Well, folks, it was bound to happen sooner or later. I've decided that I've had my last photo shoot. Over 5 years ago I started taking pictures as a "hobby" - that grew into building some websites and now generates a decent revenue thru a paysite. I was fortunate to get published (more than 100 photos) and work with some great people. But with a couple hundred photo shoots under my belt, I've decided that I've had enough.
I just posted a wide selection of old and new photos in the Babes section. I've also got thousands of photos that have never been scanned and will post some as I archive them.
It's been fun - but it's time to find some new hobbies. Maybe I'll do one or two now and then with some friends, but the thrill is gone. Taking pictures of naked chicks just isnt that much fun anymore. I'll let Kungfool take over that job!
My site is pretty tame compared to most of them out there. I have very few problems with my site, so running it is easy; I have a nice template up and use my PhotoPost software which means updates take only about 10-15 minutes.
As for the morality - well, as I get a little older and my little girls (3 of them) get older; it becomes an issue. I dont have any problems with nude photos; but having been around this biz for a few years theres alot that I dont care for.
I make about $1,500 a week; which isnt bad considering that it isn't hardcore or some deviant site and I only spend about an hour or two a week on it. I'll probably look to cash out this year and let the younger guys have a shot (no pun intended!).
1500.00 a week is not bad for a couple hours of work. Maybe a tame site would be fun. I would be happy with 1500.00 a month. That would cover the cost of a nice Viper with lots of mods.
Well, based on my experiences (which are by no means reflective of the entire industry).....
There are some great models out there - on time, easy to work with and great people all around (I could easy name dozens). These are people I invite to my home and consider to be friends.
On the flip side, there are alot of girls who do this because they have some history of emotional or phyiscal abuse. Knowing which is which is the hard part. Last minute cancelations or worse, not showing up. Showing up hungover or out of shape. I once paid for an LA model to come to Chicago based on the photos she sent me. She showed up weighing 30 pounds heavier! I had a whole studio booked with assistants and the shoot was ruined. That was easily $1,000 down the drain. (You can bet that didnt happen again!) I cant tell you how many girls have called up needing a "loan" (and imagine the problems that person could create if you had slept with her!).
Alot of girls will model for a year and then decide they dont want to anymore OR they get a new boyfriend who doesnt like their girlfriend modeling. Thats when I usually get an email or a call asking me to take down their photos entirely. Well, thats why you ALWAYS get a release! Even then I try to accomidate the girl, but that isnt always possible considering I have an investment in time and money in whatever shoot I do.
I have two basic rules that I am loth to break: 1) I dont work with strippers, and 2) I dont allow boyfriends/husbands at shoots. That doesnt mean I dont make exceptions, but more often than not I regret it later.
These things could just as easily be said about photographers - I've always tried to treat people as I would want my own daughters treated. But there are many out there who could care less about the people they work with. I've got some emails from models telling me about other photographers that make you just want to punch the guy out. Most of the stories have to do with a photographer intimidating a girl to do way more than they are comfortable with. Yelling, threatening, badgering - you name it, they use it to get the girl to go as far as they can MAKE her.
Most of the girls never see the pictures that are taken of them. I know one photographer who makes his models PAY to see their photos on his paysite! He'll throw a dozen slides their way as "payment", but of the hundreds or thousands of photos he takes, thats all she gets. I always give a girl a CD of all the photos we take with a release that lets them use the images for themselves on their websites (except for commercial purposes involving a third party).
I had a promoter contact me once about sending some girls up for a car show. He wanted to hire 5 girls. I dont usually do these, but he was referred by someone I knew so I talk ed to the guy. At the end of the call he says, "I'll make the hotel arrangements. 3 double rooms. Just let me know which girl will be staying with me." Um, right. Click.
I could go on and on, but after you've done this a while you get tired of all the "crap" and wish you could just take pictures.
