My reputation as a “good guy” to work with paid off, and the positive word of mouth brought Tara Villalvazo into my world. Working with her a few times resulted in a cover and feature in Ink Atlanta magazine. In addition, I have been working with the new Grease, Inc. magazine shooting their feature girls each month.

In between the roller derby and pretty tattooed girls, I had the pleasure of doing pregnancy photos for a former model – a model I have photographed a few times over the past few years at different milestone points in her life. I photographed some families, a few local authors, assisted on a magazine shoot featuring Ted Turner, photographed my brother’s wedding, and continued to sharpen my skills and talents as a photographer.

2011 was a very good year.

Ink Atlanta is a publication featuring tattoo studios, artists, and culture in the Atlanta area. It is a localized version of Prick magazine (mentioned in earlier posts). The November 2011 issue of Ink Atlanta features the beautiful Tara Villavalzo (also mentioned in earlier posts) as the cover and featured tattooed model. My relationship with Tara and her tattoo artist husband Vince Villavalzo – owner of Mystic Owl Tattoo Studio in Marietta, GA –  has been one of the professional and personal highlights of my 2011! Pick up a copy of Ink Atlanta when you visit your local tattoo studio.

The motorcycle culture magazine Biker 101 has been transformed into a new publication called Grease, Inc. featuring bikes, trucks, hot rods, rat rods, and other items of interest to the gear head and grease jockey. Each month the magazine will feature a Rag Doll, and I am the photographer for that feature. The premier issue of Grease, Inc. came out on Oct. 30 at the annual Hell On Wheels Beer Fest, and I was very proud to see my photos of Mary Frances in that magazine as well. You can pick up copies of Grease, Inc. at your local motorcycle or hot-rod shop.

I checked my calendar and saw that yes, indeed, I was available for the day of the wedding, and since I was available and the wedding was close by, I quoted her a substantially discounted rate for up to two hours of wedding day coverage and a CD of finished images. She thanked me and said her daughter would be calling me.

The daughter called a day later and repeated the “we’re on a tight budget” story, and that they would only need me for about an hour or so. I repeated my substantially discounted price and told her I’d be happy to cover her wedding. Then the fun started.

First she asked about what happens if they go over the two hours. I told her that the price would go up proportionately. Then she started asking about prints, and touch ups, and wedding albums, and black and white pictures and “old brown” (sepia toned) pictures. I told her that the price quoted was for coverage and a CD of images – no prints, books, black and white, touch ups (other than basic exposure and color correction). I reminded her that she and her mother both said they were on a tight budget, and all of those extras cost time and money.

The conversation ended with the bride huffing, “I don’t understand why y’all charge so much,” as she hung up the phone. She didn’t call back to book the date.

Why do we charge so much? First off, I don’t. For weddings, I’m very inexpensive compared to my peers. I am not primarily a wedding photographer and set my fees accordingly. But I still charge, and I do charge more than your friend’s uncle’s sister’s son who has a nice camera and will shoot your wedding for free.

My rates are based on a block of time, not hourly. I have never shot a wedding that was within the time I scheduled for the shoot. Every wedding has always run longer than scheduled. The last big wedding I shot started at 3pm on a Saturday, and at 11pm the party was still going strong. The wedding ended (the bride and groom drove off) at 1am. I initially quoted a rate for them based on 5 hours, but they just kept going and going and going. They were also less than happy with me when I sent them a final bill that was double what I initially quoted (and what was in the contract), but they eventually understood.

If you are trying to do a wedding on a tight budget – and in this economy, who isn’t – I suggest cutting back on the food, drink, and dress, not the photography. In 20 years, your dress won’t fit you (in fact, it will probably be covered in a layer of dust under your bed or in your attic), the food and drink will be long gone, but your photos will still be there.

My affinity for tattooed girls is deep seated and became more prevalent with my involvement with the Atlanta Roller Girls roller derby team. Where I used to think that models with a lot of ink were undesirable as photographic subjects, I now look for and prefer them to the blank skin canvases of most of the other pretty girl models I see.

