I have been a photographer for decades. I am constantly learning. No photo is ever good enough.
My shooting technique is very intuitive and I create an atmosphere that allows the model to knock down walls that limit expression. I feel the energy of the model through the lens and rather than bark posing orders, allow the scene to reveal itself and then am aware enough to capture it.
For my portfolio, I am currently focusing on beauty, nude figure and fitness up to erotic in addition to my commercial and sports photo work. For my own portfolio projects I prefer working with models who are comfortable in their own skin. I have the utmost respect for fashion, yet have not seen one stitch of clothing that compares with what came from the factory. What this means is, a model who is comfortable nude will wear clothing differently than one who is not. The clothing is a prop that can better enhance the image, rather than something that is designed to cover a person and is disguised as fashion. I once heard, "Nudity is strength, while nakedness is weakness."
Does this mean that if you don't shoot nudes that I don't want to work with you? Of course not! In a perfect world, we would not have shame or taboo, and I know this is not a perfect world. I simply respect each person for who they are and no matter what the genre, will find the best shot, then deliver it! This does mean that if I hire you, however, for $$ or TF, that there will probably be more nude work than not.
If I am being hired I can shoot any genre with a great eye and super execution. Since most of the people looking at this profile are models that want me to hire them, I am going into more depth about what I like to photograph and how I go about the process.
Here is more of my philosophy so you can get to know me better. My goal in shoots is to seek purity of thought and eliminate all judgment so the pure image can be exposed. This means I am always seeking better lighting, better shapes, better curves.
I was pre med in college with an emphasis on anatomy and to me, every body part is the same regarding importance, beauty on it's own and in relation to the rest of the parts which define a person. This opens up tremendous opportunities with macro work and individual shapes that sometimes are not noticed when looking at the big picture. This also means I look at things like lips, hands, feet, genitals, breasts etc, equally and objectively. So we need to define some stuff.
Everyone has their limits. I understand that there is a model showing something to a camera operated by a photographer. What you need to understand if we are going to successfully work together is the following.
1) If I say the project involves nudity, and you strike a pose that I think is beautiful, I will photograph it. I am not thinking in that moment about avoiding a body part because you are not comfortable showing it to the camera. You just did. I am going to shoot it. Please do not place all the responsibility on me and then after the fact be offended that something I found beautiful you don't want seen on MM. It's ok for you to take that responsibility along with me, before we shoot. I repeat. I want to respect your limits. The best way to do so is not to get close to them! I like all kinds of shooting and I don't judge, but I don't have to have my body exposed to potential GWC's, of which I am not. I am a guy, I have lots of cameras and I am good at what I do. Help me here.
2) If I say we are going to do a sexy scene, you need to be comfortable with the entire dynamic range of whatever we are doing. I don't care what it is, but I don't want to get close to your limits. I respect you too much. If the scene pushes your limits, let's not do it. We can figure out something else and your replacement will do the scene. It's ok if you don't want to exceed your limits. I respect that. I just don't want the image to be about the limit. I want it to be about the moment where you are completely comfortable.
3) I would like your permission to discuss frankly and explicitly if I like where you are going with a pose. No I won't be gross or vulgar, but you need to be comfortable discussing parts of your body. You are a nude model, remember? If in doubt, let's not do the scene. See number 1) and 2). Remember I was pre med and my wife is a nurse. We talk about everything. I don't want to embarrass you.
4) I know that there is a philosophy on MM that the photographer wants to show his or her work so a model will know what to expect. It is impossible to plan every detail in advance and many times we will be meeting for the very first time. I understand that from the model's perspective, every time a sexy shot is posted on MM, is shown on a website, is published in a magazine or is videoed, some creep could make assumptions and be creepy. Please assume that your limits shall include me using pictures that we shot. I will do my best to review them with you (off the clock, of course!!) so you and I are seeing eye to eye. What I don't want is to have you send me an email stating that I need to ask your permission to post a sexy shot. I know that this is a paradox, where you don't want to show stuff where someone could get the wrong idea. I don't want to feel bad creating something beautiful and then have to hide it. Better to not do it at all.
4) My model release is simple and standard. I can't define everything and you don't want me to. You don't want to have a 30 page document you have to have an attorney review before every shoot. I really want to keep it simple. I hire you for $$ or trade (and I work hard to provide valuable trade photos and retouching). An integral part of us having a good shoot is that you are comfortable. I will do the best I can.
5) If by chance you have made it this far, and defined your limits to me, we agree that we are within those limits, we do a shoot and afterwards you don't feel good about it, please tell me. I am only human. Since I am after the emotion of the shoot to transmit to the images, they are worthless to me if you aren't thrilled. Additionally the last thing I want is to have a model unhappy with working with me. I will respect you and won't post the pics. Simple.
To sum things up, I ask that you understand that I enter into photo shoots with respect for you but I don't bring baggage and I do like to shoot beautiful women. At my age, I have seen too many "girl parts" to behave like a GWC, but I am being up front that I like the differences between men and women and I want to photograph women in all their glory. If that is cool with you, then you can make some edgy, elegant, sexy art with me. If not, you can hire me to shoot what you want and I will do a great job for you, for $$ or TF*.
Thanks for letting me spell things out for you.
I use a Canon 1DS Mk III as well as a Sinar 4 x 5 large format camera for portrait and figure work. I will consider TF* with models interested in both enhancing their portfolio and mine as well. I am interested in shooting your look as well, whether or not it relates to a current project for me!
What this means is, I will deliver the best views of a session to you in a timely manner. I will retouch the images professionally and deliver a 9 x 12 by 300 dpi file plus an image 800 pixels wide that takes best advantage of MM's galleries. If we agree on prints, you get a 9 x 12 printed on 11 x 17 paper. If you need other sizes, just let me know. If we are doing TF* no model release is needed but I would like to mutually sign a usage agreement so we both can use our images for non commercial self promotion. If you are payed $$, I have a standard model release. Simple and straightforward and fair. Of course if you are being paid with $$, then I have a simple, standard release. I am happy to email it to you in advance. You may still get photos for your port but that is just because I like to share, not a requirement on a paid shoot, unless we negotiate a combo pay/trade agreement for a shoot.
I am very picky regarding the jobs I take for TF as I only have time to devote to projects that will be mutually beneficial. I respect your time and efforts too. If we have the opportunity to work together, you will find a supportive environment and I will work hard to find the best in you and create images that will set you apart from the crowd. You will find a studio filled with respect and caring for your well being as that is the way we can create the best art possible!
My commercial work is on my flickr site at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kgsbikes/ and I will have a strictly photographic site up soon to highlight my expanded portfolio.
Here is my OneModelPlace URL:
http://www.onemodelplace.com/KevinGSaunders
Facebook is here:
http://www.facebook.com/kgsbikes
Twitter is here:
http://twitter.com/kgsbikes
My day gig designing custom bicycles is here:
http://blog.kgsbikes.com/
Thank you so much for looking and whether we get a chance to work together or not I wish you the best and real success in this challenging industry.