I have one email in particular that I will try to find that April Hunter sent out to ALOT of people. April is a brass girl who doesnt take alot of crap and she calls out a photographer on his actions. You might find it an interesting read.
[quote=devonmichaels]I just returned from a three-girl booking Key West. Alyssa Alps, Nicole Tyler, and I rocked Teasers stage and shot 3000 photos in two days with Michael Pierce of extremebikini.com and fitnessphotos.com. The owner of Teaser¹s was the most amazing host, housing us in an adorable bed-and -breakfast and allowing us to shoot our naked and naughty photos on his private beach! Sun, sand, and tons of hot, wet, photos!! It was a working vacation for the three of us, but it hardly seemed like work at all!! We had a blast! Photos and video on the way very very soon!<hr /></blockquote>
[quote=devonmichaels]M Pierce came down, and shot me not only for the resurgence of bodybuilding magazine PUMP, but some very, very explicit video and photo sets for the site. There's only a few photographers I'm comfortable doing those things around , and he's one. Melissa Wolf and I shot a boy-girl-girl photoset, one girl-boy photoset each, 2 girl-girl ( including one with a strap-on), and some pretty nasty video of her pounding me with said strap-on. I think you'll enjoy them.<hr /></blockquote>
Note: Please forward this to as many people as you know who will benefit from this. Also, feel free to check up on all mentioned references (magazines, names) for verification if you doubt any of this.
A few years ago, Rob Sims and I got in touch about doing a photo shoot. At that point, he wanted me to come from Philadelphia to LA to shoot, but was not willing to cover any travel expenses or pay me. He acted as though I should feel privileged to have him shoot me. I firmly believe that you should get paid to work, in some way or another, so that both parties get something out of it, so I turned it down.
A year later, he contacted me again. This time I was living in Las Vegas. He still was not willing to pay for travel or time, but was willing to split the film with me if I could get over to shoot. (Meaning get a copy of everything, which suited me because with having my own pay site and I needed fresh photos.) He also promised to get me published in fitness magazines. At that point, that is what I needed and I was getting ready for a contest, so I took the offer. Not one to ever get THAT lean, I figured I might as well jump since I probably wasn’t going to get much leaner or vascular; so lets grab it on film while it’s there.
I flew myself to LA, got a hotel and met Rob the next day. We shot from noon until 2 am with no breaks. Then the following day we shot until 6 pm. I shot more with him than just about anyone. Both nudes and clothed. At one point, he clicked off a roll of film for me and tossed it into my bag. I thought that was pretty cool. And in truth, the shoot was fun. I left with a very postive feeling. He’d also reiterated his promise of magazine publishing and copies of all the film. He’d stated connections and submissions with everything from MuscleMag to Playboy to FHM USA and UK mags like Loaded and FHM.
I left and waited. And waited. And called. He always brushed me off. And I waited. And left messages. 4 months went by. And guess what? All the film we’d shot showed up on his pay site. $9.95 a set to purchase. This was my first chance to see what had been shot all those months earlier. Still nothing in any magazines. After the end of the 5th month, I freaked out. He finally sent over most of the film for me to use, but wanted it right back. There was some really cool stuff in there and in all honesty; I did take my time with scanning it. I was also in the process of moving and scanning 17 huge sets of film wasn’t my number one priority the week I finally got it.
Here’s where I made my mistake: I Fed Ex’d it back to him when I was done, as I said I would. In hindsight, I never should have upheld my end of the agreement. He sure as hell hadn’t.
What did he publish on me out of over a thousand shots? One picture in MuscleMag’s “Breast Special” issue. In 3.5 years, that was the best Sims could do with all his said connections. Now, I know I'm not the prettiest girl in fitness, but surely he could have done better.
