Having Fun

Photo by Castle Rose Photographer 

Even when getting paid for a shoot, if the photographer does not give you specific directions...there is no reason not to have fun, not to play a little and for goodness sake, inject some of yourself into the shoot.

I recently shot with Castle Rose Photography , and really the direction that I was given was 'soft hair and makeup"  and "showing off the ink" That's it.  Why not show off the ink and bring in some favorite things?

In the process, I found out that the photographer and I share a love of  Doctor Who.  I brought the 4th Doctor arm warmers and knee socks, and the photographer HAD a stuffed Dalek and a TARDIS standee.  The rest of the set just came from that.

We experimented , we played we laughed,we had fun, and the images show that.

Being professional, does not exclude being able to have fun at the same time .

Shoots , heat and weight

Photo by Wolfshead photography

So again, I haven't been posting much,mostly because I have been doing more art modeling things than photography... Would you like to see and hear about  some of that as well?

Friday,I had my first shoot in a while ,  the themes were "Superheroes" and " Gothic " pinup.
Michael ( the photographer) sent me this little teaser from the Gothic section.

What you can't see, is that I was melting, totally.  It was 91 according to the the thermometer in my car, Michael's studio is on the third floor, and only partially air conditioned ( the bathroom and front room, where we shot was not...this one, shot in the garage, even MORE not conditioned...probably 110 in there at least) I am sure that my face got red, even with the makeup, and was having to blot my face CAREFULLY, so as not to smudge makeup.  Heat is not my friend, was not my friend.... go ahead, try to get a full spandex body suit on, while sweaty.  I dare you...to say it as a little difficult, whew!  
Don't get me wrong, Michael is an awesome guy, and I had a good time, but extreme heat ( or for that matter cold) DOES make things much more difficult.  ( though it also made us go faster, to finish up....but that is not always a good thing, as there were poses that in retrospect, I would have wanted to try, but it was just so hot. ) So here is a word to the wise.... outside shoots, one expects to be uncomfortable because of heat or cold or rain or water, but inside....comfort should be taken into consideration. So Michael, as much as I like you... if we work together again, full summer would not be best time to do it in.

You may ask why I have not been shooting so much?
2 reasons really. One is that I am looking for more paid work- not that I won't do TFP, but it needs to be a concept that I haven't done before- something new...something that I have really been wanting to do...and most of those ideas are pretty conceptual.  The second reason, is that I had a bit of time where I got lazy with my eating and my exercise...and I gained weight...So I have beefed up my working out again , and paying more attention to food, so that, I will be able to see my ab muscles again.( not to mention, get into all ready waiting to be shot wardrobe)
Yes, let me make it clear, I do love my body, and I am fairly amazed at the things it has done BUT just because I love it, doesn't mean it can't be better- doesn't mean I stop striving...I had a hiccup, it happens, now it's back at it .    

Submissions

Photo by Blue Note Images

Part of being a "freelance" model is submissions ( although, technically I have been signed by Kingdom Model  talent Agency and The Twisted Agency.  But Kingdom, my local agency deals more with "lifestyle" and commercial type work and Twisted is UK based, and still working on getting really established here in the States. So neither, at this point have gotten me any paid work)

You submit to magazines, you answer e-mails, send packets to casting calls, and you submit to  agencies ( as long as any agencies you are all ready signed with are non-exclusive ones)
I submitted to Inked Magazine to be one of their models as well as sending a packet with pictures and stats and such over to Famous Inked Models today ( which is a branch out of Famous Models) They  specialize in tattoo models, unlike many other agencies, that from what I see, don't quite know what to do with me. ( Which I don't mind, As I myself am not sure what my "nitch" is...though I know there is one!  They are based out of LA, but do bookings all over.  I am hopeful that they will see that there is a market for the older tattoo model, as I am all ready working and booking my own gigs.... but having a big agency might just give me the push I need to really get going.

Publication and Making it

                          Photo by: Michael Jones Sootie's Doll Photography

Many models have a goal... to "make it" but what does that mean?  Undoubtedly for many, Publication.  In a book, in a magazine, ads, bill boards. I am no exception, though my version of "making it" might be slightly different than some models.

I will never be a runway model ( with the slight possibility of being a"gimmick" in some show....you know the ones that use older people in mohawks, or people that are real sized.  Every year, some designer mixes these types  into the mix of the more typical runway fare. But then, the "gimmicks" are really never seen again)
I am too short, not thin enough , not young enough, and I am fine with that.

