Final Blog Post For Tampa Shootouts We’re getting competition, at last. We wish them good luck! - Do you think that you can compete with our Tampa Bay photography shootout and workshop events? Good luck! - Foundation work. Marketing and support sites to be overhauled. - Web Site Work And The Master Plan With Shootouts - A candid statement about Tampa Bay photography shootout events and workshops, modeling events, and the market in general. - Blog. Tampa Shootouts, TampaShootouts.Com. Tampa Bay, Florida.


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Athena Modeling Photography and Networking Event Series Tampa Shootouts
TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG By event planner, photographer, and modeling and talent expert C. A. Passinault This blog is the opinion of the author, and should not be taken as advice or as fact. The opinions expressed in this blog are by the author only, and may not be necessarily the opinions of Tampa Shootouts, our affiliates, our sponsors, the participants, or any other party involved with Tampa Shootouts. For informational use only. Use this information at your own risk. PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST Sunday, September 16, 2012 - Tampa Shootouts Blog Post by C. A. Passinault Final Blog Post For Tampa Shootouts The marketing and branding for our shootout and workshop events is changing, and we are launching a new web site. Although we are keeping Tampa Shootouts, and we will be protecting the trademarks associated with all of our old properties, the new branding was needed for some new agendas in the market. The additional year of development came in handy, and was extremely effective in enhancing our event formats properties. All of our properties are now refined. We have many new concepts and plans. Under a new brand, and a single web site, we will be conducting the most numerous, most popular, most effective, and the best modeling photography events and workshops in the Tampa Bay market. We even have some new events in the works which are hybrids of the shootout and workshop concepts. Once the new site is up, and we begin operations, the first six months to a year of shootout events will be private events, with few outsiders welcome. These events will be heavily covered. The first phase will be used to build market buzz, and to build our support and security infrastructure. The second phase will see shootout events where we will evaluate professional models, photographers, and other industry professionals for subcontracted jobs in our paid shootout and workshop events. Those events may have invited photographers, but these photographers must be cleared for the events, and we will only allow professional photographers, just like we will only allow professional models. The third phase, which probably will not be until a year after our first events, will be a series of shootout events for targeted markets, and workshop events. The marketed shootout and workshop events will be for new photographers and new models, and they will have subcontracted jobs for models, photographers, and others in the industry. Bans on photographers and models who gave us problems in the past will be maintained, and they will not be considered for anything. We want nothing to do with them. We will no longer be operating under our previous main branding, and those web sites will be decommissioned sometime next year. Our event branding, however, such as Athena, Beacon, Allure, Focus, Lace, Beachhead, and others will not change, and will still be used under the new main branding and the new web site. For those of you thinking about taking our old domain names and web sites, keep thinking that. You will get burned. Not only do we reserve the right to take legal action against anyone infringing upon our trademarks, but we will be destroying domain names, their search ranking, and the web sites before we get rid of them, which will ensure that anyone trying to take them will get burned on that move, as well. This is the final blog post here on Tampa Shootouts. We will link to the new site once it is online. For more, please read the alert on our front page. Thank you. PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST Tuesday, June 5, 2012 - Tampa Shootouts Blog Post by C. A. Passinault We’re getting competition, at last. We wish them good luck! It came to our attention yesterday that an event-happy glamour photographer in the Tampa Bay area, who we have been monitoring, and have been aware of long before Tampa Shootouts launched, has launched a shootout site to compete with our high-risk Allure Shootouts and Lace Workshops. This was expected. Although this photographer is better, and more organized than the photographer who was doing amateur shootout events last year, who we have pretty much put out of business, we are not expecting this new contender to be much competition, and find their actions more annoying than anything else, as it does appear that they are trying to copy us. Would you rather have the true source, and a leader, or a follower with a third-rate knock-off? We are happy about one thing at least, and what we are happy about is that this photographer is helping to stabilize the word “shootout” to represent photography events. To this competitor, who has tried to attend our first shootouts, we wish you luck, because you are going to need it. PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST Thursday, March 15, 2012 - Tampa Shootouts Blog Post by C. A. Passinault Do you think that you can compete with our Tampa Bay photography shootout and workshop events? Good luck! We will make this quick, as we are busy. Just something to consider: Do you really think that you can compete with our Tampa Bay photography shootout and workshop events? Athena, Beacon, Aperture, Allure, Focus, and Lace are all brand names in the grand scheme of photography events and workshops, and they will become THE standard for modeling photography events in Florida, let alone the Tampa Bay market. We will also make them the ones to watch for the entire world, and we intend to become a worldwide leader in these types of events. We have more on the way, too. Our second and third generation modeling photography and modeling events are now in development. That does not mean that the first generation events, being the six initial events listed here, will become irrelevant or obsolete, either. Far from it. Like a strutting fashion model who turns all heads, our events have legs. Long, strong legs. We just keep walking, and blaze a path as our competition is forced to part ways before us, some trembling and being forced to their knees in respect. The real deal is here to stay. Our upcoming event properties are not being developed to correct mistakes or shortcomings, but rather to scale event features and benefits to the participants, as well as to lock in branding and event formats for specific markets. Our events, present and future, are all designed to work together, unified and strong, for years to come, long after they initially debut. Our events are designed to evolve and grow, and are interconnected with each other. We are like that. We think far ahead, and are able to predict the market conditions of tomorrow. We are the future, and we will show the market the way. After all, we don’t just run a business. We run the market. Our workshops and related events will also pay subcontracted models, photographers, make-up artists, stylists, and other professionals who work them. Professionals who are looking for work are going to LOVE us, and after experiencing what we have to offer, they won’t want to deal with our competition at all! We will attract and retain the support of top professionals in the industry. As a result, competing photography events are FORCED to pay their workers, too, which raises their overhead. Consequently, it helps to weed out the market, as those who are not experienced, or smart, enough to be in this business fail to adapt, and end up going out of business. No loss, there, as the market will only need us. That’s right, we will be setting standards. It’s what market leaders do. The rest just follow, or try to follow, and most will fail to some extent. There are some that have been studying our sites to attempt to compete with us. Have you considered that we published just enough information to make you think twice about trying to compete with us? For those who may be qualified to compete with us, and intend to compete, do you really think that you can go up against the kind of marketing and support firepower that we command? Think again. How do you think that you found this web site? We are very, very good at what we do. You already know that, however, or you would not be reading this right now. Consider what we are stating. Consider your place in the scheme of things, as we will be putting others in their proper place. It’s as it should be, as we have paid our dues and have done our homework. We work hard to put together the best events possible. We are serious, and passionate, about what we do. We also know what we are doing. Do you? Our events will become a force of nature in the Tampa Bay market. Embrace us, and work with us, or get out of our way, because we are here to stay, and are not going to go away. Ever. The storm is on the horizon. It’s up to you, now. For those who are not up to the challenge, we suggest that you quit while you are behind, and don’t even try. PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST Thursday, March 8, 2012 - Tampa Shootouts Blog Post by C. A. Passinault Foundation work. Marketing and support sites to be overhauled. I decided last night to delay the deployment of my Mosaic Class photography and design web sites by one week in order to tie up some loose ends with the marketing and support web sites. I’m going to work backwards from the rear to the front. The way that it is going to work is this: 1. Frontier Event Planning and Frontier Stage Productions The Frontier Event Planning and Frontier Stage Productions sites need to be brought online, as they have been in limbo for months (I changed the name of these companies from Eventi to Frontier, and brought down their dedicated marketing domain name sites as a result. This led to a cybersquatter/ content scraper issue with the old Eventi Events site that took me a lot of work to resolve, because over 30 of my web sites were linking to it, and those links had to be removed so that the new owner could not benefit from the page rank that my sites were sending their way.... I’m always dealing with cybersquatters and their shady tactics. From now on, I will disconnect my sites and, in other ways, burn a domain name before I give it up, in order to diminish the value and the effectiveness to the new “owner”; a process which takes at least a year. Although I could sell my old domain names, too, you have to think about that, because the only parties who would be in the market for those domain names would be competitors, and it really makes no sense to sell to them). With these companies being my original companies started in 1990 (Aurora PhotoArts has always had the same name, and it’s been that way since it was founded in 1994. My event/ stage production company, which is now two companies due to legal and licensing requirements, had a rather rough branding road in comparison. It started out as Party Systems INC, or PSI, in 1990. This was followed by Advanced Entertainment Systems, or AES, in 1993, then Horizons Entertainment in 1997, and then Event Events and Eventi Stage in 2003. It’s still the same company, now companies, however, and I was in business as an event planner and a DJ long before I made a business out of photography. Right now, despite the irony of securing great branding rather easily for my shootout and workshop events, I’m having a tough time coming up with great branding for my second photography company, and have been working at that for about seven years now. I’m still throwing around branding, checking domains, and doing trademark searches, but so far, I’m still working at it. It should be resolved in the next few weeks, though. The branding for that second company is critical, however, so it is important that I get it right going in), and scheduled to become my core companies, once again, by 2014 (Aurora PhotoArts and my second photography company will not be displaced or diminished in importance. As a matter of fact, these businesses will become huge. It’s just that the event and stage production companies will be bigger, and will be the support foundation for all of my businesses), the sites have to be up and running now. Most of the design work is already done, anyhow, with some of the graphics sets being designed back in 2005 still advanced, now. The first events from these companies will roll out this year with the shootouts and workshops. I’ll return to DJ’ing, parties, and event planning late this year, in a limited capacity, as my independent filmmaking work will tie up some of my time (with films, I have a lot of stories to tell, too. I have to complete at least two short films this year, and the production work will be covered on my Tampa Bay Film sites. My films will debut on my Tampa Bay Film Online Film Festival, which is the top film festival in Florida, as well as one of the top ones in the world. Regarding those films, I am finishing up the screenplays now). Next year, in 2013, when I am ready to begin aggressively marketing and rolling out services to the public once again, I will reformat support sites such as my Tampa DJ Blog and connect them to the business sites with marketing support, instantly switching them on and kickstarting them to the top of search engine results for event planning and stage production services in the Tampa Bay market, much like turning on a light switch, since these support sites are already positioned optimally (the amusing part is, right now, my Tampa DJ Blog is not marketing or selling a thing, as it is primarily a labor of love, as well as serving as a public production notebook for me. I have been working hard at upgrading my production concepts in DJ work for the past three years, following up 6 years of production work and another 10 years of research and development- well, that last part mainly waiting for technology to catch up to my concepts and make them cost-effective. I do, however, have every DJ and event planning company in Florida reading it, though, and they are probably wondering what in the hell I am writing about, because some of the things that I have been working on is so ahead of anything else in that industry, that it is almost alien. I have my own ideas, and my own take on things, and my concepts do work. Besides, I would be bored if I tried to do things the way that everyone else did them, and I worked within their limitations). While I am at it, I might as well get my DJ Frontier site up, too, since I’ve already begun to market it. So, I will get these sites online, and then connect the supporting sites to them to get them indexed properly in the search engines. Connecting does not mean marketing, though. There is a difference. The sites have to be up so that the four sites immediately tied into Tampa Shootouts, which is the site in the group that takes point, can connect back to them. Oh, and speaking of those event planning companies, I have third generation shootout events and workshops in the works that will utilize the full resources of those companies for shootouts and workshops that no one in Florida will be able to compete with. Some of those events will be modeling events that will have features like runway shows. They will require substantial overhead and resources to pull off, however, so do not expect the third generation shootouts and workshops to debut until at least 2014 (Like a good chess player, I forecast moves years in the future, determine what is needed, and prepare now). Let it be known that I have extensive, comprehensive long range plans which will change the Tampa Bay photography and talent markets, and these plans, with the events as the core, will tie all of my businesses and resources together. The market will belong to us. Commercial, fashion, portfolio, headshots, swimsuit, boudoir, glamour, pin-up, and even more high-risk genres.... We will set the standards for all of that, and will dominate the market in these fields. Things will move faster now. 2. Tampa Photography Events and Tampa Modeling Events These sites have soft launched, but are not fully operational. I need to get them there. The new content, however, will not be aggressive like it is right now on Tampa Shootouts (sorry, but the content on Tampa Shootouts right now is aimed at putting aspiring competitors in their place, as well as set standards in the market for modeling photography events and workshops. We have succeeded in that goal, with strong evidence indicating that it has forced others in the market to change what they are doing, some of them to the point that they have gone back to the drawing board. In more than one case, our sites have set benchmarks that have crippled aspiring competitors and their events, because they haven’t been able to figure out how to keep up with the new dynamics, and their lack of support infrastructure is keeping them pinned). The new content will be marketing and support-centric, with nothing controversial published. It will be friendly. The sites will be overhauled, too, with much of the clutter in the menu system done away with, and the site navigation simplified. 3. Tampa Workshops Much of the content on Tampa Workshops will be replaced with more marketable content, since out of all of my first generation photography events, these events cost money to attend, and they have to be sold (Never mix controversy with sales. It kind of makes it harder to sell). Tampa Workshops is kind of lean, now, content-wise, and it already needed new content, so this is a no-brainer. Also, expect the blog and the other features to be organized. 4. Tampa Shootouts Much of the existing content on Tampa Shootouts is aimed at aspiring competitors rather than our target market. There is a reason for this, and that reason is to set the standard in the market and to put the competition in their proper place... To let them know that they are outgunned and outclassed. Many of them are now aware that they have a lot to learn. This said, we are not going to be talking down to and criticizing our target market like we have been doing to potential competitors, so the Tampa Shootouts site has to be reorientated and organized to be much more user-friendly. Sure, we stand behind our statements, and security measures will still be adhered to, but there is no reason to beat people over the head with these issues and to overstate our case. We will simply release information on a need to know basis only, and keep anything controversial transparent. I will not be dragging anyone into my fights, and will leave such choices up to them. If people want to participate and keep things on the down-low, they can, although it will be kind of hard to promote them if they choose that redundant route; redundant because, with no controversial content on the site, they will not have to keep anything on the down-low. Tampa Shootouts will not be a crusade site. No business of mine will become a crusade as far as the marketing goes (although, because I have strong principle and a passion for my work, this is difficult for me to do. I will leave the crusades on my resource sites, and will not promote them to clients. Tampa Shootouts, and the other three sites, are marketing and support sites, and not resource sites, necessarily, so there is no reason to have anything controversial here). Most of the existing content on Tampa Shootouts will be archived (my attorney will have copies, so that we can prove plagiarism, if needed), which includes most of this blog, which will probably be rebooted. I’ll probably use this content in one of my books, such as in Advanced Model, my modeling book which I am now writing and which I have a publishing deal for. Tampa Shootouts will center on marketing and support. Nothing controversial, mind you; I’ll leave that type of content to my talent resource sites, such as Tampa Bay Modeling, which has some great articles on shootouts which have been praised by others in the industry. Some features of Tampa Shootouts, such as this blog, will be organized properly. The site will also be positioned for marketing and promoting the shootout and workshop events, which will be done soon. I expect to start the Beacon modeling photography shootout events, which will be private and limited to my clients, in April, and will probably roll out the monthly Athena shootouts, which are more public events and are the backbone of our shootouts, this summer. This would mean that the workshops would roll out this fall. I’ll have more information in the content of the overhauled sites, I’m sure. And that is it. Expect this project to take the next week or so. I certainly cannot market the sites until I have them where I need them to be. The Tampa Shootouts, Tampa Workshops, Tampa Photography Events, and the Tampa Modeling Events sites will remain Pioneer Class sites, but with refined menus and user-friendly, marketable content. Please reference my Frontier Pop web site for an idea of how the sites will be structured, minus the published magazine format. Links to articles and experiences which inspired Tampa Shootouts. Warning to models about Tampa Shootouts Standards Have Dropped in the Tampa modeling industry Statement About Tampa Shootouts *Warning to models about other Tampa shootouts* Amateurs VS Professionals PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST Saturday, February 11, 2012 - Tampa Shootouts Blog Post by C. A. Passinault Web Site Work And The Master Plan With Shootouts I will be tipping my hand a little in this blog post regarding my position on the shootouts and the workshops, as well as reveal a bit about why some of the second generation shootout events will not be free events, but rest assured that there is a lot of information which I will never reveal on a web site, nor will I reveal some details to attendees, especially when there is no need to know those details. I’m ahead of the competition in every front, and although I am confident that I would be able to increase my lead even if I revealed everything, I intend to maintain market superiority without going out of my way to help my competition and my aspiring competition (stating the obvious about what needs to be fixed with their events is as far as I am willing to go, and much of the content on Tampa Shootouts falls in that category now). Dominance of the market will be maintained, and I will continue to give myself every advantage possible. Let’s just say that these shootouts and workshops are not my primary business, although they are important to me, and are necessary support resources for my business and some related projects. The trick, however, is to make sure that I minimize conflicts. I also have to minimize the ability of one interest to undermine another, as well as to address security issues, and I have done that. As I have already posted, it’s more of a matter of scheduling right now. I hope to have a definitive schedule on the table by March or April 2012, although