Jonesing for Pretty Girls (A Follow-Up)

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Okay. So I went on the Model Mayhem web site to look for a willing victim subject. I spotted a mature-ish woman, very pretty, who also happens to live in the same city I live in... not that it's a city. It's the burbs. But they call it a city as in "The City of..."

In her MM profile, my intended subject says she's a published author, works a day job in the motion picture industry, has little modeling experience but quite a bit of interest in it. Modeling, that is. She sounds like a fairly interesting person, you know, as many models go. Also in her profile, she states she'd be interested in modeling for some "edgy" work, whatever that means. I get the feeling she's the artsy type which could make for some pretty decent photos if she allows her artsyness to translate into posing and emotional projection and all that good stuff. Plus, I like artsy types. Must be the artsy in me that makes me like artsy in others.

I've never been too clear on what "edgy" means. I've had a number of clients who have asked me to shoot some edgy stuff for them but mostly I still shot what I usually shoot and they were quite pleased with the work. To me, "edgy" simply means a bit different or less-seen. You know, photos with a less-seen "edge" to them. But less-seen by who? The client? Me? I've pretty much seen it all, at least I think I have. Other than being a bit different or less-seen, "edgy" doesn't have any specific meaning to me.  It's a lot like that overused term, "outside the box."  There are boxes and there are BOXES. For the most part, at least in my opinion, a lot of photographers seem to perceive "the box" as being smaller than it actually is. It's not. Small, that is.

Back to my potential model...

I sent her a short message asking if she'd be interested in shooting with me.  She messaged back (within a day) and said she would, but probably couldn't find the time till May. No problem. May is right around the corner. She also asked if we might meet for coffee or a beer or something to discuss what we might shoot. Sounds good to me. I've got more time on my hands these days than I know what to do with. And I'm always up for coffee. (Not so much beer.) I shot her another brief message saying I'd be back in touch in a few weeks and we could figure out how to proceed.

It all sounds promising but then I've heard promising before. We'll see what happens come the first of May when I shoot her yet another message, this time with my phone number and asking for hers. Since she's older, who knows? She might have the maturity (and courtesy) to actually follow-up on her original words. She might even show up for coffee. That would be nice. That would be different. In fact, that would be kind of "edgy" of her.

The pretty girl at the top is Jenna. It was one of those shoots where I was asked to photograph some "edgy" stuff. Personally, I don't think there's anything "edgy" about the image or any other image from the set I shot with Jenna but my client did not agree. My client thought it was just "edgy" enough for their needs... plus the check cleared so all was good.