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Thoughts for newer models seeking to go full-time:
I absolutely love this post! I have been modelling yonks and have learnt - sometimes the hard way - quite a few of these tips. It might have been said but I haven’t read all comments right through, but when you travel/tour let someone know where you are and if possible leave behind a schedule of what you intend to do while you are out there. It might never need to be called upon but if something did happen..... But seriously you will meet some amazing people in this industry. Some will make you laugh, some will wierd you out, some will make you cry, but it will all make you stronger. And a better model... *Big shots are just little shots that just kept on pushing.* Jul 14 12 08:18 am Link bump  Aug 31 14 12:32 pm Link Bump - can someone think about making this a "sticky" Oct 17 14 04:18 am Link Koryn wrote: Sometimes I really wonder if the uber double take someone has done on me while travelling is because of MM. I don't know for sure but, gosh, I sure wonder. Its a certain look that I never got from someone until recently so I suspect that there is a slight chance. Oct 20 14 05:34 pm Link MadameKitty wrote: Indeed. My mom has mine enlarged and printed on a canvas and on her wall, (in this 18+ shot actually https://www.modelmayhem.com/portfolio/pic/36487597 ) Oct 20 14 05:39 pm Link MissSybarite wrote: I took a quick look. I wonder if you realize that one of the contributing models is Shiva Kitty, (Koryns alter alias.) Oct 20 14 05:47 pm Link Thank goodness for bumps because I just found this invaluable post! I've only been in this for 4 months now and am feeling empowered by modeling nude, but am unsure about the paid shoots where I never see the photos again. I am wondering if I will ever get over the fear of bad photos being out there. Bad not meaning content but simply unflattering since I never saw them. I think that might be holding me back. I also am questioning how long it will take things to take off, so to speak. In my short time modeling, I am already experiencing the high vehicle repair costs. Looking at brand new tires along with $450 in car maintenance from travels across the state. Still the confidence I have gained is nothing short of amazing. I truly love to model and hope things will turn around where I can follow you Koryn and model full-time. Last note - I loved where you said friends will turn on you. I seriously wasn't prepared for this. I told my best girl friends (one since I was 5 years old and the other 12 years old) expecting a "You go girl!" Instead my confession was met with disdain. One asked if I was doing porn and the other said she was worried about me because I seem to be seeking attention ... especially sexual attention. I explained to them both about the type of modeling I am doing is more of art, Sistine Chapel, yada yada, yada and it's STILL hurt our friendships. I wonder if things will ever go back to normal. I did confess to a male friend also. He gave me the "You go, girl!" I was looking for, lol. Priceless post Koryn, I hope it keeps getting bumped. :-) So very helpful! Oct 20 14 07:18 pm Link Great Advice but I wished you had qualified it as being advice for Aspiring Travelling Models within a Social Media ( MM ) context Oct 20 14 08:39 pm Link Garry k wrote: I wrote it four years ago, and had no idea that it would become such an on-going, and involved thread. Had I known that at the time, I would have probably put more thought into the title. Oct 20 14 08:44 pm Link Mistie Sapphire wrote: You'll likely be traveling much farther than just across your own state. Oct 20 14 08:47 pm Link Koryn wrote: Sorry , I did not realize that . It is impressive . Have you thought of doing an update ? Oct 20 14 09:00 pm Link Koryn wrote: Wow! That is a TON of miles. One more thing to consider. I am sure you'd agree the payoff is worth it though, correct? :-) Oct 21 14 04:51 am Link You can download the US 2257 form that producers of adult material ie nude photos are required to keep. It has spaces for both your real and stage names. Koryn wrote: Oct 22 14 09:11 am Link Excellent post and very useful for every model. Oct 22 14 09:44 am Link I'd be interested to hear from full-time traveling models about the decision to travel and economic trade-offs. One thing I see when traveling models come to my area is that since they must cover all their travel costs, they must often charge more than local talent. I may shoot with them if they have nothing booked and offer a steep enough discount to at least be in the ball park with local models, but I imagine they are making little profit then. So, if you are advising newer models, how do you suggest they change to a business model with much higher overhead and make a profit at it? Oct 22 14 10:00 am Link I dont charge more than other models in the area when I travel. What I do is I don't spend $$ on the hotel (I find someone who is nice enough to host me) and I schedule 2-3 shoots a day or one full day for about a week to make it financially profitable. Oct 22 14 12:16 pm Link Figures JenB wrote: It is sad to think that some mothers would not be proud to have such a splendid piece of art hanging on their wall, not least because she contributed half the genes. Oct 23 14 06:22 pm Link As I mentioned before, I wrote this post four years ago, and a tremendous amount has changed in the internet-based freelance market. In 2010, when I wrote this, it was very easy to find hosting when traveling, and also not that difficult to find people willing to trade round-trip airfare for shooting time. This kept cost of travel low, consistently, making travel more conducive to turning a profit. That willingness has diminished a lot over recent years, and the community has become fragmented. A lot of people who've come to booking freelancers over the past couple years are jaded, seemingly angry at models as a group, and this recent shift in attitudes has changed the direction and the nature of working full-time as a traveling model, in the years since this post was written. It's now HARD to travel, where it was once much easier, because you have fewer people now willing to host, and even fewer willing to cover even one-way airfare for shooting time. I did well this year (2014), but it was because I traveled on a much more limited budget than I used to do, and did things like staying in campgrounds regularly, when I was unable to get hosting. Yes, that means sleeping in a tent outside, and I slept in my car a couple of times at truck stops, along major interstate highways. I took food with me, in boxes in my car while traveling. It was tight, and it wasn't like that years ago. I also had to do multiple shoots per day, rather than just one per day, with an occasional second shoot in one day, as I used to do in the past. Covering travel overhead is expensive. I was unable to fly, and rent cars this year because of cost, so I had to drive in my own car everywhere I traveled to (and that was up and down the east coast, so no small feat). This limited me to the east coast and Midwest, and also made each shoot into an exhaustive process (when you're doing more than one shoot per travel day, and commuting in between those locations, you are not getting much sleep, and not necessarily having any time for self-care). This used to be a fun, exciting job. It still is, but it's changed A LOT. People who are starting out RIGHT NOW, with the goal of being travelling models are facing a lot of complications I never had to deal with back in the OMP and early MM days. They are facing having to develop a client-base out of skeptical and resistant people, who are less hospitable, and also a networking environment that can be downright hostile. For better or worse, I do believe the "heyday" of the traveling model, as we've defined that up until now, has come and passed, and no one can really know for sure what comes next - though there will always be a need for models, especially figural models who work nude. It's not The End, because there's no end of people looking to create representations of the human body, but it is a transitional time -- and a challenging time. I don't know what to say, beyond that, but it's not what it used to be. The information in this thread is still all relevant to today's newer traveling models, and all the original commentary you see here is still valid. It's just valid in a different context, if that makes sense. Next year would have marked a decade of modeling for me, though I did have about a year and a half (between 2011-mid 2013) where returned to only working with friends and figure drawing groups, but a few weeks ago, I finally found a job in the publishing industry. That was what I went to college for originally, and I am not ashamed to say that I am happy to be moving away from modeling. It has evolved into something I am becoming more and more unfamiliar with - despite my years of involvement in it. I only wish the best for those who come after me, and wish I knew more about how to make this contemporary market work for my successors. Oct 23 14 06:56 pm Link I will host and run a couple safe easy workshops for talented Nudes in North county San Diego ... if its true people are not willing to host or too sceptical. I am an Ex Nude model Nov 04 14 01:23 pm Link |
