KRB Photography wrote:
A traveling model was scheduled to be in Florida for about a week and a half.  I had contracted her for February 24th.  I checked her Facebook page and her schedule for Florida was replaced with another state.  Her explanation, and I've heard this a lot about Florida photographers is that they cancel late, leaving the model high and dry.  This was not one photographer, but just about all, from Orlando to Miami.  Photographers, if you never intend to pay a model, then don't schedule a shoot.  The Model and I both lose.

hmm, sounds like she never contacted you about her change in plans, yet you both are blaming unknown third parties for her schedule change.

Some models fail to confirm the shoots. Some photographers never will confirm. Some, even after a confirmation, will break the agreement. I would never label an entire state responsible for any of this. Individuals? Sure.

Without knowing the particulars, it is impossible to know what really happened. One plausible scenario is that the model failed to get enough confirmed bookings in your area to make the travel there financially feasible. Yet no reasonable possibility of why she changed her plans without informing you.

KRB Photography wrote:
A traveling model was scheduled to be in Florida for about a week and a half.  I had contracted her for February 24th.  I checked her Facebook page and her schedule for Florida was replaced with another state.  Her explanation, and I've heard this a lot about Florida photographers is that they cancel late, leaving the model high and dry.  This was not one photographer, but just about all, from Orlando to Miami.  Photographers, if you never intend to pay a model, then don't schedule a shoot.  The Model and I both lose.

Eric212Grapher wrote:
One plausible scenario is that the model failed to get enough confirmed bookings in your area to make the travel there financially feasible. Yet no reasonable possibility of why she changed her plans without informing you.

^^ This, what Eric212Grapher said, is a more likely scenario. She made plans, but couldn't make the money requirements, so she cut her loses and moved on to greener pastures.

Most of the traveling models I know charge a deposit in case the photographers cancel. I have booked a traveling model before, paid the deposit, and she canceled. Took me 2 months to get my money back, and it was only after I told her I would spread the word far-and-wide that she cancelled but refused to return my money, that she finally refunded my cash.

I am not saying that this is normal. Of all the traveling models I have booked, she was the only one to cancel and not immediately return my deposit. There have been other cancellations for various reasons, but they were forthcoming and prompt with refunding my deposit. That's why I had no issues booking them again the next time they came into town.

KRB Photography wrote:
I had contracted her for February 24th.  I checked her Facebook page and her schedule for Florida was replaced with another state.

The model changed plans and cancelled her contract with you without telling you and it's Florida's fault?

KRB Photography wrote:
A traveling model was scheduled to be in Florida for about a week and a half.  I had contracted her for February 24th.  I checked her Facebook page and her schedule for Florida was replaced with another state.  Her explanation, and I've heard this a lot about Florida photographers is that they cancel late, leaving the model high and dry.  This was not one photographer, but just about all, from Orlando to Miami.  Photographers, if you never intend to pay a model, then don't schedule a shoot.  The Model and I both lose.

Something isn't quite right here.?

Abbitt Photography wrote:
... I'm also guessing that as MM continues to decline we are going to see more and more traveling models either limit their travel or give it up all together.

The traveling model community is alive and well, and thriving on other sites and platforms. Never before have models and photographers had such great networking opportunities, though communication trends and preferences have shifted. Those who are still relying on MM have likely seen a painful decrease in traffic, marketability and reach of their work, but those who've gone elsewhere, using links/SEO and interconnected social media wisely to build their networks, are doing well.   

These days, MM is seen as antiquated, clunky and hard to read/use on travelers' smaller mobile devices.  Many newer photographers no longer use MM to reach out to models (traveling or local) either. Models have been wise to meet this change in communication needs, by switching over their means of networking. I personally like a few features on MM, and I often find the message boards ironically entertaining. I've not generally used MM as a way to find models to work with in about 5-7 years; I used it frequently between 2009-2011 to find traveling models to shoot with and host at a studio space I helped manage at the time. Subsequently, its usefulness has exponentially diminished, and social media platforms have effectively picked up where MM is no longer able to serve a vibrant and robust community.

Al_Vee Photography wrote:
These days, MM is seen as antiquated, clunky and hard to read/use on travelers' smaller mobile devices.

Whoever designed MM's mobile version should be fired. On a mobile device, it's worse than the desktop version. Plus, whoever thought that the default view of the port should be a windowed pic, without image information, and you would need to scroll through, instead of thumbnails, doesn't have a clue on how to design a format based on usability. A site redesign (for the worse) will not fix the issues causing people to leave. Policy shifts away from antiquated rules will.

Francisco Castro wrote:

Whoever designed MM's mobile version should be fired. On a mobile device, it's worse than the desktop version. Plus, whoever thought that the default view of the port should be a windowed pic, without image information, and you would need to scroll through, instead of thumbnails, doesn't have a clue on how to design a format based on usability. A site redesign (for the worse) will not fix the issues causing people to leave. Policy shifts away from antiquated rules will.

In order to use MM on my phone, I have to open it in the browser and just blow up the text size to read it. The mobile version is a shit-show. I can see traveling models who carry tablets being okay with using MM to communicate/schedule, but on a phone... it's a pain. Too hard to see what you need to see. A lot of folks don't like carrying pricey tech devices when they travel; it's just something else to get lost or stolen, if they look away from their luggage for ten seconds. Having everything easily accessible on a small phone, in one place, that can be held on one's person, is far more efficient.

