Before canceling a shoot and going on with your day if you haven't heard from the model the morning off the shoot or the night before. Do you wait until the last 10 minutes,1 hour, 4 hours ,24hrs,72 hrs before the shoot. Just wondering what others do in cases like this when testing with MM models.
I will usually give the model the benefit of the doubt until 2 hours before the shoot if I haven't heard anything from them or they haven't responded my text/call by then then I just assume is a no go and go off with my usual day.
SoCo n Lime
Posts: 3,202
Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
ive had a good record with MM models. i like to meet them before hand or unless its when im traveling (and dont have the luxury to meet prior) then i tend to up the communication through emails.
it helps lower the risk (i feel) of no shows when you have more than just you turning up for a shoot (the rest of your team) even if it is a TF* gig there is always more things than small amounts of money riding on the shoot. relationships between your team can be compromised never mind the waste of time and effort.
if they dont show up for a pre meet they dont get any second chance.
if it was shoot day i would still be turning up with everyone else, although if you have a phone call policy like you outline then if they ignore the phone or dont get back to you then you can expect a no show and carry on with your day
ive yet to experience a no show from an agency model but im sure it will happen at some point
I always try to make 'final contact' the day prior to the shoot and get a mobile phone number from the model at or before this time.
If I don't get a response by the morning of and no response to a text either, then I consider it cancelled. Luckily so far this has only happened to me twice IIRC.
I wait until the scheduled time. Not everyone constantly checks voicemail or text messages. If they confirmed days earlier, I assume they will show. I also allow for a late arrival due to traffic or mis-directions.
For an agency girl that I booked from an agency I would call/email the agency after the model is 15 mins late to make sure she's on her way or isn't lost
Erli wrote: For an MM model I wouldn't wait at all....
For an agency girl that I booked from an agency I would call/email the agency after the model is 15 mins late to make sure she's on her way or isn't lost
All the agency models that have been sent to me always showed up on time or called right away if they couldn't find the place.
I'm confused. Are you assuming she'll flake because the model hasn't contacted you in the past 24 hours, and so you're thinking of not showing up? Did she say she'd confirm with you closer to the day of the shoot?
Better to show up and have her prove you right/wrong, IMO.
If she doesn't show up in 15 mins of the agreed upon call time, go home.
e m i l y wrote: I'm confused. Are you assuming she'll flake because the model hasn't contacted you in the past 24 hours, and so you're thinking of not showing up? Did she say she'd confirm with you closer to the day of the shoot?
Better to show up and have her prove you right/wrong, IMO.
If she doesn't show up in 15 mins of the agreed upon call time, go home.
Nope that is not what I'm saying. What I said is that I will call leave a voicemail if she doesn't answer saying shoot is canceled because I did not get a confirmation that she would be coming today. I will usually do this 2 hours before shoot time which is usually what it takes me to load my car up and drive to location.
Well I schedule shoots 1 week before date usually, Send text 24 hours before to confirm if I get nothing, I call in the morning and if I get nothing, I wait for her to call me back until 2 hours prior time. No I will not drive to a location if I haven't heard from them the morning of that's my policy. I'm asking what others policy are.
Gas is $4 bucks a gallon I'm not wasting gas nor my energy loading up my truck with heavy ass equipment just to have someone not show up. I mean it's not much to ask to get a text/call/email or smoke signal before the actual shoot time.
Even the agent that I work with confirms with me the day before when they are sending someone to let me know they are sending So-So tommorow at _____ time to this address___________.
I just learned yesterday that a friend who switched to a certain brand of cell phone has his text messages delayed 4 hrs or so, unbelievable. So keep that in mind, anybody, that some cell phone services might delay text msgs or emails for many hours.
Erli wrote: For an MM model I wouldn't wait at all....
For an agency girl that I booked from an agency I would call/email the agency after the model is 15 mins late to make sure she's on her way or isn't lost
Most of my shoots are at my house, so if they don't confirm/show up I always have something to do. I do not set up to shoot until the model arrives although I might have wardrobe laid out.
If we were supposed to meet somewhere that I would have to drive to, I'd want a confirmation the night before or at least before I had to leave for the destination. I make that clear in correspondence and get a phone number.
e m i l y wrote: I'm confused. Are you assuming she'll flake because the model hasn't contacted you in the past 24 hours, and so you're thinking of not showing up? Did she say she'd confirm with you closer to the day of the shoot?
