even use it…just end up selling it or to get attention. And these are the ones who ruin the photographer business for us legit ones. I’ve recently talked to a guy who had a 70-200 and a battery grip. I talked to him about it and he said “honestly I use the 70-200 and a battery grip because it looks more professional” I asked to see his work and he had NO photography content what’s so ever. It’s messed up
This makes me think of the time I was assisting at a class for beginner photographers; there was a guy there with a Canon 1DX2 and an EF70-200 f/2.8L lens, and I believe Canon's most expensive flash at the time. The first question he asked - "how do I set my camera to auto?" The 1DX series of cameras don't have an option for auto, being their flagship, pro camera costing $6K just for the body. Now I don't at all think he had ill intentions, I think he was just a guy with money, but it really put into perspective the different motives for people behind why they buy what they buy.
It's so unfortunate that so many models have to deal with guys that use their camera as a ploy for whatever nefarious intentions they have. It shouldn't be that way. I know that it is, but I wish it wasn't.
This series is just fascinating and sad. You’ve obviously put in the time to get your thoughts organized. Thanks for doing that and thanks for bringing this to light.
I appreciate that Jim, thank you! I do wholeheartedly feel the community needs to come together and put things back on the right track. Of course, this is just my opinion and some may argue it's perfectly fine, but I won't stop pushing for what I feel is right!
Wow. Listening to this was an eye opener. Especially around 6:46 and on. For me, I want to be a photographer, not "guys with cameras." It is heartbreaking to hear what models go through, especially weird stuff. I just want to be able to learn the craft and have models comfortable without any issues. Yeah, an eye opener.
I’ve had one-on-one conversations with a good amount of female models and it’s unfortunate the things that some of them have dealt with and the uncomfortable situations they’re placed in. The most common was “photographers” pressuring them to wear something they weren’t comfortable wearing, or removing clothes and showing more skin than they were comfortable wearing. I had one model who did a risqué shoot with a photographer in July and still hasn’t received any photos, even after multiple attempts at reaching out to the photographer. It’s things like this that makes female models keep a very high guard up.
The GWC's definitely make it MUCH harder for legit photographers to properly recruit talent. And they are EVERYWHERE. It's absolutely terrible. We need more people to call these people out, for sure.
Agreed, 100%!
I work with a lot of nude models. It's interesting to see the way that many models move both in response to and to market themselves to GWCs. As an example, I see a lot of them charging deposits now prior to a session. I don't mind paying someone for their craft, especially for posing nude. That takes an amount of bravery that I don't know I have even. I think the fact that there are so many GWCs allows them to charge deposits and outrageous fees. Someone is paying it. I have enough upfront expense before the session, that I will not pay a deposit to anyone that's not Tyra Banks. Especially with the number of models I have had flake out. Now I'm hunting you down for the deposit refund? The ask for deposit shows me that you feel your time is more valuable than mine.
I reached out to one, and she had a fee for number of shots taken, not for modeling time. Um, what?
On the topic of responding to requests, it's super frustrating. If they respond, ! have so many of them disappear after a few messages trying to arrange a shoot. I'm not hawking you down, if you can't communicate, it's cool I'm moving on.
That said, I've always had more success finding models that want to work together on Model Mayhem still. IG is usually just pretty young girls that aren't serious.
You’re the third person to mention Model Mayhem during this series, and I’m just baffled because I honestly didn’t know MM was still a thing. I have accessed my account in years, but maybe I should have know because I still get MM emails to the account I used to register.
That is VERY interesting about the shot fee, I would never, ever agree to that lol. How would one even manage that, “okay, let me count your shots to see if you’ve reached the limit!” Smdh.
But man, your commentary has been spot on. I appreciate you taking the time to provide your insight, it is valued and appreciated.
@@AnthonyToglife Yeah man. The trick I’ve found is to only reach out to ones that are VIP. Subscribing means they’re at least serious about finding work.
I’ve watched your channel for a bit and appreciate your content. Thanks for the convo.
Interesting, I have seen my fair share of gwc photographers. I see a lot of them here in TH-cam.
You're not wrong, at all.
Awesome video!
Thank you so much Agnetha!
Good points. A lot of people are going to accuse you of elitism, which you've probably already dealt with.
Ya know, I haven’t really dealt with it, but I also haven’t made a dedicated video about this before so it may come. But, I will stand on my words.