I will be aggressively promoting the shootouts in March to raise awareness. That is, as if the shootouts needed much help in that area, because this site absolutely dominates search engine results for any type of photography event in the Tampa Bay market (and those who have been stealing ideas from this web site have already found that out, as many of the people who they are trying to convince, with my concepts, to work with them are aware that I am the true source of those concepts, and it is destroying their credibility and crippling what they are trying to do. Backfired, didn’t it? You thieves are no-talent idiots, and you are known by what you do, as your actions define your integrity and your professionalism. Another cool thing is that the people who know this are not only turned off on working with them on anything, but they also would rather wait for my events instead of compromising and getting involved with a third-rate knock-off of what I have going on. Frustrating, isn’t it?). It’s good to be the market leader! First, let’s get to web site work. I am really swamped right now with working on web sites, as I am assembling and launching a vast network of marketing and support web sites for my photography and design company, Aurora PhotoArts. Although each web site has a dedicated marketing domain, and works as a stand-alone site, each site is also a section, with a dedicated domain, of a much larger site. It is a meta site network (any competitors out there who think that this is a great idea, and who attempt to follow my lead.... Good luck! It will not be cost-effective. I have a ten year head start on web site content, with hundreds of thousands of pages, I have scores of support sites with that content, and I really do know what I am doing. Hope you have a lot of time and money to spend, too!). I am working on the initial 20 Mosaic Class sites right now, and this work is expected to take me until the summer to complete phase one. I was going to roll out three or so a week, but now, because I do not want to neglect my other sites, I am going to take it slower, with only one or two a week, instead. This relaxed schedule will be updated in the Tampa Bay Photography and Design Blog today; While I work on this network of web sites, I still want to be able to update and maintain my other web sites, although this does not mean that I will be able to do a lot of work on those other sites. The Aurora PhotoArts sites have priority, and it is the same in regards to these events. That doesn’t mean that I am going to skimp on the shootouts and workshops, however, and it does not mean that I am taking them less seriously. It just means that my photography and design business is my priority, and that these events are a separate business which is not mixed in with my primary business (although shootout programs such as Beacon do bridge the gap between them when I want to support the events with resources from my photography business). Regardless, though, the shootouts and workshops are VERY important to me, and they have additional purposes which I have not revealed to anyone (there is nothing shady about this, either. I am not misleading anyone who I am in business with, or misleading anyone who I am selling workshops to. There are just some details, and agendas, which are secrets for business reasons, and to maintain competitiveness. If I revealed everything, it would not be smart business, and it would radically alter the balance in the market, as it would change how photographers and event organizers work. It would also do so without me being the position to take advantage of my own concepts, and I would lose control over those concepts, which would take away my leverage in the market. I have plans, and everyone will benefit from those plans). Going back to my web site work, although I will not have time to do any actual shootouts or workshops for a while, I will be working on the business back-end of these events, as well as agreements, releases, and forms (I already have a huge head start on this because everything was done in time for the first event attempt on September 25, 2011. The paperwork was ready, the event was ready, and I was there), and will be working a lot on not only the Tampa Shootouts marketing and support web site, but on Tampa Workshops, Tampa Photography Events, and Tampa Modeling Events, as well. Just realize that, with any shootout, workshop, or modeling event, that Tampa Shootouts will be the main marketing site for everything, leading into Tampa Workshops, with Tampa Photography Events and Tampa Modeling Events bringing up the rear. Just know that, in 2012, we will have several shootouts and workshop events, and that I intend, and plan, to have at least one of every first generation shootout and workshop event this year (that is, the shootouts and workshops revealed on the sites at this time, which are Beacon, Athena, Aperture, Allure, Focus, and Lace). Also note that, of all of these events, that the Athena shootouts are the backbone shootout event for all of the shootouts and workshops, and that it is a regular, monthly event; once Athena debuts, there will be a new Athena shootout event, with its specific title, theme, and purpose, each and every month. I also plan on debuting the first of those advanced second generation shootout events, shootouts which are not free events, before the end of the year (I always plan ahead, and predict what the market will be doing in the near future. Despite not having a single official first generation shootout or workshop event yet, I’m already planning for the second generation, which will be featured alongside the then-established first generation events, in 2013. Please note, too, that the second generation shootouts will NOT replace the first generation, but rather augment them. All of the shootout and workshop event properties developed are designed to be the standard for many years to come, and those first generation events will be in service for a long, long time. Of course, improvements and adjustments will also be made over time to these event properties to keep them cutting-edge, and well ahead of anything else that aspiring competitors, or our few legitimate competitors, the latter not in existence yet, can deliver). Those second generation shootout events will be formatted a lot like the workshops, but will be smaller, leaner, and more specific, with less emphasis on being a workshop with instruction, and more of a photography event where photographers pay to take pictures of professional models, and those models ALL GET PAID. I am aware that some models will not like training other models in workshops, and that they just want to get paid modeling, and that is what these second generation shootout events, shootouts which are not free events, obviously, will be all about. These new shootouts will not conflict or compete with Athena, either, because Athena events are more private events, and are limited to professionals who are being evaluated for subcontracted jobs primarily (well, they are, technically, public shootout events which will be marketed as public shootout events, but you have to be invited to attend, which means that everyone will not be able to attend. This would not make it an open public event). For photographers who want the best work with the best models, with minimal frustration in getting the results that they are going for in their work, the second generation shootouts will be the way to go, and they will be worth the price of admission. I can relate to those professional models who do not like the idea of training their competition. I feel the same way as a photographer. I am a professional independent photographer who has a career as a photographer in a competitive and unstable photography market. I have the edge when it comes to marketing and the business aspects of photography, and my photography and design work is not only excellent (contrary to what a vocal minority claim when they try to judge my work, without being able to cite specifics, of course, which defeats their purpose), but it is by far the most cost-effective in this market. I hardly want to teach anyone how to compete with that. I’d rather work as a photographer, and make money that way, than teach others. With this revelation, however, if I do not want to teach other photographers, why would I ever want to do workshops where photographers are taught? First, there is a market for it, as well as a need. There are too many workshops of questionable quality and motivation in the Tampa Bay market already, and I want to offer a safer, more ethical, professional alternative to what is available now. Second, offering workshops will make photographers more confident and help the overall integrity of the Tampa Bay photography services market, which benefits us all. Third, well, I don’t have to teach. I can subcontract other photographers for that. These are my workshop events, and I own and organize them, as well as execute them, but it does not mean that I have to teach anyone anything. Besides, there are good photographers out there who want to teach. It does not mean that I have to. Oh, and fourth, I want to be able to offer good subcontracted work for photographers, models, and others. It’s all about jobs. We all want to work, don’t we? And fifth, I will make money from the workshops without risking it conflicting with my separate photography business. It’s win-win all around, I say, and that it why I will be doing workshops. Also, there ARE benefits for my photography and design business from doing the shootouts and workshops, but that information is classified. Although I will be keeping the businesses separate because of potential conflicts, all interactions between the businesses are not necessarily conflicts. There are benefits, too, and the benefits will be shared between the businesses as both are enhanced in more ways than I will ever reveal. Then we have my public relations issues, or what some may perceive to be public relations issues. Seriously, if anyone is pissed off or offended by anything on my sites, I really do not want to work with them, and I say this with the confidence that it is far more their loss than it is mine. I do not need them. I have pissed off some photographers, too. There are photographers out there who try to compete with me, and can’t. I could imagine how frustrating that this could be. There are photographers who are into shootouts and workshops, and I have them all going back to the drawing boards, cursing me the entire time as they are promptly and totally schooled. I’m really not doing all of this to purposely piss of people, however. I am sincere about wanting to help the integrity of the photography and the modeling markets, and given time, I will prove it. Give it time, and give it a chance. There have been photographers who were aggressive with me, and wanted me to “sell” them on why they should bother to get involved with one of my free shootout events (Athena). There are some who call me cocky and arrogant, but the way that some of these photographers behave, ironically some of them being the ones calling me those terms, do more to demonstrate that these terms apply to them than anything that I do. There was one who sent me a long ranting letter about not wanting to get involved with my shootouts because he was upset that he had to read 14 pages of what he could not do (not only is this his loss, but this also told me that he took the time to print out the information, which is interesting in itself). Another one, who later proved to be an emotionally unstable psycho (literally. He threatened one of my model friends, as well as one of my photographer friends, over a difference of opinion), wanted me to send him a list of the models who were confirmed to attend. Whatever. I refuse to jump through hoops to sell anyone a free modeling photography shootout event, especially when they are used to evaluate photographers and models for PAYING SUBCONTRACTED JOBS, with no strings attached and no bait and switches. If any model or photographer out there cannot comprehend the benefits of the free shootout and workshop (I’ll explain that, later, as I have some second generation workshops which will take on some attributes of the shootout events) events, they really need to go back to school and learn the business that they claim to be involved with. I suppose that the photographers who I pissed off, and especially the ones who I banned (there are now seven who are banned for life from my events, not including several who have not interacted with me, but who are identified as hostile aspiring competitors), will now try to compete with me in the area of shootouts and workshop events. Good luck. One thing that I know, for a fact, about the information that I do have up on these web sites is that many people, upon reading what I am working on, sizing me up, and seeing what they are up against, are discouraged from competing with me. Don’t you think that was part of the plan? Do you suppose that my sites are engineered to discourage competition by releasing just enough information to make someone think twice about competing? Give them just enough information for them to cry “Oh, S..t!” (I think of a photographer that I nicknamed “Short Bus” doing this in his southern accent, shaking his fist at his computer screen, especially when he scrambled to take off his claims that he was a modeling agent off of the Internet, and it literally cracks me up. It is entertainment for me at his expense, especially when I schooled him and taught him a lesson) and go back to the drawing board, if not give up all together. Do yourself a favor. Don’t underestimate me or my people. We are very good at what we do. Some of you already know that, though. Why is it that over half of the photographers who I have seen out there in the Tampa Bay market are unethical morons? Don’t they know what they are doing? So, I will be fighting people. There will be conflict. There will always be jealous, petty people out there. There will always be amateurs who pretend to be professionals who feel that they are entitled to have my market share, and who will lie, cheat, and steal in an attempt to obtain it because they are insecure and unethical, and really do not know what they are doing. There will also be stubborn professionals out there who are legitimate competition to what I am doing (again, I’m not seeing this in the shootout or the workshop market) who are threatened by my work, and as they refuse to see the big picture, they will only hurt themselves by trying to take my market share. Good luck. This said, I will NOT be dragging anyone into my fights. I am doing a lot of work right now to keep potential conflicts out of my business endeavors, and will be working hard to isolate my clients from my more aggressive activism work. They have complete control over how much they want to get involved, and can stay on the down-low if they wish. That’s the way that it is, and it is the right thing to do, especially for the overall integrity of the market. PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST Tuesday, January 17, 2012 - Tampa Shootouts Blog Post by C. A. Passinault When the “competition” admits that you are better, and that they cannot compete. We set the standards in the Tampa Bay market before we even begin, and it is costing others a lot. As I concentrate on a huge web site project which is for my photography and design company, Aurora PhotoArts, building and deploying a network of 16 Mosaic Class marketing and support web sites in the next two months, I am noticing some things. I’m going to take the time to come full circle, too, and to post my thoughts on this before getting back to my main project. Recently, on January 12, I noticed a “competitor” set up “screening” events for workshops. Get many ideas from our Athena Shootout format? It is obvious that they did. Some people have been studying this site. These people are so predictable. Follow the leader! It really flatters me that these characters tell me, though their actions, that what I have is better, that I am better, and that they have to resort to stealing from me and copying me to be able to compete. That is why they fail. I’d also like to remind everything that, despite their inability to make my ideas work as well as I can, because of some major details that I have purposely kept off of my web sites and under the hood, that it is the thought, and the action, that counts. They are cool with ripping me off, and in their minds, they are ripping me off. They are what they do, or what they perceive that they do. If they “rip” me off, they will do it to you, too; except in the case of their target market, they will probably succeed in ripping you off. If they show that they cannot be trusted, and that they are not honest, though their actions, can you really trust them, and is working with them any real benefit to you? At this point in time, although I did not cancel the first attempt at an Athena shootout event on September 25, 2011 (and I showed up ready to go), and I rescheduled it, we have not had a single shootout or workshop event under Tampa Shootouts or Tampa Workshops. Despite not having an event, we have already set the standard in the Tampa Bay market; I’ve purposely published information on these web sites to help the integrity of the market, and I’ve seen more than one “competitor” (actually, all of them) react to the new conditions that we have introduced to the market, dump their existing business model, and try to copy us. The one good thing about all of this, despite their continuing inability to compete against events which have yet to happen, is that these guys have been forced to pay models and talent who work in their workshops. I’m happy about that. Models who are getting paid working events in the Tampa Bay market where they were not previously being paid can thank me. The funny part is that, in at least one case, that our efforts have driven up the overhead of producing shootout and workshop events substantially, and have cost someone a lot of money. This strategy of changing the market and driving up costs for people who are not good enough to adapt to the new conditions will continue not just for shootouts and workshops, but for my photography business market, too. I’d post the following on my photography and photographer blogs, but those blogs are about to be overhauled, so I will post it here, especially since I know a lot of photographers who are trying to compete with my photography business are reading all of this. Right now, there are photographers who are enjoying “sponsored” results on search engines such as Google, and not bothering to invest resources in effective web sites and marketing. They simply pay to have search results. This strategy is about to become very expensive. Enjoy it while it lasts. Once I solve the SEO 2008 issue (which is really pretty much solved already, anyway, as it was taken care of over a year ago), and get my new web sites to where they need to be, I will begin pouring money into advertising in search engines and sponsored search results, covering all of the angles since my web sites will already be at the top of the search results for relevant searches. I’m going to drive up the costs for advertising with certain keywords, and make it far less cost-effective to advertise in this way. I’m even going to go to the point where I am willing to lose money on it, since I will be able to compensate in other ways; I’ll lose money on advertising with search engines to lock up the competition, and offset those losses in other areas. This will force the competition to work harder, and to invest in real web sites and other tools. There will be no more easy way to do business in this way. It’s going to be so expensive to buy targeted search results, that some will simply quit doing it. It’s going to happen, and this is something that I am very good at. I love driving up costs and operating overhead for the competition. At any rate, since this will be the last post on here for a while, I figured that I’ll give readers some links to some articles that I wrote last year in regards to shootouts and workshops. 