Tampa Bay models on Tampa Bay Modeling.Tampa modeling portfolio photography services, Tampa model testing photography services, modeling portfolio books, modeling composite cards, comp cards, zed cards, and services for professional modeling career tools. These services are not free, and require an investment into your modeling career!Tampa Bay Modeling features, articles, tutorials, interactive tutorials, anecdotes, stories, tools, paperwork, and more.Risks for models, modeling scams, and protecting the integrity and the marketability of your modeling career.Tampa Bay modeling scams.Tampa Bay Modeling model job board section for model Go-See information and casting.Tampa Bay Modeling resources, including career tool links, contracts, vouchers, scam fighting agreements, forms, and other tools.Tampa Bay Modeling contact information and our monthly modeling mail bag for the answers to your questions.  
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First modeling portfolio picture of a Tampa model on Tampa Bay Modeling. All portfolio photographs, unless otherwise noted, by C. A. Passinault, lead photographer for Aurora PhotoArts Tampa Photography and Design, as well as Director of Tampa Bay Modeling. C. A. Passinault is a top photographer, as well as a modeling expert.Second model photograph on Tampa Bay Modeling. Click on the image for an anecdote of the modeling shoot which produced this picture.In this third picture, you can see why the Tampa Bay area is one of the best in the world for modeling portfolio development work. Photograph by Tampa photographer C. A. Passinault.Image four of our online portfolio of another Tampa model. This photograph, if we are not mistaken, was taken on location in the Tampa Bay area. The best modeling portfolio photographs are location shots.This is another great picture. This is the fifth model photograph on Tampa Bay Modeling. Pictures featured in our thumbnail array may not be the same as those of models which are in our featured model section, but often, they are one and the same.Unmatched in any Florida modeling market. The quality of this image is excellent! Photograph by C. A. Passinault, our resident photographer and modeling expert.Another top Tampa model gets their look on. The best models can obtain a wide range of looks, as you can see when you look at other pictures of this model!Is it any wonder why more and more companies and art directors are booking independent models without going through an agency? Proof that you can be a professional model, with a lucrative career, without being dependent upon an agency to find and book modeling jobs!Another awesome photograph of a Tampa model by modeling photographer C. A. Passinault, lead photographer Aurora PhotoArts, and director of Tampa Bay Modeling.For modeling portfolio work in the Tampa Bay area, nothing beats location work. Studio photography is not nearly as cost effective, or appropriate, for modeling portfolio work.Keep in mind that this picture, for a modeling portfolio, was taken by a qualified modeling portfolio photographer, C. A. Passinault, for a specialized, professional market, which is modeling. A wedding photographer or a portrait studio will not be able to give models what they need for an effective modeling portfolio, as you have to know what you are doing!This is the 12th picture in our Tampa Bay Modeling online portfolio. Yet another Tampa model shows a marketable look in their portfolio. The best models are capable of the most looks, and are not locked into a single look!Agency model or independent model? It doesnt matter, anymore, especially in Tampa Bay. Professional models like this one can be booked without going through an agency, saving both the model and the job agency fees.Modeling portfolios need at least six looks, and by looks, we mean different looks. A composite cards needs at least five, on average, with a headshot on the front, and four different looks on the back of the comp card. This Tampa model is demonstrating a marketable look right now, in this photography. Picture by C. A. Passinault.
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Wednesday, May 3, 2006Tampa Bay model photographed at a Tampa Bay location during a model portfolio photography session by Tampa Bay photography company Aurora PhotoArts Tampa Bay Photography and Design. Photograph by modeling portfolio photographer Chris Passinault.

The Great Pretenders.

We’ve all seen it over the years. We just didn’t have a name for it until now. Our model scam researchers have defined a new kind of scam, and it just happens to be the outer skin of most types of scams. Introducing the “Pretense Scam”.
Out of all the colorful, and often shady, characters in the modeling industry, we see this most with so-called model portfolio photographers. Although Pretense Scams can be applied to any profession, for the duration of this opinion post we’ll apply it to all of the wonderful photographers out there who make themselves out to be far more than they actually are.

