Showcase Photographers and those that aspire to be

how many of you are using lightroom?

how many of you are using lightroom? Originally Posted by john_deere

I use LR3 only. No PS or other programs

I could not agree more with the last few post especially when it comes to showcases. That's one of the biggest issues that you will run across. The ladies want the smoothest plastic looking skin but the clients want to see reality. It's a fine line between giving your client what they want but also giving their clients what they want. Proper use of lighting and shadows goes A LONG WAY and learning how to shoot clients of all bodytpes also is huge within this genre.

I use lightroom and ps 7 but I don't do a lot of post work when it comes to showcase shoots. I do my best to light and shadow correctly when I shoot. I will remove blemishes (scratches, etc.) and identifying tats when requested but your body is your body and instead of focusing on what you see is a problem I shoot what I see as beauty.

how many of you are using lightroom? Originally Posted by john_deere

I use lightroom 4 and photoshop CC :~)

I use Lightroom and ps cs6

that's good to see. there's always the occasional thing that requires photoshop, but lightroom has become the standard for any kind of volume work. if you're not using it, you're wasting time and money, especially if you're generating 5-6-7-800 images per shoot (which is a whole OTHER conversation ).

I do!!

I start in Lightroom and finish in Photoshop - I'm an Adobe Cloud subscriber so my programs are always the latest versions. (Not that that matters much) My retouching is lite and I believe that if a non photog/retoucher can obviously tell then the retouching failed.

I had one client ask me to remove about half of her body weight. When I told her I couldn't do that, she asked if I could cut off her head and place it on a substitute body. I could but refused. We had discussed before the shoot that I would do lite retouching. Plus, I would never agree to that much shopping. Luckily, she had already paid and never requested a refund. The funny thing is that after all of that, she's actually using them on her site.

I start in Lightroom and finish in Photoshop - I'm an Adobe Cloud subscriber so my programs are always the latest versions. (Not that that matters much) My retouching is lite and I believe that if a non photog/retoucher can obviously tell then the retouching failed.

I had one client ask me to remove about half of her body weight. When I told her I couldn't do that, she asked if I could cut off her head and place it on a substitute body. I could but refused. We had discussed before the shoot that I would do lite retouching. Plus, I would never agree to that much shopping. Luckily, she had already paid and never requested a refund. The funny thing is that after all of that, she's actually using them on her site. Originally Posted by Adonis

i've looked at your stuff and it's well shot, lit, and processed. wannabes could do worse than using you, megan, and d as examples for what good photos look like.

There is lot of misinformation on TFP shoot here. First of all TFP IS NOT A TRADE SHOOT as presented here

TFP (Time for Print) Shoot is Photography Industry standard and is widely popular in photography industry.

What is TFP Shoot? In simple words: TFP is a photo-shoot session where the photographer agrees to provide the model with an agreed number of pictures of the best photographs from the session to use in her portfolio/showcase in exchange for the shoot time from the model.

Again in a TFP shoot the model DONOT provide any service other than her time for the photo shoot.

Who should go for TFP shoot: If the model wants to update her portfolio/showcase and do not have big $$ for a photo shoot or do not want to spend $$ for a photo shoot TFP shoot is for you. You can get few (usually 5-7) edited pictures out of one shoot (1-2 hrs of shoot time) at $0 cost.

Who should not shoot TFP: if the model have $$ to spend on a photo shoot; please do not shoot TFP as you will not be getting more the 5-7 pics in most cases from the shoot.

Why photographers should shoot TFP: Even though the photographer will not make any money from the TFP Shoot immediately; most of the cases the TFP shoot will generate additional business. I have been shooting TFP shoots (usually one..sometimes two per week for a long time). I have gained additional business from it. The models I shoot TFP most of the time come back for paid shoots when they need to update their portfolio again or refer a friend how wants a paid shoot. Also it helps add variety to the portfolio.

So, fellow photographers; TFP shoot is NOT a bad thing. I can understand lack of understanding of TFP shoot as many of photographers on this board do very little work outside this board. As more professional photographer joins the group and the talented photographers from the board start venturing outside this board; I am sure TFP will gain popularity here.

Ok I'm going to address your approach on TFP and why it won't work in this area of photography. First off to address the level of professionals here I am at year 27 of shooting professionally. I have shot stills for industrial films, shot for multiple national magazines, been published for over 2 decades, and the list goes on and on. There are others of us that have shot for publications such as Playboy, Penthouse and Hustler and honestly this is a small part of the work that we do. What we are trying to do is show the new photographers to the board what will and won't work. This is NOT a modeling site and these are NOT models that you are working with so the traditional things such as TFP will not work.

I'll throw one main scenario out to you that I doubt you have thought about. We shoot the girls but what will you do when you deal with management of these girls and you have to explain to them about a TFP - trust me that's not a situation that you want to encounter but it happens. If your goal is to build a portfolio of sensual images then stick to working with the modelmayhem girls but if your goal is to become a successful showcase photographer then there are certain items that you must understand about this part of the industry and shooting TFP where you ask the girls to give up chunks of time for a handful if images is not something that will catch on.

This is their business and their business thrives on the images that they showcase. This is a money business for the girls and for the photographers. This is not the area where we practice on the girls. For them to give up a multi-hour window and not book appointments and not make money they are going to expect certain things in return that makes that time frame worth it. This is why a 2-6 hour shoot that yields them 2-7 images, no proofs, no image selection control, etc. will not go over well whether they pay for it or not - and often it's the client and sometimes the management that pays and it definitely won't go over well with them.

The traditional approach to TFP shoots will only hurt you in the long run and you will lose your business here as a showcase photographer before it starts.

TFP doesn't really work in normal realms either but at least you can showcase the best images on Facebook, MM, SmugMug, 500px and any other mainstream sites you might own. To be blunt, you'd be stupid to try to showcase provider photos on your mainstream working sites.

Thanks D, for your feedback.
Cheers

Providers photo are for portfolio in this area.

Not a problem. I have models that I will call and do some fun shoots with or test out some light tricks prior to an assignment so yes tfp can be beneficial in other scenarios and for those that do them with models I totally understand why you would.

I think that the differences between what we do here and what we do with the model world has been the main reason some very talented photographers have joined but then vanished but once you understand this industry and partner that with your skills as a photographer then you will eliminate a lot of the issues that may arise when shooting showcases or working with providers.