2011 was a very interesting year, and I was inspired to finish up work on my modeling photography shootouts and workshops because of experiences that I had in the past year. Until later, enjoy! P.S. And this will be the final blog post before the blog section is organized. You will see.... Those empty navigation links will soon be used for something. While we have plenty of content, and most of this content will be removed from the site, the remaining content will be organized properly. Some content on our news page was removed today, too. Links to articles and experiences which inspired Tampa Shootouts. Warning to models about Tampa Shootouts Standards Have Dropped in the Tampa modeling industry Statement About Tampa Shootouts *Warning to models about other Tampa shootouts* Amateurs VS Professionals PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST Monday, January 9, 2012 - Tampa Shootouts Blog Post by C. A. Passinault We will be doing private Beacon shootouts for a while, and most can watch and wait. We are going to take our time and prepare for public shootouts like Athena and Aperture. This will be the last (long) blog post and update for Tampa Shootouts for a while. I will be spending all of my time working my photography business every day, working on 16 marketing and support sites for my photography business, I’ll be doing even more shoots and Beacon shootouts on the weekends, and on the weekend nights, I will be updating other sites while converting my archived DJ release tapes to digital releases (the joys of having several computers. On the weekends, I will be working with four computers simultaneously). With the DJ releases, there are about 30 of them, and each is 90 minutes, and has to be converted in real time, edited, remastered, converted to MP3's, and then the JPEG covers have to be designed and the program notes have to be written; I’ll be lucky to get four of those done a week. I was a popular underground DJ in the 90's, and I have a huge library of work. See my Tampa DJ Blog for more, and yes, I am far more than just a photographer and an event planner. I’ve already been contacted by music producers who have seen my design and conceptual work, and I’ve booked subcontracted work from them). The project will take at least nine weeks, and I will be slammed until at least mid March, 2012. In the Spring, I will be clear to spend more time on events, and on my talent resource sites. I will also have more time to spend on this. I WILL, however, be doing some Beacon shootouts with my models on the weekends during this time. These shoots will be classified and private, although they will be covered like regular shootout events are, and that coverage will be published in the Spring when I am ready to market the shootouts. Even after that time, I may wait, although the official wait for the Athena shootout debut is Spring. I will no longer depend upon strangers to make these shootout events happen. Everyone can watch our success, and wait. I’ll make you want to participate, and even then, I’ll still be picky about who I allow to participate (get aggressive or testy with me, and I’ll never work with you, and you will never participate with any of my events, either, nor will you be considered for any of my subcontracted jobs. There are way too many professionals out there who I can work with for me to waste my time with B.S.; the trick is to weed through the masses and uncover the real gems who are worth collaborating with. I’d rather spend my time finding those professionals and cultivating a relationship with them where ALL parties involved mutually benefit). Things will look a lot different a year from now, for sure. You will see. Anyone out there who wish to do their own shootouts/ workshops (and I’m sure that they will be copying the formats which I have allowed to be revealed on this site. At least one competitor is now doing “screening” shootouts, an attempt at free events like our Athena shootouts, to audition models for workshops; although they do not have branding, web sites, or other professional resources to support them. It’s nice to see that people are proving with their actions that we are better, as well as the real deal) and compete with me are welcome to try. Go ahead. Try. Please try, and keep trying, because you’ll never achieve what you are trying to do, and succeed, if you have to copy our efforts. Primitives. I’ve been receiving quite a few complaints about the hostile tone of this site, and about all of my opinions that I have been publishing. Well, what do you expect? These shootouts are not even my main business, and I don’t make a dime off of them; I put months of work setting them up, and then no one shows up. Then, after that, a photographer backstabs me. I am quite disgusted by the unreliability of so-called professionals, as well as the unethical and unprofessional conduct, and I don’t have to deal with it. I’m also sick and tired of the photographers stealing from me and backstabbing me, and I do not have to deal with that, either (anyone caught will be banned from working with me or any of my projects, for life. Demonstrate to me that you can not be trusted, and that you lack ethics and integrity, then I will know that you are not worth dealing with, and I will gladly take away your market share). These shootouts will proceed with or without them, preferable without, especially since I only want to work with professionals. I’m going to tell it how it is. The point of the shootouts is to help other professionals, and people need to realize that. If these so-called photographers and models do not realize that, then it is their loss, and not mine (I guarantee that people who are “not interested” will be begging to participate in the future, and I am certainly aware of who these people are). I certainly do not need other photographers to make it in my business, and I already have plenty of models (which is one the problems, I suppose, when my friends are the models whom some of these photographers want to work with, and my models want nothing to do with them). Also, these photographers and models, providing that they are experienced and qualified to work the market, need to realize that the shootout events are a doorway to paying subcontracted jobs at our workshops. They are REQUIRED to participate with the Athena shootouts in order to be considered for those workshops jobs (and this is the main reason that I do not charge anything for the Athena shootouts, as it would not be ethical to charge anyone anything to be considered for those jobs. No bait and switch here, thank you. I’m professional and ethical, and I can be trusted, and the professionals who work with me will find this out. Despite the perception, too, I am also not paranoid. I am aware. There is a difference. I’m also not antisocial, mean, angry, or unfriendly. I’m just frustrated because these people are supposed to be professional, and I am voicing my opinions about the issues. Some of my best friends are at the top of the industry, and I have not only earned their trust, but we get along quite well. They trust me, as well as my views on the market and how to best market their careers. How many in the industry today can say that they have earned the trust of others?). If anyone is angered by these statements, feel free to learn from what I have published and go out and do their own shootout events. Good luck. I will not lose any sleep over it, and they will discover first-hand my frustration about the irresponsibility of others. Maybe then, after they have stood in my shoes, they will realize that my statements are justified. It will also be highly amusing to watch these people try to compete with me, not just in photography, but with my shootouts and workshops. Resistance is futile, and so is competition. Blue Ocean, baby, Blue Ocean. I am into expanding the market and in redefining the rules on how it works (wait until you see what I am about to do to photography in the Tampa Bay market. My innovations will change, and even revolutionize, not only this market, but the industry as a whole). I don’t just run a business, but I run the entire market, keeping the competition off-balance while forcing them to react to the innovations which I engineer. Don’t get mad at me because I am delaying the public shootouts such as Athena. The market has proved to me that it is not yet ready for innovative shootout and workshop events, as those innovations are wasted on the insecure, unprofessional, petty majority. Get mad at the people who have been idiots, as everyone is now paying for their mistakes (and, yes, I am dancing in front of my computer as I write this, literally, because I can. I am writing and jamming to music in the studio, with a virtual light synth lighting up the room from a monitor in the corner. I’m not really mad, as this frees me up to make money in my photography business, and I am kind of glad that people are idiots. I’m having fun!). Of course, I will be removing the inflammatory content on these sites, and will post marketing-friendly, relevant content when I am ready to proceed with marketing the shootouts (and you will not find me ranting on my workshops sites, because unlike the free shootouts where I offer more than the participants offer, making it a “sellers” market, the workshops actually sell something, and they have to marketed well so that they do not alienate our customers. The workshops are more of a buyers market, and it will be tough to bring it up to a balanced sellers/ buyers ratio). I will keep this content up on these sites in the meantime so that people know how I feel, and where I stand. If you are the professional that you claim to be, act like it. Be responsible. Also, learn to recognize a good opportunity in these shootouts, and realize that these are good for your career. Some might not think so right now, and they might want me to “prove” it or to “sell” them on it, but it will become obvious in due time. The shootouts and workshops will happen, they will continue to set the standard in the market, and those who gave us a hard time will find themselves on the outside looking in long after they realize that they were wrong and want to get involved. I remember. PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST Friday, January 6, 2012 - Tampa Shootouts Blog Post by C. A. Passinault A candid statement about Tampa Bay photography shootout events and workshops, modeling events, and the market in general. I’ll try to keep this brief (going back to this opening statement after writing this blog post, it didn’t turn out to be brief, but it needed to be said. Oh, well!), as I have a lot of work to do on other web sites. This, however, must be said. We all know that I have put a lot of work into Tampa Shootouts, Tampa Workshops, and other event projects for photographers and models. I am quite proud of the new standard which has already been set without having a single event, as competitors have reacted, and actually changed the way that they do business as they try to adapt to the new market conditions and compete (in other word, their actions telegraph “You are better than we are, and we have to try to copy you in order to be able to compete. I sure hope that people do not realize that you are better, because we cannot seem to get our shootouts and workshops as good as you have yours, despite our attempt to rip you off.”... Of course, these characters do not realize that trying to rip us off backfires, because we now have massive search engine presence, and just about everyone knows that they are trying to copy us, and what we do, and this destroys their credibility. It’s too much of a risk when anyone can easily verify the true source, and no one can ever be entirely certain about who knows what, and if trying to rip us off will cost them work). I’m very proud of this. This said, you can’t fault what I’ve done so far (If I had done anything wrong, I would be the first to admit to it and to assume complete responsibility). I spent a lot of time and effort working on Tampa Shootouts and the support sites, and did what I said that I would do: On the morning of September 25, 2011, I was there, and everything was ready. Had anyone showed up, we would have had an awesome shootout event. Had anyone showed up, I wouldn’t have had a problem with it. This said, I am not responsible for what others do. If they are unreliable, it’s their deal, and not mine. It doesn’t reflect on me, either, even with the inflammatory content and the charged opinions on here, because at that time, none of that content existed. It can be said that a law of human nature is that people will do what they consider to be in their best interest. This does work, and it tends to make people predictable. After that first attempt at a shootout event, I realized that the events would require support infrastructure, and that I would have to staff them with trusted, reliable professionals so that we could proceed regardless of what anyone else did. I realized that I could not rely upon strangers who claimed to be professionals to make an event happen, at least not anymore, although, in the past, I have done large, successful shootouts, auditions, and group projects with most of the people being reliable (one theory is that people are so saturated with social media and texting these days that they treat everything as disposable now, and don’t respect anything. If you don’t invest in a career, you will not respect it, and, as a result, you will not be professional or dependable because your are not really a professional. Modern technology enables EVERYONE to have a voice, regardless of their qualifications, and that adds a lot of noise where the true professionals are now in the minority, and harder to find if you don’t know what to look for). It’s just ironic that now, when I create and deploy the best events that I have ever made, and the best photography shootout events that the Tampa Bay market has ever seen, that I now have problems that were unheard of in the past, and these problems are completely senseless and unnecessary. That’s just the reality of the situation. We have an industry where people do not have to invest in anything in order for them to claim to be a player. Because of that lack of investment, they do not respect their work, themselves, or others. On the flip side, you have people who take advantage of cheap technology. People want to be photographers to work with attractive women, or whatnot, and they go out and buy a bunch of brand-name photography gear. They then jump in and start working as a “photographer”, without learning their craft, and with questionable motives. They think that just because they have equipment that it makes them a player, and that they are entitled to have market share. Some of these people don’t have the talent or the skill to do professional level work, however, and despite what they claim, they know this, and the result is that they are insecure. That insecurity makes them jealous of real photographers, and untrustworthy. Despite the fact that I do not own the latest and greatest equipment, which I do not need to do good quality work and to do my specialized work in talent headshots and modeling portfolios, I am a professional photographer with a lot of experience and skill. The proof is in my work, which I am also very proud of. I recently had a photographer with limited experience and no talent, but a lot of brand-name equipment, pester me with 1,000 questions (I had to disable my messaging system on Facebook because it was hard to get anything done with all of his messages), and pretend to be a friend. Some models warned me that he like to trash professional photographers because he wasn’t as good, and this was confirmed when he trashed other photographers in my communications with him (I certainly did not trash anyone in my communications with him, and I try to avoid talking bad about anyone, but I did question a photographer who also owned an agency, which is a conflict of interest). Because of this, I did not trust him, but I was open to allowing him to earn my trust over time. The photographer, who is tied into some obscure modeling “school” (which I questioned because I myself have turned down working with well-known national modeling schools on principle; although I do not think that all modeling schools are scams, I do not think that they are a good value, and, as a result, I do not want to be associated with them regardless of how much money that they offer me), kept asking inappropriate questions about rates, so I told him a bunch of decoy numbers. Well, wouldn’t you know that those numbers turned up in an online post from another person attacking me, which tipped me off that he was bad-mouthing me behind my back (I’m not sure where the person who attacked me obtained their rate information, however, because those rates were way higher than anything that I charge. They did a great job making sure that the information was accurate, for sure! Actually, the moron doesn’t have a clue, and they are completely wrong about me.). This, too, was also further confirmed when the idiot who was attacking me posted a glowing interview with him, promoting him as a “real” photographer. This was actually amusing, however. At that point, I had to take a look at his work, which I really did not take the time to do, before. Some of his work was ok, but I never criticized him to anyone or shared my opinions about it. I also figured that his headshot and modeling portfolio work was simply hard to find. Hey, if I was marketing myself, I’d make sure that examples of what I could do would be easy to find. After all, that’s how I get work. People see my work, they call me, and they book me because they like my work. I do not make them promises, or convince them to do it- they call me, and they want to book my work. They are all happy with the work that I do for them, also. Not this guy, as far as finding examples of his work. He tries to sell himself as a modeling portfolio and a talent headshot photographer (ironically, my primary market, and the market that most photographers and aspiring photographers dream of working in), but all that you find are mediocre portraits, with often bad composition. Headshots? What headshots? Modeling portfolios? Where? It’s pathetic, really. Let’s not get into rates, either. This guy does not know what appropriate rates are, and he charges way less than even his mediocre work is worth. Although my rates are privileged information, and only available for clients (with the exception of this one web site that I am working on now, where I will post some rates, and there is a reason for this, but I’m not revealing it), I will say that I don’t do headshots for $100.00, and that I certainly would not do a five look modeling portfolio for $250.00 (I liked the package where he threw in 100 modeling composite cards for $100.00. With the mark up on printing comp cards marginal at best, since the set up and printing costs are so high to begin with, I have to wonder about the quality of those cards. You can get crappy, flimsy, low quality laser comp cards for that, or less, but they are not worth it. This guy, in my opinion, does not know what he is doing; no wonder he kept asking me questions). That’s too low, and you’re just throwing away money at those rates. Hey, if he wants to be known as a low-rent, discount photographer, so be it. Knock yourself out. I’m just over this, really. I don’t have a problem with professional photographers or models. Many of them are my friends. It’s the amateur ones who are the problem, and there are a lot of amateurs. Stories like the one that I just shared are not anything new. I’m used to them. Now, I’m not saying that I am the best photographer in the world, but my work is good, I know what I am doing, it’s worth booking, and I am very proud of it. I work hard, and invest a lot into marketing and my career. What happens, though, is that you have these wannabe photographers, especially the ones who go out and buy a ton of nice equipment, who see me on their radar a lot due to search engine results and word-of-mouth, and they get jealous. I’m sick of this. Just take pictures, pay your dues, learn the business, and may the best, or more specifically, the most relevant photographer for the job, get the work. With this one back-stabbing, low rent, mediocre photographer with a fetish for brand-name equipment, I’d suggest that he sleep with his camera, because that is the best use that he will ever get out of it. You can’t grow talent; you either have it or you don’t. Don’t even try to compete with me. You know that you can’t. I’ve been pissing off photographers for years by doing good work in a more cost-effective manner with equipment that they think is inferior. The equipment, or camera, does not make the photographer- Talent and skill do. While skill can be earned over time, talent is something that you ether have or you don’t. Some photographers get around a lack of talent by simply copying what other photographers do. This is why they never really succeed. My clients love my work. I love my work. Although I do not allow equipment, or lack thereof, to define me as a photographer, or to define my career, better equipment does make the job easier, and even opens up new capabilities, if you already are a good photographer. The Tampa Bay modeling market is commercial, and not fashion, at least not yet. Actor and talent headshots need to accurately represent what the subject looks like, and also do not need to be overdone. As a result, modeling portfolio photography and talent headshots in the Tampa Bay market do NOT require a ton of equipment and fancy cameras. My work proves this. Now, as Tampa Bay does grow toward fashion, and for jobs such as high-end commercial photography, you do need a lot of equipment, the point is that in order to work those higher-end markets, you already have to be a good photographer, and just getting the equipment does not make you that photographer. I’m ready for newer and better equipment, and for other types of photography, I’ll need it. It’s just that what I use now is fine for modeling portfolios and headshots, and even when I obtain more and “better” equipment, I will never get more cost-effective and logistically efficient as I am now. The returns on that investment for what I specialize in now are not that much better with more and better equipment, and it cannot get much better than it already is. Of course, as I’ve already stated, you have to be a good photographer to begin with to make anything work. A photographer friend (obviously not the backstabbing photographer) of mine posted on Facebook that haughty statements on web sites, and bragging about your work, inspire your competition to bad mouth you to people. Well, I don’t brag about my work, and I can’t help it if people perceive it that way. I would also submit that people are going to do what they are going to do. You can be the most humble person in the world, but if they are jealous of you and covet you market share, they are still going to bad mouth you. This is especially true if you ARE too humble, and they perceive you as weak, so it works in more than one way. A person is defined by what they do, and through their actions. You cannot control what people do or think, and even if you could, you shouldn’t have to. Which brings us to the shootouts. I set up the best modeling photography events possible, and they are very well put together, so that professionals can network, and models and others can get work. Although the shootouts and the workshops are NOT my main business, and photography is, I am working hard at this, and I am putting a lot into it. With photography being my main business, however, I have to make sure that the shootouts and the workshops do not conflict with my photography business. This is why, back in 2005, when I watched a Tampa glamour photographer do high-risk modeling photography shootouts (charging $500.00 a person, which was way too much, in my opinion, for any shootout or workshop event, just like any photographer charging $600.00 for a modeling portfolio or testing is charging too much, as well), and promoting such work as mainstream and career/ marketing safe, I knew that, eventually, I would have to start my own shootout events. Now, what happened back in May 2011 attending the shootout event in Tampa was NOT the reason that I created Tampa Shootouts and Tampa Workshops; it was the final straw, and a catalyst for the shootout event concepts that I had been working on for years (and, no, I did go to the event to shop them or to steal ideas. I do not do this, and even if such things had never happened to me, my sense of ethics and integrity, which I take very seriously, would prevent me from ripping anyone off; if I even use the ideas of anyone, I usually improve upon them, and I always cite the source, and never pass off the ideas of others as my own (of course, it could be argued that since I have never found the ideas of anyone in the Tampa Bay market worth that much, that my integrity in this matter has yet to be truly tested). My motives were pure, and I was honest. Even though the event was poorly organized and there was nothing worth stealing, and the fact that I was isolated from most of the event to begin with, I still would not have taken any ideas had they had any good ones to take. People try to steal ideas from me all of the time, and I would not do it to anyone). All of the concepts, with the exception of the anti-sniping consideration, which was an issue that another photographer brought up where I expanded upon it and came up with solutions and a name for the conduct, are my own, and original. Why else would those other organizers drop their long-established business models and immediately create new ones trying to copy what I have revealed on these web sites? Follow the leader. So, I’m going to be bullish about this. I’m going to stick to my guns. I’m going to observe what people say and do. I’m going to remember. I’ve solved the potential conflicts between my photography business and the shootouts and workshops. I’ve resolved the attendance issues and the security issues, too. It’s all about pure logistics, now, such as building up the support resources and the staff that we need to proceed. Regarding conflicts, some large ones that I were concerned about were hostile competitors attending my shootouts to shop me and to learn from me. Another was that I am a