Modeling Career Suicide
There are a few very simple things that can almost instantly taint your hopeful career as a model. One of those is bad mouthing photographers, hair and makeup artists or stylists. It is called industry talk for reason. Because the industry talks! All it takes is one established photographer or a few amateur photographers to label you as "difficult to work with", "unprofessional" or "diva" to kill your name in the network. Same with the stylists and hair/makeup artists. You will either find yourself doing your own primping or see that they've blacklisted you in the network.Everyone that is involved in the process of photo shoots talks to everyone else and word spreads quickly. It can eventually affect your ability to book jobs as word spreads to designers, marketing reps and agents. The worst thing in the industry is a pretty model with an ugly attitude. You have to learn to handle situations with grace.
I bring this up because a young lady on Model Mayhem told me how upset she is about a recent photo shoot. She did a shoot 2 weeks ago and has not received her photos. It was TFCD, which is a free shoot in which the photographer gets the images he needs to update his portfolio or special project and you get a cd of the images, edited or raw...sometimes a mixture both. She wanted to post of the message boards to warn others not to work with him. Big no no honeybunches!
First of all, it is too early to complain about the photos. This is not the local Walmart Portrait Studio. Many photographers have several shoots a week. They have to go through hundreds of photos from each shoot while still allowing time to shoot other models in which the average shoot can be 2-6 hours. Once they weed out the crap photos they must edit. Professional editing takes time, it's not a simple red eye removal in Photoshop lol.
Also these are free photos. You have not paid the photographer for his time, equipments, editing or prints. You have paid for nothing. He is the one footing the bill, the costs are all on him. So have patience. The only time you should expect photos back in a specific time frame is when you have paid for that shoot and have an agreed upon delivery date.
In this chic's case it has been 2 weeks. At this point I would wait another week and then send a friendly email or thank you card. Tell the photographer you had a great time shooting, how excited you are to see the photos and thank him/her for their time. This shows appreciation and is gentle reminder that you're expecting photos. If a few weeks go by and still no photos, contact them again. This time just ask how the photo editing is coming along but remember to still be courteous. If you still do not receive the photos, sorry but you're going to have to let it go and move on.
I know we all want our photos, I have had a few shoots were I NEVER got my photos. I had to chalk it up to an experience. But really, what do want for free? It bites that this happens and now some photographer has your photos to use and did not keep his end of the deal. But is it really worth it to gain a bad rep over free photos? Schedule the next shoot with the next photographer and hope for the best. If not then I advise you start paying for shoots if you're building or updating your port. Unfortunately, sometimes you get what you pay for.
Now while I would not go spreading ugly words about another in the industry, I would make sure never to recommend them. If you are on Model Mayhem or another model networking site I suggest you look at the pages of other models in your area. Many of them publish a list of recommended photographers they have worked with. That's a great place to start. You can even contact the models, most are very nice and willing to give advice and may refer you to someone.
The only time it is okay to make your opinion public is when it concerns safety. If you've had an experience with a sleazy photographer who was inappropriate during your shoot then yes, warn other models. But you must always remain professional. Once you act unprofessional no one will want to work with you except those sleazy photographers.
