Katy Gonzalez wrote:
It can easily take a couple of months to get your photos, if they're a particularly busy photographer who shoots often and/or they also have a day job, families, etc. How long has it been since you emailed the photographer?

Its been about 2 months. There was no agreed time frame, but he has posted of few of the photographs on social media sites, but only one has been a proper photo for my portfolio. And this one photo, I stumbled upon. He did tag me in like 2. I mean this was a long shoot. Where are the rest of the pictures? LOL. He is a great photographer but I dont think I will work with him again. I didnt like not receiving a reply from to my email. And you know with tech today, it told me that he read it.

Angie L MUA wrote:
Is this photographer well known? worked with other people? a GWC [guy with camera]?

Unfortunately, this is the risk you take when testing. It's happened to me a few times when I started out. I still haven't received photos from a photographer I worked with two years ago and I don't expect to. Shoot the photog one last email. If he still doesn't respond, take it as a lesson and move on.

I cant say if he is well known, that was my first time working with him. And Ive only been freelancing for a few months. Almost a year. But Im a newbie, so I dont know whos who. But he is on MM and he books quite a bit of shoots.

Pinch of Pretty MUA wrote:
There was not agreed time frame, but he has posted of few of the photographs on social media sites, but only one has been a proper photo for my portfolio. And this one photo, I stumbled upon. He did tag me in like 2.

You should (very politely) email him again and request print size quality images of your work (especially ones you think you might wanna use for a physical portfolio) and tell him that's the purpose as a prompt. Ask him to email the pictures to you.

I have a couple of photographers I've worked with as a team before. Very nice people, excellent photographers and very accommodating to my requests, however, they tend to post all the images on Facebook and I can only assume (since there is a lack of communication on their ends) they expect the team members to save the small pixelated images from there. It's irksome that I've had to email them to request better, larger copies, but I'm nice about it and so they respond nicely and deliver what I request.

Unprofessional, yes, but sometimes it doesn't readily occur to people what they *should* be doing for their work partners. If it's all not worth putting up with, definitely don't work with him again. If it weren't for the fact that I've gotten some amazing, significantly port boosting images from my pair, I'd have moved on already. I keep in contact though and hope to work with them again, because I know they'll deliver awesomeness, every time; the little bit of frustration is worth it.

Simire MUA wrote:
Sorry this happened to you. I have had this occur to myself several times when i started out with TF shoots.

There is absolutely no excuse for this pig ignorant behaviour.

I agree with KJB, a deal memo is essential here. Agree on a set time as well as other criteria (print size, quality, is it portfolio worthy for make up etc)...

I am in the midst of creating contracts. I was going to do it just for individual freelance clients and bridal jobs, but I wondering should I do it for TFP photo shoots now. A lot of the time these TFP jobs are spur of the moment. I dont want to inconvenience anyone or rather, make them feel pressured but at the same time, I WANT MY PICTURES because as you stated, I've held up my end of bargain. It just really sucks to not get your half.

Pinch of Pretty MUA wrote:
I am in the midst of creating contracts. I was going to do it just for individual freelance clients and bridal jobs, but I wondering should I do it for TFP photo shoots now. A lot of the time these TFP jobs are spur of the moment. I dont want to inconvenience anyone or rather, make them feel pressured but at the same time, I WANT MY PICTURES because as you stated, I've held up my end of bargain. It just really sucks to not get your half.

It's never a good feeling to be of inconvenience, but a memo will cover your butt. Regardless of how weird it may seem for a test shoot, you're the one at loss with no photos to prove the time, gas, and effort you spent on that FREE shoot. If they don't want to sign it, you know to not work with them One to two months is the longest I'll wait for pictures.

Good Egg Productions wrote:
are jerks.

I see what you did there. I concur.

Pinch of Pretty MUA wrote:
...........I wondering should I do it for TFP photo shoots now. A lot of the time these TFP jobs are spur of the moment. I dont want to inconvenience anyone or rather, make them feel pressured but at the same time, I WANT MY PICTURES because as you stated, I've held up my end of bargain. It just really sucks to not get your half.

What i do for last minute TF requests is fire them an email with specific questions that need to be answered. This includes concept for the shoot, make up style and examples, start time and duration, number and profile of models, if hairstyling is needed, size of prints and number of prints, how many looks, any close ups showing make up, high or low res images, location, is a makeup station with appropriate lighting present etc etc etc. If you carry out a basic search on MM under deal memo and also a similar question to your OP you'll come up with tons of info you can use and customise. Professional photogs will have no issues with your questions. You will then be able to weed out the unserious and unprofessional characters by their responses or lack of communication. Also looking through their profile and referencing who they have worked with in addition to what i mentioned will try to minimise this unfortunate and very common negative experiences.....however it is not fool proof im afraid. Despite all your efforts in pre shoot prep you'll still encounter these nuisance vermin along the way and i would advice you to shrug it off. With time you should be able to build up a nice and professional relationship with a number of professional photogs and create a solid portfolio for yourself. It might not feel like that now but this shoot is a good learning curve for yourself and will help you evolve.

Your questions should not inconvenience anyone as you are being asked to give them your time (most valuable commodity in my book), energy, skills, finance(through products, tools, transport) etc. Therefore it is imperative you hone your demands as adviced above to ensure you will be compensated adequately for it.

Pinch of Pretty MUA wrote:
I just wanted to know if any other MUAs who have done TFP have not received their photos after a photo shoot. I want to know what is a reasonable amount of time.  I feel like after a month, I should have my photos. And I didnt even receive a reply after emailing him. I thought that was very rude and unprofessional.