professional photographer in a competitive business, and I was not too keen on training other photographers (I always wondered about that glamour photographer and his shootouts, because he seemed too focused on teaching photographers. What, he couldn’t book much work on his own, so he resorted to teaching? That is the easiest way to avoid a conflict of interest!). Well, with the workshops, I will subcontract other professional photographers to teach them. I’m not going to be teaching workshops, as I am NOT going to train photographers in my marketing and business tactics so that they can use them to compete with me. Besides, I am a working professional photographer who simply wants to work my career, and I will organize and run the workshops because it will help the integrity of the market, as well as be a source of profit which does not conflict with my main business (Shootouts and workshops ARE different, also. I do not make a dime off of shootout events such as Athena, which is our main, and backbone, shootout event series. I will, however, be making money from the workshops. I will also be making money from some second-generation shootout events now in development, as those shootout events will not be free events like Athena is. If any one does not understand how this will work, please read more, or take a business course somewhere, because I am frankly tired of the ignorance about business basics in the modeling and the photography industries. I’m not going to waste my time explaining it. I recently had a so-called professional model call me a fraud because I disagreed with her about agencies, where I stated that models can have a professional career on their own independent of the agencies, and only use the agencies as one of many sources of modeling jobs. She was brainwashed by the agencies to blindly think that the agency way was the only way; had she known anything about business, she would have known that an open market is superior to a closed market. Independent trumps limited, and closed, every time. The modeling industry is backwards and corrupt because the agencies which are supposed to be working FOR the models overstep their bounds and control the models. The agencies need to know their place, and stay in their proper place, and model who allow themselves to be managed and dependent upon the agencies are going to lose work from models who not only compete with them, but who also compete with the agencies themselves, cutting off both the agency models and the agencies from the jobs. It’s already happening, and it will happen a lot more, soon. This is why agencies are becoming less and less relevant in the industry, and some people simply cannot accept that. Also, to the idiots who suggest that I “educate” myself about how the industry “works”, well, I might suggest that they take their own advice for once. I wrote the book on working independently; hell, I’ve been doing it for years. I am an expert on how the modeling industry works, and I have the backbone to stand up and say that enough is enough, and that there are better ways. These spineless, clueless idiots are the ones that need the education, and I am about to educate them as my associates and I change both the modeling and the photography markets here in the Tampa Bay area, at the expense of those who allow themselves to be ignorant and limited. Idiots.). So, anyone planning to attend workshops to learn from me will be disappointed. Besides, there are other qualified professionals who have careers, too, and who actually feel more comfortable teaching potential competitors. Well, this has already been longer that I wanted it to be. I just had a lot to write about, and to express. I have a email from a photographer that I would like to share. He’s a good photographer, and a great guy, and I ask for his forgiveness for sharing this (and I will remove it if he requests it). This is a on the fly sort of post, though, and it hits things on the head quite well. 10/15/11 4:53 PM Hello: I saw the post you made in the (portfolio networking site) forums about group shoots in the Tampa, Florida area. When I went to look at the post there was nothing there. I don't know if you forgot to write something or if the powers that be at (portfolio networking site) decided to delete your post. I am an active photographer living in the Sarasota, FL area and I have been shocked at the lack of shoots in this area as opposed to the numbers of so-called "photographers" who whine and cry about it but yet do absolutely nothing about it. I have tried on two separate occassions to set up shoots in my area and have gotten little if any responses (at least he knows how I feel - CAP). If you are setting up and promoting group shoots in the Tampa, FL area I am very interested in learning about and attending some of them. I would appreciate it if you would keep me in mind and advised of your shoot as you set them up. Thanks and I look forward to hearing from you and perhaps attending one of your shoots in the near future. My reply: 10/18/11 5:41 AM Hi! MM didn't ban or remove the post. I did, and then tried to delete the thread, because the post was expired. I found out, though, that once you post a thread, that you cannot remove it. With the site leaving an empty thread up there, it does appear that I spammed the forums and that they removed it, but that is not the case. Regarding the shootouts, I, too, know what you are talking about, because my first attempt at a shootout last month had a lot of no-calls / no-shows. I'm fixing this. I have the first of my monthly Athena Modeling Photography and Networking Event Series shootouts in January, and then will start having workshops soon thereafter. With the shootouts also being used to evaluate both models and photographers for paid subcontracted work in the workshops, I don't see any problem getting people to become involved. That, coupled with the massive marketing that I have planned, and the on-site marketing where people can see videos and other coverage of the shootouts and workshops that they missed, will help to get people interested. Once these events get going, they will quickly become both dominant and popular. Problems fixed. I looked at your work, and I like it. I also completely understand where you are coming from. You are certainly invited to participate with the shootouts, if you wish! Feel free to check out http://www.tampashootouts.com/ and http://www.tampaworkshops.com/ . Both sites use a concept that I call "symbiotic marketing and support". This is the solution that the Tampa Bay area needs, for sure! Sincerely, Chris Passinault Aurora PhotoArts Those emails certainly do hit it on the head. Regarding these shootouts and workshops, I do not care what anyone thinks, as I do have interested professionals (and even if I did not, I have measures in place that would make them interested). They are going to happen in 2012. Right now, I’m tied up with photography bookings, and web site work. It will be a few months before I can spend much time on the events. They are coming, however. I also would like to point out that the shootouts are doing a great job of screening the flakes from the real professionals; the professionals who are our real target market. These shootouts and workshops will happen, they will be awesome, they will build momentum, and the people who gave us a hard time or refused to initially participate will be kicking themselves. I’ve already had at least one photographer who was excited about the workshops quit for whatever reason- What is he going to do, now? If he still wants to do workshops, either on his own or with others, such as competitors, I wish him luck. Tampa Shootouts and Tampa Workshops will dominate and lead the market. We will maintain the standard. This is the best ship, and people who jump overboard will find that it will be difficult to be rescued and to return to the ship in such rough seas. Go right ahead. Drown yourselves. When the shootouts start, which could be as early as next month with our first Beacon Shootouts, I will be working with my models and select photographers. These private shootouts will be covered just like any other shootout event, and the material developed from them will be also used to market and support the other shootouts and workshops (in marketing material. Content supporting specific events will not misrepresent that they were done at that event, which would imply that the individual pictured attended and participated with that event. Photographs and videos represented as taken as a specified event would NOT use Beacon material, and the context will be clarified in any use of any material for any reason. Expect published references where content, such as photographs, are referenced back to the source event for clarification. I’m not going to lie to anyone). Once the Beacon Shootouts help build buzz, and they will be covered on Tampa Shootouts and our other web sites (which already dominate search engine results), we will have the staff of supporters to staff our other shootouts events. The Athena shootouts will finally debut, and they will happen every month regardless of how many outside people participate because the core staff are all that we will need. Also, after the general public checks out our coverage, and sees what they are missing, they will want to get involved (I have other things planned, too, but I will not reveal those strategies here). Additionally, professional models, photographers, and make-up artists will get involved because attending the Athena shootouts is mandatory for the consideration of any of our paid subcontracted workshop jobs (there is more, too, but, again, those strategies are classified. I don’t have a problem sharing information on here that could help competitors, but I will not give away the store; I often keep key details a secret so that stolen concepts are not as good and as effective as they could be). PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST Wednesday, January 4, 2012 - Tampa Shootouts Blog Post by C. A. Passinault Independent Modeling R.A.S. to be used in screening process. New photography shootout event property. Site content overhaul planned. To start, I wish to convey to everyone reading this that I hope that they have had a happy new year, as this is the first blog post on Tampa Shootouts for 2012. With the holidays now behind us, we can now get back to work. With all of the issues that we’ve had with our shootout events so far, with the no-call, no-shows in the initial Athena shootout event attempt back on September 25, 2011, and the security issue which cancelled the second attempt on January 15, 2012, progress has been made, and solutions are now in place. Now, it is only a matter of scheduling (which I will get into in a bit). Regarding the main solution, which will solve the issue of the no-call, no-shows, as well as most of the security issues, at the same time, I already had a solution developed. For the past five years, I have been working on a way to make models accountable for what they did in their careers, as well as to provide an easy way for modeling jobs to evaluate the models before they booked them, enabling the modeling jobs be more at ease cutting modeling agencies out of the loop when booking independent models. In 2008, I talked to some photographers and some models who indicated that models were becoming especially flaky, and although I had not experienced this behavior at that time (I would have shootouts with as many as six models, and of those six, maybe one would cancel, and that would be rare. Most of the time, everyone would show up and do a great job), I realized that this would undermine the independent modeling movement and give the agencies more credibility than they deserved. So, with two years of work already into a system which would make models accountable, work on that system increased. Today, that system, the Risk Analysis System, is ready to be implemented, and I would like to say to all of the modeling agencies out there who have been resting easy, because they thought that the independent modeling movement had tried and failed, that they have not seen anything yet. We are just now getting started, after a decade of research, development, and preparation work. 2012 may not be the end of the world as we know it, but for the modeling and talent agencies, the writing will certainly be on the wall. If anyone out there plans on investing in modeling agencies, depending upon modeling agencies, or on starting a modeling agency of their very own, I would suggest that they reconsider, as agencies are about to become a bad investment (and do not think that modeling jobs will avoid dealing with independent models and will not cut agencies out of the loop. I know better, because I have talked to a LOT of agency clients over the years, and believe me when I say that they are hardly loyal to the agencies. They tell me that agencies are mostly useless, that they add unnecessary costs, that many bookers and agency owners are shady, and that they would gladly avoid working with them- and they were very interested in what I was working on, and what I had to say. I’ve also done some work quietly behind the scenes that the agencies are not aware of, and if they were, they would be very, very concerned. An open market is superior to a closed market, the closed market being the agency way, and I’m going to prove it. It just will not be me alone, however, as I will have hundreds of models and others to help). This is especially true for what is ground zero in a revolution in the modeling industry, which is Tampa Bay. The Tampa Bay agencies will be the first to experience a radical change in the market, and most of them will end up losing market share. Some of them will end up going out of business, and I won’t be sad about that, to be honest. Oh, and models and photographer who kiss up to agencies and who are dependent upon them are in for a very rude awakening, as they will not be able to compete with independent models, talent, and photographers. They will deserve what they get, too. This post is not about modeling agencies, or about Independent Modeling, however. It is about the topics above in the title, and the first thing is about using the Independent Modeling R.A.S. (Risk Analysis System) to screen photographers and models for participation in the shootout and workshop events. It is ironic that I already had the solution already developed and ready to deploy, and I only had to make a few minor adjustments. So, we now benefit from five years of work to solidify the integrity of our events, and it did not take five years from this point because the work was already done. It can be said that anyone can be a saint in paradise, or, at least, pretend to be. It can also be said that the true character and integrity of an individual, or a professional, can be determined from how they behave when they are down and out, or they feel that they have their backs against the wall. Insecurity brings out the worst in some people. Just like alcohol reveals who a person is, the same goes with insecurity. I don’t want to assume the worst in others before I know the facts, but I want to be in the position to minimize risks while retaining the leverage to address issues as they happen. Today, with freebie social media accounts, low cost, powerful technology, and digital cameras, just about anyone can go out and claim to be a photographer or a model with no investment into their career. It does not make them so, however, nor does it make them a contender in the market or competition for real professionals (and they find this out when professionals take work from them). There is a lot of noise out there, and it takes some time and effort to find good signals. So, is buying a lot of photography equipment an investment? Not exactly, because I see a lot of self-proclaimed “photographers” out there who have gone out and bought a lot of equipment, and they think that having equipment entitles them to be a player in the industry, and to have market share. Many of these so-called “photographers” take short cuts, and while they DO have nice cameras and gear, they lack the instincts, the skill, and often, the talent to be professional photographers. This takes time, and it takes training (ding, ding, ding.... Workshops taught by working professionals, and NOT overpriced, under qualified schools. Workshops and professional instruction can help take the edge off of the time needed to gain experience. I certainly wish that I had professional instruction back when I was learning, as I would have advanced faster, but, in retrospect, learning on my own made me a very strong photographer, as well as an industry leader, so I have no regrets). Despite what they say, they realize this, too, and this makes them insecure. The insecure aspiring photographer is often untrustworthy, and experience is proving this. Worse, still, is that, among these “photographers”, you have ignorance, which makes what they do dangerous even if they have good motives (I recently had a photographer suggest that I “educate myself”, which is hilarious because he is a relatively new photographer with a limited portfolio and mediocre work; he is also making a lot of mistakes by making compromises, working with modeling schools, kissing the butts of others who he perceives that he can use to benefit his “career”, being dependent upon agencies, pitching himself on cheap photography services at low cost which still isn’t worth his level of work, and other ignorance. Hey, I’m not the one making those common mistakes. I’ve been doing professional work in the Tampa Bay market for OVER 11 years now, and when a photographer with several times my equipment cannot compete with my work, I’m not concerned. I also wrote the book on the independent talent movement, which includes models and photographers, and you do not write the book on getting work without being dependent upon agencies by not knowing how the industry, and about how agencies, work. I consider the source when it comes to any opinion, and I’m hardly insulted. I suggest that he quit kissing the butts of others, grow a backbone, and educate himself, because both his words and actions demonstrate that he has a lot to learn.). Many of these photographers jump into photography without comprehending the power of it, and, subsequently, they do not respect that power. I see many “photographers” who pick up a camera and take pictures of women in provocative poses, and/ or modeling with little clothing on. Although this is a legitimate photography and modeling market, such high-risk work is not for amateurs, and if done without professional judgement, it can end careers before they begin. They think that sexy is mainstream modeling, when, in fact, it is high-risk work which amateurs have no business doing because it can cripple that marketability of all involved. Such photographers are like children with a loaded gun, and noticing that many Tampa shootout and workshop events mix such work with amateurs, I was inspired to do shootouts and workshops of my own; to set a professional standard in the market (and, yes, I’m also looking at a certain glamour photographer who used to do a lot of shootout workshops in the Bay area several years ago, and who promoted high-risk work as mainstream and. Your reign is over, and I’m going to make sure that people know what they are doing if they choose to specialize in high-risk work, as there needs to be an ethical, professional, safer alternative to what has plagued the market over the years. I’m also going after your market with the Allure shootouts and the Lace workshops, and will make sure that all of the participants know of the risks involved, and, if they choose to specialize in that kind of work, which they will have to settle for, how to do it right without making their models look trashy - Although I really don’t think that most of the people who take exploitive pictures of women, until now, really care. Women need to be respected and photographed in a dignified manner, and if you know what you are doing, this CAN be done in sexy, high-risk work! The exploitation needs to stop, and it is going to, because professional standards will be introduced to the market! Also, most people need to choose, because it is very difficult to work both mainstream and high-risk markets, although I will show people how to pull this off if they want to try. If you have too much “fun” taking pictures, you hurt people because your fun is at their expense, and this is wrong!). Pictures are forever, literally, and once a photograph is taken and it is out there, it can never be undone. Taking all of this into account, I would estimate that over half of the “photographers” and “models” in the Tampa Bay market today are not worth dealing with. Over half. That, folks, is the root of the problems that we’ve had with our shootouts so far. So, what would be an investment? I’d have to say a solid portfolio showing professional-level work in a range of genres. I’d also have to say having a real web site, a work history, and references from other professionals. You are, after all, what you do. I’m just wondering how these so-called photographers and models think that they are going to have careers, and compete with really professionals, when they are so unreliable. I will state that the amateurs out there, and they are amateurs if they are unreliable, will have to get their acts together when the shootouts and the workshops get underway and professional models, photographers, and others band together, because that is the only way that they can compete. At any rate, adopting a siege mentality is ultimately self defeating, and I’m not going to allow the threat, or the perceived threat, of unreliable and untrustworthy people change me or what I do. I’m just going to take the relevant, necessary precautions and let people either define or hang themselves. After all, one of the purposes of these shootouts is to help determine who is worth working with, and so far, I would have to say that it has succeeded brilliantly. I should not get annoyed when one of the purposes that have been engineered into the shootouts are working as-designed. So, I will say that all participants of the shootouts will be screened, and some of them will be screened in the shootout events themselves. I will say that in my dealings with photographers and models in the past 12 years that I have met quite a few highly talented professionals, and most of them have become not only colleague, but my friends. What do most of them have in common? Well, they actually work their careers. They have web sites, portfolios, a work history, references, and they are all reliable. This is why I was so surprised when I began to experience so-called photographers and models who were unreliable and untrustworthy, as I was not used to that experience, but it should not have been a surprise when these people obviously had not invested in their careers. The specifics of the screening process are classified, although I can say that I am very much against discrimination, and they I will not be discriminating against anyone. I can reveal that we will be looking at the investments that aspiring participants have made in their careers. I can also reveal that we will not be allowing anyone who is a competitor