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TFP
and TFCD
This
is an archive of relevant mail and our replies organized by subject.
The date of the mail bag will be noted for each letter, with a link
to the related mail bag. This archive is updated on the first of the
month when relevant mail is posted in the current mail bag, and the
newest letters are added to the top. Other sections of the Tampa Bay
Modeling site link to this section so the mail and our responses can
be used as reference and support content. We really like this way of
archiving so great letters and our replies are not lost in old mail
bags and can be easily researched. Enjoy!
~ Model Monica Stevens, Tampa Bay Modeling Mail Bag Editor
Is
TFP For Me? - POSTED APRIL
2006.
What do
you have against TFP’s and professionals collaborating together
to build their portfolios? I noticed that TFP/TFCD is on your scam section,
too. TFP is not a model scam!
-Sandy
May I ask how serious
you are about your career? If you’re a model, do you intend to
model free of charge? If so, let’s see how long you are able to
work in your career. If so, what is the point of becoming a model in
the first place?
We don’t have anything against TFP’s. I agree TFP’s
are often not scams. Some professionals may elect to do it, but most
do not. Most professionals that I know are too busy earning a living
in their careers and don’t have time for charity work. The problem
with TFP offers is that often, while most are not model scams, some
lead into model scams. If it sounds too good to be true, it often is.
Nine times out of ten, you really do get what you pay for, and models
really need to question the motivation of others who offer them free
services, who don’t make money working as a professional, and
who elect to work with nothing but amateurs. Why are they offering to
shoot models at no charge? What is their motivation? How do they earn
a living? If they don’t earn money working as a professional photographer,
is there anything that they can truly offer a model that will benefit
their career? Do they even know what they are doing, or are they some
guy with a camera looking to meet pretty girls (coming soon: A Tampa
Bay Modeling original story series about “Chester GWC - Model
Photographer”. I am not kidding about this upcoming black comedy
serial)? Many photographers offer TFP simply because they don’t
have anything else going on in their career. Food for thought: How many
TFP offers do you see for male models? How many TFP offers do you see
for CLOTHED models? How many TFP photographers have genuine professional
models who earn a living through a modeling career in their book? I
don’t see a lot of male models, tastefully clothed models, or
professional models in TFP work, that’s for sure. Model portfolio
photography should be about obtaining professional pictures for a portfolio
and should not be used as bait or as a prelude for asking some girl
out. Think that I want to be buddies with all the photographers that
I work with? Please. I’m selective about who I am friends with,
and so is everyone else.
I’m not a fan of TFP’s, and I am speaking from experience.
Many years ago, when I was a brand new model with no clue about the
industry or what I was doing, I did TFP to build my model portfolio
(some idiots on a portfolio networking site suggested this ill-advised
course of action). Keep in mind that this was back in the day before
cheap digital cameras where photographers had to invest money and professional
training into camera gear, film, and film development. The cost of entry
into the photography field did keep it limited mostly to those who were
serious and made figuring out who the professionals were a lot easier,
but the few legitimate photographers in the market seldom offered any
freebies. Many liked my looks, though, and I managed to book a few TFP
sessions. Although I was lucky and no one took advantage of me, I can
say that was far more trouble than it was worth and sometimes indirectly
cost me more money that I would have paid had I booked a professional
portfolio photography session from an established professional photographer.
If I could do it again, I would have saved a lot of legwork, time, and
headaches and would have simply paid and invested a few hundred dollars
into pictures from a professional photographer who could actually do
something for my career. Once I learned my lesson, I finally invested
some money into a real modeling portfolio and my career began to work
for me because I gave it what it needed.
In my opinion, TFP’s are nothing more than shortcuts that cheap
models and photographers use to avoid paying for what they need. We
all know that taking shortcuts often costs more in the long-run in any
career. You only cheat yourself by taking shortcuts! If a model or photographer
cannot scrape up a little money to pay for what they need and invest
in their career, their priorities are not conductive to surviving in
a competitive industry such as the modeling industry and they are not
being very smart. Speaking as a model, I don’t respect professional
photographers who work for free. Professional models are not inclined
to work with or contact photographers who they do not respect, either,
and we value our time too much to waste it, too. Why is it that TFP
photographers are always whining about models who don’t follow
through on their “bookings”? While I do not condone anyone
setting up something and then flaking out, we all need to realize the
primary law of human behavior: people will always do what they feel
is in their best interest. Actions always outweigh words. If a model
decides to blow off a TFP shoot, do you think that they respect the
photographer to begin with? I don’t think so. Some photographers
may think that they are undercutting photographers who charge for their
services by offering free photography services. What often happens (and
recent investigations have proven this to be correct) is that the photographer
digs themselves into a hole and acquires a reputation of being a TFP
shooter or doing substandard work, even if they actually do good work!
When they finally wake up and start charging for their work, it is a
lot harder to climb out of that hole. I know a photographer who used
to do TFP many years ago. While some models worked with him, none of
them respected him or his talented work. He was perceived to be a schmuck
who could not be taken seriously. A true friend of his (a girl who was
not a model and had nothing to gain by taking advantage of him) sat
him down one day and told him the truth: That models were taking advantage
of him for services that common sense indicated should cost SOMETHING
at the very least. The photographer woke up and started charging for
his work. It took a couple of years to shake off his reputation of being
a free shooter and work that was harder than it should have been. He
is now a major player, commands a high level of respect, and makes a
respectable amount of money in the modeling industry while doing what
he has always loved to do, and models treat him very well.
This TFP controversy can be solved easily. TFP photographers can quit
being chumps and stop underselling themselves. They will earn the respect
and the pay that they deserve, as well as work with genuine professional
models.
There are some professional photographers who make a living by charging
for their services and are concerned about the market being corrupted
by guys with cameras and aspiring photographers shooting “models”
for free. I wouldn’t worry about it. From what I’ve seen,
perceived value keeps everything in check. Most professional models
who are serious about their careers do not go the TFP route, and if
TFP photography were really a threat, TFP photographers would be swamped
with work. This is not proving to be the case at all, and the market
should balance itself the way it should by creating separate markets
of the haves and have-nots.
Did you know that most people outside of the modeling industry automatically
assume that model portfolios are an investment that cost money? Take
some time and think about this. People who think that TFP’s are
the way it is done learn this misconception from others, and often it
plays on the greed of people who think that they are entitled to something
for nothing. Any business professional that you ask outside of the “modeling”
industry would laugh at they suggestion that they could become a professional
in any career without making a reasonable investment into services from
professionals who make a living doing what they claim to do.
As for me, I don’t trust or respect any professional who works
for free. It’s not a profession if it isn’t a real career
(career=income and respect). It raises too many questions for me to
take them seriously, and this is how it should be. Models who want to
insult a photographer should contact them and ask them to give them
free portfolio pictures. I guarantee you will piss off any working professional
photographer with an inquiry. If the photographer chuckles and wants
to do TFP anyway, the model should ask themselves if it is worth it
and really wonder about the motivation. I’d have to wonder about
their self-respect, and would wonder if there is something wrong with
their work. Most models would walk away, and I don’t blame them.
~ Model Monica Stevens, Tampa Bay Modeling Mail Bag Editor
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