Econica, a first look

Photo by: Michael Barton
Dress by Econica

So I did my first shoot with a piece of  Econica's clothing line ( this is a piece I had recently ordered from her- not one of the ones she is sending me- which is still a mystery, as to WHAT she is sending me. I am truly antsy to find out- I know I will love anything she does though )
I wanted to do the shoot, to give her a base point, so she could tell me if she wanted anything changed stylistically or  lighting wise. ( or any other way)  Before I got a whole bunch of stuff, and shot. I want her to be happy with the images,and I want them to be usable for her upcoming stand alone website.

So what do you all think?  How is this for an online  catalog ? What changes do you think I should make for the next shoot? By the way, this is her " Long pullover tunic dress with pintucks and asymmetrical hem"     The sleeves are a touch longer than normal, as I like them long.

I am truly excited about this whole prospect.

Can you hack it?

Photo by: Michael Barton Art

I was reminded again that you need to have thick skin and not take things personally in this business of modeling.  You WILL get ignored, rejected, and sometimes even spoken down to, ( because of course, a model couldn't POSSIBLY have a brain)  or bluntly told that your "look" or your size, or your whatever, is not what is being looked for.  You will get reasons from age, to height to tattoos ( too many, not enough, not in the right spots)  Picture quality, style, retouching..... all of it. There will always be a myriad of reasons for you or your work  being rejected.  Or they will just not bother to respond at all .  Many will let this get to them, let it drag on them, and let it become some sort of editorial about their "worthiness" to be a model, or for some, even more sadly , even to exist.

You simply CAN NOT let it get to you.  You can make the choice either to keep going, or to give up if you can't handle it....but don't keep on doing it ,if it is going to contribute to  you being  miserable.... nothing is worth that. Trust me.

And trust me as well... it doesn't matter how thin, how tall, how big your boobs are or aren't, what styles you work in or don't work in...It WILL happen ...on more than one occasion, most likely fairly frequently.  I bet even Kate Moss or Cindy Crawford has ad campaigns tell them on occasion, that they aren't what  is being looked for.  This is part of the life.... if it isn't something that you can let just roll off your back, then this isn't something you will cope with well.

People  think about, and imagine the glamour  ( really,not so much,unless you count getting to play dress up- which is fun, no doubt) Sometimes call times are unpleasantly early, or late, or during evenings or weekends.  You have to network, network, network. You WILL be exhausted after a long shoot, trust me.  It can be too cold, to hot, wet, messy, dirty and just plain uncomfortable. BUT, you also have a chance to meet WONDERFUL people as Make up artists, designers, photographers ,magazine staffers, other models. Sometimes you get to do things that you would not normally get to ( sit in a vintage plane for example, or get to actually touch a wolf) Sometimes you get to travel.

What I am saying is this... you have to be willing and able to roll with the punches,keep going even with rejection,and keep a good attitude, and retain the ability to laugh the entire time....

This is a big part of being a model... it isn't just standing there a looking pretty. Your internal emotional landscape has to be able to cope as well.

   

Win Some, Lose Some

Photo by: Michael Bsrton Art

Photo by MYK Productions

Modeling seems to be a hit or miss type of job. Timing, Schedules and most importantly LOOK all seem to be key in getting published ( or anything else) Connections don't hurt either.

The wins for today... Got news that the first image, above,  that I had entered in a contest over at Obscure Magazine  won FIRST PLACE ( voted on by the staff members, for pose, look, quality etc.) Which means in May's edition I will have a two page spread.  To say that I am excited by this,would be an understatement.  They are very picky about their images, and only pick real quality and artistry.  So this is a great honor for me, no question. I really wasn't expecting a win AT ALL, so to say I was surprised, and pleased.... yeah, you get it.

The lose for the day- The second picture,from a set done over a year ago, and recently gotten back to me, has now had two magazines turn it down,siting "quality" issues.  the second one,actually gave me a little more saying the retouching seemed to be over done and covering up for over exposure.  Which it wasn't... I get what the photographer was trying to do, and agreed with it...it was all for the "look" of this kind of hi-tech, Geisha shoot.  But the fact that two magazines have said the same thing ,says to me that this set isn't going anywhere, which sucks- because I really like it...it's fun.  BUT not everyone sees the same things,not everyone appreciates the same things, and that is something that needs to be accepted as well.

As a model, you have to be ok with rejection. Sometimes it is kindly done, sometimes not as much.  You have to not take it personally, not beat your head against the proverbial brick wall and just move on to the next thing, the next shoot, the next submission. Know the difference between  it won't happen, and it won't happen "now" .  I am trying, I certainly am.