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To celebrate the opening of its large and well appointed studio complex,
Newcastle Photography School, in association with Stephen Bennett Model Photography. Naomi Tyrrell Make-up Consultant, and accomplished local model Cassie Franklin, are holding their first model search competition, to be held on Friday, 27th November, 2015 First Prize will be a full three hour professional studio Portfolio shoot, including full makeup session, and expert instruction in modeling and posing techniques. There will be no losers however, as all entrants will be placed on the books of the studio as models available to the students of the photography school, and to visiting outside photographers who use the studios. All entrants will also receive professional photos of themselves taken during the competition All females in the Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, Central Coast area, who are over 15 years of age, and have an interest in becoming a model are invited to enter. (Sorry boys, but there are plans for a similar competition for you in the near future) There is no upper age limit, as commercial modeling has needs for all ages and all types of girls, so this is the perfect opportunity to find out if you have what it takes. All entrants must be either beginners, or have only done shoots with amateur photographers in the past. All entrants are encouraged to bring their parents, interested friends, boyfriends or partners for moral support, and to get to know the studio staff, - ask for a tour of the studios and classroom facilities. Everyone present will be able to have their questions about photographic modeling answered fully. All entrants under the age of 18, must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. To enter, and to receive further details including location and time of the event, please PM Cassie Franklin, or email: [email protected]
Postcript to yesterday's post: ePassion and ePublishing!
I am aware of all the idiotic, self serving nonsense the Vanity Publishing scams chunder out so nauseatingly, but I certainly never read the stuff: I may be Crazy but I'm not stupid! However a friend sent me an example of an ebook put out by one of those "highly respected publishing institutions", with the promise of a good laugh. The first chapter of the mighty tome promised shy, unsuspecting and naively aspiring writers fame and fortune beyond their dreams, world domination, invitations to TV talk shows, audiences with the Pope of their choice, housewives hanging on their every word, clamouring for every scribble...but wait, there's more! Three free suits, two ties, and a fully housebroken pet unicorn! The body of the book however began with the not unsurprising assertion that no creative person, especially a busy writer "like you", could possibly deal with the difficult and challenging requirements of formatting and uploading an ebook, especially when there was more creatiivity to be taken care of Therefore handing the manuscript to them for the necessary and painstaking formatting and promotion, and oh so challenging uploading to online stores would solve all a writer's worries. The book went on in copious detail how to do exactly that: page after page of how the writer should format his book in several different ways: as an epub file, as a mobi file, as a Microsoft word doc. carefully formatted for print on demand production, and three other formats which to my knowledge don't even think exist, all the while stressing to be very careful and meticulous as the highly experienced editiors and formatters at this particular Vanity Publishing company could reject the files for even the slightest mistake, and that there was no obligation on their part to accept any files submitted by any author. And the non refundable cost for this exclusive and comprehensive service? Well : almost $1200 in upfront fees, as well as: Total copyrights of the said manuscript transferred to them as publisher... Total copyrights in all previous writing, including those already published, all current projects being undertaken by the writer, and all future writing: in perpetuity... An exclusive, no obligation, prepaid enrollment to an essential book marketting course offered by the company, ( absolutely necessary because all marketting and/or promotion af any kind was the sole responsibility of the writer), valued at just over $600, with more courses on offer, on an ever increasing cost scale ( due to their ever increasing value) after successful completion... And what do you actually receive in return? Well a truly astounding 82% of the 35% royalty received by the publishing company from the online stores, where your book will be priced at $0.99c a copy. Not to be sneezed at , heh??? But (I hear you say) I am a photographer, how does this affect me? Well I suggest you read those small or hidden print conditions of acceptance for those photos you submitted for "publication", or those others you entered in those competitions. And if you are model, it might pay to check out the small print fo those "contracts" you signed with that 'agency', especially the ones you never hear from except when there is money to be claimed, and those ones which "allow " you "to find your own work" Yeah, ya gotta laugh! But it really is no laughing matter, for thousands of people fall for these very scams everyday. Only a week or so ago, a friend of a friend was over the moon, gloating on facebook how he had just landed an unbelievably terrific publishing deal on a book of (you guessed it) original poems, where after the sale of the first 75 copies, (for which he received nothing) he would receive the overwhelming royalty of 15% of cost price...and the deal was uncannily close to that outlined above. And he could even improve sales by buying some copies himself for private sale or to give away to friends and family I therefore plan to give up photography and writng and set up a boarding kennel for unicorns, so new jetset writers will have somewhere to leave their valuable pets while off travelling around the world on the talk show circuit , and having audiences with random popes. No doubt I will make a killing! I have been reading, researching and writing about self publishing since before it became