You should at very least receive a set of contacts (digital or otherwise) within a few days of the shoot. If the photographer has enough time to do a test shoot, then they should have enough time to generate some low res contacts to email to the participants. This gives everyone rapid feedback on the shoot.

KJB wrote:
What was the agreed time frame in the deal memo?

The above is the correct answer. You can use either a Deal Memo or a Letter of Agreement; both are similar. See Deal Memos at Film Underground and Letter of Agreement at the Graphic Artists Guild for more.

You should also receive a copy of any Model Agreement along with any images since you'll be making use of the model's likeness.

Edit: Here is a sample Letter of Agreement, based on the Graphic Artists Guild lette. I make no claims regarding the effectiveness of this letter. Please note that it relies on industry standards PLUS and UPDIG for licensing and delivery of the images.

Pinch of Pretty MUA wrote:
I just wanted to know if any other MUAs who have done TFP have not received their photos after a photo shoot. I want to know what is a reasonable amount of time.  I feel like after a month, I should have my photos. And I didnt even receive a reply after emailing him. I thought that was very rude and unprofessional.

"Reasonable" is relative & really needs to be discussed before you commit. Because people here on MM will tell you anywhere from 2 days to 2 months to 2 years.

DG at studio47 wrote:
if a photographer is too busy to be "professional" with someone, they should not agree to a shoot

^This

Pinch of Pretty MUA wrote:

I cant say if he is well known, that was my first time working with him. And Ive only been freelancing for a few months. Almost a year. But Im a newbie, so I dont know whos who. But he is on MM and he books quite a bit of shoots.

I'm really glad you are asking this pinch of pretty and it's very helpful to read other's advice and experiences.

I have a question to add and I think I will try adding it here before making a new forum b.c it's sort of relative.

So a photog I worked with a few times (twice TF, twice paid) has never given me any CD and I asked a few times, but he's been too busy. Finally I had contacted him letting him no it would not matter if the photos are edited, I just need a few recent examples of work to submit to a fashion week jury. He gave me a link to his site that he uploaded everything on along with the password, but asked me not to publish anything that wasn't edited. I honestly prefer the non edited photos, the ones that are seem to have the blurred skin look and it doesn't show the contouring and eye makeup well. These are no good on a mu port. The non-edited ones are amazing despite the obvious such as blemishes... So I saved them and just PS'd out the blems to email to the jury. I'm dying to put these online in my port. Would it be rude of me to ask to use the non-edited photos considering I ps'd the blemish myself?


Despite this photographer never having given me a CD and over-editing skin that makes it unusable to me, I have gotten paid work through him, and have connected with paying clients through him as well. His studio set up is great, he's a wedding photographer who offers 'glamour sessions' and that kind of photog is a great resource to have as a mu! I try not to make a fuss because I want to be on his good side!!! What should I do?

Jaime Criel Makeup wrote:
You HAVE to do TFP shoots to be a makeup artist. You won't just find paid work without a built portfolio. Even the top makeup artists in the world continue to test, it's just a part of what we do to continue to further ourselves.

When I do a test shoot, I treat it the exact way I would a paid job. There is a ton of correspondence between the photographer and me and everything is extremely well planned and discussed beforehand. A test costs me money (time and the expensive products I keep in my kit) so I treat it as such.

Don't let a little thing like this dampen your "TFP spirit"

I actually don't believe that artists that do Magazine covers on a regular basis would have any reason to test.  I don't test because the paid work I get is always better then any test I can get here....the great photographers around here don't test at all.... Really, they don't...they're very busy on paid jobs.  I don't have any artist friends testing in my area...Just the newer artists are testing here.   I think before you have a portfolio you need to test but if you're working constantly and putting paid work in your book, I just don't see the point?    I know many will argue with me.... but try sending Sharon Gault or anyone at any major agency a test request....I can tell you what the answer will be

Pinch of Pretty MUA wrote:

Its been about 2 months. There was no agreed time frame, but he has posted of few of the photographs on social media sites, but only one has been a proper photo for my portfolio. And this one photo, I stumbled upon. He did tag me in like 2. I mean this was a long shoot. Where are the rest of the pictures? LOL. He is a great photographer but I dont think I will work with him again. I didnt like not receiving a reply from to my email. And you know with tech today, it told me that he read it.

This has happened to me as a model a few times. I see threads like this all the time. Sometimes they just don't give you any photos back and sometimes they disappear from the face of the earth all together.

Email him/call him/whatever one last time, as nicely as you can. Maybe something like, "Hi! I saw the pictures you posted from our shoot and I love how they turned out. Can you email the files to me so I can use them in my port? I especially love (the picture you said you could use in your port) and I can't wait to show them to my clients!" He should take the hint and send you your files. If not, take it as a lesson learned and if someone asks you for a reference for him you already know what to say.

After having this happen to me more than once, I now check 5 references for every photographer, and when I do I ask how many pictures the model received and if it was in a timely manner, or time agreed upon, or whatever.

Kim Y wrote:
It happens... it doesnt matter if the photographer is booking tons of paid jobs, once in awhile tests, or a newbie. I have had a variety of photographers who hasnt given me the photos. You can ask and ask.. but after a certain time you should just move on and shoot with someone else. There is nothing you can do.

I know right? But how long does it take to attach a file to an email? Hardly any time at all!