Setting up...

So I've spent the last month or so thinking, planning, brainstorming and preparing. After years of modeling, dabbling with photography, getting my degree, aiming for PhD, completing writing the model guidance book, and in the midst of raising two beautiful offspring, I've decided to finally focus on being totally involved in photography, whether behind the camera, in front, arranging events or even one day opening my own studio. That's what I want to do. And like the totally unspoilt, headstrong and willing to work my arse off one woman wonder machine I am, I'll get what I want.

I've ran through my head a number of times, "What sort of photography do I want to do?". I like abstract art, I like contemporary designs, I like macro, little details, capturing the tiny missed details in life. I don't like photographing people. But I like catching moments of their emotion, fleeting thoughts otherwise forever lost, a characteristic unique to that person and that person only. I want to sell art, but photograph what I love. I want to earn a living, but that largely means photographing the drab I despise. I don't want to land in the trap of slogging away clicking the trigger to earn pennies with no zest behind my actions. I want to create, live and live what I do with a passion. Ultimately. And sustain a comfortable standard of living from it. Is that every artists dream?

And I have not been able to resist the lure of modeling again. I feel apprehensive about being in front of the camera again, but I have a co-character in me that can't show her face in day to day life, itching to be let loose. Again, I want the art, the passion, the creative buzz. And I want to sustain a living wage from it too. I've had my fair share of standard same old hobby shoots. While I'm always happy to help out a new photographer, run through the standard sets and poses to develop their portfolio, gain experience and meet lovely photo related people, it becomes somewhat drab when that is 90% of your work for the sake of earning, and only 10% awesome shoots where I can get my creative collaboration on. I don't mean to down on the hobbyist photographers, or those starting out, because that would make me a total hypocrite.

Ideally I'd love to earn money from modelling, to invest in photography and be able to pay the models I book for their time. And eventually earn from just photography and keep modelling as something I love to do for me, not to survive on. So I have a vague romantic vision of an artisan existence earning my bread and butter from living and doing what I love in a haze of creative chaos. Aahhh, sweet idealism.

But underneath all that is my determination and headstrong willingness to get what I want and not let anything stand in my way. By hook or crook. With a collection of random memories in photos rather than regrets of what could have been.

Zen Art Photography is Alive and well!

Due to months of illness and post operation recovery time, Zen art took last priority in my life for most of 2014. But I'm pleased to say I'm back and ready to roll!

What's new? Well almost everything at the moment :-) Starting with a new camera. Well actually a very old camera - an Olympus E-pen 1 to be precise. It was time to part with my beloved Nikon D70 and discover the wonders of micro 4/3rds at last. Teamed up with my equally as old but much loved Vivitar macro lens, they make an awesome couple and I've been enjoying playing with the combination. Having a screen rather than a view finder is amazing and I even got new glasses! No excuses for poorly focused macro shots anymore :-P

I've spent a week or so signing up new accounts for online stores to sell my work on canvases, as prints and on products. And now have accounts on two major photo stock sites (note to self: join more!!). Including Istock/Getty images which I'm pleased with. I know I'm just a little fish in the sea of some awesome talent all over the world. But I can be awesome talent too if I just do it. I'm putting my all into the photography game as of now. I even scribbled a list of things to do/business plan on an A5 bit of note paper and everything.

This includes rambling and ranting on here now often... A creative mind still needs a linear outpouring somewhere. And now I've finished writing the Guide to Modelling book, yes, *finished* writing the damn thing, I suppose I need to write something else, eh? The book is in the process of being formatted, just needs an edit, proof and off we finally f*cking go! Wooh!

Right now though, I'm loving having my camera in hand regularly again, just need some creative inspiration!

The Model Mentor book:  

Is WRITTEN!! It's been a long few months of staring at the PC screen with the baby strapped to my chest while I type away.  It's been a long slog at it, and there have been plenty of times I've wondered if I'm really qualified enough to be doling out the advice that I have in there.  But as it went on, it became more and more apparent to me, that I'm nowhere even close to the little 17 year old wannabe model I was once. 

Alright, I still kick arse (when I have the energy these days), and I can still be a gobby little c*w...but I like to think I manage it with a little more maturity and experience now :P  I spent a lot of time reflecting on what it was like when I was a young woman/late teen modelling, how little advice there was, and the sort of attitude I had towards modelling and life in general.  I certainly did some things I wouldn't now! I didn't have the foresight back then to think about future consequences, I thought I knew it all.  As you do when you're 19 or so.  

