Just to add to other peoples experiences. People I have shot with and my thoughts. I am a size 12 black female at 5'5.
Ella Studios - a few years back when she was based in Victoria. There were other people shooting on property and that made me v uncomfortable. I found she got easily frustrated with me because I couldn't do certain model poses, not willing to listen to what I wanted and ultimately my photos were airbrushed to the point I looked like I was disney CGI. I got to choose the photos I liked and got a CD of images (I think she now chooses for you).
Martin Levenson - Really nice guy who had good ideas and patience. Photos were good for the most part and he didn't whiten out my skin tone. Shot in his studio which was fine but I should have gone location as the backgrounds are a bit over done. His airbrushing was good but heavy at times. I made good money using these photos though and he was a total gent. I didn't recieve all images though.
Alec Fasani- This is a hard one. I paid over ?1000 for this shoot so I think my expectations were higher than others. My photos ultimately came out gorgeous but I think a lot of that was due to the stunning location I shelled out for. His make up artist at the time (18 months ago) was amazing and touched your make up up between shots. I feel he dismissed some of my ideas which upset me and he didn't seem to initially know how to shoot my body. But once he realised he wasn't getting good images he listened and I got great photos. I took nearly a month to get my photos back which wasn't cool but apparently it was due to a mess up. I would have appreciated a gesture like an extra photo or two hut ho hum. I got copies (low res) of all my photos the same day.
Matt Christie - Really cool guy. I shot back when he was using his home studio. My photos from him were average. The airbrushing wasn't too heavy but it was a bit shoddy. He was great at posing me though and made a real effort in using the space and working with my outfits. I think he isn't great for people of colour but I've seen some great work from others. I didn't receive all images just chosen ones.
I'm considering Alex Thomas as he has great reviews. Also escort exposure and a new female photographer nadia rose
http://www.saafe.info/main/index.php?topic=33228 . She seems to have great rates and all photos I've seen have been good. I think I will try to get her on location though not in a hotel room.
My last shoot I flew to Budapest for as I was sick of UK photographers. I found a great guy who I paid around ?250 for 18 images. The raw ones were my favourite ever. His airbrushing could do with work though. He really put in so much effort into the shoot and was amazing to deal with.
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