Sometimes you see something that makes you question the intelligence of someone. Take the driver of this truck as an example.. who do you think ties his shoes?
I’m shocked someone hasn’t pulled this guy out of his truck yet.
I do not have a Model Mayhem account for many reasons. I’m sure I’ll draw a little heat for this blog but fuck it, if nothing I am honest about my thoughts.
Back on September 8th I wrote a blog about photographers I had encountered. I suppose in many ways this blog will rehash or almost say the same shit over, but it needs to be said again.
Why don’t I have a Model Mayhem account? Well, put simply? Too much drama.
There are some professionals on the website and those people are great. There are some professional photographers, models, make up people and others that have my respect to the fullest extent possible. It’s supposed to be a place where models and photographers can find common ground, get organized etc. Sounds simple right?
Instead what ends up happening is something like this…
Photographer with limited portfolio or flat out not very good (perhaps he just started to be fair) will message the hottest models he can find.
Most will ignore him because they feel he simply isn’t good enough to capture them the way they wish to be shot.
I myself think this is fair, we all are allowed to have demands when it’s our image, right?
Then the models sweet enough to respond, saying no thanks for whatever reason, get shit on.
Joe Blow photographer comes unglued and starts insulting the model or her previous work.
This somehow makes sense to this cluster fuck? wow.
Photographer guy – listen up.
If you are starting out, shoot EVERYTHING you can, you’ll gain experience and comfort behind the lens in real world situations. This will show in your portfolio and it will land you opportunities.
If you’re experienced and you’ve been doing it for a long time, learn the following – if someone says they don’t want to work with you, be polite and gracious. Maybe next time sort of thing. Where the fuck in your world does it make sense to shit on a model? These ladies talk to one another. They also may need someone down the road and maybe if you were extra nice, you’ll be the guy that surpasses the assholes that shit on her when she said no in the first place.
Common sense is calling. Answer the fucking phone already.
Seriously. This shit drives me batshit crazy.
I hear stories from many girls I know in and from MM and it’s always this exact same story.
A model bruises your gentle man ego and you go apeshit.
Welcome to being every other dumb ass out there with a camera that THINKS he’s a photographer.
In my opinion, being a photographer isn’t just about what you shoot, who you shoot, how you shoot. It’s about your bedside manor (so to speak). How to interact with the people you work with. How you pay it forward.
We’re all students of life, regardless of our trade. Be it a model, a photographer, a make up tech. Nobody is below you and nobody is above you, we’re all the same.
When you shit on someone, THAT WILL COME AROUND. <– read this again, twice.
So if you chose to use MM, do so knowing the “competition” in there isn’t really competition because most of the photographers in there have egos the size of football fields.
They use Photoshop with actions or filters to manipulate the image and they think this makes them awesome because a bunch of people that don’t know about actions or filters told them they have made talent.
No Skippy, you don’t.
You aimed a camera, you clicked. You imported into Lightroom, played with levels, exported over to Photoshop, added filters or actions. Bam. End product and no, you didn’t shoot it that way. You created it and props to you for having the ability/talent in that lightroom/photoshop arena but note.. this does not make you a kick ass photographer. It makes you someone talented in after effects, perhaps but if your attitude is pure shit.. what good are you? Who will work with you once they hear you suck? Bad mouthing models will burn your bridges pretty fast.
I don’t have a MM account because I don’t want to deal with whiney little bitches that shoot down every photo THEY didn’t take.
Oh, that needs work.
Oh, that is bad composition.
Oh, can I haz sex with you?
To the pros in MM, I salute you. I salute you for having the wherewithal to put up with the guys that bought a camera to see naked boobies and now they figure they’re professional photographers because they found someone to pose for some photos and they created a MM account. I salute the hell out of you pros.
I have met more then my share of these guys. It’s scary. Being humble is where it’s at, but maybe 1 in 5 is this way. the other 4 in 5… pfffftt.. I could have done better type attitude.
