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"For His Eyes Only" Releases
Surfdog
Registered Users Posts: 297 Major grins
As a normal course of business, I do not do these types of shoots, but I have been approached by a client who wants to do a semi-nude shoot for her husband. I have done semi-nude shoots in the past for models and have always used a model release which includes language to the effect that all poses were voluntary and not forced, coerced, etc. I would like to have a similar contact/release for this shoot, and have been working on a version to use. I would like to see what releases other photogs who do FHEO shoots are using. Does anyone have a sample or suggestion they would be willing to share? Thanks!
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Don't worry. I can fix you in photoshop.
AttA Boy! Always follow yer gut!
I guess I am a bit over-cautious, but since do not generally do these kind of shoots and I do not do personally know this potential client, I wanted to protect myself in case any question of impropriety were to arise or if a husband decided he didn't appreciate another man seeing his wife half-naked. Am I being paranoid?
Don't worry. I can fix you in photoshop.
I think so.....I treat them like another portrait shoot. If the client is dead set on no one but her hubby seeing the pix then I do not use a release and blot it out of the contract and when the printing is done the files including raw are deleted...the client can have them at an extra cost......
I use the late Peter Gowland's website for some inspiration from time to time.......
To me you are but each to their own and you have to do what enables you to sleep well at night.
I have been shooting figure and nude work that often can be more appropriately described as porn with what some clients want, for over 20 years now and never used a contract and never had a problem.
I started out with the typical shopping center looking glamour portraits and soon realised the limitations of this and had a lot of requests from clients for something sexier. Pretty soon we ( my wife and I worked in teh biz together) were shooting topless then figure and nude work and then it went beyond at the clients requests. This initially confused us as we were showing the same marketing materials as we had from teh start but the pics the clients were requesting were gettimg more and more raunchier.
Initially my wife was pretty uncomfortable with this but then pretty quickly realised that when we did the head and shoulders stuff the clients would come in and tak a couple of hours to pick out a dozen prints or so and when we did the sexy stuff, they looked at the first 10 pics, asked how much we could do a deal on teh lot for and walked out with them 10 minutes later and about 4 times our average sales value for the standard glam pics.
I used to be very careful not to push the clients, now I'm the exact opposite. I find many women have very low self esteem and confidence in themselves which I firmly blame the womens magazines for. Many women think they are unattractive because they don't look like the celebs on the magazine covers but don't realise the celebs don't look like that eiter thanks to heavy retouching.
When I give them the chance to be thier own pinup, it's a great confidence boost. Often they need to have their shell's broken and taken out of their comfort zone to make the realisation though.
I tell everyone before they leave " We did some shots today that were different to what you originally indicated you were looking for. Would you like to go through them all before you leave and delete any that you may not have been comfortable with for your own peace of mind?
I have NEVER had anyone want to do this yet.
The response I get every single time amounts to " I didn't think I'd go that far but I'm so proud of myself that I did !" And I ususlly get a warm hug and profuse thanks as they leave.
I get generous tips, gifts and compliments from the clients and the other halves as well. If you really understand what is behind the shots and the true motivation people are doing them for , then you can analyse the clients very well and give them what they are looking for even when they don't ( usually) know what that is themselves.
I have had the Odd jealous twat boyfriend email or ring me to tell me I can't use the pics for display but I don't hold back in telling them they they don't own their Girlfriends and if there is any problem, get them to give me a ring. I have had a few girls call me, always to apologise for the Idiot that for some inexplicable reason they are going out with.
Often not for much longer when they get some self confidence from teh pics and realise they can do a lot better than the loosers they often go out with.
Yes, i have been responsible for a few relation ship breakups and also had people come back for another shoot and think me for making them realise how badly they were being treated.
Never had a jealous husband yet.
Had heap ring me though and ask if I was the guy that took the nude pics of their wife and then thank me profusely and book another shoot for her later on. I have several clients I have shot more than 5 times over the last 20 years.
Last december I photographed one clients daughters school formal portraits. I first met her mother when she found out she was pregnant and wanted to do some sexy pics before she lost her figure. She got it back damn well even after 3 kids and the husband rings me every 2-3 years and say it's time for an update and we discuss the overall theme for the shoot.
I had one very educated woman come in and wanted some very raunchy shots done to spice up her marrige. She said they had been trying for a family for some years and had even tried IVF but it had not worked and they were told they would not have kids. She said that since the news a couple of years ago their relationship had been ok but rather flat and she wanted to put some excitement back in it.