@@AnthonyToglifeI stand by everything you say, so if needed you got a soldier in the trenches 💪🏽💪🏽
All true, that's why I have only 2 models I'm willing to collaborate with. Everyone else pays, that simplifies things. I'm in this as a business and provide a service. No one has contacted me for a ad campaign, so a "model" has to pay for her shoots but I will/have given discounts for repeat customers. Until my main 2 tell me they're not shooting anymore, then no freebies from me for anyone else🤷🏾♂️👏🏾👏🏾.
Completely fair, and I respect this 100%. Social media has definitely twisted the game and has convoluted who has leverage and when.
10000%
💪🏾💪🏾
I think having video content of model shoots and putting it on TH-cam and social media most likely influences others into thinking they can do the same. The entire process from the introduction to wrapping up the shoot is documented 1,000's of times over on TH-cam - the blueprint is readily available. I think the solution lies on the photographers and the models to come up with a simple vetting process that reduces the chance of being taken advantage of. I don't know what that looks like, but perhaps it could include referrals and a simple way to assess a portfolio and questions to ask. Also a big part of the equation is that anyone can be a model, all they have to do is get on Instagram. Since there's no training or bootcamp to be a model, the odds are high that they're going to have bad experiences.
There's enough TH-cam portrait photographers out there that could maybe donate (time/money) to create an awareness campaign. Putting together a simple Instagram account with tips and information via infographics and other easily digestible formats could go a long way in helping to reduce those bad experiences and wouldn't require much effort. Maybe #TMT Talent Meets Trust, #CWC Colab With Confidence...
This is a GREAT train of thought Mozz! I am not saying this just to say it - I am actively brainstorming ways to make things better. I absolutely love your suggestions, thank you for them!
I still believe it's not accessibility to the camera gear but the sign of our times. More people had more decency in them in the past.
But if there was still a cost barrier to getting into photography, you think you’d still have an abundance of men buying cameras for the sole purpose of taking pictures of half-naked or attractive women? I’d imagine if the cheapest camera was - say - $3000, that would weed out a lot of people. What are your thoughts?
@@AnthonyToglife I think if someone has immoral intent towards others, they will find the means to do it regardless of price. I often see rich people behave the worst.
@@sebastianberes so is it your belief this has been a problem for many years, we just hear about it more today?
@@AnthonyToglife I think the moral standards decreased in recent years, at least in my experience.
@@AnthonyToglife It has occurred in some degree from the beginning. Heck, even painting had its "guys with a brush." But, yeah, the cost has lowered considerably, so that percentage has grown exponentially.
By "cost of entry," I include not only the cost of the camera, but also the degree of effort and expertise it takes to produce reasonably good results. _That's_ what has really decreased.
It is what it is. And it's only going to get worse.
I try my best to not live life with the "it is what it is" mantra; nothing will ever change with that frame of mind.
You started out describing the GWC pretty well but then eventually lumped all or most shooters of nudes/boudoir/implied etc into the GWC category. You then implied that you also shoot these sorts of things for "the joy of shooting" but don't seem to link that notion to anyone else who might be doing so. Mentioning files on drive is silly, because most photogs keep their images regardless of content archived forever. Its hard to talk about GWC without sounding like a virtue-signaling gate-keeper type.
We would do well to remember that it doesn't take Mesmer or Machiavelli to cunningly con girls into racy situations. For each timid/modest girl there is a corresponding eager girl who is wondering why you didn't "go there". Also, every guy who buys a camera is a GWC until they're not, you know?
I feel like I never know if I pass the bar or not with gatekeepers. I've never made a pass at or even flirted with anyone I've shot with, but I like to do implied and some nudity from time to time.
I think anyone who views this video will interpret what I said based on their own beliefs and/or experiences. And generally what happens is, you fixate on one thing and make it into a thing, when it really isn't. Case in point, "Mentioning files on drive is silly" - of course photographers keep their files on a hard drive, there was no implication that I was saying only creeps do that, but you interpreted it that way because of your own beliefs and/or experiences.
Everyone won't agree with my stance on things, and I'm okay with that. But what I will always do, or at least try to, is to explain WHY I have the stance I have. I don't need everyone to agree, but I will do my due-diligence to provide insight into why my stance is what it is.