What will you use the photos for?

Sometimes, before a shoot is fully arranged with a model, I will get asked, "What will you use the photos for?".  It's an interesting question.  Maybe it will be good to write about that - somebody might read this and have some idea of my answer ahead of time.

Well, if it were an ideal world. I would answer, "These photos will be published in a widely circulated publication" (fill in your favorit - web site, magazine, book, whatever).  That is my hope, and I should think in general, the hope of most any model.  I realize there are some models that might not want any of their pictures published, and for most models, some pictures taken that they don't want published (that's why I make a provision in our release agreement that allows the model to identify certain pics they would not want published).  But for most of us in this pursuit, it is something of a dream or aspiration to be published.

For now, my answer is basically this: to build up my portfolio and my aresenal of skills to pave the way to be someday published.

Before a shoot even starts.

Recently I think I've been making some progress as a photographer, and hopefully, as an artist.  I can feel and see the difference in my approach to the work over the past six months or so, and I believe it's showing in the shots I've been posting.  Actually, as this blog is addressing, I'm not even keeping up with posting many of my shots.  It is no simple matter to sort through the shots after a shoot and then pick one or two to post as the best.

In any case, even with a small sampling of my recent stuff being publicly visible, it seems that more and more these days a model I contact will respond that "yes", she would like to work with me.  This in itself is a marked change since I first started photographing models (about a year ago).  It used to be that I'd write an email (through Model Mayhem) and never get a reply.  So I'd write more, and more, and on it would go until somebody would respond.  I completely understand that.  Who wants to work with a photographer who's just starting out, and hasn't demonstrated competence with the basics, let alone established their own unique style and approach?