4Ps: Professional Photography Pet Peeves

[KW]

Just wanted to see what some other people's pet peeves are about professional photography.

I'm a professional photographer--I was a photojournalist for 15 years in NJ and now work freelance in Colorado.* I shoot corporate work, nature, portraits, news assignments for a local paper, etc.* I teach nature/wildlife photography.** You get the picture. (No pun intended.)

Now for my peeve: I also photograph artistic nudes and my work is truly artistic nudes, not glamour/pinup/boudoir/sexy.* I'm certainly not approaching it in that way.

Well, unfortunately, there is a proliferation of photographers who claim to shoot artistic nudes and their work is all pouty lips, soft porn, alluring naked women photographs.* Call it what it is.* They're all staring at the camera and looking seductive.*

Many other photographers I see online have galleries where's it's obvious they have no concept of lighting or posing.* The naked woman is enough!* "Look, she's taking off her top."

I'm thinking of sites like Domai.com (which I think stand for dirty old men something something), hegre-archives.com, BlueNudes.com and SimpleNudes.com.* They're the first sites you see when you Google "Artistic Nudes".

They make it hard to position yourself when everyone expects you're doing the same thing.* When clients find me, they often say how refreshing it was to finally find something other than that.

Here's what a client of mine said once that sums it up:
"I wasn’t sure what I was looking for exactly, but at 41 years old, the ol’ college girl model wanna-be was not it. Then I hit on a link that advertised “artistic nude photography.” I passed the hyperlink several times in the list of photographers mentally mocking, “Yeah, call it what you want…” (having seen so many photographers with pictures of young women in provocative poses or giving the age-old “come hither” look). I wasn’t offended or disgusted, but I wasn’t looking to recreate any bedroom scenes. After three or four passovers, I finally decided to give the guy or gal a try and clicked. What I came upon was photography by Kenneth, which upon first glance I knew it was exactly what I had in mind even though I didn’t have anything really defined.* What I saw was art. It wasn’t boudoir, intimate, or anything remotely close to what the other sites offered."

Clients have traveled from Phoenix and Chicago for a session because they can't find someone in their city.* A city the size of Chicago, and you can't find one qualified photographer of art nudes?

So, my peeves are photographers shooting soft porn under the guise of artistic nudes.* I'm no prude--you can shoot all the sexy images you want, even hardcore, have fun, you'll probably make more money than the rest of us--but don't call it artistic nudes because that's what my potential clients are finding before they find me.* And sometimes, I'm betting, they quit looking before they ever find me.* (And before they find that photographer in their city.)

And my second peeve is photographers shooting glamour model portfolios in Podunk, Wyoming, promising women a lucrative modelling career.* When was the last time one of them got any paid work from this "portfolio"?* I think the photographers are just shooting what excites them, regardless of the career possibilities of the model.* They should rent a video instead and save the model some money.

Unless the model is located in a major metropolitan area, I doubt they'll get any work at all from the portfolio.* They might get some paid work if they had some images with clothes on, frankly.*

Stop promising them a career and wasting their money.

That's my piece.* What's yours?

Kenneth

[hartcons]

I think there's some nice work in the model/glamour area of this site (access by request only since it's an age-restricted area). I like work where I think, hey this could have been published in Playboy (vs. some other mags that are more hard-core). I also think grayscale works well for nudes.

I would agree that places like voyeurweb are more about exhibitionism/titillation/voyeurism than photography (although sometimes the photos are shot with care). Or there are places where boyfriends can post pics of ex-girlfriends just to get even. In those cases I think photography is just the means and not the end.

I also think the market decides. So if you have a steady stream of clients for your work then more power to you. Perhaps we'll see some samples in the glamour area?

There have been a number of cases in the news recently where now-famous women were photographed early on in various states of undress and then there's eventually a fight over whether the photographer had a legitimate release (in one case the release was shown to be forged and in another case the lady claimed she didn't understand the release because of language barriers). So if you do shoot nudes make sure you get an airtight model release if you hope to profit from the pics later on.

[brosig]

Kenneth: I took a quick look at your site. Very nice work! The nudes have a sensual (not in the negative sense) strength to them. I would like to think your work could speak for itself to clients, if they can get that far. Which, as I understand it, is the problem. There is a gallery, I think in Colorado, that specializes in artistic photography. I thought I had it linked by I don't. I believe it is called the American Center for Fine Art Photography, or something similar. Maybe somebody here knows what I'm talking about. Anyway, I'd recommend trying to get a gallery showing of your work. Not just the nudes, but as varied a sampling as possible. Particularly in smaller galleries to start with, shows are sometimes easier to get hooked up with. Let the public see the work you're doing.

Andrew D. Brosig
Nacogdoches TX

[Gaelan]

I agree that many, if not all the "artistic nudes" sites are Penthouse/Playboy wannabe's and a haven for ogglers. (it's a Southern word).
Anyhow, a pet peeve of mine is that the purchasing public doesn't know the difference between a naked body and an artistic nude.
You and I both paid our dues in photojournalism and I tried the studio route for awhile. People only pay for photos that they or their loved ones are in or to settle an insurance claim.
When it comes to decorating their home it is only with photos that they have taken and the matt has to complement the wallpaper.
At this time it is difficult to do nude or partial nude photographs without the fear that the forces for good in the community, ie. the old ladies in tennis shoes will not get their panties in a wad and call the law. No matter that everyone is of consenting age.
We have a serious problem here with perception.
I perceive the nude female form as a most beautiful and challenging subject.
The vast majority will see that same image; in oils on canvas as "art", in a photograph as pornography.
Each of us has individual values that qualify a work. There is no good or bad. We like it or we don't.
I have viewed your work on your site. I hope you will venture a look at my Gallery page.
Should we ever get the opportunity to sit down and swap lies I bet I could match you and better in some cases. (Were you ever in the Guinness Book of World Records?)
Anyhow, chew on this point of view and get back to me.
Goddess Bless
Gaelan

[PS7D]

Hi Guys

Well, I do a bit of photography for models. I don't think my images are soft/porn or artistic nudes. So where do I fit in :-\?

My pet peeve (well, OK, one of many in photography) is models who don't trun up for photo sessions. Even after confirmation the day before!

The preparation, time allocated (say 3-4 hours) for the session is something you just can't reschedule at the last minute. To me that is just valuable time down the drain.

Paul