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Your opinion(s) on group shoots.
Select Models wrote: Oh, I guess I didn't see that as "better." My mistake. Apr 10 14 01:17 pm Link MelissaAnn wrote: They don't need to be critiqued. People can judge for themselves. I can look at them and see whether they good photos. Apr 10 14 01:19 pm Link Jerry Nemeth wrote: LOL. Well that's perfect. As long the people posting them think they're good, that's all that really matters. Apr 10 14 01:22 pm Link Call Me Caitlin wrote: Opinions are like assholes... everyone has one and believes theirs doesn't stink. Apr 10 14 01:29 pm Link MelissaAnn wrote: The Critique forum is mostly random opinions. I am happy with the photos I posted. Apr 10 14 01:30 pm Link MelissaAnn wrote: So true... for in a forum where NO critiques are permitted... what everybody else thinks about said images does NOT matter... Apr 10 14 01:31 pm Link Model Sarah wrote: I am sure there are many photographers better then me out there; but as I mentioned an image I created at a workshop won photo of the year in 2012 by French PHOTO magazine and was the cover. The contest, by one of the top photography magazines in the world, averages over 50k entries each year. Apr 10 14 01:32 pm Link AJScalzitti wrote: Congratulations! Apr 10 14 01:34 pm Link AJScalzitti wrote: Major kudos on that accomplishment AJ!... Apr 10 14 01:48 pm Link They were great when I was first starting out, but now I find them counterproductive to producing quality images. Find that I do my best work when I am working with model one on one, that way I can develop a rapport and really focus and concentrate on posing and technical aspects that one can't do at group or joint shoots. I have a friend who always is suggesting we do joint shoots which we have done and I wasn't really happy with the images I got, as we were always competing for time with the model and couldn't really get into a groove with her. Apr 10 14 01:59 pm Link Keith Allen Phillips wrote: Jerry Nemeth wrote: I'm sorry, did you not see #1 somehow? Apr 10 14 02:12 pm Link They are awesome so long as you don't shoot and stay away from lite beer Apr 10 14 02:25 pm Link Keith Allen Phillips wrote: Keith Allen Phillips wrote: I'm sorry, did you not see #1 somehow? I don't find the photos that people posted boring and repetitive. Apr 10 14 02:51 pm Link AJScalzitti wrote: I was being facetious. Jeez guys. That's kind of an absolute statement to be taken seriously. Apr 10 14 02:56 pm Link Model Sarah wrote: It gives me the opportunity to meet models that I might normally never meet. One model came up to me after the groupshoot meeting and asked me to shoot. I was shooting her nude in her hotel room in less than an hour. Apr 10 14 03:01 pm Link Jerry Nemeth wrote: Again, yours might have been the exception. One of the very few exceptions. Apr 10 14 03:04 pm Link I go to Meet & Greets not group shots, Just to talk and mingle don't even take out my camera. I would never pay to attend a group shoot. The ones people pay to go shoot to is mostly amateurs shooting amateurs. Apr 10 14 03:11 pm Link Keith Allen Phillips wrote: +1 Apr 10 14 03:18 pm Link Model Sarah wrote: I heard about the one that I go to from someone. I've gone there 4 times, have had successful shoots and had fun. I had a good time hanging out with John Jebbia last year. Apr 10 14 03:19 pm Link A-M-P wrote: You would be surprised. Some do have experienced models. Apr 10 14 03:25 pm Link Like anything else, its what you make of it. All group shoots (many 18+/NSFW) http://tmblr.co/ZJw7HyU1tDnX http://tmblr.co/ZJw7Hy13efwEq http://tmblr.co/ZJw7HyY2Yavw http://tmblr.co/ZJw7Hy4YRB5Y http://tmblr.co/ZJw7Hy12Gif5m http://tmblr.co/ZJw7HyZm3V9J http://tmblr.co/ZJw7Hyf2bs_ http://tmblr.co/ZJw7HylVkVmw http://tmblr.co/ZJw7HyU1s_2X http://tmblr.co/ZJw7Hyf37ax http://tmblr.co/ZJw7HyedEm3l http://tmblr.co/ZJw7HyZYrswP Apr 10 14 08:44 pm Link Call Me Caitlin wrote: For you, it's a great way to network, meet local photographers. Apr 10 14 08:53 pm Link They run the gamut - One the positive side - I've worked with and met many models that I otherwise would not have. I have ended up working on a regular basis with some, that I shot the first time at a group shoot. On occasion - I have gotten some splendid images. One the down side - some are very poorly run - some suffer from models that are not particularly interested in being there - and they are frequently FAR too crowded. However, If a model shows - that after a day of all that - they can still be pleasant and want to help people to get good shots. THAT is exactly the kind of model I want to work with again. Apr 10 14 09:01 pm Link A trio of us locally have managed to run "events" where the three of us shoot all day with 6-8 models. Since there are more models than