of our shootouts and workshops to attend on principle, although I do have the final say. Also, information shared and dispensed at our events will be on a need to know basis, only. I also have specifically formatted these events to be separate from my photography business, so there is no need to share anything about my business, which includes rates, services, marketing tactics, how my business works, or anything else (if you want to learn any business tactics, which will never be my front-line tactics, you will have to pay for that information at our workshops. It will be worth it. Although the tactics that I am willing to demonstrate are good, and they will give you an edge over your competition in the current market, for me, most of those tactics are over five years old, and do not compare with what I am working with now. What I am using now is classified, and enables me to have leverage in the market. I do not give out current business cards or any new material to competitors, nor do I give out any information which may reveal what my market strategies and plans are; some might think that I do this on my web sites, but I can assure you that it only seems that way. I will not help anyone compete with me). The shootouts and the workshops are separate from my photography business, and that is the way that it is- it is one of the reasons that it took me six years to start the shootout and workshop projects, as I had to figure out a way to do it without it conflicting with my photography business or risk my market position. Our Beacon Shootouts were set up as a buffer of sorts so that I could staff my other shootouts with models and clients of my photography business, and one of the main purposes of Beacon is to prepare those clients to help keep my businesses separate, although, to be fair, my clients do not have any business secrets to share, either, because information in my business is on a need to know basis, too. For me, trust must be earned, and the only people who know a lot about what I do are people who have earned my trust, and who have a need to know. Currently, after all of these years, and all of the model and photographer contacts that I have, that would be three models and two photographers. I’m hoping that, through working in the shootouts and workshops, that this number will grow. It will grow. I’m certainly not going to allow a few idiots to discourage my plans for the shootouts and the workshops, and to make everyone pay for their mistakes. If you are ethical and professional, and you have integrity, you will benefit greatly from these events. I am looking for professionals to work with, and we will all benefit from collaborating. Alrighty. Some of the following is addressed more appropriately in the Tampa Shootouts News section today, but I will touch on it. I will also share some secrets here which will NOT be revealed in our news section because, well, it’s not official, yet. It’s coming all the same, however! We have added a new shootout event property today which joins Athena, Beacon, and Allure, and that new shootout event property is officially called the Aperture Photography Shootouts. Right now, the exact purpose of Aperture is classified, as it is way too early to reveal what it will be used for, but I do have a really cool chart up right now, both here and in our news section, which gives a few clues on what the Aperture Photography Shootout events will be all about. Study that chart graphic and spark both your imagination and curiosity. The chart reveals event frequency, cost of participation, and the relationships between all of the shootout and workshop events. The chart also reveals more subtle information. There ARE clues there, but you will have to really study the chart, and think, to figure it out. I don’t make these things easy, and I don’t have to, now, do I? Remember that, with the shootouts especially, that I negotiate from a position of strength. It is a sellers market, although no one should ever have to sell a free event which is a benefit to the participants. The story behind Aperture goes back a few weeks ago when I reformatted, and expanded, both the Athena Shootouts and the Beacon Shootouts. The Beacon enhancements are there to stay, but there were some conflicts with the additions to Athena. So, I took those enhancements, worked on them some more, and created an entirely new shootout event property around them. No more conflict, and it serves a very important function in the big scheme of things. Although Aperture will not be a frequent shootout event (which was one of the conflicts with the monthly Athena events), it will be critical for some things. The evolution of all of this continues. I will reveal that Aperture, just like Athena, Beacon, and Allure, is a free photography shootout event. That’s it for now. Just look at the chart, and wonder. Time for a secret, though, now that we are on the subject of free events, and the costs of events. I keep the overhead low on the free events, as it needs that way to keep it tenable and sustainable, as well as cost-effective. Although it is a no-brainer that workshops where I have to pay subcontracted professionals to teach are not free events (look at the chart. You will see that the Lace Workshops cost more to attend than the more mainstream Focus Workshops, and there are reasons for that, although I will say that the Lace Workshops will cost less than the glamour shootout workshop events that the glamour photographer offered years ago. You will also see that the Lace Workshops will not happen as often as the Focus Workshops. I have everything figured out, which includes, but is not limited to, things which I have not revealed on these web sites. Consider that.), as I am not going to pay anyone out of my pocket, any event which has high overhead will cost money to attend. Workshops are workshops, though, and are geared to aspiring professionals or for professionals who wish to learn new skills. For established professionals who just want to shoot and work on their portfolios, without any particular organized instruction, I’m working on new event properties. I have second-generation shootouts in the works (which will not be revealed or launched before our existing events are up and running) which, although they will NOT be free shootout events, will be more like photography shootouts than workshops. They will not cost as much as a workshop, but they will not be free events, either. The free shootout events will remain free, and there are reasons for that (remember that I do not reveal all of the details on web sites, that the details of these events are invisible to most participants, that there are things in all of the events which are classified, and that all of my event properties are designed to be highly resistant to reverse-engineering and copying; discouraging attempts to undermine or to compete against them. Those who try to copy and to rip off my events will never be able to compete because they will not be able to get them to work as well; at the most, they will come up with third-rate, counterfeit knock-off events which are not nearly the value as the real deal, and the source, is) even after the second-generation shootout events are deployed, but those upcoming shootout events that are not free will be an unbeatable value. Just remember that just because it is a shootout does not mean that it has to be free. I all boils down to value, features, benefits, overhead, and format. A second-generation high-risk modeling photography event might target the same market as the free Allure shootout event, but the purposes and the format are different. They will be engineered to present few conflicts, and will not undermine the market and the purpose of the others; my shootouts and workshops will not compete against each other. The event which costs will have a higher concentration of professional models, and other features worth paying for. Besides, Allure is targeted for professionals, and it is invitation-only, as well as being used as a working audition for the consideration of professionals for the Lace Workshops and other paid subcontracted jobs for that market. That second-generation, high-risk modeling shootout would be marketed, it would be more public, would not be used to audition professionals for any jobs, and the models would be there specifically to have pictures of them taken because they would get paid to participate. This said, do not expect all shootout event properties to be free events, although all of the events have their relevant purposes, and both the free events and the events which costs have their trade-offs. Even the free events are a great value! Which brings us to when. There will be shootouts in 2012. I’m not sure about the workshops, yet, as all of the shootouts have to be up and running to enable to the workshops, and that requires at least a three month lead-in period. We will have a ton of Beacon shootouts, which are very exclusive events, mostly for my models, but some will also have invited professional photographers and others participating (the latter being the expanded part of the event format, as I saw no reason to create another event property to evaluate and prepare photographers and others to support the other shootouts). I hope to have our first Athena shootout event in the Spring of 2012, but remember that those Athena shootout are the backbone of our shootout events, and once started, they have to run every month, which will require resources and an investment of time. Right now, this all works out great because my time is limited. The Beacon shootouts will be done several times a month by default, and the shootouts will be used to build support resources for the other shootouts and workshops. Before I can commit to regular monthly Athena shootout events, though, I have to work on more content for the four marketing and support sites for Tampa Shootouts and Tampa Workshops, I have to relaunch Independent Modeling, and then I have to build and launch 16 marketing and support web sites for my photography and design business. That’s are least four months of work, minimum, and will push us well into the Spring of 2012 (As I am writing this, however, I am quite cold, so Spring is sounding better all of the time. I’m sure that may people would not appreciate doing a shootout event on location in freezing weather). I’m also going to be very busy running my photography business for the next few months. Eventually, I will find a balance between the business and this second business, but right now, I really need to concentrate on my photography business, because it will support everything else which is coming. You will wait, because it is worth the wait, and I can wait. It’s not like there is anything else in the market right now that can even come close to the shootouts and the workshops that we’ve put together, although, to be fair, we have published an excess of information on the sites to set standards in the market and to show the competition how it is really done. We WANT them to do better, so that it will help the overall condition of the market. So far, this has worked out great, because we have sat back and watched ALL of our competition react to what we have out there now. They have abandoned their old business plans, and have changed to try to match what we have revealed so far. This has been especially great for several reasons. First, models can thank us for getting paid at workshop events because just the threat of competition from us has forced the others to start paying the models. This is good for models, but it has also substantially increased the overhead of our competition, and for those who are less business inclined, it is making it really tough to operate (I’m sure that a few of them are now losing money, and are cursing me out with every event that they have to pay to do). We are costing them money, and we have not even technically begun yet! We have already set the standard in the market! This said, our shootouts and workshops will eventually have to begin, but right now we have time to work on our formats and to also work on these marketing and support web sites. At the moment, there is some rather unfriendly content on both Tampa Shootouts and Tampa Workshops (mainly Tampa Shootouts), and this is intentional. I will keep my complaints up for now, because people need to know where we stand. Before the public shootouts begin in a few months, however, we will be overhauling the content on the sites to be more marketable. At that time, my more personal remarks, such as me insulting people, and some of the blog posts, will be removed. Until then, please enjoy! I do! PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST Friday, December 30, 2011 - Tampa Shootouts Blog Post by C. A. Passinault Last post - for 2011. Athena Shootouts delayed to at least Spring 2012. Security issues to be resolved. This is my last blog post on the Tampa Shootouts site...... until next year. 2011 has just over a day left, and then I’m working hard in the busy Q1 modeling portfolio photography market in the Tampa Bay area, which will leave me no time for public shootout events which do not pay anything. I have to book shoots. I did a survey on the Internet today, and discovered a growing number of new-generation photographers (photographers which became active in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010... anyone newer is rarely competition) in the market who not only do good work, but they have some well thought-out marketing web sites which not only use some of the obvious tactics on my web sites, up to including the color scheme, but the photographers are gunning for my market. The latter has me concerned, although most of these guys are making mistakes which will take them some time to figure out and resolve. Still, I cannot rest on my laurels, and fortunately, I do not have to. I’ve been a working professional photographer who specializes in modeling portfolios and talent headshots in the Tampa Bay market for over 11 years now, and, really, I’ve only just begun; my work so far is only the warm-up. I had a meeting with one of my model friends back in November, and we discussed the past decade in the market, as well as the future. I told her that things were going to get really intense, because some of the things that I am about to introduce to the market will not only alter the balance, but it will revolutionize it. Some old competitors will realize that I am booking a lot of work in modeling and talent photography, booking work with models especially, and they will know that I’ve figured out how to work the market in ways that they have never dreamed of, and it will inspire them to jump back into it. I will demonstrated to them that there is a viable modeling photography market, still, despite all of the people running around with digital cameras shooting for free, or for cheap (hey, water out of the tap is free, too, although companies still make a lot of money, legitimately, selling bottled water. Consider that!) I told my model that the future of the Tampa Bay photography market would see an arms race of sorts with web sites and photography and design services, a new cold war which I will be leading. I do not care about how good of a photographer that they are, especially when their work is not as cost-effective to do, and their quality benchmarks are hard to sustain at competitive rates, but they are not me. I’m much, much more than just a photographer. This is why models and talent come to me. I do expect most of the competition to follow my lead, and some will try to outright copy me. Great. People still seek out the source, and pass up the knock-offs. Remember that. I’m certainly not going to be reacting to what my competition is doing, especially when I do not have to. They will be reacting to me, and to what I do in the market. I’ve been seeing this for the past four years, and I expect to see it even more once I get my latest plans into high gear, and those plans have nothing to do with shootouts and workshops. Of course, with recent security issues raised with the Tampa Shootouts free public photography shootout and networking events, such as Athena, it is going to be a while before that can happen, as I need security issues resolved. It’s much like the United States (which would be me) and Russia (the best of my competition) during the cold war. Don’t you think that it would be kind of tough for adversaries to do joint operations when they are in brutal, heated competition? This is one of the reasons that I created the Beacon shootouts, and why there are so many warnings with Athena where no one is allowed to ask questions about how I do business. Those precautions, though, are not enough. I can speak for myself, and I can say that my intentions are honest (and, really, even if I did have something to learn from other photographers about business and marketing, and, to date, looking around constantly and thoroughly, I have not seen a single photographer in the Tampa Bay market who has me beat in this area, and even if they DID do marketing or business better, I certainly would not try to learn from them dishonestly). I can’t say that for other photographers, however, and I really do not know who to trust at this point. Over half of all photographers that I have dealt with in this market have been proven to be untrustworthy, in my experience, and this really paints a sad picture for the professional integrity of the Tampa Bay market. Currently, there are a little over ten photographers whom I trust, and the rest are big question marks. Sure, I am all of for collaborative competition, but it only works well, and all parties benefit, only when all of the parties are professional and ethical. I only want to deal with other professionals, and they are proving to be tricky to find. It seems that when people are starving and are insecure, their true nature emerges. Show me how you are when you are down and out, and that’s the person that you really are, and that is your true character. So, until the security issues can be resolved, the public shootout events, which means Athena, are on hold, and with those, the workshops as well. I estimate that it will be at least spring, 2012, before we can kick off the public Athena shootouts, and late summer to fall before we can begin the workshops. It’s sad that it has come to this. It’s not me, though, it’s them, and I have evidence that cannot be disputed. I’m not going to ignore the facts and be taken for a fool. One of the reasons that I don’t feel that I can trust many of these photographers is that I keep finding out things which do not make me comfortable. I started seeing some of this in 2008, and have made effective adjustments, but now, I’m seeing it a lot more. I’m seeing photographers studying my web sites and launching sites that aggressively go after my market. I’m even seeing them copy my gray/ blue/ white color scheme (and no, I am NOT changing that just because photographers like my colors and copy them. I was here first, and because I AM a professional who knows what I am doing, I did not copy anyone or steal from them! Besides, with over 16 marketing and support sites, mine will be the first that others see, anyway!). This cold war in the market that I predicted when I talked to my model is just beginning, and it is going to be messy. I’m winning, and I will continue to win while I increase my lead. Even more disturbing, though, are photographers stealing content from my resource sites and plagiarizing it (my attorney is dealing with one such photographer just south of Tampa Bay right now, who we were aware of two years ago). Come on, guys, you are more than welcome to compete with me, but don’t cheat by taking my work. That’s both pathetic and disappointing. I deserve more of a challenge, too! Other issues that have come up (even after models warn me about certain photographers, which prompt me to take precautions when dealing with them), are photographers being two-faced and backstabbing. And models only thought that it happened to them. This jealousy of what I am doing is pathetic, and only hurts them. An insecure photographer is useless as a professional. I especially like the photographer who caused this latest delay with Athena who tried to sell me out, passing off information, canned information that was engineered to test him, as fact, to another party, and proving that he could not be trusted. He made this statement that photographers need to get together as a group and stand up for their rights. Really? Are you the leader who is going to do that? You’ve already demonstrated that you are a spineless, unethical photographer who doesn’t stand for anything and kisses up to all of the wrong people. Hypocrites like you are exactly what is wrong with this market, and you are hardly any kind of leader. What a schmuck! So, that is it. Happy New Year! I will not trust anyone until they earn my trust, and that takes time. So, there will be shootouts, but not public ones until at least this spring. That’s about four months from now. Most of my time will be spent doing modeling photography shoots with hundreds of models, working my main business. I will do a number of private Beacon shootouts with models and photographers, too, and we will build a core team for the public shootouts that way. Once the team is in place, as well as some secret security measures, we will proceed with the monthly Athena shootouts and then the workshops (I WILL blacklist anyone caught attending any shootout for the wrong reason, so be warned!). This is important, and I am not letting morons ruin it for the rest of us. I’m also not going to help people try to compete against me. For now, the public can watch. Later, if you are professional and ethical, we will allow you to participate and to get involved. I am trustworthy, and professional, and I will prove that through my actions, and over time. This is all about managing risk, and achieving a balance between two different things which cannot be allowed to directly mix: My photography business, and the shootouts/ workshops. Anyone trying to use the shootouts and the workshops to learn the business from me in an attempt to hurt my business is going to find that not only will it be a waste of time, but that I will find out their true motives, and when I find out, you are done. At the very least, I will never work with you, and this will be far more harmful to you than anything that using my shootouts in unethical ways can do to me, because I WILL be helping other ethical, professional photographers; it will be pathetic, unethical, untrustworthy you against ALL of us! You are either in or out, and you will make that choice. Well, at least the weak market is helping to identify the unethical among us, and that is a plus. It makes my job weeding out bad photographers easier, and it will make our shootouts and workshops that much better, in the long run. PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST Wednesday, December 28, 2011 - Tampa Shootouts Blog Post by C. A. Passinault Complaint Mail. Private Photography Shootout Events. Shootouts That You Will Want To Get Involved With. We received this wonderful email on December 5, 2011, but I did not see it, and read it, until yesterday (12/27/11). It is from a photographer named "Richard". *Geeeez* Wow, what