so I work for a bunch of different companies around town.
Here's how my week went:
Thursday morning I get woken up for an offer for a party Saturday night. I find out that it's in an area that's 45 minutes away...but I thought, okay, it will be fine-- it's for firefighters, it will be worth it. I find out though that it's at the far end of that lake town which means it'd be an hour and twenty minutes (and part of that on a really long ass country road). So I cancel on Friday morning and say, sorry, no can do.
So then--
I just signed on with a new company who SEEMED to have their shit together. The first party they put me on? One that's at least an hour away and in an area where unless it's in this one housing section, it's super ghetto and no money. So...I'm like...okay--you say there's going to be money, fine. I'll commit. It sucked because it was almost as far away, but I was getting a higher base fee, and I figured that it's good to do the first party given to you by a new company.
Well then the girl who I was supposed to be doing it with is being kind of flaky. Always sounds like she's high, and it's really hard to understand her on the phone. The guy's for the party aren't giving her the info (bad sign) and I have to keep calling her, being like, "so what's going on?"
Finally, I call today and I'm like, "it's tonight, if I don't hear from you by x time, I'm going to do other parties that have been offered to me."
so, I don't hear from ANYONE from that company, and so I start talking to the other company about the first party....which I still don't want to do because it's so fucking far away.
And on top of that?!?!? There's a couple of small parties that are around here, that I'd be totally up for, but a) the boss who has those parties got miffed at me when I told her I was working a far away ghetto town for another company instead of doing her parties, b) my main bouncer can't work, and c) my secondary bouncer might not have transportation.
So....if I want to work tonight, I'd have to do the hour and twenty minute drive one, and I'm going to a movie tonight that lets out at 8:45....so do I really want to leave then???
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!
And on TOP of THAT, there was this photographer for some small ass e-mag that I was talking about doing a shoot with, I guess he had a craigslist ad that offered the cover, and offered no compensation. So, I forgot about that no compensation part, and here's what the dialogue went like:
Me: hey, are you still looking for models? (I think I even wrote a little about myself and my schedule but I can't say for sure.)
Him: sure, do you have some photos you can send?
Me: (attaches photos) I also have portfolios on x and y modeling sites
Him: are these your portfolios? (adds my link)
Me: Yup.
Him: Nice. I'd be happy to work with you. What's your day to day schedule like? And you're in (town name)?
(now, I didn't write back because both my ports say I live in that town and
I contacted him from the craigslist FOR that town. A couple days
go by, and I write
Me: ???
Him:
Where do you live?
Me: (names the town)
Him: When would you like to shoot and what kind of shoot would
you like to do?
Me: What is the compensation? Do you employ a Makeup Artist?
Him:
Compensation? For you to be featured as a cover model?
None.
(So I thought that was a little snarky, because I'm normally paid.
I did forget that his ad said no money, but still.)
Me: Makeup Artist?
Him: Makeup and Hair Stylist
(So at this point, I'm like, okay-- I can work with that, so I write
Me:
Cool. Now, normally I work for compesnation rather than TFP, so it wasn't an
unusual question to be asking. I wasn't being a prima donna, it's just that
for all seven or so of my shoots up to this point have been paid. However,
your response to that question (though in email, tone can be up for grabs) I
felt was rather prima donna-ish yourself. I need to know if you're the type
of photographer who thinks he's God's gift to models; I have about as much
modeling work at the moment as I would want or need, so really don't have
this burgeoning desire to be "discovered" on your website.
However, you should know that, honestly, and I can back this up with
references, the most common thing I've heard from photograpers after working
with them is that I am one of the easiest models to work with. I just don't
respond well to certain kind of treatments. But if it was all a mistake
because I couldn't hear the tone you were responding with, then great, let's
shoot. (emphasis added)
I've looked at Tianna and Jenny's portfolio shots, and I like most of them.
You asked me what type of shots I would do; normally I'm good with implied
nudity, but depending on the shoot, I might not be. Also, I saw in Tianna's
portfolio a lot of emphasis on booty shots. I have a butt myself, and while
I don't mind that being the focus of a well-crafted shot, I really don't
want to get down to my skivvies and take really obvious booty shots. I've
already got those in my portfolio.
A lot of the photographers I've worked with recognize that I'm a cupcake
model; that just has to do with Betty Page being a role model for me. I love
those old style pinup type shots, but I'm also willing to branch out if
there's a "vision" your stylists have been wanting to try for a long time. I
guess the one thing I would like to come away with from your photoshoot are
pictures that aren't just another girl in a bikini. Jenny's port. had some
of those, but then she'd have a breathtaking one like the one of her in the
white dress. I do have some clothes appropriate to a shoot, but are there
any leftovers from other shoots that I can play with?
Let me know if you would like to shoot with me. I'm pretty much on vacation,
so am free most days. Weekdays (or early evenings) are best for me. I have
paintball this Sunday, so if you were interested in shooting as soon as
possible, then you might want to wait til the middle or end of next week in
case I have any bruising (unless your makeup artists want to deal with that,
and then I'm game to shoot Monday or Tuesday.)
Sincerely,
Me
He responded with:
I approached you quite pleasantly, in a conversational manner,
and you responded, from the beginning, with mono-syllabic
responses. Your emails were very terse and unfriendly and
even failed to address the few simple questions I asked.
My ad clearly states that there is no monetary compensation but
it also clearly outlines other benefits to shooting with us. If
you didn't take the time to read the whole ad, I can't be faulted
for that.
You say you're not a prima-donna but everything about each email
from you screams just that. You don't "need" to be discovered on
our website? Awesome, don't shoot with us.
I suggest *you* seriously re-consider how you communicate with
potential business associates.
I wrote back saying that he replied just as tersely as me, and that I was
willing to chalk it up to talking at cross purposes because I too
felt like he wasn't answering my questions. I also said that I
understood that not all photographers and models mixed well and that this
seemed to be the case here. Then I wished him best of luck on his future
shoots and left it at that.
So, it's just been that type of day.![]()




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...tends to help me not react to these situations in a violent manner!




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