New photographer
I'm in discussions with a new photographer about working together for my work-in-progress spanking site. I've got some ideas for photo galleries which draw on the aesthetics of high fashion, classical art, and modern grunge style to create some iconic punishment and D/s imagery, and I've been looking for the photographer to realise them. 
I'm toying with the idea of moving away from the inevitable film + stills format. As someone who's worked in both photo modelling and film acting, it seems to me that taking stills distracts from the energy of a good film shoot - and if you want to focus on gorgeous stills, your priorities are very different from when you're filming. If you're doing them well, stills and film each need different lighting setups, different mentalities from actors and camera technicians. Although both film and a photogallery for each scenario is expected, I'm not sure it's necessary. As a viewer, I'd be perfectly happy with screencaps and a dozen nice promo images to accompany a spanking film - a few sites do this already, and don't seem to suffer for it. If I've watched the film, I don't need to click through 100+ photos as well. As far as I'm concerned, photos accompanying a film are mostly for promotion and sharing. I'd rather have a smaller number of high-quality photo galleries which visually stand out, than endless photostories tacked onto films which replicate the same scenario. I don't know if I'm alone on this one, but either way, as someone who's come to spanking porn via the art nude and fetish fashion modelling industry, I have a clear idea of the visuals I'm looking for in photographic erotica - and high standards.
All three of the photographers I've worked with so far have been excellent, and I intend to use them again. But I'm all about variety, and ideally I'd like a stable of photographers with different styles and strengths, so I can pick and choose the best photographer to suit each project. Oh, and while I'm at it, a pony wouldn't go amiss either ;)
I love Daniel's work, and am thrilled that he's interested. He's not photographed spanking stories before, but he's no stranger to the kink scene and I think his style could work really well with my ideas. I'm aiming to book a shoot sometime in the next couple of months (I need to save up first!) to see how we work together. I'm looking forward to working with him - and I'll let you know how it goes!
Working with serious photographers is something that to the best of my knowledge has not been done much in the commercial spanking scene. I'm thinking that nothing else could so dramatically distinguish your site from the mass of other stuff out there. Go Pandora!
ReplyDeleteThere's some fantastic photography out there - I regularly stare at the stills produced by Cutie Spankee, and Punished Brats has had some really high-quality photography lately. Some of NSI's photogalleries are excellent as well - they're particularly good at emotional expression. But there's not as much variety out there as I'd like when it comes to aesthetic styles, and I really want to apply some of what I've learned from fetish photography to spanking narratives.
ReplyDeleteHiring serious photographers is expensive, though! It's not something I'm going to be able to do for every shoot, especially as I'm starting out. And I don't think it's realistic for me to try and learn another new skill on top of everything else...
But when you're talking serious photographers, I suspect that's primarily stills, which is great for the artistic image and all, but isn't the main product of commercial spanking sites VIDEO?
ReplyDeleteYes, I'm mostly thinking stills - although having worked with a professional director of photography, serious video camera technicians also make the world of difference. But I'm a rank amateur when it comes to video, and am not aiming for particularly high technical standards quite yet - most of the quality in my videos is going to come from the acting, storylines and chemistry between the participants. I can't hack bad lighting, but I'm too much of a novice to aim for the video standards of, say, Restrained Elegance just yet. Decent stills, though - I have ten years expertise in digital art and photo editing, I've done a lot more stills modelling than video modelling, and I know some AWESOME photographers. With stills, I think I can realistically aim high!
ReplyDeleteI see no underside in only using film stills as promo/sharing material, and concentrating on great photography otherwise.
ReplyDeleteThe market will tell, obviously, but it seems like a healthy way to go about it.
I've been in the fortunate position of working with a lot of great photographers with someone else paying the bill. Here's some advice, take it or leave it.
ReplyDeleteIf you know exactly what you want, hire a competent photographer and direct him to just what you want.
If you want something beyond what you can imagine, pay more and collaborate rather then direct, and hope for synergy.
If you can afford to fail, hire raw (cheap) talent but be prepared to be disappointed occasionally.