But my goal is still publication.
And I have been, over 13 times, in the last year- year and a half.  All of them small, web based magazines ( which means you can get them as a solely digital copy or order a printed copy, which is printed up and  bound per order...one at a time.  Usually though portals such as MagCloud)
I am also in an online catalog for a   clothing rental and sales business targeted to models  called The Clothed Image      and I will soon be online for a company called ECONICA ( so far just on Etsy, but she will be launching a stand alone website soon)  BUT..

But does that mean I have "made it" ? Not in my own eyes.  Not one of the publications paid, or the catalog work. ( aside from barter...which is awesome too, I have zero complaints) So what does "making it" mean to me?

Paid work,weather it be being paid by the photographer, or by the business that pictures are being taken for.  Publication in a magazine that one could get at a newsstand.  Work for more catalogs . So what am I saying? More steady paid work.  So goals for this year:
1. Publication in print ( I have done sort of...more on that later-though I will work on a magazine as soon as my tattoo is done)
2. Representation of more clothing and accessory lines .
3. Continuing to be in web based magazines, and web based sites for exposure.
4. Continuing entering contests, not necessarily to win ( though that would be nice) but for the exposure.

 I DO have agency representation ( which for some people, never happens...not with a real life, brick and mortar agency) But as wonderful and nice as they are , over at Kingdom Model Talent Agency I do not leave my working solely in their hands.  I submit sets to magazines, web sites, I check the sites for gigs, almost every day. Lots and lots of e-mails....and network, network, network.

Sometimes things fall into place, sometimes they do not.
I submitted images from the set above to a very arty magazine, I just got word that they like the look, but they are not of the quality that they are looking for.  Such is life....do I resubmit them somewhere else?  Possibly. Or I post them on my FaceBook fan page, and then that is as far as they go.... these are decisions to be made.
I responded to a casting call on ModelMayhem from a wonderful photographer I had worked with a year, maybe a year and a half ago, Gracie Hagen.  She is bubbly and funny and very talented with an unusual eye( and has a great smooshy faced /exotic shorthair cat)  
She is doing a series called Illusions of the Body that has been written up in the Daily Mail  and  Huffington Post  as well as a host of other blogs and websites.  ( note, if you visit the links....they may not be suitable for work viewing, they are nude portraits)
Her concept is this. Create double images with the same model, lighting, post process, background.  One image is in a more conventional "pretty" or model like pose. One that shows off and is meant to be gorgeous.  The next image is sloughed, pulled in, hunched over.... very definitely not pretty.  What I took from it ( and I will not put words in her mouth, this is simply my take on it.  ) It speaks to how we present ourselves, and others perceptions.  If I stand or walk or look "thus"  I am pretty, If I stand or walk or look "this" then I am awkward, and not attractive.  But I am the same regardless.
She has used models, non models, male , female and ALL different body types.  She needed a redhead... and there we go.  I will be published , along with the 49 or so other people in her 8x10 book "Illusions of the Body" around May 1.
SO...Into one publication yesterday, and refused by another....that is this business.  Some you make,some you don't .  

Second, and the real beginning.

                            Photo by: MYK Productions HMUA: Nicole Lanute


This is from my second Photoshoot on   8-27-12.
Taken by My dear, old friend Mike Jones ( he is my age,but I have known him for well over 20 years)

He had come back to the Chicago area to go to school , and get a degree in digital photography, and he wanted to work on his portfolio.  He,knowing I had recently lost much weight, wanted me to model for him.  I had enjoyed my session with Aza Azunia so much that I agreed.  I figured I would get a couple shots, and get to spend the day with some of my best friends...win, win right?

So he came over,helped me pick out some wardrobe from my closet, and we set a date the next week.

Nicole, the MakeUp and hair artist, I had known from a former job where she had been the receptionist, I a  designer, and I had put Mike and she in contact.

Mike picked up Nicole and they came over to my house ( these were all shot in the forest preserve behind my house...it has been used several times by me for shoots...as well as by other photographers in the area)
Having someone else do my makeup was a rather novel experience for me ( still is, since 99%of the time I still do my own makeup and hair)  So we got dressed and done and trooped out to the woods.

