1. Be prepared for your shoot, the more prepared you are the better your chances of a great outcome:
a. Bring more outfits than you need for your shoot. That way you have a wider selection to choose from at the shoot. Sometimes the outfit that you may like may not look so good in a photograph, so having options can be helpful.
b. Bring lots of accessories; shoes, jewelry, hats, tops, whatever you think will spice up your shoot.
c. Get a full night sleep before the shoot. Being rested will help with your look and creativity. No drinking or partying all night…
2. Be on time for your shoot. Photography is a creative and artistic experience, so keep your photographer happy, it will show in his work…lol
3. Don’t bring extra people to your shoot that is not needed. If you need help or a chaperone, that’s ok.
Boyfriends, family members and small children can be distracting. Also, others photo shoots can be going on and it may that be inappropriate for your guest or children. Furthermore, your guest may make other clients feel uncomfortable. So it’s best to only bring who you really need.
4. All models are expected to sign my Model Release form before the photo shoot. Al copy is available on my website if you wish to review it before the shoot.
5. The balance due for you shoot is payable before the photo shoot starts. Payment can be made in cash, credit or debit card.
1. Once your shoot is completed, I will send you a link to a private website with all your proof images.
Please make sure I have your email address or send it to me so I can send you the link.
2. Once you receive the link you have 1 week to review and select your images for airbrushing.
Please be prompt in returning the image list to me, that way I will have enough time to get the images back to you as soon as possible. If you wish additional images airbrushed, included them in the list, I will bill you. Typically it will take 2-3 weeks to airbrush and print your images. However, it can take up to 4 weeks to complete. Also, if you don’t provide a list within 10 days I may select the images for airbrushing.
3. Please feel free to provide additional information about your images that my help me during the airbrushing process. For example, if you want a tattoo removed, or a scar or a little extra fat removed, just add a note.
4. Once the airbrushing work is completed I will send you a new link to the airbrushed images that you can download. Also if incuded, prints will be available for pickup at the studio. All photo pickups are done on the weekends. Please call before coming: 856‐465‐6833. If you would like your prints mailed to you an additional fee is required.
5. You can order additional prints or airbrushed images at any time. You image gallery is typically online for 4-6 months. After that time the images are archived. If you wish the site to be reinstalled a fee is assessed.
6. If you need a print release form use this link: Print Release
Thanks for shooting with Gregory Maxx and I hope to see you again.
Inspirational words to share
I am black and a little on the geekie side. My professional background before photography is software engineering and small business management. The info below is based on my experience with models and those of other photographers. I hope you find the info insightful and helpful. I charge for shoots because I am a professional photographer spending time and energy to perfect my craft. Of course, SAYING that I am a professional photographer does not mean squat. I come across photographers' profiles who say that "they've been pros for twenty years" and after looking at their stuff my only reaction is "I would so not advertise that fact if I were you." And sometimes I see amateurs whose creativity and fearlessness I envy. So "pros," "amateurs," whatever, the proof is in THE PICTURES. Take a look at what I have and decide if a paid session with me is going to push your portfolio past the average photographer's product. My pricing is based on outfit change or time.
Should the model pay the photographer or vice versa?
There's nothing easier for an aspiring model than finding several people who will offer to shoot her for free. So, on principle, a new model does not need to pay any photographer. And the reality is that a model does not really need pro-level pictures in her port to show a potential employer what she looks like. A couple of clean, average pictures in her port and an experienced casting director can tell what a model looks like. However, amateur pictures do not provide an employer with any clues as to her work ethic. Which is really the purpose of a portfolio with pro pictures. In other words, a portfolio will tell an employer that this model is serious about working, drove to forty casting calls, has twenty shoots under her belt, understands that this is a business and time is money, and that she'll be on time, have a good working attitude and that she'll be a good hire.
Why I never paid a model out of my own pocket and I never will.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying models should not get paid. Just not by photographers. A model should be paid by the client. But if I were a model and a photographer offered to pay my “rates,” I’d be worried. Let me explain.
When I started doing modeling photography, I did not pay any models because I could not afford to. Now, I don’t have to. I can always find an above average-looking model to test with me when I need to.
Let's say you’re a beginner photographer, trying to build a modeling port. How difficult is to find a beginner model to pose for you? ... This isn't a trick question. The correct answer here is … “not very.” She might not be the most experienced model, but then again, neither are you. But if you’re looking to learn how to light, she’ll do.
