The flood of crappy so-called photographers

Almsot daily I get girls asking me about photography or telling me about a bad experience they had. From modeling agency rip offs to girls working wth bad photographers I recently put a post up at my modeling tips blog here on this topic.

I find this topic a very important one for a few reasons. It is on my mind often.

The more girls that want to be models means the more wanna be photograper's there are out there. Photography has become a commercial title that anyone can hold. Which means even those with bad intentions and those who do not mean well can call themselves one just by purchasing a Nikon or Canon.

It's gotten a lot worse since 2000. These days it is nuts. So it is frustrating when these girls email me and I feel like I have to protect them before it is too late and some online predator approaches them.

The internet is a great research tool but thats it,- it is not a place to find photographers, plain and simple it is a terrible place to mingle with guys with cameras who gawk these social sites.

I consider myself very lucky because before I shot ad campaigns and good modeling work with good agencies,-- in the past I have had some very bad encounters with the web. Some could have ended up basically life threatning. No joke. So I can relate with my memories when a girl emails me about how hard it is to find a good photographer these days. However these days I do work with amazing photographers, but I do remember when it was different.

The internet is where they go and there are pages and pages of terrible photography.

Even headshot photographers, or so-called, these people marketing themselves as a headshot photographer have the most nasty shots. Bad lighting, bad makeup on the girl, yuck.

The way I could see this issue solved is a one stop place for girls looking to model to find a photographer in their city.

Online social sites for models seem most popular in cities that do not have photo studios, ad agencies, and booming media, small towns. Yet a girl does not have to settle for crap.

If the girl can keep in mind that the main shot she needs to submit to agencies is a nice face shot. A nice headshot. Smile shot. Natural. And honestly sometimes a shot of you that your friend took at a birthday party works. Maybe not for the long term but if you crop it, and print it, and mail it to a print agency, the agency just wants to see your skintone, your energy, the expression in your eyes. They don't need the dazzle, and bullshit that many so-called photographers flaunt that you need on the web.

When a girl emails me and asks about how she can find a photographer I say:
Skip the web, please.