Mike still is a very mellow guy,but becomes very focused when shooting, he gives tips if he feels it is needed, but for the most part lets you do your thing ( though he will get flashes where he is like " we have to do THIS" )  As the day went on...he kept saying things like " you are good at this" " you should do this" " you SERIOUSLY need to do this"  I laughed at him. I told him " I am 40 years old, short and tattooed, how is THAT going to work?" Only knowing at that time runway and high fashion type modeling where yes...young and tall and very thin are indeed the rule.

Thank goodness for Mike and his stubborn insistence that this was a path I should look into!

Finally after about a month of him bugging me about it, I did some research....lo and behold,there is a market for alternative types such as myself.  Is it huge? No. Will I EVER make the kind of money as the women working fashion week or in the pages of Vogue make. No. But you know what, that is ok.  I partly do this, because as an artist, ( I paint and am a designer) I enjoy  using myself , to help others to make a different type of art. Because I believe that yes, photography is just as much an art form as Painting ( or it can be...it isn't always)   I enjoy pushing myself to learn to be better...working on poses...to make them interesting, better, finding better angles, expressions, positions.  Working on hair and makeup for different looks ,and different eras.  Finding interesting outfits and concepts to push not only myself,but the photographer.
Learning and pushing myself, and showing people that one doesn't have to be 19 ,and rail thin to be published,or even signed ( yes,I am agency signed...it is a small local one, but they are good people, and they are working hard. Kingdom Model Talent Agency, go check them out if you are casting or looking to model yourself )
All in all, I enjoy what I do,and am excited to see where this path will lead.

     

A typical day "off"

There are many models that will tell you about a typical day in their lives while working ( which vary wildly, depending on type of gig or modeling, so really aren't typical at all....typical= no such thing)
So I am going to tell you what I do on days off...days I have no classes to model for, no clubs, no workshops, no photographers.  No traveling, no packing, no trying to fit things in.

5-6:am up ( during the week at least...if Todd ( hubby) is going in to work, I get up with him at 4:30 or 5...If he is working from home I get up at 6,to get Tee up and moving for school)

Have a cup of tea, and update 3 facebook pages ( one is my modeling one, so my own pictures get loaded there, as well as music and links) (the other two, I Admin, so post member pictures , accomplishments and sometimes links)

7am Another cup of tea ( I like my tea... alot. My current favorite is a cinnamon roobios chai with toffee flavored stevia) Remind Tee of schedule ( she has to be out the door at about 7:20) pack her lunch, put in her backpack.

7:20 Craigslist and Model Mayhem castings .  Browse send letter and links as applicable

8:30 ( roughly) do dishes. pick up house./ clean glass tables/ mirrors. Feed /take care of cats (3-Chemo, Rograine and Venus, they are Sphynx) hermit crabs (3) Box turtle (1- Bento) Do laundry ( fold yesterdays load/ put away, put a new one in)

10- check e-mails for responses...respond if needed.  ( check FB, news sites, etc)
11- Lunch ( lunch depends on calorie load for the day- sometimes a salad, sometimes leftovers, sometimes and organic bar or piece of fruit )
11:30 Work out ( on days off usually between an hour and an hour and a half) I like to do different things....Depending on season, ( and work schedule) three days a week I run, snowshoe or exercise bike.  The other days I could be doing yoga ( flow, regular or power) kickboxing, sword-fighting, piloxing, circuit training, kettlebell, Budokon, aerobics, dance ( hula, ballet, hip hop, Brazilian, Bollywood) Pilates, the list goes on...I don't like to do the same thing all the time, I enjoy mixing things up, have quite the selection of DVD's....and it's good for your body.
12:30/ 1- Shower
1:45- Run any errands needed ( pick up grocery, return movies, go to thrift store, post office ( I get the majority of my clothing for shoots there...unless they are being provided)


3- Tee comes home from school. Check about her day, homework, etc.  Pull stuff out for supper if thawing is needed.

4: check emails / texts phone calls again...respond

5: cook supper/ eat

6:/ 6:30 clean up
6:30- relax with hubby and kid ( usually watching movies with my laptop open )
10- bed

In around everything else there, I try to find time to paint ( I also paint abstract water colors and sell them on Etsy....The Modern Red Studio if you are interested)

So that's the days.... But it really isn't much different than a day "off" of any other working wife, mother.  The content or scheduling may change a bit...but the stuff that needs to be done...not much different at all.

And on that note...I am off to do all the things that need to be done!

 
                                                 Photo by Jack Hall