a concept,and even before the first book was written on the subject; way back when "Men were Men" and "Books were Books" Even now I still read as much as I can about the subject, despite the fact that eBook publishing has become the global must-do fad. However the past five years has proved that keeping up is easier to say than do with seemingly hundreds of eBooks on the subject flooding the online stores. Unfortunately it seems that the majority of these masterpieces are nothing more than cut and paste agglomerations and dumbing down of the easiest parts to understand of the great and not so great work which has gone before. In true eBook fashion adopted by the get your ego out there as quick as possible "writers", everything about writing and self publishing has been distilled into two essential points: 1. Spend chapter after chapter, page after page, paragraph after paragraph emphasizing the simple point that writing should be concise, sharp, focused, succinct, short, brief, compact, condensed and tight, with no excess verbiage, or unnecessary words, or redundant repetitions or inclusions which don't add to the specific meaning, or simply belabor a previously well made point. 2. Editing should be accurate and meticulous, to the point of perfection, which is precisely why these ebooks are litted with typso and speling misteaks, meaningless stringszzxxue;//wzvx97@##--=- of letters, order word incorrect, pore constructionization of sentenceliness, appalling grandma, and but then though all of a sudden all in all as incomprehensible and difficult to read as your typical Nigerian Scam Email. And as for self published eBooks about photography? Well apart from the very rare gem worth reading it appears that most of the authors in the genre have taken to heart the famous blog headline of recent times "Photography is so Easy it is Ridiculous" without reading the context or understanding the irony contained within. According to the majority of eBook authors who ramble on about it, the entire world, meaning and rich history of photography can be reduced to gushings about "passion", "bokeh" and "the rule of thirds", with of course the occasional name drop of "Ansel Adams" thrown in for good measure. I have managed to survive reading hundreds of these abominations, but those of lesser constitutions who read just one or two, may find themselves inflicted by an uncontrollable desire to step, no leap in front of moving buses. A reminder of two years ago today: Two years ago Abby Callton, a 15 year old schoolgirl with an insatiable interest in theatre, dance and all kinds of performance, came to me, mother in tow, for her first professional photoshoot: some actor's headshots. I recommended to her that due to her innate beauty, both physical and of personality, she could extend her versatility by trying some modelling, so the shoot was extended to a model portfolio shoot. Although "resting" (meeting the demands of schoolwork) at the moment, the two years since this "discovery" photoshoot with me, Abbey has gone on to do several photo shoots as a very accomplished model, appearanced in several videos and short films, danced in a a number of stage shows, and played the lead role of "Sandy", in a local production of "Grease" Just goes to show what the combination of beauty, determination, talent, proper training, a thirst for knowledge, an eagerness to develop and hone skills ... and ( I say this modestly) getting a little help, proper direction and a professionally produced model/actor portfolio to begin with can work wonders for a burgeoning career
As some potential models have come to my website recently, and been reticent to contact me after looking at my pricing page ( which is really applicable to commercial customers, and established models only) I provide a little important clarification:
If you :
your introductory shoot will cost you nothing at all, except a little time and effort, and you will receive up to 10 fully retouched, hi resolution digital photo files, chosen by me, from the shoot, licensed for portfolio and self promotion use, free of charge. A new photographic studio for hire is about to open in the Newcastle region, in the Lake Macquarie suburb of Cardiff, owned by the very experienced photographer and long time photography instructor, Les Farnham, and ably assisted by the equally experienced Barry Madden.
This studio complex when it opens in a few weeks time...the photography classes have been running for several weeks already, and the studios should be fully operational as soon as extra lighting equipment and backdrops on order arrive from overseas...will fill a large need by the region's photographers for a large, well equipped, professional studio owned and run by very experienced, knowledgeable and helpful photographers who are dedicated to the improvement and development of good photography in the area. I myself plan on using this studio as often as I can as there are no similar studios offering quite the same experience at the moment, and although it is an hour or so drive for me, the friendliness and the open sharing of knowledge gained through extensive experience by both Les and Barry alone are well worth the trip. No doubt this studio complex will see its fair share of the candy skull and zombie brigade, but it also has the facilities and knowledge base for much more serious and professional work. Hire of the studio is envisaged as $60 for three hour shoot. Read a full review and description of the Newcastle Photography School studio complex by visiting: https://thedefinitearticlesite.wordpress.com/2015/07/21/long-term-need-soon-to-be-filled/ |
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January 2022
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