Byline Jay Miller

I have wandered the world, working in journalism for over a decade, but recently I decided to put down some roots and get into a little less dangerous field (though I still freelance, depending on my travel schedule).

Back in the days of film, I did all sorts of photography to make ends meet:  weddings, portraiture, and some ad work.  For the past 8 years I've been exclusively digital, though most of my work has been for news.  Among others, I've sold images to Reuters, Getty, AP, and McClatchy.  A year or so ago I was starting to think that photojournalism wasn't the healthiest lifestyle... then my faithful, treasured workhorse Canon 1D Mark II was destroyed at an IDF checkpoint outside of Gaza, and I thought "that's it; I'm done."

So I'm branching out, and in some ways starting from scratch.  Though my photography background was largely landscapes, news events, architecture, and even a stretch where I did weddings, I worked with 4T Fitness/Fashion and did a lot of promo work (some samples below).  I still have connections to ad agencies and anticipate getting some contract work from time to time.

So, right now I'm looking to work with energetic, open-minded models, primarily on a TF* basis.  I need to build my port (with pictures of people who aren't getting shot at or protesting), and like I mentioned above, it's possible I can sell this TF* work--but I can't be certain of anything when we're actually shooting.  Bear in mind that there will be paperwork you'll put your signature on before any shots are taken.

The way I work, I'm not heavy on Photoshopping.  I can and will do it, but my experience has led me to let the image speak for itself.  I will definitely work up images to get the most out of them, but I'm not going to be going crazy with the manipulation.  Part of the contract is that if you want to 'shop the pictures, that's fine, but we both retain rights to the image--regardless of who works it and how much.  Work with me, and you'll get digital copies of every shot, un-edited, and then any/all edited images I make.  Oh, and my habit (born of needing to get a spontaneous shot right no matter what) is to bracket exposure on every shot, so there are typically a lot of files.

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Who I want to work with:
If you have to be paid to show up, or if you aren't willing to get up at 4 am to take advantage of early-morning light, or you don't want to do a shoot where you have to curl a dumbbell over and over (actual examples of divas I've worked with in the past), move on.  If you have to have MUA on-site, or want something "avant-garde" you saw on the cover of Vogue, move on.  But if you're willing, daring, and open-minded; if you enjoy creating art that may end up in a portfolio and/or making some money; if you are willing to take direction from a guy who's used to wearing body armor and taking pictures while hanging out of moving vehicles, and you want to build your portfolio in a TFP/TFCD relationship that will benefit us both, here I am.

If you don't have a lot of experience modeling, that's fine--I'm used to taking pictures of people who didn't even know they were having their pictures taken (no, not that: see the photojournalism experience I mentioned above).  I enjoy the great outdoors, but I have access to studio space, as well.  I don't particularly like studio work, though--when indoors I tend to do very un-studio-like work.

Final note: Like I mentioned, I do maintain ties with 4T and some ad people, so I do find myself able to compensate models, usually after the fact.  But if you only work for pay... I'm not there, yet.

The genres I'm looking to shoot?
Fitness/sport/action, artistic (I'm getting one of my cameras converted to IR soon), edgy stuff (fetish? sure, but that's not the only thing I consider "edgy"), nude/implied.

How to work with me:
Contact me here, or at jay.miller.photo@gmail.com.  Pretty easy.

Why work with me?
I enjoy what I do, no matter what I'm doing--and that tends to mean that my subjects enjoy it, too.  I'm creative and adventurous, and willing to try goofy things.  I've taken 200+ shots in an hour, and the best one was the weird no-look crooked angle that was captured when I was messing around... and that one shot made all the work worthwhile.  I have a day job, so I'm not gung-ho to make a living off of this, either--so I don't have any sort of God complex.  In the end, I'd like to be the Joe Satriani of photography (Satriani copyrights his music under the label "Strange Beautiful Music"); it's about finding the beauty in every moment.  And we can have fun.

Is this too wordy?
I think it is.