cadre

Basically, one of my friends is starting a production company and this got me thinking. Around here porn is a lucrative business and as a photographer (not an actress!) I think I could enjoy the work and make a career out of it.

So is there anyone here who works as a photographer making porn? I know there are other people involved in pornography and I'd love to know anything you have to tell me about it.

Is it as lucrative as it seems to be in comparison to many other photography careers?

Do you enjoy the work or does it get boring just like anything else can?

Is it possible to work both as a pornographer and a commercial photographer? I would imagine there would be conflict between porn and another profession.

How do you deal with family and other people who dislike you because of what you do?

If a career in porn goes south is that something that can come back to haunt me?

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lotsofmagnets

luckily, experience is in our midst

http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?t=114784

as for me, i´d like to get into pornstars

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she shed her mountain turning training wheels, for the convenience of the moving sidewalk, that delivers the magnetic monkey children through the mouth of impossible calendar clock, into the devil's manhole cauldron.
physics of a bicycle, isn't it remarkable?

Halx

Yeah, I've had experience in the industry. Where do you live? Even in the heart of the San Fernando Valley, we had trouble finding quality models. Unless you have a name for yourself or have contacts with agents, it is hard to find good talent. The rule goes like this: The dirtier you want to get, the less chance you have of finding hot women to do it. Like so: Swimsuit models... there are a ton of smoking hot women who you can get to do this. Double penetration... hope you have a soft lens.

Your reputation as a quality photographer will earn you better models, but if you don't have the ability to create high quality studio shots, you might be dwelling in the "talent" agency pool. This means that the girls you get are the same girls every other cheap photographer gets.

At some point, though, none of this even matters because you're selling a product that will never be short on demand. From there, it's about marketing more than quality. If you can do that, then you have a future.

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lotsofmagnets

head to germany

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mother nature made the aeroplane, and the submarine sandwich, with the steady hands and dead eye of a remarkable sculptor.
she shed her mountain turning training wheels, for the convenience of the moving sidewalk, that delivers the magnetic monkey children through the mouth of impossible calendar clock, into the devil's manhole cauldron.
physics of a bicycle, isn't it remarkable?

Halx

A lot of the hottest photographers actually do shoot out of east Europe. I don't think it is much different though... you need to have the ability to sign the models.

The other big pain in the ass is the legalese. You have to get the girls to sign off creative rights. You have to get 2 valid forms of ID from them. You have to keep records on every single one in case it comes back to haunt you.

You don't have a dick, so this might not be a problem, but the girls are always looking to earn a little extra money on the side.

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Glory's Sun

whatever you do, don't sign with Suicide Girls. They'll rape you for all you're worth.

lotsofmagnets

they rape photographers?

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mother nature made the aeroplane, and the submarine sandwich, with the steady hands and dead eye of a remarkable sculptor.
she shed her mountain turning training wheels, for the convenience of the moving sidewalk, that delivers the magnetic monkey children through the mouth of impossible calendar clock, into the devil's manhole cauldron.
physics of a bicycle, isn't it remarkable?

cadre

Actually, my friend who's starting the production company and I were talking about moving to Europe to set up shop. At this point it's all talk though.

As far as the legal rights and such goes, it's not all that different than any other form of photography. So I think I could do that, a few extra steps is doable.

Do most photographers work on their own and then sell the photos or do they get hired by a company?


This is true, I've actually had them contact me for various things over the years.

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Halx

There are a ton of different business models. You can start your own website and provide your own content (This is the experience I had). You can sell your photos (and copyrights) to syndicated galleries (Also had a little experience here). You can work as a photographer for a collective (the SG model).

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Glory's Sun

I think the biggest problem with providing your own content and website is the marketing aspect. The market is so saturated that unless you have some unique angle, you'll probably just get lost in the mix.

Halx

Very true, but you're also in control of your own destiny at that point.