KRB Photography wrote:
A traveling model was scheduled to be in Florida for about a week and a half.  I had contracted her for February 24th.  I checked her Facebook page and her schedule for Florida was replaced with another state.  Her explanation, and I've heard this a lot about Florida photographers is that they cancel late, leaving the model high and dry.  This was not one photographer, but just about all, from Orlando to Miami.  Photographers, if you never intend to pay a model, then don't schedule a shoot.  The Model and I both lose.

Sorry to break this to you but men desperate for women companionship pay models and is just holding a camera. Pros get paid, Learn the different usage rights, product values etc.. Pro photographers get paid. Been shooting For awhile and not once paid a model. Models do need to get paid but brands, clothing lines, designers, commercial companies pay them. MUA/HAIR/Photographers/stylist the models and brands pay to up their port or for commercial work. If you as a photographer need to up your port, contact the local modeling agencies in your area. Once you are at the level you dont need to upgrade start charging. Even newbies still learning how to turn the camera on I tell them to charge at least $50.

For the flaky photographers, those are not photographers. Just lonely guys wishing to be around beautiful women. Sad to say but true. The words model & photographer are thrown around way to casual these days. There is a standard that everyone needs to meet. If you dont meet that standard find a different area that you are good at. So many options to choose from. But they all have a standard. Please meet that standard before wasting other peoples time like these models.

StevieRayPhoto wrote:
Sorry to break this to you but men desperate for women companionship pay models and is just holding a camera. Pros get paid, Learn the different usage rights, product values etc.. Pro photographers get paid. Been shooting For awhile and not once paid a model. Models do need to get paid but brands, clothing lines, designers, commercial companies pay them. MUA/HAIR/Photographers/stylist the models and brands pay to up their port or for commercial work. If you as a photographer need to up your port, contact the local modeling agencies in your area. Once you are at the level you dont need to upgrade start charging. Even newbies still learning how to turn the camera on I tell them to charge at least $50.

For the flaky photographers, those are not photographers. Just lonely guys wishing to be around beautiful women. Sad to say but true. The words model & photographer are thrown around way to casual these days. There is a standard that everyone needs to meet. If you dont meet that standard find a different area that you are good at. So many options to choose from. But they all have a standard. Please meet that standard before wasting other peoples time like these models.

Yeah sure.

You have a snobby "fashion" bias. But models aren't all one and the same. Different genres have different standards.  I am a fine art photographer. While many of the models I shoot are on a trade basis, the top models who tend to travel deserve to be paid.  As a fine art photographer I get paid by images I sell ( mostly in galleries). I need the inventory and I need to be willing to pay for that.

I don't live in front of a green screen waiting to have clients seek me out for some commercial gig.  I rather be free to explore a more free and artistic side of photography.

I suggest you don't try to put photographers or models into a box. You have done both of them a disservice.

StevieRayPhoto wrote:
Sorry to break this to you but men desperate for women companionship pay models and (he) is just holding a camera. Pros get paid, Learn the different usage rights, product values etc.. Pro photographers get paid. Been shooting For awhile and not once paid a model. Models do need to get paid but brands, clothing lines, designers, commercial companies pay them. MUA/HAIR/Photographers/stylist the models and brands pay to up their port or for commercial work. If you as a photographer need to up your port, contact the local modeling agencies in your area. Once you are at the level you dont need to upgrade start charging. Even newbies still learning how to turn the camera on I tell them to charge at least $50..

For the flaky photographers, those are not photographers. Just lonely guys wishing to be around beautiful women. Sad to say but true. The words model & photographer are thrown around way to casual these days. There is a standard that everyone needs to meet. If you dont meet that standard find a different area that you are good at. So many options to choose from. But they all have a standard. Please meet that standard before wasting other peoples time like these models.

What you are saying then, you have no idea why the photographers canceled.  If they are men desperate for female companionship, then they should have paid and problem solved.  If the photographers are representing clients and selecting the model for various commercial work, then the model should have been able to expect payment.  You can make a big ego thing out of who exactly writes the check, but when the checks clears, the model got paid.  If I hire a consultant specialist, I could have them bid through me and I can tack on a 10 or 20 percent surcharge for the coordination effort with the consultant.  And the reverse is true.  When I am hired as  a consultant, my associate gets a mark up.  In one instance, an associate and I worked up a bare bones proposal, doing just what had to be done. I gave a really good price and the costumer tried to get me to go lower.  I refused and the customer brought in his own guy.  Then called my associate to question him about the progress of the work.  No, no, no.  The customer brought someone else in that had ho relationship and no contractual obligation, so it was on the customer to light a fire under his contractor's butt.  The customer got royally ripped off because all the safeguards were removed.  My associate walked off the job because the data sets he got were useless.  All that to save $200 bucks on 4g job.  After that, the builders started charging the customer extras because they weren't being provided with good information.  It ended up costing the customer thousand more than he saved. 
 
I know it is common in the forums for people to throw out the bravado of never paying a model, and I get it to a point- working on contingency, I get paid/you get paid, but why would a professional, even a creative, give up the control required to achieve the vision?  Or is that because you have an art director calling the shots and the photographer is just the guy pushing light stands around and hitting the shutters?  I think ya'll leave money on the table.

Then you say these guys that pay models are just holding a camera.  And you go on to say that even beginners should charge.  Pros get paid, you say, so that 50 bucks makes a guy a pro, does it?

Would you care to provide a link to these mythical standards you refer to?  What is the authority of the standard written?  How do beginners reach the standard if they should go do something else because they don't make the standard?

It must be nice to be able to fit everyone else into a nice neat little box and place them beneath you.

Brooklyn Bridge Images wrote:
Blame Canada Florida

WTF?

Flex Photography wrote:
WTF?

This will explain that post for you
https://youtu.be/bOR38552MJA