Fake it until you make it

How many times have we heard that? Well, lot of so-called professional photographers out there seem to live it. They pick up a camera for the first time, and within a week of shooting pictures of strippers and schoolgirls claim to be professionals with decades of professional experience and top modeling industry connections. Those who don’t bother to evaluate the quality of the work in their portfolio and don’t bother checking references fall for the lies and often pay good money for pictures that they cannot possibly use. More common, and my personal favorite, are all of the self-proclaimed professional photographers running around shooting models free of charge (Also known as TFP/TFCD). What could they be up to? I’d have to question any professional who does nothing but free work and do not seem to make any money at their claimed profession. I could accept a professional photographer who gets paid 90% of the time and selectively chooses to collaborate with professional models at no charge, but if all that you do is at no charge, I’d have to really question what they are doing and I wouldn’t be wrong with the conclusion that it is too good to be true. Often, such free professionals are either lying about their credentials and experience, have some unprofessional motives, or both. It is quite pathetic to see all of these guys try to trick models into bed with their cameras and their lies. It is even more pathetic to see these liars try to trick models into doing things that are bad for their careers. Just remember, ladies, pictures are forever, and some venereal diseases are incurable or even fatal. Did you really become a model to help some con artist photographer reproduce? There is not a photographer in the world worth compromising your professional integrity and principles for. If they have to lie and cheat to get work, regardless of if it is free or for a fee, what could they possibly do for you and your career? Even if they are the real deal, do you honestly think that they will respect you and help you with your modeling career after you have become their toy?

Look closer

There is a flip side, too. We often find photographers out there who actually do good work and have the references to back it up. It doesn't necessarily mean that they are ethical or professional, however. Some of these sleazy characters spend years stealing from professionals and copying their work. The lack of talent is camouflaged by lots of practice, and although they remain relatively low talent, they turn out work that looks good because they are well practiced copying others. These photographers are single-minded sociopaths who do not know when to quit and weather years of getting their asses kicked by the genuine professional photographers that they are ripping off. They scam their clients and molest models, too, knowing that there will always be a percentage of suckers out there who will either not learn of their bad reputations or don’t believe what they hear until it is too late. Determination keeps them in business, and they find a niche on the underbelly of the industry.
Just because they do good work does not make them professional or good to work with. These pretenders may be well practiced and may turn out work that looks good, but put them into a situation where they have to use talent to come up with something new or really good, and they will fall flat on their asses every time. Put them up against a real professional, and they won't be able to compete.
Some of these counterfeit photographers make themselves to be better than they are in some rather extreme ways. They will put well-known charities and other “reputable” affiliates all over their marketing material in an effort to make them look like they are some great humanitarians. Just because they look like good guys does not mean that it is true.
If the references that they give seem to be genuine professionals and well-known charities, then they need to be checked out before you work with them. If the photographers seems to be trying too hard to give a good public image, it could be a red flag that something is wrong. Ask the charity or reference how they are connected to the photographer. I wouldn’t be surprised if the charity either does not know who the photographer is or the photographer gave a dollar so they could drop their names. Some photographers will promote others to imply that they are associated with them when they are actually not. Remember the people that you know who seem to brag about who they know and try too hard to bring attention to themselves? The same thing happens with photographers in our industry. You are either cool or not. You either do or claim to do. If they seem to be trying too hard, you owe it to yourself to check their references before you bother to check their work. Name dropping to make yourself look better than you actually are is one of the oldest scams.
Insecurity is the root of pretentious, arrogant, and defensive behavior. Insecurity is not professional, and does not belong in the modeling industry. We need fewer words and more action. Don’t just say that you have integrity. SHOW IT.
I just wish that these pretentious photographers would be honest with themselves and with others. Lies and misconceptions will ALWAYS catch up to you, and regardless of how smart and slick that you think you are, you will eventually be accountable for those lies. Honesty may lead to a slower path into a career and paying some dues, but those are the careers that will have the respect of the real professionals and are the ones who will end up with the experience that will enable them to deal with a competitive industry. When the industry heats up and competition is truly on, the pretenders fall by the wayside and often lose their businesses while the real professionals thrive. It is the nature of any industry and is the way of natural selection.
If you are a new photographer who is motivated to learn the profession, be honest with yourself and others. If you are truly talented and work hard, you may be surprised to see who gives you a chance and works with you. If you have true integrity it will shine in your actions and reflect in you work, and if you work hard at it you will soon find that you will become a professional photographer who will be in business long after the pretenders fail to stay in a modeling industry that will continue to become smarter and more professional. The industry will change due to the professionals who push for professional accountability, and the models who are smart enough to ask questions.

~ Danielle Cooper, Editor

Tampa Bay Modeling

Clearwater Beach, Florida
   

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