Rub me the wrong way?

Anyone that knows me in the industry know that I can't stand the whole TFCD thing... but sometimes it has to be done, if its done correctly.

Saw this really awesome profile on modelbase, and they posted a bulletin saying:
"Hey guys, Check out my profile.. Keen on some new photographs done. Let me know If anyone is interested :) "

This girl had a decent portfolio and had a decent look, but clearly as we unfortunately learn so often in this industry - NEVER JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER...

Anyway, back to my story... I thought she had a decent look for an idea I've been dying to try for a long time now so I sent her a message it said:

"Hiya!
Saw your post... dont know if you'd be keen to work with me but I'm in Bedfordview and looking to revamp my beauty portfolio especially for my makeup side of things.
Drop me a mail if you wanna join me :)
[insert my email here...]

Enjoy the rest of your day

Fi "               

Then she does email me and it says:

"Hi there,

Thanks so much for contacting me,

I would love to work with you, Just to make things clear
in the beginning, I don't do TFCD shoots because my time is very limited at the
moment.

Would you still be interested to shoot for a reasonable
price?

[insert models name here]"

So, this actually irritated me, no where on her post did it say that she wanted paid shoots but anyway I think I responded friendly enough to her question. I refuse to pay models for pictures as its my time, my makeup, my ideas that they will get paid to receive... anyone who has worked with me before knows this. In my opinion the only person who wins when it comes to TFCD is first the model, second the photographer and third the makeup artist.

My response read:

"Hiya,

I don't do TFCD's either recently as this is a living not
a hobby nor pocket money, just wanted to revamp my portfolio especially for my
makeup as I am in the processing of being signed to 3 different agencies and
want my beauty portfolio to be made over.

No worries.

Good luck!

Regards,

Fi"

Which I think was a semi-justified response to the email where a model is trying to give me shit about not having time. I wrote the bloody book about not having time to respond and so she mailed me back with a simple: "Oh so did you want me to pay you? Haha"

Which I justifed back to her that NO, I offered a shoot for one of my ideas which is going to be for my major makeover to my beauty and makeup portfolio in which I'm looking at using for applying to agencies. Haven't received a response yet - but I'd love to know if I am in the wrong here for stating that I will not pay to use her?

Grr... She seriously rubbed me up the wrong way. Frustrating!

All for now,

A Very Frustrated Flea

Sticky situations!

So, had quite an experience lately with a photographer and a model.

I was booked to go and do makeup for a model who was doing a shoot just for fun, I have worked with the photographer on the odd occassion before and had very good experiences with her. Before the shoot, I was under the impression only one look would be done but when I got there I was told there will be a total of four different looks and I'd only quoted for one face.

It was a fun shoot so I didn't even bother asking for more money... but waited a couple of weeks to get paid, and I generally work on a strict cash on delivery system or an EFT before the time of the shoot - just to make sure I'm not messed around, but I hardly ever enforce this when I worked with either of the parties involved as I probably trust people too easily.

Anyway, after two weeks I was getting a little frustrated as all my calls, emails, and sms's were going unanswered, and suddenly my blackberry beeped to say that I had a message on facebook. It was from the model from the shoot asking if the photographer had paid me, and I told no because I hadn't heard from the photographer since the shoot. The model replied and told me the same, and that she had been promised images a week ago and all the sms's, calls, and emails were going unanswered.

Long story short, I finally got paid and it was just a complicated situation as to why I had not been paid, but I got paid a little bit extra by the photographer as I did 3 more looks than I had quoted, but once the model received the images from the photographer she had said that she is not going to pay for them as she doesn't believe they have been edited extensively enough, nor did the photographer do the promised editing that was spoken about while she was shooting, such as enhancing colours, removing pimples, etc etc.

Now the model had paid the deposit for the shoot, which was my money for the first look - minus the extra bit of money the photographer gave me. I don't know if I'd be compelled to give this money back to the photographer to make sure that the photographer is not totally out of pocket, but I feel like the fact that I was not told I was going to be there for 3 + hours, I should have in all honesty been paid a little bit more, if not triple what I had quoted...

Aye, the party never stops and the drama never ends in this industry. If only everyone would communicate correctly before and after a shoot there would be no drama whatsoever and everyone could build a bridge and get over it... If anything monumental happens in the mean time, I will keep this here blog posted, but I don't know anymore... It's a lot of fuss over an extra R50... What can you buy for R50 nowadays anyway... Not even a new MAC lipgloss! The tradgedy! :)

Until then,

Peace, love & Cupcakes

Flea

Seasons Wither 2010

Okay, so I finally did it. I finally went to Seasons Wither and truth be told it was not as great as I thought it was gonna be. It was on Saturday 29th May at Jet.... Which brings me to my first problem.

Seasons Wither is meant to be a metal/alternative music festival, of which I have a pretty extensive knowledge about and yet they hold it at one of the most preppy night clubs in Johannesburg. I'm possibly being very biased, I've never been to Jet before, but just walking into it - it looked like Ruby Blue used to look, extreme jock, preppy night club. I was not there all day like Brett and the rest of my friends. Brett and I left kakplaas at 9am to get there for just gone 10am as I had to do makeup for 3 girls in Boksburg from 12:30. We raced from Springs to Northgate to only find that we had left the tickets behind on the kitchen counter at Brett's place. We actually freaked out and started making alternative arrangements for me to pop past Brett's place after my shoot and race to Northgate again. Thank god we didn't have to resort to that because we found an internet cafe and did some printing and TA DAA - we had tickets which I had pre-ordered online for R80, compared to paying R150 on the day.

I got my wrist band, and onward to Boksburg I went, makeup kit in hand. I had such a fabulous time at the shoot that I actually didn't want to leave. I did makeup for 3 girls, and was having so much fun drinking wine, I even got roped into modelling for the 3 photographers because I was causing trouble. Modelling feels awkward, and I have no idea how people can model. Thats probably why I'm such a behind the scenes type of girl - photography & makeup. Leaving the shoot I got ordered to go buy alcohol for my friends who were all at Seasons. I eventually got there, 80km's later and we spent more time in the car lot, drinking, smoking, shouting at scene kids (you had to be there to appreciate the humour in that), going to mac donalds for food and generally just horsing around. I first went inside to see Haggis & Bong, who I had been looking forward to seeing but they were in such a confined area that the music from the bagpipes and the percussion from the drums sounded horrible because the roof was literally a few centimeters higher than their heads. So all in all, they were a let down. Then we went out to the cars again and only went back inside to see Hog Higgidy Hog, who I must say are definately one of my most favourite South African musicians - simply because they are unique. There set only started at 1am and I was really let down by the fact that a lot of the Season's goers had left. The Hog's performance, really was that, a performance and they rocked out. Definately the highlight of the day...

Seasons wasn't terrible, but it was no where near what I was looking for in a day festival. Despite the fact that it was meant to be over 18, and they had extensively advetised it - guess what. A bunch of highschool boys and girls got mommy and daddy to drop them off so they could come to Seasons... The drinks were way over priced and more fun was had in the parking lot because it was actually cheaper than drinking inside. Maybe next year they will actually do something worth the money.... We can always go watch Hog Higgidy Hog in Cape Town or at Back to Basix where they play a lot in Jhb... Not great organising and planning from the Seasons Wither organisers...

I didn't bother taking any photos... I was worried about pulling my camera out infront of a bunch of drunken children. I'm paranoid, but I don't have any money to actually replace it if anything happens to it. Better safe than sorry I guess!

Just hope they can improve because they have the potential be something great, especially with the following and fan base that they have.

Peace, love & cupcakes

xo

Flea