photographers, we don't fight over posing and models. We set up lights in different areas, shoot on our own. Sometimes we trade triggers and use the lights the other person set up just to see a little of how they work. I usually only use shots from these days if 1) I'm using the light set-up that I put together myself and 2) The other photographers didn't get similar shots of that model, in that outfit, with that lighting set-up. Apr 11 14 12:17 am Link Never been to one, don't have any desire to go to one. Mostly because all I hear is 80% of the models don't show up. So then you got 25 photographers shooting a hand full of models maybe 10. So I don't waste my time or my energy going to them. Apr 11 14 12:56 am Link For models starting out, it's a decent way to get some photos. The two shoots I've been to more than once are CAC and DEAC. In both instances you get to shoot one or two models (or more if you can work it out) for an hour or two at a time on a trade basis. At CAC, everybody kicks in a few bucks for the weekend and you shoot for two days, as many different models as you can. Sure, there are downsides, but for sheer number of decent practitioners, it's hard to beat. PS: My avatar is Tomiko at the last CAC I attended before moving to AZ. At some, like the Arizona Shootout, models and photographers stay over to do private shoots either after the day's activities or even an extra day or two after. The shoots put good models into close proximity and allow photographers to get in private shoots with people they would seldom see in the same state, much less the same room. Apr 11 14 01:23 am Link Michael McGowan wrote: Yes. I have photographed Tomiko myself. Apr 11 14 01:26 am Link I went to a couple. None of them were very well organized, none of them were horrors either. I didn't get more than an accidental good shot from it, but had a good time at all of them. I start with low expectations and use the opportunity to try stuff I otherwise wouldn't and/or with models I otherwise wouldn't work with. Like in the forums, I noticed some ppl at those events that were disappointed. They spent the day complaining. I spent the day shooting. Both them and I ended up without great shots, but I had way more fun and learned a bit in the process. Apr 11 14 01:32 am Link From experience of modeling at workshops, I do not do group shoots (workshop or not) unless they are paid and wardrobe is provided. Its usually newbie photographers and you dont get many good photos, so I end up having nothing to show for my whole day being spent group shooting. Also, thats another thing, they are usually an almost all day thing, so if its not paid, its pointless.. I could've done a paid gig or shot with an awesome photographer instead of wasting my day. Apr 11 14 01:49 am Link I don't think it is a good way for a fashion or commercial photographer to develop. While workshops may have some instructional value or one can learn a photography style down to retouching, overall, group shoots may have social points, and friendships may develop, but due to the conditions, the photography is not a strong point of these things due to organisation. Also the models. If you're really building your book for fashion and commercial you need some agency stat models or models that come close. It is not often you get that at these shoots. So, as a way to develop I don't like them. I like trips to Mexico but the photography I have seen from even such fun-looking events in terms of the calibre of models makes it worthless to commercial and fashion photographers. Which, of course, leaves everyone else. Apr 11 14 02:04 am Link Model Sarah wrote: Grady Richardson wrote: Are you agreeing or disagreeing with Sarah? Apr 11 14 05:54 am Link Model Sarah wrote: Grady Richardson wrote: Another Italian Guy wrote: AHHH! Apr 11 14 06:48 am Link First I will say that all the group sessions available in my location are crap. They are organized by hack photographers cramming up 5+ GWC's and a subpar nude "model" in a small apartment to do "artistic nudes". A few use two speedlights without any modifiers at best. Most will simply go with available light and maybe a reflector to make it look "professional". They are very popular because they are cheap and social. These things are not aimed to people actually interested in photography, but to men looking for a cheap sex show. Imagine 5-8 guys all shooting at the same time, all of them at an arm's lenght close to the model. It is a very sexual thing where all the participants leave their sense of dignity at the door. I did two of them when I was a beginner and needed pictures to start my portfolio. They served that initial purpose and actually now years later I still see benefits from them. My very first nude model which I met at one of these things is now helping