As you become a better photographer, you’ll get progressively better-looking models wanting to test with you for free. So, it’s beyond me why a photographer would ever pay a model out of his own pocket. Bottom line, if I were a model and a photographer offered to pay me an hourly rate out of his own pocket, I’d be veeeeeeery worried. Because I’d think a) How bad is he that he can’t find a single model to test with him for free, or b) If he’s not that bad, what’s up?
So, why would a commercially viable model ever pay a photographer out of her own pocket?
The operative qualifier here is "commercially viable". If a model has the looks to get work, but may not be head-over-heels "agency standard" she might have to make an investment to shoot with a good photographer to get her book/port where it needs to be. A model can be shooting TF over and over again, and never be getting the type and quality of pictures she needs for her port. If she keeps getting offers to do glam/lingerie or nudes, but she really has the looks for mainstream, fashion or catalog work, shooting glam over and over would amount to nothing more than making giant steps sideways, never advancing her port to a level that agencies will take her seriously. In addition, if a model decides to make the investment and pay a photographer, she calls the shots. She can tear out setups from magazines and tell the photographer "that's what I want to shoot". And that may be the fastest way for a model to get her portfolio where it needs to be. After all, if you think about it, that's what agencies do. When a model is signed with a top agency, the agency will send her to test photographers, to shoot specific looks, so they can market her. But if you've tried agencies and you have not been signed yet --in which case the agency will cover the cost of your tests--, and you sincerely believe that you can eventually be signed or you are a commercially viable model, shooting specific setups you need with a good photographer, might be a the best investment you ever made.
From the model’s perspective, another answer to the question "why should I get paid by the photographer" is that “I’m so hot that he needs me in his port.”
Ah, but a photographer does not really need a super hot model to showcase his skills. An average or okay-looking model will do just fine. If he’s skilled he can make the average model look above average and the good-looking one look smoking hot. At any case, a photographer is not judged on the looks of the model, but whether or not his picture is well lit, the composition good, the concept interesting. If a potential employer sees all that, he can definitely envision the specific photographer shooting a hot model advertising his product.
Tips for models
a) Quickest way to get a gig is to have a clean, well-lit headshot for your avatar. Keep the avant-garde pics or the full-body shots for inside your profile. The logic is simple. There are five thousand girls competing for gigs. So, don't make me work to see what you look like! If I'm doing a search for models fitting a particular look, I'm scrolling through the small thumbnails in the search results, so if the picture in your avatar does not draw me in, I'll just click on the girl below you with the clean headshot. If I learned anything shooting models is that even though being the right age, having a fit body, good height, no stretchmarks and no (major) cellulite, are the necessary prerequisites at having a chance in this business, they're not what ultimately sells a model. To paraphrase James Carville, "It's the face, stupid."
b) Get reliable transportation and get to a casting session ON TIME or ten minutes before if you can. Showing up early will always score you major points. ("My car blah, blah, I forgot the map at home, I dropped the iPhone in my soda, the dog pee'd on my GPS, traffic, blah, blah," will not fly. And NEVER, EVER use the "I feel so sick because I drank too much last night." Every professional photographer will show you the door and tell you to google the nearest AA meeting. Here's some insight to the professional photographer's mind. Of course the photographer gets excited when an attractive model walks into the studio. His first reaction is "I bet she'll look great in this or that setup." But if she shows up late, she's got an attitude, that initial excitement quickly gives way to the following thoughts: "Hmmmm, if I schedule a shoot, will she show up or will I waste my time, will I be paying my assistant(s) for nothing that day, will I be able to make the rent in my studio..." So --to quote Tony Soprano-- never forget that "this is a business" and even when it's TF, the shoot has to have business-oriented results, i.e. to produce the best possible pictures that can bring clients to the photographer. Bottom line, if you show up on time and it's between you and a better-looking model who was late, 95% of the time you'll get the gig.
c) Approach a TF shoot as if it were a paid gig. Remember, the photographer is not getting paid either, so do not make the fatal mistake of treating a TF shoot as a "free" shoot. The only way to get a photographer to bring his A-game to the table, is if you bring your A-game as well.
d) DO NOT photoshop or modify the crap out the pictures you post. This may seem like an odd statement, in a business that's all about beauty and perfection, but altering your appearance significantly on the pictures that you post here, is actually detrimental to you getting gigs. Fixing a pimple, a drop of sweat or stray hair on your pictures is, of course, okay. If, however, your pictures are overexposed and filtered beyond recognition in Photoshop to hide age lines, your actual body shape liquified and skewed to make you look thinner, in other words, a different person shows up to a casting session than the one in your photographs, what do you think the photographer is going to do?
My thanks to Los Angeles photographer Stunningpix, who wrote the initial words, I just added my take.