For me, girls with tattoos just seem prettier and more attractive than those without. I know this preference isn’t for everyone, and that’s okay. If all photographers preferred girls with tattoos then they wouldn’t be special.

A girl I have photographed a number of times, Jennifer Jordan, suggested that I might like working with a friend of hers, Tara Villavalzo. So Tara and I made contact, had a great shoot, and by the next day I had connected with two more of Tara’s tattooed girl friends – one of which I have shot with already and one more coming up soon! On top of that, I have been friended on Facebook by a half-dozen more tattooed non-model girls who look like they’d be fun and interesting subjects to shoot.

So forget those “models”, and give me women with lots of ink!

The last Music Midtown I attended was in the mid-90s. I had just started learning to take pictures, and figured that I could get some fun shots with my Pentax P30T (which I still have) and Focal 35-70 lens (Focal was, literally, the KMart brand of add-on lenses). I was stopped at the gate and told that no “professional cameras” were allowed in the festival area. I first thought how cool it was that someone thought I was a professional and that I had a professional camera, then I quickly realized that I was really just learning how to take pictures, was far far from a professional, and no professional photographer would use the limited equipment I had. I protested, but my words fell on deaf ears.

Thinking, correctly, that was no real definition of what a professional camera was, I tried to get into another gate, and this time walked right in with no problems or hassles. I had a great time that day taking pictures of Adam Ant, the Kentucky Headhunters, the then up and coming Will Kimbrough (who I knew from my even earlier days in the music business), and various flashed boobs.

As the day drew to a close, I muscled my way into the throng of people to watch and listen to Al Green. I popped a few badly focused shots when all of a sudden I felt a heavy hand on my shoulder. I turned to face one of the Music Midtown security apes guards who told me that “professional cameras” were not allowed in the park. I told the ape gentleman that I had been there all day taking pictures with no problems, and asked why it was a problem now. He gave me two choices – leave immediately with my camera, or pick up my camera at the security tent on my way out later. I left at that moment.

Cut to 2011. I checked the 2011 Atlanta Music Midtown website, and sure enough that vague and even more ridiculous restriction is in place.

*What items should I leave at home?
Professional camera equipment and recording devices are NOT permitted. No cameras with video capabilities.

In the day when commercial fashion shoots and even weddings have been shot with an Iphone, when even the most basic of digital cameras shoots video, when journalists are photographing and recording news events on their Androids, the question of what is a professional camera becomes irrelevant.

I once emailed the Atlanta Music Midtown promoters asking what a “professional camera” was, and they defined it as any camera with a removable lens. Based on that definition,  a person with the Leica M9 would get into the venue with no problem, but someone with a Pentax Kx would be turned away.

If the promoter is a backasswards thinker, a possible solution would be not allow “large cameras with long lenses”, and inform security to put an end to anyone they catch using their Iphones to shoot video. That’s kind of easy to do. If someone is holding their phone/camera at arms’ length for more than 15 seconds, they’re likely shooting video. Of course, that makes shooting video of your friends at the show against the rules, and the very real risk of tempers elevated by high spirits is increased making for some not-so-happy encounters.

If the promoter is a FORWARD thinker, perhaps they should encourage “amateur” photos and videos at the festival. F’rinstance, ban those big cameras with removable lenses, but turn the other cheek to the Canon Powershot G12, Nikon Coolpix P300, Androids, and Iphones and encourage folks to share their photos and videos of the event on the promoter’s Facebook page or website. Perhaps they could run a contest for best fan-shot video. They could even go the Maxim Magazine route and grab all reproduction and redistribution rights to any photo or video posted on their site or entered into their contest. (Thanks, Chris North, for that idea!)

The music industry has already proven to be stuck in a distribution business model that doesn’t work in the digital age. Someone needs to re-think this whole “no professional cameras” bit as well.