Today’s Post by Joe Farace
Updated 3/7/22: This post was written before the COVID-19 pandemic and has been updated. The on-line modeling scene has loosened up but it is not even close to getting back to normal. But I remain optimistic…
In the series of blog posts I originally wrote about finding glamour models, I suggested that one way to find models was through the use of modeling websites. Based on some of the email that I received on this topic, one of the biggest questions that readers repeatedly asked was: Are Modeling Websites worth the time and money? The answer is yes and a no.
Yes, they are. If you are willing to pay the models and sites…
That is not to say you can’t find glamour models on these sites; you can if you’re willing to pay—bigly. Even inexperienced models that have portfolios filled with cell phone selfies are asking for a payment of $100/hour. Other, more experienced models charge similar rates, so there’s that. If you have the money—and I don’t—you can find models on these sites and if you do. I wish you all the best.
No they’re not. There’s no value for the time and energy.
My real world experience with these sites over the past several years is that they have turned into a marketplace of models more interested in the quantity of money they can make than the quality of the images they can get from a photographer. In the economy that we find ourselves in these days, you have to do what you gotta do to make a buck, so I understand at least somewhat. And that goes for the fees that these sites charge too but I’m tired of giving these company my money… for nothing.
That’s why before the end of 2019, I changed my paid, premium VIP membership to the basic free account and have let it languish just in case a model I previously photographed wants to contact me. I won’t update it and won’t add new photos because I think there must be a better and more affordable approach to finding models. Which ones? Check some of my other posts on this subject and look for me to share some new ones here sometime in the future.
How I made this shot: I once photographed the famous Internet model Maria Cedar dressed as Elvira, Mistress of the Night for a Halloween themed shoot. Although she is on that same modeling website that I complained about, I didn’t find Maria there. Even though she lives 520 miles away in Utah, I found her through a combination of mutual acquaintances and her social media presence. Our last shoot together was on November 8, 2019 but I’m hoping to photograph her again real soon now.
I photographed Maria in the living room of my Daisy Hill home during our third shoot together on May 19, 2019 using only available light. The camera used was an entry-level Olympus E-M10 Mark I with the fabulous Olympus 45mm f/1.8 lens and an exposure of 1/200 sec at f/2.3 and ISO 400 with an exposure compensation of plus one-third stop. The image was retouched using Imagenomic Portraiture and tweaked in Color Efex using the Glamour Glow filter.
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Joe Farace’s Glamour Photography is full of tips, tools and techniques for glamour and boudoir photography with new copies available from Amazon for $31.73, as I write this. Used copies of the book start around nice bucks. The Kindle version is $19.99 for those who prefer a digital format.