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Ilow

I imagine that being a professional photographer is like many other professions in that there are numerous levels of success. For every wealthy, famous photographer, there are probably numerous ones who are scraping by or only able to to it part time. Also, although I think you could do both porn and regular photography, some "regular" customers may be turned of by your other work.

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RetroGunslinger

I actually made it a life goal recently to produce porn at some point. I figure a nice site and a little adbrite and I'll be on my way to affording some high quality ramen at very least.

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cadre

Well, you don't know me all that well but if I'm going to do something I put my whole self into it. There's not a particular type of photography that is easier to succeed at so I'm not worried about the challenge.

I think that for a while I'd be doing both but I also know that many companies would not want to be associated with porn. That said, as long as I don't use the same website for both it may not be a huge problem. I can put a studio name or something like that on any porn that I put out so if someone googles my name it won't be likely to come up. I don't know that would work for very long though.

Halx-
Of the business models you've worked with do you have a preference and why? I'd rather not have to deal with anything but the photography unless it's really beneficial.

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Halx

Personally, I'd prefer having my own site because not only am I particular about how my work is portrayed, I want to be in charge of my own destiny. Granted, I am more of an administrator than an artist/content producer, so your viewpoint might not match up with mine. If your friend is more interested in running the business then you can combine to run a good business. My boss did everything himself and just had me around to handle the computer stuff that he didn't understand.

Would you shoot me?

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lotsofmagnets

you can shoot him. would you employ me?

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mother nature made the aeroplane, and the submarine sandwich, with the steady hands and dead eye of a remarkable sculptor.
she shed her mountain turning training wheels, for the convenience of the moving sidewalk, that delivers the magnetic monkey children through the mouth of impossible calendar clock, into the devil's manhole cauldron.
physics of a bicycle, isn't it remarkable?

cadre

Don't get too ahead of yourself.

The problem with having my own site is that I really don't know enough about it to do things myself and I'm not sure I'd want to bother running everything with people under me to do what I can't. That said, it would be cool to go into business with my friend. It sounds like it really just wants to run things, we have a pretty good idea of the style and his ideas seem to be in line. Maybe I'll have to bring that up with him and see what he thinks.

As far as working for another company goes, I would probably be kind of picky as far as what I want to do since I do have a style I'd like to pursue.

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lotsofmagnets

pfft ahead of myself? i lapped myself 3 years ago and still hve no idea what´s going on

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mother nature made the aeroplane, and the submarine sandwich, with the steady hands and dead eye of a remarkable sculptor.
she shed her mountain turning training wheels, for the convenience of the moving sidewalk, that delivers the magnetic monkey children through the mouth of impossible calendar clock, into the devil's manhole cauldron.
physics of a bicycle, isn't it remarkable?

cadre

I suspected you had!

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My life is one of those 'you had to be there' jokes.

xepherys

This is true, but also dependent slightly on your quality. Obviously if you are the next Petter Hegre, you won't have a problem here.

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cadre

Even good quality can be lost on the internet.

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MSD

You're kidding, right?
Just don't let the girlfriend find out or it's over ...

cadre

You're helpful.

No, that was a serious question. I know it's definitely a possibility but, I would assume, more so for a model or actor than for someone behind the scenes. A lot of the companies I'm currently working with are more modern and pushing the envelope so I have a hunch a couple of them wouldn't even care.

At the same time, I count Maxim as porn and I know photographers who work for them have no issues with other clients. I suppose it depends on what I end up doing.

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MSD

Not sure where you live, but our version of Maxim doesn't have any nudity and definitely isn't considered porn by anyone I know.

To be helpful, I've heard from someone who shoots porn stills and movies that once you cross that line, you're cutting your client base to about a quarter of what it was. You'll never do weddings, portraits, kids, anything family-oriented, and a lot of publications will refuse to hire you because a big chunk of their subscribers don't want anything to do with anyone associated with porn.

cadre

That sounds about right to me.

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