A few months later, I was at the Mr. Olympia Contest and Expo in Las Vegas. Robert and Denise Masino approached me. They said they’d been trying to get Sims to send them a layout for their Muscle Elegance magazine for months and he kept blowing them off. Are you shitting me? Magazines were trying to contact HIM about ME and he wasn’t doing his job? He’d sent me a release with the film that stated I could use the photos for promotional use, so I gave them some to put in M.E. They offered me a standard model fee and an ad for my website. Too cool. I gave Denise a copy of the release and Sims number so she could verify. He flipped out and said no. He also said he wanted the model fee. I freaked on him, asking why he didn’t do this earlier, when they contacted him? I felt if I now had to pick up the slack where he left off, well, fuck him. I said no. The model fee was for the model. After all, I was the one who was nude in the photos.
While I was in his studio, he’d had me fill out a model release and bio information. Which he altered and submitted later. Which is also the reason for this email.
In the meantime, I was really feeling fucked over. I was out the money for the travel, waited forever for the film, which was all over the ‘net by the time I got to use it and he never upheld anything he said. I wrote a letter to MuscleMag detailing the problems I was having with their photographer. Lori Grannis called me and decided to do a story on it. I had to send her his photo release, a copy of the Fed Ex form from me sending the film back, plus copies of the faxes I’d gotten from the editors of FHM, Loaded and Playboy who said they either didn’t know who he was or that he is not employed by them in any way. I figured if he’s lying to me, he’s probably lying to all the girls he shoots.
Lori did my story, it came out and she took heat for it. Rob is still the main photographer for Oxygen and MuscleMag, so they have to make him happy over there. Lori then proceeded to but the blame on me. I can't fault her for that, this was her job and she took heat trying to publish my story.
Now, it’s the year 2002. A fan emails me about a Dutch magazine called “Aktueel” that just came out. I’m on the cover and inside; it says I was born male. Not a big deal, every girl in the public over 5’4” with a bit of muscle on them has been accused of this one. The fan sent me the copy, and it was a shoot I’d done with Rob Sims. Then more and more fans were emailing me. The US/UK magazine “Bizarre” came out…the same shoot, the same “bio”. I contacted attorney Dennis O’Brien, who contacted the magazines.
Both magazines said the bio info of me being “born male” came directly from Rob Sims himself in a bio he’d submitted with the photos. And that he’d been paid well for the shoot. If we’d drop the suit on them, they’d print a retraction with the submission of a birth certificate. We faxed it over and a nice “go fuck yourself, you should have asked for this BEFORE you published that!” note attached.
Now, another magazine in Mexico City has come out: same story. Cover and false bio.
Why am I telling you all of this? I more or less got out of the fitness business when I moved from Vegas to Boston to go to pro wrestling school. This is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I gave up a lot of money as I was in the perfect location for shoots, conventions and a short flight from LA for tryouts. I’ve obtained a lot of injuries since, including tearing my knee out, hip damage, concussion, broken hand and toes, sprains, and numerous black eyes. Now, I’ve recently had a try-out with WWF. This is when all the magazines started coming out. I'm guessing he’s deliberately trying to kill my chances of ever getting signed. Additionally, he’s trying to hurt me making a living via my site, because fans are now writing, wanting to know if what they’re reading is true.
Everything in this note is fact only. I’m not lying, exaggerating or bending the truth. I don’t take shit from anyone, photographers or not. As far as I'm concerned, if you promise something, you’d better hold up your end. I also don’t take lightly to being screwed over professionally, especially when I keep my end of the deals. I don't give a shit if you're Helmut Newton. I can’t understand why a photographer would be so despicable, they do this to their model…or models.
I’m telling all of you this, because if it can happen to me, it can happen to you. Surmise what you want from this, but this is all because of some film, a model fee and me telling Lori Grannis the truth. I don’t think many models stand up for themselves, complain when they’re screwed, or expect to get paid for their time.
Some people on this list I haven't had the best dealing's with, but whether you like me or not, you have to admit I've always been straight up.
Anyway, best of luck and hope this helps some. I know I’ve gotten quite a few emails from 5-6 other models that have also had bad dealings with Sims. Be careful. I wish someone had told me that!!! -April Hunter
