Photographers

Well, here we are on another Sunday evening and tomorrow is Monday.

It’s been an alright weekend. Pretty productive in all things not-photography. We went out and got new tires for the car. YAY… My wife bought a guitar as it is now her new challenge and hobby. There was a maintenance dude around fixing a few things on the house. And Sunday saw me getting some time in at the local paintball site to test why my MagFed Paintball gun is breaking and chopping paintballs. Result was a feeding issue with the magazines. The springs aren’t feeding all the way through. This week will need to see some hacking and sanding being done to ensure a proper hassle free long weekend.

I have got a big game on this coming weekend. It’s said to be the UK’s biggest Magfed event. We even have a celebrity joining the games, in the form of TheAlabasterSlim. A well known Canadian player who has gained youTube fame by creating a first person player type view of his paintball games.

Then there is our own UK local “celebrity” He calls himself the HiddenHedgehog Hell of a nice chap and obsessed with World War Two type style of play and sniping.

But I am not here to talk about my paintball adventures. I’m here to talk about photographers.

I’ve had this chat with a good photography buddy of mine loads and loads of times. Photographers are a dime a dozen these days. I may or may not have had this rant at one point before… But have been spending time on some portfolio hosting websites, scouting models and ideas. And some of the work photographers are passing off, and comments they are leaving models, is beyond ridiculous.

We have loads of GWC (Guy With Cams) going around. They are usually the older of the photography hobbyists and have discovered that if they go buy a camera from a retail outlet, create an online profile and pay models… They can get to see boobs, bums and private bits. Take some photos and call it “art” NOW… Disclaimer time: I know I am generalizing here and not everyone is like that. A fair amount really are trying and want to learn and think that it is art. I am not referring to those guys. I am referring to the old farts that spiked a model friend of mines water as to get her doped up enough so that they could get degrading sexual images of her. That’s not art. That’s criminal conviction

Or the photographer that trolls these portfolio hosting sites photos and comments: “Nice tits. I’d love to spank that behind. Why don’t you move your hand so we can see what you’re hiding.”

Guys— Seriously! Go visit a free porn site. There are loads there. Send me a message, I’ll forward you a few links.

Now, I’m sure someone (according to my websites stats, some of you actually do read this stuff) is reading this and going “But you shoot tits n ass” True… I do. But you can ask any of the models I have worked with and some of my references speak for themselves. I respect models. I allow them their privacy, unless they say it’s fine for me to hang around if they are getting changed. In the beginning of my photography “career”, I would leave the room regardless if a model said I could stay. (That’s probably earned me loads of lad points)

Kinda gonna float my own boat and stroke my ego right now, but here is a reference a popular model left me after we had worked together for the first time:

I had a fantastic shoot with Alexis in a very cool studio in London. He’s really friendly, very easy to get on, and develop a rapport with. He showed me shots taken throughout the day and was very interested to hear my opinions on the photos. We got some great photos from what I saw and I was really pleased with how the shoot went. He was also very respectful of my privacy and I felt extremely safe at all times. Highly recommended and would work with again in a heartbeat.

Togs. Don’t be that creepy guy. It’s not cool.

Ever.

Actually… Just came across this thread on Model Mayhem – What makes a creepy photographer? Just remember… It’s for a laugh. Don’t read it if you are easily offended.

In other news… Camera side has been super quiet. And will probably be for the next 2 weekends at least. I may need to start getting out in the evenings after work. Drive in to London and go fetch my wife from work, with the camera back in the back. Do some walk around London shots. Hell… you know what… I think I will do that this week.

Soo… I’ve been watching more and more videos by Matt Granger. Also known as That Nikon Guy. Can you guess why?? Yep… He shoots Nikon. But also coz he is one of us. He’s a fellow photographer and doesn’t really go overboard. He just sticks to the facts and his opinions. Here is specs and tested and reviews and compares the new Nikon D750 to a few other Nikon cameras. I… Personally… Am not a fan. Why you ask? Personal preference… That flip out screen. It just feels kitch to me. Gadgety. Like it should be left on the lower spectrum scale of cameras. Not for a more supposedly pro FX body.

Make up your own mind.

Catch up with you all again soon… Have a great week.