Chuck Condron Photograp wrote:
Well I know that no shows are normal, but I didnt expect it to be my first shoot.  This particular model contacted me to be a friend...we traded many emails and decided to do a shoot.  We discussed location, what to wear, how long, etc.  It all seemed to be going just perfect.  The day before the shoot, I called her...got voice mail..  I called to just give directions and find out which backdrop she wanted to use first so I could get it all set.  No response.  So I sent a message here...  no response (she did read it).

I called again later that night..I left a similar message (want to touch base, are we still on, etc).  no response.  So the night before I sent one more message here with directions and indicated I had left 2 voicemails...

no response. She never read the address message.
Well last night, I thought hmmm maybe she got in an accident, or some emergency happened, so I sent this message here:

(name removed of the flake in question), hope all is well. I was disappointed that our shoot for today didnt happen. I tried to contact you Friday to confirm via phone and messages here. Did you get any of them? I would like to have heard from you if you were going to cancel. I hope you are ok and not hurt or something horrible like that. Please let me know what happened for my own piece of mind. Maybe we can reschedule?

Chuck.

NO RESPONSE! and she did read this one.

What did I do wrong?  Is she the ultimate flake?  Is the flake's silence part of the flakeness?  Have I been too nice?  Is it normal to be upset, as I am, I just feel like I have bent over backwards and its a slap in the face to be ignored.  I would be a lot less upset if she just canceled, or as one photographer friend here said, used an excuse like "her dog died" hehehe

I would be interested in your take on my first shoot, or should I say non-shoot.

Repeat after me..."this is a hobby site"...I couldn't hire many from this site...way too complicated...no transportation, etc....these are part timers...pay more and go through an agency...

Bryan Faust wrote:
You people and your responses are half the problem.  Just because this is a "hobby" site doesn't dismiss the fact that it is simple courtesy to call if you're not going to show up. 

Whether you're a professional or not is irrelevant.  I call if I have to cancel a doctor's appointment even though I'm not a professional sick person.

Problem is, alot of models (and some photographers for that matter) don't have that level of courtesy. They don't think about anything that is beyond their scope of vision. They don't care if you shuffled around 10 other totally awesome models, or that you paid upwards of $200 for the location, or any of that.

It's a flaky industry. Freelancers especially. Agencies are usually a better deal even with the added cost. They tend to be more reliable, and more professional.

shadowraven wrote:
Dont give up! I been on this site and had more than my handful of flaky models One played car accident not only me but my fellow photog.  My excuse was brother got into car accident my friend got more than once she got lost then suddenly car accident which she got text by "father" that she might be able to walk...two days later he saw she posted new pics from another shoot.

Lol, we had a model get into a car accident on her way to a shoot. Still showed up though.

The cops wouldn't even do anything for her. Some lady in an SUV turned into her. The cops just told her to sort it out with her insuance company! Eugene OR is wierd.