a verbose website! Honestly, it reads like some super control freak wrote it - can't do this, can't do that, banned for life! You've had one event and nobody showed. No shit Sherlock. It doesn't sound like fun at all. I'm surprised anyone contacts you at all. I had to go through lengthy webpages just to find a way of contacting you. Fundamental web design would be to ensure your contact info is on every page. Most of your visitors, even if they're interested, probably regard their visit to you site as a waste of their time. I'm a professional photographer, that's what I thought. I would never participate in a shootout (the shootout format is a cluster anyhow) organized by somebody with a 15-page list of things I can't do. Oh, just a suggestion, but since you're trying to promote a photographic event, your visits would probably be interested if you had pictures, a.k.a., samples, instead of pages of text. Offer the event, put all your rules and legal crap on a separate page somewhere. I responded to “Richard” and wrote to him that he did make some good points, and I thanked him for his feedback (I did, however, think that it was amusing that the photographer actually knew how many pages of information were in the original Athena event page at the time that he wrote, however, as he obviously printed it out and read it. At least he read it, however, which is a good thing, even if he was ultimately put off by the amount of information and the rules! I just added another half of a page of content to it, too. He did make a good suggestion, however, and eventually, most of those rules will be migrated to another part of the site; this was already in the works, because I do not want to write 15 pages of content for every shootout event that I put together, or be overly-redundant. Besides, the event agreement which everyone has to sign already covers all of the details, as well as the terms and the conditions, although I do not want to surprise anyone who shows up with different expectations, and then has an issue signing the agreement, because it would be an unpleasant experience when they were not allowed to participate, and had to leave. Everything is a balancing act.). I am assuming that "Richard", as a professional photographer, wants to participate with a shootout event where anything goes, or where the interests of the organizers are primarily served at the expense of the participants, much like the shootout events organized by amateurs and unethical people which have plagued the Tampa Bay market in the past decade? By all means, enjoy those! See where they get you! With that said, let’s get some things straight here. This is not a buyers market with these shootouts. I am not jumping through hoops to sell a free modeling photography and networking event, either, especially when it is a SELLERS market. Although Tampa Shootouts will be our primary marketing and support site for the shootouts and the workshops, and it would be a buyers market for the workshops, these shootout events are a different story altogether. I do NOT make any money by doing these shootout events, and although that is not true for the workshops, please do not confuse them. Shootouts are NOT my primary business, and, for that matter, neither are the workshops. I am a professional photographer and an event planner who is doing this primarily as a labor of love, and because I love photography and I love to meet and network with other professionals. I have no hidden agenda which is against the best interests of any participants, and this is something that the market really needs, especially with all of the amateur and career-inappropriate shootout and workshop events out there. Although the shootouts ARE also used as a working audition for professionals who want to book subcontracted jobs, having fun doing photography, working with other professionals, and networking are the main goals. These shootouts are the modeling photography and networking events that lots of people have been wanting for many years, and now they are here. There was a NEED for these shootouts in the Tampa Bay market, and that is the main reason that we started all of this and established Tampa Shootouts and Tampa Workshops! Despite the long-winded copy on the site (and this will be refined over time, as well as seeing the addition of those pictures that you want to see), these events are the best organized, and the most professional photography and networking events ever done in the Tampa Bay area, designed to not only best the impressive “Tampa Shootout” glamour photography event workshops from a few years back, but even the Supershoots events which have been popular over the years. We want something better, and so do many others, even if they do not realize it, yet. We not only set the standard for this market, but I’m proud to have a hand in making these shootouts and workshops among the best in the United States! If anyone, and I mean ANYONE, feels that they do not need this, that they do not wish to contact us and get involved, that they want to waste our time by confirming that they are attending, and then not show up, OR they want to try to take advantage of this and do something shady, it is THEIR LOSS. It’s certainly not mine, or anyone else’s who is involved with the shootouts. Again, if you don’t want to participate, it is YOUR LOSS. One thing that really got me angry when I attempted to launch the Athena modeling photography and networking event series debut event back on September 25 was that the flaky behavior that I’ve heard others complain about over the years finally happened to me, and there was no need for it to happen. I’ve done a lot of shootout events over the years, with none of the issues that I’ve experienced during that first attempt, and ironically, now that I’ve put together the most advanced shootout events that the Tampa Bay market has ever seen, with lots of details addressed and a really comprehensive, effective format, NOW I have these problems. I will admit that one problem that I had was that I did not feel comfortable referring my model clients and contacts to these shootout events without preparing them, and I did not refer them that first time, but it was not really a mistake, and the reason that I created our exclusive Beacon Shootouts is for that very reason, so that I could effectively prepare my models for the more public shootouts and staff the public shootout events so that we could proceed regardless of how many showed up. That is neither here nor there, however, because Beacon did not exist for that September 25 attempt at Athena, and I literally only had two models scheduled to help out. One of them had an emergency and cancelled in an appropriate manner the night before, and I did a shoot later that day with the other. We still had fun, and although our shootout wasn’t at a large enough scale to make it an “official” Athena shootout event, especially the event specified, we did get a lot of work done that day. It was worth it. I spent a LOT of time setting up that event, and I had everything ready. I did everything that I said that I would do, and showed up on schedule. I did everything the way that it should have been done. Frankly, it is not my problem if no one showed up. It is their problem. It’s not my deal if people are irresponsible idiots. I’m responsible, and professional, and that’s good enough for me. Actually, too, I am kind of happy that this experience is helping me weed out the flakes, because I, and others, certainly do not want to waste our time with them. It’s good to know the character and the ethics of those who we deal with. I had spent time and a lot of work setting up the event. When no one showed up, I cancelled it, went home, and did some productive work. I also kept track of who confirmed and pulled a no-call, no-show. Professionals follow through on their commitments. I followed through. If these so-called professionals flake out like they did out of irresponsibility, or because they failed to see that the shootout events are worth attending, then I certainly do not have to worry about any of them competing with me. The rendered themselves insignificant, and ineffective. So, official event or not, I did what I set out to do. I do not consider it to be a failure, and merely postponed it until I had a core support team to enable it to happen regardless of who showed up. Also, one of the purposes of the shootout events are to help us determine who is professional and who is not, and to help us figure out who is worth working with; in that respect, the first event attempt did its job very well, so it most certainly was NOT a failure! At this point, I really do not care who I insult or offend with me telling it how it is. You owe it to yourself not to underestimate me, the people who work with me, and our resolve. Obviously, we have put a lot of time and effort into this so far, and are going to be working hard to get all of this where it needs to be. We negotiate from a position of strength, and that is how it should be, as we have all of the angles covered, as well as dominant leverage. Put your personal issues aside, and allow yourself to see the big picture, to see all of those angles, and that this market is ours. There will come a time when people will be begging to attend our shootout events, regardless, and I am going to tell you how, now. There are going to be shootout events regardless of how anyone feels, or what they do. We will not allow the mistakes of others to define us, or determine the success of our events. These events are really state of the art, and effective, and this will be demonstrated over and over again. Over time, the shootouts will build buzz, and more and more people will realize that it is in their best interest, professionally, to get involved. With successful shootouts, we will then have successful workshops, but not before. The shootouts will pave the way to the workshops, as well as enable and support them in several ways (although this is not only beyond the scope of this post, but most of those details are classified, too, and nothing that any shootout participant or aspiring participant needs to know, at all. Remember that there are a lot of details that participants do not have to know about, as they are designed to be invisible to them, especially as such measures in event organization make our events very hard to reverse-engineer, copy, or compete against, and unethical competitors will discover this after expending, and wasting, a lot of time. I have had so-called “professionals”, such as photographers, steal from me - or try to steal from me - many times over the past ten years, although most of them could not comprehend the underlying mechanics of my concepts and what made them work, and could not make them work well; as a result, my events, such as these shootout and workshops, have been engineered from the start to be highly resistant to reverse-engineering and conceptual theft. I’m adding additional security measures, too, to make sure that the events will be as safe and as productive as possible. Liability and risk will be reduced). In the next few months, I will be doing a lot of work as a photographer with my photography company, and most of that work will be with models. I am, literally, building an army of independent models to take the market with (the talent agencies will find this out the hard way). While I book all of this photography work, and work with an increasing number of models, we will be doing a lot of private, exclusive Beacon Shootout events. Some of these Beacon modeling photography shootout events will also feature invited photographers (I currently have a list of at least ten professional photographers who I am certain can be relied upon, because they are real professionals). Working in our private shootouts, we will build a core team that will be utilized for the public shootouts and the workshops. As we accomplish our Beacon Shootouts, I will be sure to cover them just like I would cover our public shootout events. People will watch the videos, look at the experience and the references of those who are involved, and will follow our coverage. They WILL get VERY interested. Why? Because the work will be exceptional, as well as fun. Because they will see that some of the best models and photographers in the industry are coming together to work in some really cool events. Our events will also be interesting, as well as career-enhancing. There will come a time when we will have no problem getting people to attend because they will know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it is not only in their best interest to attend, but it will be the best thing for their career going on in the Tampa Bay market. When we have the buzz going on, and the core staff, as well as some security measures addressed, then, and only then, will we roll out the public shootout events, and three or more months after that, we will proceed with the workshop events. Not before. Oh, and those who gave us a hard time, and/or backstabbed us or did anything else unethical? They can certainly forget it, and they will be kicking themselves because they will know that they sold themselves not only short, but out. They can simply watch us, from the outside looking in, with the knowledge that they have been banned for life, and that they deserve it. I can also assure you that I have quite the growing list of photographers and models who have earned that ban, too. They did it to themselves. I can see some of them trying to start up their own shootout and workshop events, and I do welcome the competition, but really, will they be able to compete? At the most, they will only be able to pull off a third-rate counterfeit knock-off of what we are doing, because they are not us, AND if they are in the position of being banned from our events to begin with, they obviously don’t have what it takes to compete with real professionals. It can also be argued that, at this moment, without having a single Tampa Shootouts or Tampa Workshops event, that we have ALREADY SET THE STANDARD for shootout and workshop events in the Tampa Bay market! How can we claim this? It is really quite obvious, especially when we see what others do, and we have seen more than one shootout and workshop organizer throw out their original play book and try to adapt to the new conditions that we have introduced to the market just by the content on the Tampa Shootouts and the Tampa Workshops web sites. They have studied our web sites, and they have either tried to redo everything so that they can compete, or are outright trying to copy what we are doing. Their actions are very revealing, and what they do is their admission that we have not only redefined the standard for what these events are, but that we are market leaders, and we have done this without having to do a single event! If this strong reaction has already occurred, can you imagine what is going to happen once we get these events up and running? Follow the leader, people! Do you really want to deal with someone who has to copy us, or would you rather go to the source, which is us, and really benefit from it? We don’t have to copy anyone, because we know what we are doing. Just the threat of competition from us has made our competition change their business, and has helped the market! Now, models can thank us for finally being paid fair rates at Tampa modeling photography workshops, as they were getting ripped off by unethical organizers who were convincing them to work for free while they made money from the events. Models are now getting paid because of us, and because of the standard that we have set in the market! Competition does trump monopolies and unethical businesses which get away with ripping off people because they are the only game in town, just like an open market trumps a closed market, every time! At any rate, with the public shootouts and the workshops now on hold, I had to modify the format of the Beacon shootout events to support private shootouts, and expand the scope of the original format, which makes sense. So, we will have our private shootouts, our Beacon shootout events, and those events will not only be covered, but they will also be used to develop marketing and support infrastructure for our public shootout events, and the professional modeling and photography workshops that will follow the public shootout events. I had wanted to try to do all of this with our mainstream, backbone shootout event series, the Athena Modeling Photography and Networking Event Series, but Athena was not right for it. The Athena Modeling Photography and Networking Event Series is a public, monthly shootout events series, and it is the backbone shootout event series for Tampa Shootouts. Once started, we would have to have one every month, and it would have to be marketed to the public. It is obvious that we are not yet ready to kick off our Athena shootouts, but Beacon is perfect for now. We will have private Beacons shootouts simply as long as we feel is necessary, and the general public will have to be content to sit back and wait with growing anticipation. We will launch the Athena shootouts at a time that we feel is right, and it is our decision. Hey, we could have been up to our fifth Athena shootout event right now, and the public could have enjoyed them, but some idiots (with the no-call, no-shows of the first event, and security breaches from unethical people cancelling the second attempt) have demonstrated that the market is not yet ready for such a cool event series. The market needs to be conditioned, first, and we will take as much time as we feel that we need, and the public can thank these people for bringing it on everyone. It is also going to take a lot of work and time to address some security issues, and have the proper security measures in place to support the public shootout and workshop events. We have time, and we don’t need this to define our careers, as we already have successful careers. You need this, and good luck finding anyone else who can do this like we can. You are all going to have to wait, and will have to settle for watching our core team work, have fun, and grow long before you can get involved. Consider that. With the free shootout and networking events, it is a SELLERS market, although we are not really selling something that is already the best value because it is effective while being free. It pretty much sells itself. Our free modeling photography shootout events are superior to most competing photography shootout and workshop events were photographers have to pay to take pictures of models, especially since we have a higher ratio of professional models, and we allow the participants to network with each other. Regarding the workshops, too, although that is a BUYERS market, the target audience is different, as those workshops are primarily marketed to new photographers and talent, WHILE they give subcontracted jobs to professionals, so our tough stance on our shootouts has no effect on our workshops. Something else to consider. If you are a professional who is looking for work, the last thing that you want to do is to give a source of work a hard time. Consider that, too, as we are not in the position where we have to jump through any hoops to “convince” anyone to work with us. They will come to that realization themselves, in time, if they know anything about working their career. There will be some models out there who will not be allowed to work in our workshop events, and they will lose out on a paid job. This goes for those who are banned from our shootout events, as well as those who choose not to participate with our shootout events, as you are REQUIRED to participate with one of our photography shootout and networking events in order to be considered for any subcontracted workshop job. If you pass on the shootouts, or give us a hard time (and this goes for both models AND photographers), you will not be considered for any of those paid jobs. It’s that simple! The law of human nature, and the cure for the flakes out there: People will do what they consider to be in their best interest, especially if they are the smart professionals that are worth getting involved with. Remember that. Oh, and in closing, remember that all of these rules exist for a reason. Any organized event has rules and a code of conduct, and we ALL have to work under those rules. Those rules apply to MYSELF, as well, and I gladly agree to all of them! Many of these rules exist to minimize the risks of the events and of networking with others. I certainly do not want some idiot showing up (such as an unethical competitor) to stub their toe and file a frivolous lawsuit, or to do something else which is not in our best interest, or to undermine the events, and you do not want this, either. What, do you think that everyone is honest and is professional? Think again! Those rules are there to DISCOURAGE unethical and unprofessional people from even attempting to participate, as they plainly indicate that we mean business, and that we are to be respected! Would you rather that we do some poorly organized event which never gets anything accomplished, and where anything goes to the point where others can disrespect you and violate your rights? I didn’t think so. Besides, aren’t we all sick and tired of such events littering the market? The 15 pages or so of rules stand. Deal with it! Also, all of those “rules”, and most of the content on this site, were not even published, or known of, when that first event was attempted, so that was not the reason that no one showed up. The reason that no one showed up, in my opinion, and this is regarding the no-call, no-shows, and not the people who legitimately called off, is because they were irresponsible, unprofessional idiots. Those rules, and most of the content on this site, were added in the wake of that event attempt! Are the rules that much of a problem, or an inconvenience? Should they discourage genuine professionals from participating? No! Not at all. As long as all of the participants are professional, they respect the rights of others, and they are honest about their intentions, they should not have any issues with the rules, and the events will not only be productive and well worth participating with, but fun, as well. Those participants will also find that I am pleasant, likeable, and professional, too, despite any mis perceptions that they may have had. They will also find that I know what I am doing, and that these rules and precautions are needed because of what has been learned, over the years, from experience working in the Tampa Bay market. It is currently not a nice place for professional photographers and models, but it can be if we pull together, and that is one of the goals of these photography shootout and workshop events! Also, regarding the web site, well, web sites are never done, and in our experience, you cannot please everyone. Some changes will be made over time. Other details will stay the same; if you look at my other web sites, you will see that many of them DO have contact information on every page. This site is designed the way that it is for specific reasons, and a lot of thought, planning, and hard work has gone into it; observe that we will not be updating the site any time soon to contain contact information on every