I'm glad that I can put my experiences and lessons learnt into some sort of useful format now though and hope that it'll be more than useful for many an aspiring model, hope that they can begin a successful modelling career with sage advice from a wrinkly old has-been (alright, I'm two years off 30, so I'm facing facts!) and avoid some of the dangers and pitfalls that can be so easy to come across in modelling.  It's really made me think about how much there is to think about with this modelling malarky, how much of it I seem to inherently, intrinsically know and perform in auto-mode.  I don't really remember 'learning' much of the stuff I have produced whole chapters out of...it's quite odd. 

It's in its final stages now of being formatted, proofed and edited :) It's a great sense of achievement to see it being produced and printed.  And I'm even prouder to have done it while on maternity.  Could not have been done without a huge amount of help, encouragement and contributions from Mr. Ramage of Brightlights Studio (Derbyshire).  I get far too laxy dazy when it comes to pushing myself, the extra poking and prodding was essential to the books completion! 

I've not really thought much about advertising, marketing etc etc, but it seems my reputation precedes me these days and I've built up quite a following of support from new and experienced models, interested photographers, social groups and websites.  It's been a great motivation knowing that there is so much support behind me and a real need for a book like this on the market.  I'm so excited to see it in it's last phase of production and awaiting a publication date :) 

So as I finished writing and left the rest to Mr.Ramage, did I decide to take a break?  Apparently not - I've moved straight onto writing up a PhD Proposal which I have been researching for 18 months...no rest for the wicked! 

Zen-art :-)

Zen-Art: is born!! Well it's been alive for a while now, just never linked it here.

Been a busy little bee!!

Well I've barely had the time to breathe let alone blog!! :-).
My baby boy was born in August weighing in at 8lbs and 6 oz, birthed at home in water with his big sister watching his entry/exit.  And I've been chaos since!! I managed a tour to Cambridge and regular shoots until 37 weeks pregnant. The photos I will cherish - in a tutu, Lit beautifully, climbing around a butterfly house, eating zombie brains... You know all the classic maternity shots :-).

I've been writing away in collaboration with a local studio to produce what has become 25000 word modeling mentoring and guidance booklet. There age just the chapters to tidy up and some photos to insert and its ready for the printing.  Its been slow going with having the baby to look after too, so I'm glad it's almost done.  I've built a bit of a reputation for chasing down dodgy togs.  It's shocking how many tossers there are out there.

I've slowly been building up my photography portfolio and uploading pieces to redbubble for sale.  I need to get into more model photography and slot regularly again. But I've been happy experimenting at home. I have ideas and projects in mind which I am planning for later in the year. 

My art and photography page Can be found here:

http://www.redbubble.com/people/shazzenith

Going to take the camera out with me later and hopefully capture something in the snow :-).

RedBubble

Very briefly - not been modelling much, but working out how to get more time and effort inton doing something with my photography instead - and here be it's humble beginnings:

http://www.redbubble.com/people/shazzenith

Hopefully this will grow - I have lots of little projects in mind!

Ciao!

Model Guidance Service

So almost two years ago, I posted a forum post on Net-model asking models if there would be any want or need for a service of some kind that offered newer models advice on safety, checking references etc.  There was a phenomenal response on the forum, and on my FB page with overwhelming support for the idea.  So I contacted Escape, the site owner of NM informing him of this and asking if there was any way a service such as could be implemented. I was happy to moderate/run it, and had offers of help from other reputable and well experienced models. His was a positive response, and I was promised a new forum design for it with the next site update. The next site update came and went. Again, I emailed him and asked if it was still happening, and again, I have the same promise. And again, the next site update came and went. And again I emailed him, reminding him of how much support and requirement there was, particularly where model safety was concerned. But my emails then went un-replied to...So I lost my urge to do it - why should I when the site owner of one of the post popular sites (at the time) didn't give a crap.


Through the powers of Facebook, and well known model who shall remain unnamed has been doing her bit by ensuring that models have a safe space to let others know if they have had a bad experience with a photographer.  And this has become a safe haven for a few models to ask about photographers and trust each other. Which is great, but in my mind, still not reaching out to the models that *really* need that type of advice.


