There was a disturbance in the Force, and I felt it. I had a bad feeling about this past Sunday, but I decided I was going to have a good day and a good shoot in spite of my feeling. The moment the girl I was supposed to shoot told me her friend had to follow her because she had to drop her car off, and I found out her friend was a guy, I understood why I felt the way I did. But that wasn't the half of it; there was more.
She told me she had my shoot, another shoot after mine, and still had to go to a huge event. Being the considerate person I am, I asked her if she wanted to reschedule, as she had a lot on her plate. She insisted she could do it, so I agreed. I understood she would be late as well. That too, was OK by me. Amazingly, she made excellent time, as she told me she was a fast driver. I met her friend, and all seemed well, or so I thought.
I decided to put her friend to work. That is what I do now when girls bring guys with them instead of girls. I tell them by email the troubles I have when guys come along, yet they do it anyway. Her friend has video experience, and did a great job. Although he didn't get any of the super close-ups I know you like, he still did a top notch job. Things went well until the girl started talking about her next shoot. Then on top of that, she and he had a smoke break. They were outside a good 8-10 minutes. They come back, and we shoot more. After we did a scene, she started talking about the next shoot, and was rushing me. It was time for her workout scene, and she didn't even change. She wore the same outfit for the workout that she wore for the regular scenes. Her workout was horrible. It was as if she never worked out a day in her life. I had a towel on the floor, and she totally didn't make use of it. I asked for a slow workout, and she acted clueless. All I got from her were stretches, and then she did a barefoot handstand against my wall. It was too the point I had to shoot video and shoot stills at the same time because she kept mentioning her next shoot, and how much longer she had to do a particular thing. It was time for a change of clothes. Mind you, she had other clothes, but had no intention of wearing them, especially with the way she was pushing the shoot because she was so ready to go to her next one. I was able to get her to put jeans on, and a different pair of shoe, but he came out with the same shirt she wore when she got there. Once again, I shoot stills and video at the same time. And when she was doing the video, she asked how much longer she had to do that.
Needless to say, the shoot sucked big time. She shorted me thirty minutes, and didn't sign her model release properly. I usually don't have to double-check behind someone when I tell them to sign their real names. Being the nice guy I am, I paid her in full. Needless to say, I won't be shooting with her again.
Let this be a lesson to other foot site owners, or soon-to-be foot site owners. If you book a shoot with a girl, make sure she has no other engagements that day. If she does, then reschedule your shoot. Your time is your time, and should not be cut short for someone else's time. Also, make sure you are totally clear with a model about everything before the shoot. One model thought the foot massage, sock, shoe, and foot sniffing, not to mention foot worship was all something she was to do by herself. Needless to say, I paid her in full too in spite of the misunderstanding. And if you specify no guys are to come to the shoot, make sure you know ahead of time who they plan to bring. If it will be a guy, kindly tell them you will have to pass. Yes, it may make you sound shady, but trust me, you will be better off for it in the end. All guys do on foot shoots is crack jokes, skulk around, or hover nearby like they are Secret Service. They will kill the shoot's dynamic, not matter how stellar the girl is in front of your camera. You will instantly feel rushed and uncomfortable because their feelings of not wanting to be there will transfer to you.
In the end, although you are both helping each other, you are helping the model more, as she could be home that day making no money at all. It is one thing if you go over during a shoot because the girl still gets paid (money she might not have made that day). But when a girl shorts you on a shoot, it is as good as stealing from you. A lot of models know what we do is not a job they can get fired from if they don't show, show up late, or if they end the shoot early. They also know if they are hot, they will still get work, so they care less. Regardless of if this is your hobby or your livelihood, you need to treat your shoots as if you can get fired. You have to take what you do seriously, no matter how much fun it is. If you produce poor shoots because of model troubles, eventually your fans will leave your site for sites that clearly don't have them. So if you want to have good shoots, and you want to keep your fans, you must avoid model troubles the same way you try to avoid seeing unsightly feet, or even worse...men feet.