Myself? I’m a rookie as far as I am concerned. Yes, a rookie. I’ve been shooting 16 years and I’ve been lucky enough to shoot over 300 ladies and I consider myself a rookie.
Yes, I have a degree in photography but it’s from a long ass time ago. I learn something new every time I shoot Bryci or one of the ladies. Somedays I am proud of the work we accomplish. Other times, FML. Do over please? I see things I did wrong, things I could have done better. We’re all students. There are many shoots live in the Bella network I fucking hate that i wish I could have again. I can blame this or that but when you’re the photographer, you have to accept responsibility. The buck stops with you. I often have felt like I let B down when a set doesn’t go the way I wanted it to. It sucks when i had that feeling. I have been fortunate to not have had it for some time, but at the same time.. it might be lurking right round the corner, with our next shoot. Fuck I hope not. 
Earlier today I had someone tell me that they feel honored that I help them with their photos. I was like.. honored? Fuck me, why? I’m just a guy like you. Not above you, not below you. Beside you. We’re all students, hopefully learning from one another.
If you’re a photog in MM and you’re reading this, please, for fuck’s sake, be nice if someone says no thanks to you. Common sense.
You will find it goes a LOT further.
Don’t email a photographer talking shit, it doesn’t make you better.
What it makes you, is a shitty human being.
I was talking to a friend tonight about how people are very two faced when it comes to the adult industry or porn as it’s more easily defined. As someone who has worked in porn for 14+ years or so, I can tell you there is a certain stigma that is attached to it.
I am going to sound angry in this post. I can assure you I am not. Frustrated at the topic? Sure. It’s frustrating but it is what it is. Ranting about it won’t change shit. My hope is that maybe you yourself know someone in the biz and you look at them a certain way and maybe, just maybe this blog will help you to pull your large cylindrical head out of your ass.
aaaand here we go.
When I run into old friends from high school, I have to change what it is I do, when asked the age old… so what do you do? The odd time I was up front and honest because I figured… well hey, I know this guy well, been friends for years… instantly it’s as if I developed a viral disease or something. Talk to me much longer, you might catch it! Be acquainted with me? Hell no. I was never friends with that guy, I had a math class with him once.
Maybe this is why I hate facebook so much. Keeping up with the Jones’ digitally. Gossip here, status update there. Gossip here and there. bleh. pass. I’m good. Fuck off. Thanks.
People are funny about their porn. They all love it, when they are in control of it and it’s behind closed doors or in the safety of their terms. Yet tell someone you work in porn and suddenly I’m somehow less then they are. I’m a low life in their eyes. I’m a smut peddler for crying out loud. Ruuuuuun Forrest, Ruuuuun!
Yet, they crave what I provide. umm.. what?
I am sure I sound jaded and someone bitter, and perhaps you’re right, I am. I have been shunned by those I trusted in the past because of what I do. So what is it I do exactly? If I was working in the San Fernando Valley in California, aka Porn Valley, then I would understand. If I ran a studio where girls came and went, fucking and sucking daily… fine, I’m one of those smut peddlers.
I’m not though. I photograph women that consent to be photographed. I build websites from said photos and videos. I supply beauty to those that request it. Am I really in the same conversation as the guy that just ass fucked an 18 year old for $300 so he can sell that clip to 500 websites as anal content?
For many, yes. Yes I am the same guy. I’m apparently no better then this guy, yet when they want their fix… who do they call? Well, they don’t call me but they visit my websites. So I’m good enough at 2:00am, gotcha.
As such I don’t tell people what I do. Why should I? Would you? Would you openly admit what you do if you were me? Knowing ahead of time there is a better then good chance the person you’re speaking to is going to look down their nose at you? Nobody has had the balls to say this sort of thing to my face, but this doesn’t mean it isn’t spoken of. I have been in bars in Calgary where I used to live, hanging with the guys and I’d have a guy walk up to me and be all…HOLY SHIT MAN! You’re that porn guy! I have heard about you! I’m standing there, dumbfounded… not really knowing what the fuck I just heard, if I heard him correctly or more importantly, how to respond.