me recruit new faces. The other group shot I did actually worked for me as a test ride for one the studios I still use to this day. After those two gangbangs I found nothing else to get from these things and moved onto doing my own shoots. One thing I can argue is that any good photographer can get a good even original picture from a group shot. I remember at the time I was pretty pissed because they would not let me pose the model nor set up my own light schemes, so what I did was simply to shoot in raw, candid, snapshot fashion. You make the best of what you are given and I am sure that a talented photographer would be able to come up with something good even if the conditions are far from ideal. Apr 11 14 09:24 am Link Lumigraphics wrote: I fail to see the point in posting images or links in this thread. Apr 11 14 09:59 am Link Group shoots are great!...if you absolutely NEED to get shots of a sexy model model in cheap, tacky lingerie holding up two curved fantasy swords while standing in front of a modern day garage door.  Otherwise, they're pretty stupid and lame. I've been to a handful of them, but that was only because at least one of the models involved in the group shoot already wanted to do a TF shoot with me and we figured we'd use the location to our advantage. So, while I'm just paying the entrance fee and getting to shoot with the model of my choice for free, all the other guys there are paying hundreds, if not thousands of dollars for 30-minute blocks of time to shoot more of their lame concepts. Unfortunately, you have to wait a bit before the one-on-one sessions become available and get to shoot what YOU really want to shoot. In the meantime, you watch as a group of about 8 to 15 photographers try to get the attention of the one model who's showing more skin than the other models during the group-shoot portion. Either that, or you're listening to them try to get two models who aren't anywhere near being lipstick lesbians to hug and hold each other passionately as if they are actually into each other. And while some people do get some usable "glam" images for their portfolios, the majority of people there just get a bunch of poorly shot soft core T&A shots with the same lighting and styling as the guys on either side of them. Of course, they'll edit the shit out of the photos as soon as they get home and post them here in the forums right away, like some kid sticking his latest crayon drawing on mommy's refrigerator door, then send virtual high fives to everyone else who posted similar images. In my opinion, group shoots are great way for models to make some cash by selling their dignity to socially retarded mouth breathers who'll probably sell their shitty images to adult web sites, so sex addicts and teenage boys can get their daily practice playing the skin flute. They're not geared for anyone who wants to create classier nudes or fine art though, so I won't bother ever going to them again. Apr 11 14 10:04 am Link Each to their own....can't say I'd ever get involved in any type of group shoot though. Apr 11 14 10:17 am Link Call Me Caitlin wrote: Like herding cats. Apr 11 14 10:31 am Link I'm not very impressed with the lack of confidence displayed by some of the photographers in this thread who I consider to be quite good. As a general rule they are saying that they can't get good shots from a workshop. I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that if I have a good model in a good location I will get a good picture... no matter how many other photographers are there. That's the point that seems to be missed here. Water finds it's own level, a good photographer will come out with good pictures, a bad photographer will come out with bad pictures. But in the case of a photographer who has a legitimate desire to learn, a group shoot or workshop can be a fantastic thing. You get to see how others do things, sometimes simplifying what your workflow was. You get the good location, you get the good model... you get everything it takes to not only build your portfolio but to absorb the way things are done, accelerating your own learning curve. Things are what you make of them. Apr 11 14 10:32 am Link K E E L I N G wrote: I don't think it has to do with the ability of the photographer, as much as it has to do with the setting as a whole. I, personally, don't want to shoot a model wearing a sexy nurse outfit, or posing with a sword while wearing cheap lingerie. I also don't necessarily want the model to be lit a giant octagon pointed right at her. The group shoots I've gone to though, have all tended to focus more on that cheesy glam styling and lighting. For me, it's a waste of my time and money to attend. Apr 11 14 11:05 am Link Eros Fine Art Photo wrote: Oh GOD, that is EXACTLY what I NEED !!! Apr 11 14 11:15 am Link |
