Monday, September 06, 2010

Creep of the Day: Mr Shoot first-Pay later

Easy identifier: Oh! You want your pictures? Feel free to come home to me and discuss it…
So you check his portfolio and he has good pictures.
OK, it is mostly Glamour, or tits-n-ass as we call them, but he is good with lighting and locations. It is not that much variation but the shots are really nice,  maybe a bit too much filter on the skin, but hey, that is a style that is good to have n your portfolio.

So you arrange a shoot. He is charming. Or even a little more than charming. It is like he is testing you. He is making some akward personal sex jokes, shows a lot of interest in you, put his hand on our back not that spontaneous.
He shows you the pictures in the camera and the raw pictures look good so you are happy. Now you just have to wait for the pictures, and since he does extensive work in Photoshop, you know it may take a while.
After getting tired of waiting you start asking him about them. His reply is that you should come over. You ask why? He gives you some hints. You start to get a bit upset, so and tell him that. Then he starts arguing that you have to show him some appreciation since you got the shoot for free. He tells you he wants to go out for a beer at least. You first think: "Just some drink is maybe worth it", but you don't really want. When you say no, he gets angry and abusive. Saying you have no chance in the business; that you are unprofessional!

I think you get the idea. You will get pictures, but you will have to pay for it. Somehow.
And just like many of the creeps, as soon as you go against his wishes, he turns aggressive. To get you to feel bad and push you in his direction. Imposing guilt is affective.

Mr Shoot first-Pay later is hard to spot. He may have a registered company, be registered for and pay VAT, have his phone number visible, have a nice web page with lot of other models and so on.

One way to pick them out is to chat with them for a longer time before booking anything. The best though: ask other models! Try to see if you recognize models in his portfolio. There may even be linked to their's portfolio.
If you don't find one yourself, ask him about who the models are in some pictures you like/chosen in his portfolio. Then you ask if you can contact them as a reference.
If he gets irritated here: that is a serious warning sign.

How does Models-n-Shoots' Creep Defense try to keep Mr Shoot first-Pay later out?
*Trust Level. Models-n-Shoots has a function for Trust feedback. Anyone who have worked together on an Assignment can vote on Trust one week later. The voting is anonymous for the regular users but specialized staff at Models-n-Shoots will analyze the voting to find if someone just trying to be bad or if a group is trying to help each others with high votes.

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