Some of you may or may not know about Mr. Dave Thomas AKA Classic Creations, or C_49, or Classic49 or numerous other aliases he has gone by over the years.  Well - if you don't know about him or his reputation, safe to say, he is a VERY BAD MAN.  And when he cropped up on my FB inviting me to shoot with him as part of his 30year strong international agency (in his bedroom with his compact digital camera and on camera flash), it was an automatic response to ensure that anyone I possibly could get the message to, got the message - this guy was back, and a lot of photographers and models remembered why he was banned from every known photography site.  I spent two days and nights running posting messages to various FB groups, pages, forums, photography sites, sending out private emails, replying to emails from models I didn't know saying 'I had a shoot booked with this guy - thanks for letting me know what he was like!'.  It drove me to near sickness with the stress of it all and tears when there were people who didn't know me (in all fairness) questioning my motives and accusing me of slander.  I was grateful for the support from the photographers and models who remembered his reputation, or who had worked with me who backed me up and explained why it was such a sensitive situation and what I was simply trying to do.  There were so many people behind me right then, and the message got out so far, so quickly, that I was amazed I had coped with it and had stopped at least a few models working with him.  And hopefully saved them from a horrible experience.


So is sparked me to once again think about implementing a model safety service, if not through NM, then somewhere else, anywhere, any how.  I suppose I had my loyalties to NM once, so stuck with it.  In the end, I joined PP, and asked the owner there, who not only guaranteed the member-forum groups would be available soon, but that it was a great idea and he would allow me to run it.  So I'm now in the process of setting it up - slowly adding posts regarding basic safety, preparing for shoots, registering and managing being self-employed etc etc. It's only basic for now, and a small number of members (by invite, both new and more experienced models) and other than myself posting, is fairly inactive. *Early Days!*


BrightLights Studio have offered me a model mentoring role.  I'l produce a booklet/book/guidance pack for new and aspiring models, filled with information, advice, guidance etc etc, much like on the PP forum.  They will have a studio session with a talk through with myself, and then a shoot to kick start their portfolio. So in the meantime, I am working on putting that guidance pack together.  The BL team was were lovely with the offer and suggested I might be the right person for the job since I'm friendly, upfront and have been around long enough to have learnt the trade and learnt from my own lessons!! And that I most certainly have.  I feel OLD! And I remember sometimes back to being seventeen and somewhat naive.  And the trouble I got in and out of :p  I wish I had someone guiding me somehow, or someone to report dodgy photographers to.  I wish I hadn't have had some of the experiences I have :(


In the last couple of months I have had a few new models emailing me or being put in contact with me by other photographers, being told that they can talk to me, report any dodgy photographer behaviour, any concerns they have had etc. And it's been a honour to simply speak to these girls, have a chat, make them feel better if they have had a rough experience, or make them aware of references, or putting them in touch with experienced models for private references when required. And for them to follow up later with thankyou's and support, is amazing.  It makes me feel like I can actually do this, and that all those times I feel defeated with it, it *is* making a difference, even on a small scale to a few models, that's a few more girls that may have been deterred from what could have been dangerous situations.


My trouble? It needs to be bigger, it needs to reach more girls.  It needs to be something that new models are directed towards, by studios, photographers, recommended to join or something. I need to be able to provide a solid, referable service, with it's own life, it's own standing, that links to the major photography sites at least, that can advise models, that can give them a feeling of 'this is a person who runs it', not just another faceless service they may not fully trust.  And then I panic, because I know that there is so much to do to get to that point, and there will be pitfalls, and people questioning me (and rightly so, I'm just another face on the internet)... But then the thought of not doing it, and knowing that there are models taken advantage of by dodgy photographers makes me want  cry.  Particularly when it's a name or reputation I know of, I can't stomach the thought of sitting back and letting young girls fall into untrustworthy hands. No, can't do it.


So where do I go from here? Well, there's the mentoring/model workshop thing with BL.
Web-wise - it's difficult where slander/libel is concerned, and I need to do my research with the legalities or risk it all going to waste.  I also run the risk of fake model accounts infiltrating groups that are intended to be model only, I risk missing information or misinforming models away or towards particular photographers. It's daunting.


So - for now - I guess, I keep plodding with the PP forum, I might try to implement it through MCM and PS too, and well, I may have given up on NM unfortunately.  I will set up a FB page for new models on a similar line to the PP forum, and hopefully my reputation will precede me, I can link to the main photography websites, maybe local agencies/studios?  Who knows.  For now, I'm starting small, to keep it in control, and hopefully it'll grow into a solid foundation. Eventually. With a lot of help and patience!