We shot at 3 locations and did some excellent and well as very sexy pics and by the end of the shoot she was clearly very happy with what we had done. About 3 months later I get a call if she could come see me that afternoon about something.
I said fine and they arrived shortly later with a huge gift basket for my wife whom had done her styling for the shoot and some nice and non too cheap gifts for me. The husband was literally hugging my wife and I.
It turned out that the husband was very impressed with the pics and suffice to say it had spiced up their love life to teh point where in her words, he wouldn't stop folloing her around the house.
She had been feeling unwell and went to the Dr. and they had just found out she was pregnant!
They said it was all my doing (!!!!!) and I had done for them what the medical profession hadn't.
Don't know about that of course but the husband was quite adamant.
I later did pregnant Nudes of the woman which she loved and some mother and baby portaits. They told me they had been told they defied medical science in having a very healthy baby. They did keep in touch for some years but they were never able to have anotehr child but were plenty stoked with the one they thought they would never have.
That is one of my fondest memorys of my Photographic career.
The thing I best like about this work despite the stigma it has for a lot of closed minded people, is how happy it makes people and brings them together. I have no problem whatso ever in taking pics that make people happier, feel more self confident and appreciated and keeps the divorce rate down.
The fact they pay me very handsomely for doing it is just such sweet icing on the cake.
Damn, Glort, you make me want to start marketing a whole new line of portrait sessions. Great stories. Thanks!
Don't worry. I can fix you in photoshop.
It can be very rewarding work but you have to be able to deal with the stigma of it and really understand the motivation of the clients.
A few years back i got really ticked off with people making the automatic assumption I was some sort of a pervert because I shot nude photos.
It actually got to me so bad I tried to completely change teh direction of the business and just do head and shoulders and typical portrait stuff.
It was a bad failure.
I was not happy doing it as I always felt I was missing out on great pics I could have done, it put me in the same boat as every other vulture trying to attract the same market, and average sales values were down a lot.
Pretty soon I started going back to old habits and sufggesting the more sexy shots to the clients and they went for it without exception so I was right back where I started but with a whole new outlook and feeling of confidence in myself.
I realise now that the wowsers are not as much upset with what I do but actualy with themselves for not having the courage to do it themselves or other hangups that drive them to condem others for doing what they can't do in order to justify their unhappiness within themselves.
I remember at a show I did about 10 years ago a very full figured and lound woman coming up to my stand and making a big fuss as to why all the people in the pics i showed were slim and young and why there wasn't any people like here in the pics.
I said these are my clients and i'd love to show a wider demographic of clients to broaden my market.
I offerd her a free shoot if she would allow me to use a pic of her at my display at the show next year so no one else could come up and say that to me. She declined citing some excuses that made the people standing around and listening to her commotion chuckle and shake their heads at her. I simply replied the reason I don't have anyone of your demographic on my walls is because like you, my work dosen't appeal to them and left it at that.
The biggest thing with this work is REALLY understanding why people do it.
I have had a lot of people in my greater city and surounds try to copy ( and even blatently rip off every bit of copy on my web site) what i do but they have all failed because they think its about photographs when thats really the last thing on the clients Minds. The pics are just a means to an end and you have to realise what the end goal is.
It's about what the photos mean to them and what they can gain from having them taken.
This is why I push people to do shots they tell me they don't want to do.
They want to do them allright, they just don't want to take responsibility for anything anyone ( whoever that may be) might say about them particularly with regards to Vanity in thinking themselves were attractive enough to be a model/ Pinup.
When you do get them out of their comfort zone and show them how good they can look ( even on the back of the camera) things change and you can see them be physically uplifted and more connfiden in themselves inside 30 min!
What you also need to quickly assess is the real reason they are doing the pics. They tell you its for the partner but it's often for their own need to feel attractive and be desired by their partner. They tell you they want some nice pics for mum but you can soon find out they are really looking to spice up the love life or send some hot Pics to the Ex as payback for what they are missing out on. And many will be honest and tell you that straight out as well! :0)
They can tell you they just want some nice portraits of themselves but you can work out they really want to show their kids in 25 years time that mum was hot when she was their age and not always the old bag they have seen her as.
I always say business is more important than photography skills but in this line of work, Phsycology is the most important thing of all!
Do you have a studio, and are most of your shoots there? Or do you do these shoots in the client's home or other setting? I would love to see some of your work.
Don't worry. I can fix you in photoshop.
I find I can do more and different shots out of the studio but for the ranuchy stuff most people want the privacy obviously.
As a friend said, even though i get sick of teh same thing, to the clients its all new and different.