Better to show up and have her prove you right/wrong, IMO.
If she doesn't show up in 15 mins of the agreed upon call time, go home.
Why wouldn't someone call/email/text to confirm the shoot is still on (on the day of the shoot or at least the night before).
Why in your right mind do you think a photographer should go to a location, waste his time, money and energy for a model that he hasn't heard from in the last 24 hours?
There are so many ways to communicate with people now a days... There really isn't an excuse to why someone couldn't answer their phone or email unless they aren't showing up.
Randall_Oelerich wrote: I just learned yesterday that a friend who switched to a certain brand of cell phone has his text messages delayed 4 hrs or so, unbelievable. So keep that in mind, anybody, that some cell phone services might delay text msgs or emails for many hours.
Then it's their responsibility to make sure their phone works..... That isn't our problem, it's theirs.
if you insist on contact with the model right before the shoot make sure to let them know that (like "i need to hear from you the day before the shoot or it's cancelled") some models are good communicators, others not so much.
It takes you two hours to load up and drive to somewhere in Orlando?
It only takes me that long if I'm driving to Tampa.
But you've got the right idea. I would wait until the last minute it would take me to pack up and get to the lactation. If I don't hear from the model by then, I don't go.
Same as if I'm shooting at the studio. I don't bother to set up the lights until they're 15 minutes out.
Erli wrote: Why wouldn't someone call/email/text to confirm the shoot is still on (on the day of the shoot or at least the night before).
Why in your right mind do you think a photographer should go to a location, waste his time, money and energy for a llama that he hasn't heard from in the last 24 hours?
There are so many ways to communicate with people now a days... There really isn't an excuse to why someone couldn't answer their phone or email unless they aren't showing up.
Some llamas, you book them and they consider that booked unless you say otherwise.
I misunderstood the OP; I didn't realize he had called/texted and was waiting for a reply...
A-M-P wrote: Nope that is not what I'm saying. What I said is that I will call leave a voicemail if she doesn't answer saying shoot is canceled because I did not get a confirmation that she would be coming today. I will usually do this 2 hours before shoot time which is usually what it takes me to load my car up and drive to location.
Well I schedule shoots 1 week before date usually, Send text 24 hours before to confirm if I get nothing, I call in the morning and if I get nothing, I wait for her to call me back until 2 hours prior time. No I will not drive to a location if I haven't heard from them the morning of that's my policy. I'm asking what others policy are.
Oh, gotcha! I misunderstood. I didn't catch that you had contacted her and you were waiting for a reply.
-B-R-U-N-E-S-C-I- wrote: I always try to make 'final contact' the day prior to the shoot and get a mobile phone number from the model at or before this time.
If I don't get a response by the morning of and no response to a text either, then I consider it cancelled. Luckily so far this has only happened to me twice IIRC.
Good Egg Productions wrote: It takes you two hours to load up and drive to somewhere in Orlando?
It only takes me that long if I'm driving to Tampa.
But you've got the right idea. I would wait until the last minute it would take me to pack up and get to the lactation. If I don't hear from the model by then, I don't go.
Same as if I'm shooting at the studio. I don't bother to set up the lights until they're 15 minutes out.
What makes you assume I'm driving to Orlando?
Yes it takes me like 30 minutes to load up my crap I have a lot of heavy photography crap that I need to bring down from a second floor apartment out to the parking lot and load into the truck then get in the car stop for gas and drive to my destination I like to take my time I'm not one to be rushing. Also where I'm located everything is an hour drive away from me. I'm actually in ST.Cloud not in Downtown Orlando. Specially if the shoot is around a time where there will be awful traffic. Everything is far in FL.
It all depends on the situation. Is she coming from across town or across the state ? I usually confirm a day or two before. And I usually wait 30 minutes after the appointed time. But I don't know anyone in this day and age that doesn't have a cell phone. I always exchange numbers before the shoot. And I don't know why people text instead of calling. Texts have been known to get lost. Or the person didn't hear the tone advising them of a text. If you've got the number to text, you have the number to call.