page, and that there is a reason for this design choice that we do not have to necessarily clarify. This was done on purpose. While we remain open to suggestions and feedback, in the end, it is our decision. Also, we must be doing something right, because you did figure out how to contact us, and the site inspired you to give us feedback. Also, you found the site on your own through a search engine, and then took the time to read it. We’d have to say that it is doing its job, especially considering that the shootout events are a sellers market, and not a buyers market; the latter which is what you have implied with the concept that we need you, and that we have to convince you to participate with a free event which obviously will benefit you far more than it would benefit us. If you are going to give us an attitude that we have to convince you to participate, then we don’t need you, and you can go elsewhere and TRY to find something comparable, better, or a better value than what we have to offer. Good luck finding it, too, as it does not exist, and we know because we monitor the market and are aware of what is going on. Consider that. In closing, despite my bullish position on all of this, please realize that this is not necessarily aimed at you, or our other readers, but it is a result of experience, and that I am not an unfriendly person. I am actually a very laid back, pleasant photographer. I get along with most people who I know quite well. Most models love working with me. Some of my best friends are models and photographers, and most of those are professionals whom I have worked with, and associated with, for YEARS. I have earned their trust and respect. Allow me to earn yours. These events, too, are designed to be pleasant experiences, fulfilling, fun, AND professional. These shootouts are designed to HELP professionals, and we are here for you! Don’t sell yourself short, and give this a chance. You will thank yourself later. PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST Monday, December 12, 2011 - Tampa Shootouts Blog Post by C. A. Passinault Security And Support Issues. Beacon And Athena Shootout Formats Expanded For Enhanced Capabilities. Marketing Development For Event Preparation And Support. One of the reasons for doing these Tampa Shootouts photography events, for me, was as a public relations move, although there are a lot of good business reasons, too, which make these events, even the free ones, not only cost-effective, but well worth doing. Regarding public relations, it will well-known what I own a lot of web sites, and that there are opinions expressed on those web sites which are not popular with some people (especially ignorant, insecure, jealous people, in my opinion. Some people are narrow-minded and bigoted, too, also in my opinion, and they use this slander as a form of discrimination in an attempt to discredit me in the eyes of others). As a result, many of the people form bad opinions of me. Some of them even resort to slandering me and spreading rumors, which is an unethical form of character assassination, and it is highly unprofessional. In the past, I’ve been really good at debating and fighting back against these people on the Internet. I’m even better, now, although I choose now to not fight because I don’t have to fight. I certainly don’t want to fight that way. While I will still debate with other professionals, when needed, I no longer have any desire to fight with people online, as it is a waste of time and has no point. Fighting on the Internet is not cost-effective, and only makes things worse. Additionally, I have little time to do this, anymore. So, if people want to criticize me, let them do so, as they have a right to express their opinions, and those opinions reflect upon them and their professional credibility. If they slander me, though, I need to point out that I reserve the right to take legal action against them. Although only annoying in most instances, if that slander/ libel costs me money, or time, I will address it. As a policy, however, if people bad-mouth me, I won’t even dignify it with a response (anyone posting in my defense will not be me, as I would not only not bother to respond, but I would not defend myself under any false name; if you think that it is me, then you are wrong, and this can be proven. I also will not put anyone up to doing this, especially when I don’t want to give you any feedback of any kind to encourage you. I can’t control others if they feel inspired to defend me, however). If you want to criticize me, knock yourself out, and if you think that if you have more readers and a louder voice than I do online, continue to believe that. I know the truth. Also know that it is not cost-effective for anyone to compete with me in this way, especially with me owning over 50 web sites online, with thousands of pages of content uploaded over a ten year period, at the time of this writing. You can try, but it won’t be worth it). The reason that I will not respond is that I will not be goaded, or manipulated, into fighting anyone. They have no power over me. I am in control of the situation, and I do not allow people to insult me because I have to give them permission to insult me. I simply do not accept it, and this renders their pathetic attempts powerless. At the very least, I do hope that those who have bad opinions about me actually do their research, and read what is out there. They will discover that, even if their position disagreeing with my opinions does not change, that I am not a bad person, and that I not only do what I feel is right, but that I do everything in my power to do the right thing. They will also find out that my opinions are not born of ignorance, but rather from education and experience. Also, there are photographers out there whom tried to get buddy-buddy with me, asking me tons of questions, to size me up as a competitor so that they can compete with me (I even had one photographer pretend to be a model and go so far as to book services from me). While I frown on the false pretense, such questions, because of things that have happened in the past, inspire me to give the photographer inaccurate information. After all, they are asking inappropriate questions (If I trust them, and they need to know, I will tell them that information), and I will give them inaccurate information just to see what they do with it, as a test. Well, this recently happened (and it was one of the main reasons that I postponed the shootouts and workshops), and a photographer bad-mouthed me to someone who published this information as fact. Upon seeing this, I was wondering how they obtained such incorrect, screwed-up information, and then I recalled what I had told the photographer during a conversation. This information, accurate to the numbers that I had told him (well, some of them. The rates were way off....), which exposed the source and demonstrated that, as a model had warned me months earlier, that he could not be trusted, was used as criticism that I overcharge people. I do not do this, and I know what appropriate rates are for this market. I tend to treat information about rates as need-to-know information, and I only give those rates to photographers if they have earned my trust, and if they have a need to know. The only photographers who need to know are photographers who work with me in my photography business, which was never this photographer. I do not normally have rates on my web sites because I do not use my web sites as stores, and I do not sell services that way (in the future, there may be a few exceptions, but that is all that they will be, and there will be good reasons). Also, this photographer seems to think that he knows the volume of business that I do. He does not. I do not share that information with anyone, as it is confidential information only used by my business. Because this photographer betrayed my trust by sharing test information that he thought was correct (please do not say that it was wrong for me to lie to someone, as he needed to be tested, and I did not use this information to sell him anything or to coerce him; I’m sure that the information that he gave me was false, too), he burned himself. He proved that he could not be trusted. In our conversations, he told me information that he told me to keep confidential, and I did that. Despite what happened, I will continue to avoid sharing that information. I also will not bad-mouth him or do anything to him. This photographer has been banned from participating with any of my events, as well as working with me or my projects in any capacity. Although I have forgiven him for being manipulated and used by someone who did not have my best intentions in mind, I have no desire to talk to him, or deal with him, ever again. He didn’t play anyone but himself. Which brings us to Tampa Shootouts and Tampa Workshops. The photographer who “leaked” the information was involved with the shootouts, and he is no longer welcome (To clarify who this photographer is, because lately I have been dealing with a lot of photographers, most of whom are really good, and I do not want them to think that I am referring to them, the photographer who I am referring to here spent a lot of time trying to talk to me and talking to me. He would constantly call me, text me, and I even had to disable my messaging on Facebook because he’d waste my time with long conversations via chat every time that I was online. I suppose that he thought that I was his mentor. This photographer is NOT Robert, who is an awesome commercial photographer). I also recently posted an event page on a social media site for the upcoming Athena shootout, and the R.S.V.P. response was anemic, at best. As you know, I attempted the first Athena shootout event back on September 25, 2011. A client friend and I were the only ones to show up (although I did do a shoot later that day, and my models were reliable), and I had three or four cancellations at the last minute. The others were no-calls, no-shows. This lackluster response to a really good, and really well-organized event prompted the creation of the Beacon shootouts, which originally was only to be used to bridge my models clients to the Athena shootout events, so that I would have not only assistance, but a built-in team which could proceed with any Athena shootout event regardless of how many outside people showed up. Regarding bridging my models to the Athena shootouts and other events, well, you just can’t dump them into a public event, an event with security risks, without preparing them for it. The shootouts are a good thing. They make a lot of sense. We will eventually get these events on track. Also, they will work well as a public relations project, especially since once people meet me and get to know me, they will realize that the people who bad-mouth me are lying. This will destroy the credibility of those people. Although the debut of the Athena shootouts, which will have one of those events every month thereafter, has been delayed, we will have shootout events before then. These shootout events, the Beacon shootouts, will be small, private shootout events which will only be revealed after they have happened. Also, marketing material developed from these events will be used for Athena shootouts and the marketing of our shootouts and workshops. Originally, the Beacon shootouts were only supposed to be for my models, but some of them will be used to evaluate and work with others, kind of like a more exclusive, private version of Athena. This is an expansion of the original format, although most of the Beacon shootouts will be used for my models. Beacon, after all, is designed to develop support resources for other events, as well as to build buzz and attract outsiders to our events. The Athena shootouts, likewise, will have new features built into them, and an expanded purpose. Some of these new features will not be revealed on this web site, or any other web site, and a few of them will only be revealed to the participants. So, while we will limit ourselves, for now, to a series of Beacon photography shootout events, work on marketing, and the web sites, will continue. Tampa Shootouts will take point, and become the main marketing and support web site for the shootouts and the workshops. Tampa Workshops, which I admit that I’ve neglected a little up to this point, will be used as a marketing and support platform for not only the photography and modeling workshops, but other workshops, too. For the modeling and photography workshops, though, Tampa Shootouts will be the lead site. Two other sites, Tampa Photography Events and Tampa Modeling Events, will be used to support both Tampa Shootouts and Tampa Workshops online. These sites will have content uploaded, and updated, and they will be where they need to be online when the main Athena shootouts begin. The third time for Athena will be the charm. There is no date yet set for Athena. Although content will be uploaded to Tampa Photography Events and Tampa Modeling Events, the sites will not launch for a while. They will launch soon. PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST Friday, November 18, 2011 - Tampa Shootouts Blog Post by C. A. Passinault This Is A Prelude To What I Am Going To Do To Tampa Indie Film Some may be watching closely to what I am doing in the Tampa Bay photography and modeling markets. Most of those people, however, are NOT Tampa indie filmmakers, although they should really be the ones watching with interest. Why? Because what I am going to do with photography and modeling, I will soon do to independent film in the Tampa Bay area. After all, I am using a lot of tactics and concepts that I developed to deal with a very hostile independent film market for my photography business, as well as the modeling market, these photography shootout events, and the photography, modeling, and talent workshops. Solutions developed for one industry, and one market, were perfect for photography and modeling. The results should predict what is going to happen to Tampa indie film, because once I get things going in this market, and have established standards, I’m going after independent filmmakers, film festivals, and Tampa indie film as a whole, and will revolutionize that industry, too. As of today, it begins. I’m working on my photography business today, and what I am doing now will start an arms race in the Tampa Bay photography services market, as well as revolutionize it and change it forever (and please note that my photography business is a SEPARATE business, and relatively isolated from, the photography shootout events and workshops, which are another business - I specifically set them up that way, and it was the smart thing to do, as there were conflicts, and I did not want the shootouts and workshops to undermine, or even compete with, my main photography business; Aurora PhotoArts, which is my main photography business, is much more profitable than any of this other stuff, and it is more important. After I realized that I could not depend upon strangers to staff the shootouts after an attempt at an Athena modeling photography shootout event on September 25, 2011, I realized that I needed access to more resources, and more of my models, in order to staff the shootout events with a core staff so that we could proceed regardless of what anyone else does. I adapted to the irresponsibility of strangers, which did take me by surprise because in my photography business, I do not usually have people flake out on me. I avoided conflicts and boosted the resources that I had for the shootouts by implementing the Beacon Modeling Photography Shootouts, which allows me to refer my model clients to staff the shootouts with minimal risks to my main photography business. Beacon obtained its name not because it served to prepare staff models and support the other shootouts, which it does do, but mainly because those staff models serve as a bright beacon to attract strangers and outsiders to get involved and participate with the other photography shootout events; remember that the law of human nature states that people will do what they believe to be in their best interest, which makes them, ultimately, predictable. Beacon is a one-way bridge between business interests, different business interests which usually conflict, and it is a buffer which serves both diverse interests and allows them to support each other. I did not want hostile competitors using my photography shootout events to shop me and to try to learn the photography business from me in this way, which means that my model clients have to be trained and prepared to deal with this possibility, too, which is why I created the Beacon shootouts. I did not want them getting that information from those model clients, either. The Beacons shootouts is a secret, private shootout program, only done as-needed, and it supports the other photography shootout events, which in turn support the workshop events. There is more to this, too, but I am not at liberty to reveal all of the angles and the big picture on the Internet; let’s just say that this is only one facet of a very massive jewel, a jewel that I’ve spent many years shaping and polishing). The best thing, too, is that I will not be the only one who will benefit from this change. Other professionals will, too, and I do not have a problem sharing market share with other professional photographers. One cool thing about Tampa Workshops, which ties into Tampa Shootouts, is that it is not limited to photography workshops. It also will facilitate, market, and support other types of workshops, which include indie filmmaking workshops. Did anyone wonder why I put it together like that? It’s because photography, modeling, and talent are not my only plans. The indie film market in the Tampa Bay area is much softer, and much weaker, than photography and modeling, although it is populated with many more amateurs; hostile, nasty amateurs whom are insecure and who need to be replaced with a new generation of indie filmmakers and genuine innovation in independent filmmaking. With Tampa indie film, you have unethical people, too, setting up workshops and so-called “film schools” to prey upon others, and this is going to stop. Just like photography and modeling, I am sincerely interested in helping other professionals in Tampa indie film, and expanding the market so that it will be a leading market. It’s just that, in the case of Tampa indie film, there are far fewer professionals in existence, and that I have to build that part of the market as well by inspiring, and helping, new filmmakers to become professionals. Tampa indie film and filmmakers, you are next. PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST Saturday, November 12, 2011 - Tampa Shootouts Blog Post by C. A. Passinault Tampa Shootouts Already Set The Standard. Beware Of Bait And Switch In Other Events. Ever since our first articles about other Tampa shootouts on Tampa Bay Modeling (which is the best modeling resource site in the world, the number one search result for anything modeling related in the Tampa Bay market, and is read by most of the professionals in the Tampa Bay and Florida modeling industry), we have sat back and laughed at the organizers of those other shootout events as they tried to adapt, and in all of the cases of them reorganizing their events, they all copied the ideas that they could learn from our web sites, as well as tried to conform to new conditions that we have introduced to the market. As if we didn’t know that we were market leaders already, but the actions of those whom react to what we do speak volumes. Our competitors and aspiring competitors might as well have a huge neon sign over them stating that “even after years of doing shootout and workshop events, I still don’t know what I am doing, and I am misrepresented my experience and my industry expertise. See, I have to copy what Tampa Shootouts and Tampa Workshops are working on, and I have to exactly match the suggested rates for paying models published in a warning article on Tampa Bay Modeling. I really do not know what I am doing, but I’ll never tell you that! Just watch me flounder and react to everything that Passinault does, and wonder why I cannot stick to my guns about something that I claim to be experienced with.” Who is the leader. Who are the followers? Who should be the one that you should trust, and go to? Well, there you go. We expected these insecure amateurs to try to copy what we have published on our sites. We are also glad that they are now paying models in those workshop events. Just some questions, though. Having problems getting your shootouts and workshops to work as well as before? Having problems with your profit margin? Having problems booking professional models to help you? Why is that? Did you think that I would publish all of the details? I’m not stupid. I purposely withheld information that was needed to make my published concepts work. After all, I’m the only one that should have a need to know, because the concepts and event formats are MINE! You fools did exactly what I expected you to do, and what I predicted. Idiots. Poseurs. Losers. Thieves. Con Artists! Liars............. Why not try to LEARN how to do things legitimately, and try to come up with you own solutions? I, and other professionals, will never respect you if you are not legit and honest, and we will continue to stomp you into the dirt in the market. You deserve it! Step to real professionals in a market while you misrepresent yourself, and you lie, cheat, and steal, and we will figuratively knock you down on your ass as many times as you come back and keep trying you B.S.! I will only say that, without key details specifically withheld from these morons, that those shootout and workshop events will be very difficult to get cost-effective; I engineered them like that. Since I am the creator, I am the only one who can get them to work effectively. That’s what happens when you steal ideas and are too stupid to comprehend, or figure out, what makes those ideas work (There is more, too, but I’m not going into it). Additionally, I will also hint that these people have been exposed for what they really are and what they do to the entire photography and modeling industries that they pretend to be players in, and that they have been cut off from hundreds of professional models who now know better than to be tricked into working with them. They deserve it. The really funny thing, though, is that our shootouts and workshops have already set standards in the market before we have even started, and the people scrambling to meet those standards are having a hard time doing it. Alright. Now for some more bitter pills for our aspiring competitors to deal with. It’s time to go back to the drawing boards, and you will have to do it quickly. While I do like that they are now paying models (models can thank me for that, as I MADE these idiots pay models by exposing what they were doing; They made money while tricking models into working for free, and it is becoming VERY difficult for them to continue to rip off the help) for working in modeling photography workshops (also known as shootouts in their book, but my book is much more refined and specific), I noticed a loophole. As suggested in my Tampa Bay Modeling article warning models about Tampa shootouts and workshops, where the models should at least make $200 to $300 for a 4 hour event (I like how they matched my suggested rates EXACTLY. Steal... I mean, learn much? I am flattered that you acknowledged that I’m the real expert because you could not think for yourself and had to copy my suggested rates), they stated in a recent casting notice that “Pay is $200 to $300 for four hours; depending on your experience and whether or not you want photographs.”