Rastal Photographic

Welcome to my ModelMayhem portfolio! #1038752

I'm a hobby photographer - someone who doesn't normally do this for money.

My goal here is to find and work with people in order to improve my skillset and to make some great images in the process.  With each shoot, I try to make improvements with my shooting style, my post-processing, and many other aspects of my photography and that which goes into it (i.e. planning, communication, interaction, etc.).

I shoot with Nikon equipment, and I work with a variety of lighting from speedlights to studio lights to reflectors and natural light.  I also use a variety of tools for post processing - Lightroom, Photoshop, Capture NX, and a variety of plugins.  I do work with a color calibrated monitor.  For better or worse, all of the post processing in my port has been done by me.

I take photography seriously, but not myself.  I want to get better and produce more impressive results, and I'm doing this for my own personal enjoyment and interest.

What to expect from me:
I use SmugMug to share my photos with my subjects, and I am now refraining from handing over out-of-camera images in favor of a smaller set of images that have been cropped and processed.  I allow for downloading of full-resolution images, and will typically reprocess or spend more time retouching images on request.  I am open to sharing Raw images with professionals for the purposes of retouching.

Escorts: I try to avoid parents, siblings, and significant others for the comfort level of the model I'm working with and for my own.  Outside of that guideline, my standing on escorts is a practical one.  If we are shooting one on one in a location with enough space and your escort is not going to affect our work, then I will be OK with it.

Image Delivery: Image processing takes time.  Each photo needs to be addressed individually.  The kind of shoot we're doing, the number of images being worked with, and the time constraints given me by the work that pays the bills all play into the length of time I will take to hand over images.  I have been the schmuck that takes more than a month to hand over images and I don't want to ever do that again.  I've worked out a new process that should improve my turnaround time, and I will set expectations appropriately before our shoot.  I do not watermark my images. 

TF Agreement and Usage: My TF agreement is fairly standard, and if you'd like to review it, I'm happy to send it to you.  If we're talking about usage outside of portfolio or self-promotion, we can address specifics. 

Communication: I will call initially to introduce myself and talk specifics about a shoot.  I will also call the day prior to the shoot to reconfirm.  Outside of that, I generally communicate via e-mail or PM.

Casting Responses:  On many castings, I get a strong response and I can't respond to each person individually.  I will generally wait a few days before making a decision on which model to work with.  If I don't respond to you, don't take offense.  Many factors go into who I choose to work with for a given project.

Comments and Friend Requests: I'm here to network.  Let's network.