That porn guy.
I’m a photographer and a website developer, but in the simplest of terms, I’m that porn guy.
In talking to a friend tonight, she had mentioned that even though she is not in the biz anymore, she still gets people asking them about it. People are curious little monkeys, if it’s on their terms. When you come to them though with an answer to their mighty “what do you do for a living” question and the answer is, I work in adult entertainment…
Well holy fuck, strap on the asshole vest, nobody is talking to you ever again.
Well, not to you. They’re going to talk about you behind your backs though. Count on that. I am not so sure that people mean harm when they discuss me or what I do behind my back. It very well might just be they’re talking about me as… whoa, get this shit… (as in, more interesting than.. I picked the kids up from school, Jordan has a cold, Michael was late for piano recital again etc). people want an escape from their boring lives and if you know someone that works in porn, you just gave them the Willy Wonka ticket out of boredom. These motherfuckers now have water cooler conversation for the next few days at least.
You’re welcome.
Sigh.
I’m not a hater, but I am not a fan of being hated on. Who is? When asked now what I do, I tend to implement a little trick I learned from the closest of close friends. Flip it. Quick simple boring answer, followed by a question about THEM.
I work with databases. What do you do? Still only have one child?
People love to talk about themselves.
It sucks that I can’t be honest about what I do. It’s part of the game though, we work in this industry so we have to deal with the stigma that surrounds it. I love what I do though. I get to be me, not work for someone else, set my own rules. Yes, I tend to work a lot more and sure, at times it’s challenging or stressful but what job isn’t?
I’ll tell you I work with databases so you can talk about your kids, sound good?
“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” – Mahatma Gandhi
I’m not a religious person. I try and live by the ‘to each his/her own’ mindset though. I may not agree with your beliefs, but they may be right for all I know.
That said, some religious people are fucking lunatics.
There, I said it. To each their own but when you try and force feed your religion to me, you’d best be prepared to go toe to toe with me on some q and a. I have shot down pastors, missionaries and priests with little more then a handful of questions. It’s easy as pie, because the answer they always turn to is a cop out…“Faith”.
If they can’t answer your question (which usually they can’t) they reply that you need faith. I’d reply they need a better defense then something a six year old retarded kid could dissect. Faith? Really? This is probably a topic for another blog and again, I mean no disrespect. Not trying to piss on your God but again.. some of you, are fucking nuts.
The letter above was left on a guy’s car after he stopped going to church for a couple months.
Apparently Jesus has a time schedule and well, you’re on his clock, beayatch.
One of the biggest reasons I personally have issues. Most if not all religions want us to think we’re alone in life. We’re the only life in the Universe. We’re it. All those hundreds of billions of stars, millions of galaxies etc… yeah, all empty. Neat hey? un huh. Riiight. Oh wait, we can’t prove it so it’s true. I remember now. Also, Dinosaurs.
So we’re alone? You sure?
We are but a small fish in a very. very big sea.
ps.. the earth isn’t flat either.
Isn’t it funny how we as a society celebrate some and criticize others? Julian Assange details how companies screw over the public and he’s persecuted for it. Mark Zuckerberg steals an idea for a website, makes billions off selling people’s personal data, likes and dislikes and sheep champion him and Time names him man of the year.
What the fuck is wrong with people? This somehow makes sense? I know we’re all the same more or less but it’s small things like this that make me question humanity. It’s like when you’re a kid and you ask a really good question that you parents don’t know the answer to. You’re told something like, never-mind and you accept that answer because you trust your parents.
Those kids were trained to accept what they’re told as being true. If someone in ‘authority’ says it, it must be true. It must be alright. Don’t question what you’re told.
pfffft.
We’ve become a world largely populated with sheep that don’t ask questions. Doesn’t this scare the bejesus out of you? If not, WHY NOT? What do you know that I don’t? Let me in your secret. Was it because I didn’t drink the magic facebook punch everyone else seems to love and enjoy so much?
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