Yes it takes me like 30 minutes to load up my crap I have a lot of heavy photography crap that I need to bring down from a second floor apartment out to the parking lot and load into the truck then get in the car stop for gas and drive to my destination I like to take my time I'm not one to be rushing. Also where I'm located everything is an hour drive away from me. I'm actually in ST.Cloud not in Downtown Orlando. Specially if the shoot is around a time where there will be awful traffic. Everything is far in FL.
That last statement is mostly true. More so if you're in St. Cloud. I'm actually in Apopka, so I get that.
But basically, I wouldn't take a step toward your truck until I got a firm response that the model will show up.
For an MM girl: if there's been any times when it's taken an extraordinary amount of time between replies to msg's then I'd walk away. Same goes for not getting some type of confirmation the day before.
Most of the time there's been some communication from a model being late not coming to a shoot but there's only been a few cases where they did not bother to contact at all. Usually I'd wait up to an hour if there's no communication at all and I'd probably on ipad/laptop trying to organize things so its a less painful wait. The worst are the no shows when there's a team involved - its only happened a couple of times but a total waste to a team day and so there's always multiple models organized for those type of shoots.
photo212grapher wrote: I wait until the scheduled time. Not everyone constantly checks voicemail or text messages. If they confirmed days earlier, I assume they will show. I also allow for a late arrival due to traffic or mis-directions.
If they don't show 30 minutes after there appointed time. I go to my favorite watering hole
I always let them know ahead of time I will be sending a text or calling and if I do not hear back I will not be showing up. If the shoot is at noon I will tell them I am sending a text the night before and if I do not hear back by 10am I am not going to the shoot. Typically I request 2-3 hours before the shoot as a cut off time to hear back. This has avoided me getting to the location and the model not showing at all.
Wait for a MM model? No. I don't do TF but if I did I'd expect to hear from them less than 24 hours before a shoot to confirm. If they do not show up in the studio or in location within 30 minutes of the confirmed time I'm done even if they show up at 30:01. Hardcore maybe but I don't have much time to play with.
I normally make contact 12 hrs before just to confirm. If I don't hear anything, I try again a few hours before, and then again an hour before, and then I send the "assuming this isn't happening" email and call it a day.
On Valentines day I had a photographer not confirm until LITERALLY a minute before we agreed to meet (we said 12-1230 he contacted me at 1229) and expected us to still be on.
I thought this was unprofessional for a standard day and severely inconsiderate considering the holiday and him KNOWING I had plans with not only my husband but my daughters as well.
I'm kinda/sorta bewildered by all the responses. you set up a meeting. you show up or they show up if its in your 'office'. if you know you are not going to make or be late you call to cancel/reschedule. this is true for restaurants, doctors, dentists, insurance salespeople, landscapers, gov't officials, your kids' teachers and even plumbers! no wait...lets not include plumbers.
For how many of them do you confirm and reconfirm and text and email ? I see no reason to treat this differently. My optometrist's office calls 2 days before to confirm but if I miss the call and fail to reply will they cancel on me? No. they expect me to show up. If I'm x minutes late they take the next one in line and put me after if I actually show up.
why on earth does the word 'model' suddenly make things different? or 'photographer' for the models posting here. Be businesslike. thats it thats all. yes there will be 'flakes' (another example of treating this situation different. suddenly we have a new word for something that business people have been dealing with for centuries. aren't we special?). But as has been shown in a million threads on here and out there in business offices everywhere, no amount of reminders will get you 100% shows. It's part of the business expecting some people to be rude. I had a CAT scan yesterday afternoon. The hospital opened up on weekends to clear their backlog. I was 10 minutes early. The nurse was waving me in from down the hall like I was a race driver coming to the finish! The previous one was a no-show and it was a 45 minute procedure (mine was 10) so they were happy to see me. Did they bother to text or phone or confirm with people? No. They did their bit and the person no longer had an urgent need for a scan. You do your bit and the model (or photographer) no longer gets to work with you. end of story.
How long is 'x'? my personal x is 15 minutes. that applies to work or dates. One of my former workout buddies is a psychiatrist who uses 5 minutes. I'd hate to book a rush-hour appointment with him. I'd have to leave for his office in the middle of the night. Be professional and most people will be professional right back at ya. The rest? there's nothing you can do about them.
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