. Well, that last part about whether or not that the models want photographs was not in the last posting, so I am guessing that the organizer lost a LOT of money (which makes me laugh) paying models at his last event, and now he wants to do a bait and switch with their pay by inserting a loophole where he could CUT THEIR PAY if the models want pictures. Whatever. Try it and see what models do to you. Shootout and workshop organizers have NO RIGHT stating that they will pay a model a specific rate, and then take money away from them by selling them back pictures from the event. It is misleading! At the very least, they HAVE to pay in the pay range specified, and models CANNOT BE CHARGED for anything that will drop their pay, or, especially, drop their pay below the $200.00 stated minimum. What in the hell are these people trying to pull? Do you really help models like you claim, or are you only out to EXPLOIT and RIP OFF models? Reminds me of a photographer, back in 2003, who advertised TFP and then only gave the models watermarked, low resolution pictures which made the pictures useless for their portfolios. The photographer then sold the models pictures from a test shoot which was supposed to be free, which was a bait and switch. He pulled a scam by advertising one thing, and then doing something that the model would have not ever agreed to, or even know about. Deceptive marketing and trade practices are a scam, and FRAUD, which is a felony! For the record, I stopped that photographer from continuing his unethical TFP bait and switch scam. So did models. He hates me for it, too, even today, after he scammed his way out of his photography career. Such is the measure, and the true nature, of this man. He preached integrity, yet his actions betrayed words that he never comprehended. You are what you do! Going back to the photographer doing the shootouts, didn’t this same photographer claim to be an agent when he did not have a talent agency license, and then try to hide that he claimed to be an agent by removing information on the Internet that he had posted after I pointed out that it was a felony to claim to be an agent without an agency license? For the record, I downloaded all of this proof, and have it on file. Now, I don’t want to crucify someone for their ignorance of the law and how the modeling industry works. They made a mistake, I suppose. What I do have a problem was is that this photographer misrepresented his experience, and lied. He does not really know what he is doing, despite his claims, and he is lying to people to get them to work with him. THAT makes him a SCAM! He seems to continue this unethical activity, even after I schooled him and taught him a lesson. Come clean. Admit to people that you are new, that you are still learning the business as a photographer, and that you have no business teaching or coaching anyone. You won’t do that, although your actions alone admit this to the world. So, because anyone can make an honest mistake (giving this liar the benefit of the doubt), I didn’t report the agent claim to the Florida Department Of Business And Professional Regulation, and I did not report the deceptive marketing practices to the Federal Trade Commission (I still reserve that right, though, although I would have to make the time to do that. Please don’t inspire me to make the time to file reports. I really don’t want to see anyone, even if they are an amateur whom misrepresents themselves, with a felony record or in jail, although I have put a photographer in jail before. Quit while you are behind, and become legit). This is your one chance to shape up, or you will be driven out of business (if you ever actually succeed with turning your hobby into a business). I really do not hate this person, and I am not out to get them. I taught an amateur a lesson because they crossed the line. I, and other professional photographers, am frankly sick and tired of amateurs misrepresenting themselves and hurting models with their mistakes. Consider this to be an industry backlash from the professionals whom have actually earned the right to be in this market. Going to the exploitation remark, these idiots are still determined to do high-risk modeling photographer with new models. I know what I’m doing. So do other professional photographers. We would NEVER RECOMMEND that ANY brand-new model be photographed in lingerie, in skimpy bikinis, or with glamour or boudoir work. We would NEVER make young women look tacky, and make them pose provocatively in photographs which could be easily taken out of context. An experienced professional photographer can pull this off with low risks to the model. An amateur photographer cannot! Such high-risk modeling photography work is for experienced professionals only, and I might add professionals whom, after really working in the industry, make an educated choice to specialize in such work! These amateurs shouldn’t even be allowed to have cameras, as they are fools who are ignorant of the power of photography, and they hurt models and their marketability! Most of these so-called “models” probably wonder why they cannot get their careers going, and wonder why no one wants to book them. You know what? Count me as a professional in the industry who would never book these idiots into a modeling job, either. I do not reward idiots who choose to remain ignorant, and who take short-cuts. They should know better. I have a growing list of models whom I will never work with, many of them associated with amateurs, and I really don’t care if they want to work with me or not. I don’t need them. I do not have a shortage of professional models to work with. I have all of the leverage, because I am one of the best sources of paying modeling work in this market. Say “no” to me, and say “no” to legitimate, paying modeling work. I call the shots, and I am one of the gatekeepers to this market (I am not an agent, I do NOT make money by referring models to jobs, and I do not own an agency, but I do have more power and influence in the industry than the agencies do. They answer to me, and other professionals whom refuse to be dependent upon, and limited by, talent agencies.) Make your choice. Also, feel free to consort with foolish amateurs who cannot begin to compete with me or other professionals. Commit professional suicide, if you wish. Enough, though. I’m going to address this, and it starts with Tampa Bay Modeling. The schooling continues. Just don’t let it go to the next level. Oh, and one more thing. Speaking for myself, models whom participate with the shootouts and/ or do subcontracted work with the workshops obtain ALL of the pictures from the work. I also make ALL of the participants agree to this, too, and it specifically states in the event agreements that no one sell pictures to other participants. There are no hidden charges, and the pictures are a NORMAL BENEFIT of participating in my events. Consider this. I don’t rip off people, and I certainly do not do, or condone, unethical bait and switches! Some people, because they are insecure and do not know what they are doing, will pull anything in an attempt to make it. Real professionals do not resort to unethical schemes, especially since they do not have to. PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST Monday, October 17, 2011 - Tampa Shootouts Blog Post by C. A. Passinault High-Risk Shootout Revealed. Critical Details Classified As Trade Secrets. Today, the high-risk modeling photography shootout series was revealed officially as the “Allure Sexy Photography Shootouts”. This series of modeling photography shootout events, which will NOT be recommended for beginners or anyone trying to maximize their marketability as a model or a photographer, will be for high-risk modeling photography work including, but not limited to, glamour, boudoir, lingerie, “sexy” work, posing provocatively, posing in skimpy bikinis for pictures which can easily be taken out of context, or clothing-optional photography (we are being careful not to use the “n” word here because we do not want this site blocked by software which locks onto keywords and would mis categorize this site content). The Allure Sexy Shootouts, which will be scheduled as-needed, and unlike Athena, would NOT be monthly or primary shootout events, are being done because there needs to be an ethical, professional, and safer alternative to what is being done with other shootout events in the market. Athena is hardly a threat, or an alternative, to such high-risk shootouts because it is mainstream and family-friendly; people looking for a high-risk shootout event would not be as interested in Athena because of this. Allure is a threat to those other shootout photography events because it directly targets that market with a superior, brand-name photography event. The Allure Sexy Photography Shootouts, frankly, are designed to be the most advanced high-risk modeling photography event in the Tampa Bay market, bar-none. It will easily best any high-risk shootout event from yesterday, today, and tomorrow (our analysis of the current market indicates that we have a lead time of at least three years, and it will take at least that long for any competitor to develop and deploy an event that would be able to compete. That event would also likely use lessons learned from the study of our events, too; they would have to copy what we do in some sort of watered-down counterfeit, which would likely be inferior and have major flaws because the plagiarists/ thieves would not be able to comprehend the mechanics of what makes our concepts work, and would not have knowledge of critical features needed to make the event work properly. Follow the leader, if you can). Like our other shootout event series properties, many operating features and support features of Allure are classified, and are treated as trade secrets. These features, and much of the format, are designed to be transparent, or invisible, to the participants, too, which make the shootout events very hard to figure out and reverse-engineer by anyone with such motives (we also have security measures in place to discourage shoppers from participating, and cannot reveal what those measures are). Sensitive information is dispensed on a need-to-know basis, only, and like all of my other Passinault.Com projects, these events are engineered and operated under our “business is war, and most competitors are unethical” school of thought (learned from experience, unfortunately, in the past decade of doing business in this market. We’re better than most, and most of them are insecure, unethical, and will try to steal what we develop in an attempt to compete with us because we are better than they are in every way). Our shootouts and workshops are designed, from initial conceptual work to full operations, to be highly resistant to any attempt to steal and reverse engineer them; we not only wish to maintain market and business superiority, but wish to keep our concepts out of the hands of others who would use them to enhance or improve unethical practices. Allure will be about education, too, and the participants will be fully aware of the risks associated with such work. These events will only be for people who are determined to work high-risk markets. For professionals who wish to attempt to preserve their marketability, we will also offer tactics in the workshop counterpart (remember, workshops are not free, and shootouts are. Like the Athena shootouts and the Focus workshops, Allure will have a workshop counterpart, which has yet to be developed at this time. We will not be offering these advanced business and marketing tactics, which are extremely valuable, for free at a shootout. You will have to pay to learn them in a workshop. We never teach at shootouts, either, as this would be a conflict of interest with our workshops, and would undermine our workshop market) which will help anyone seeking to work in this market a way to segment their markets and have their cake while eating it, too. Don’t ask the people whom are doing other high-risks shootouts about segmenting markets, either, as most of them are amateurs who are doing high-risk work for unprofessional, and often unethical, reasons. As such, they have no clue about what they are doing. High-risk modeling photography shootout events like Allure are for EXPERIENCED PROFESSIONALS only! Allure will set the standard for high-risk shootouts in the Tampa Bay market, and will be as career-safe as possible. PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST Wednesday, October 12, 2011 - Tampa Shootouts Blog Post by C. A. Passinault High-Risk Shootouts Being Developed. As of today, I have a third shootout event series branded and ready to go (Five days later, on October 17, 2011, the brand was revealed as the "Allure Sexy Photography Shootouts"- Ed). This shootout series, although it will be marketed through Tampa Shootouts, will be different from Athena and Beacon. It will provide a safe, professional, ethical, and tasteful alternative to the high-risk shootout events that others have done, and are doing, in the Tampa Bay area. Although the branding is currently classified (although it has been decided, I am not ready to reveal it, yet), this shootout series will cover glamour, boudoir, lingerie, and more risque bikini modeling photography (Athena, however, will overlap a bit by covering more conservative, and mainstream career-safe, swimsuit modeling photography). Of course, these are all high-risk fields, and these shootouts will be for professionals only, and only after they are aware of the risks, and that these fields will handicap their ability to do mainstream modeling industry work. This shootout event series is needed because, well, we would not be a threat to those other shootouts if we did not go after their target markets. We also need to minimize the risks to those who wish to pursue high-risk work. Obviously, this third shootout event series will be more studio than location based, unlike Athena, which is mostly location. A workshop sister counterpart event series for this new shootout series on Tampa Workshops is also planned. This third shootout event series will be unveiled this fall, and will debut early in 2012, soon after the Athena shootouts debut. PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST Wednesday, October 12, 2011 - Tampa Shootouts Blog Post by C. A. Passinault Tampa Workshops And Industry Ignorance. The sister site for Tampa Shootouts, Tampa Workshops, is in development. It would have launched today, but work on Tampa Shootouts took up too much time. Tampa Shootouts, although it markets the workshop events under Tampa Workshops, is primarily used as a screening tool and networking event resource for the workshops. The workshops, unlike the shootouts, though, will not be free, and will focus more on education and training. Speaking of focus, that is also the name of the main Tampa Workshops workshop event series, the Focus Modeling Photography Workshops. More about the workshops will be announced on the Tampa Workshops site when it launches later this month, although it must be noted that the workshops will not be free events, and the models, photographers, and other professionals whom are booked into the subcontracted jobs in the workshops will get paid. It’s the business end of the shootouts, with the shootouts being the marketing and support end. Another lesson for the primitives out there trying to do their shootouts and workshops. We are much more advanced, and experienced. We’re better. We are also smarter. They know that, too, which is why they’ve been reacting to everything that we’ve done, and pointed out, so far. They really don’t know what they are doing. Although we are gearing up for major competition, we will be surprised if we get it. Business-wise, our shootouts and workshops should absolutely decimate rival events, and it’s as it should be. It’s what the Tampa Bay market needs. It’s what professionals need. Which brings us to industry ignorance. There are too many amateurs and idiots littering the market right now. You have idiots out there exploiting models and photographers, promoting high-risk work as mainstream and safe, and undermining the careers of all who are involved. You also have amateurs misrepresenting themselves and pretending to be professionals. Sure, they are learning, but at what price? The price is the marketability and the integrity of the people who work with them. A big goal of both the Tampa Shootouts and the Tampa Workshops is to help eliminate industry ignorance by not only giving the professionals something appropriate and relevant to get involved with, but to give professional instruction and training to aspiring professionals who deserve to get their careers started with minimal mistakes. Frankly, all of you amateurs and con artists out there, the professionals are sick and tired of the garbage in the industry. We are coming to take you out, and to seize leadership of the Tampa Bay market in shootouts and workshops. We cannot be stopped. Change is coming. PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST Wednesday, October 5, 2011 - Tampa Shootouts Blog Post by C. A. Passinault Athena Support. Beacon Shootouts. Sister Site Coming. After the fiasco on September 25, it was decided that additional support was needed. Did I make a mistake? Not at all. The first Athena shootout was ready to go, and I was there. So was an actor friend of mine, and my main model was also on standby (In the end, later that day some of us did do a shootout, but it wasn’t the one that I had planned on). I can’t help it if other people are idiots, and don’t bother to show up. Now, I’m not calling the people who cancelled idiots, although I really wish that they would have called instead of sending me a message on Facebook or via email; I am referring to the people who didn’t bother showing up or contacting me. You people are morons. You are idiots. You also demonstrate that you are ignorant. Why? Because you are turning down the best shootout and networking events ever to be done in the Tampa Bay market (although, to be fair, if no one shows up, it kind of makes networking hard, and I’m not saying that I’m all that and worth attending just to network with me, because it would seem to be too boastful. That said, with additional support, the networking claim will be validated, and, yes, I will say, at the most, that since I am one of the top modeling and talent photographers in the Tampa Bay market, that I’m worth networking with, too). Why don’t people give things a try before deciding that they do not need it? Are you people so haughty, and so blasted-arrogant that you sell yourself short by not at least giving things a chance? I’m sorry, but I’m not insulted, and I refuse to be. It is your loss. You people insult yourselves by not giving the shootouts a chance. I would never pull a no-call, no-show (since doing photography is a business for me, I could also get sued for being so unprofessional. I hold my work, and my actions, to a pretty high standard, and it disgusts me to see so many people out there who claim to be industry professionals behave so irresponsibly and unprofessionally- No wonder none of you f-ups are able to compete with real professionals in the industry!). I conduct myself as a professional. You should, too. You know, though, this is just fine, as I’m quickly finding out who in the industry I should take seriously, and who the un professionals are. If you don’t want to get involved with the shootouts, fine, don’t. I won’t hold it against you. Just don’t tell me that you are coming and don’t bother to show up. Frankly, I’m used to working around other professionals, and I find this flakiness in the industry shocking. Do you idiots really think that you are going to make it in your so-called “careers” if you are unreliable? How about ignorant? I’ve seen so many so-called models lately, as well as others, who don’t have a clue about the industry or what they are trying to do. No one bothers to read, or to research, anything. I refuse to be held hostage by the ignorance, and the outright stupidity, of others in the industry. I’m no longer going to trust, or rely, upon people who I do not know, or have not worked with. If you want to meet me and other professionals, and wish to prove, through your actions, that you can be taken seriously, then fine. You certainly have the opportunity, and it’s right here. Just let it be known that I’m not relying upon you if you have not earned my trust and respect, and the shootouts will go on with or without you. The irony is that many of these unprofessional flakes will be begging to be a part of the shootouts and the workshops once these events get going. It will be obvious that it is in their best interest to get involved and to participate. Why? Because I am an experienced professional who cares about the photography and modeling industries, and who is mainly doing this to help other professionals. I’m doing this for all professionals, and everyone needs to know that. These events are for professionals, and to help advance careers and the market! Some people, however, will figure this out too late. They will have a hard time getting the inside track when they have a ton of competition, and they were foolish enough to turn down getting involved at the beginning, when breaking through is much easier. Enough of that, though. You’ll find out. I’m not giving up. I’m actually going to do a lot more to make these events the best that they can be. Now, remember, I’m no longer going to depend upon people who have not earned my trust, and those whom I have not worked with. How am I going to make these shootouts work, as far as in the beginning? Well, I am not some aspiring photographer who does this as a hobby and who spends time shooting wannabe models for free with TFP. Remember, this has been a business for me for over a decade now, and I’m one of the few who has been able to make modeling and talent photography a business. Everyone who knows this market knows this. Everyone who has talked with me has been able to figure this out (especially the moron who is trying to do shootouts and workshops in the market... He talked to me quite a bit, he knows that I’m the real deal, he knows that I’m better than he is in every way, and he is afraid of competing with me). It’s no secret. I’ll tell you something, though. I’ve already said that I did not want to mix these shootouts and workshops with my photography business. I was concerned about conflicts, and about security issues with competitors and aspiring competitors using the shootouts as a way to shop me and to steal business ideas from me. Well, it sounds paranoid, I know, but it’s not paranoia if it’s true, and there is evidence to support such statements. Well, there is, because it has already happened. I’ve run into so many sleazy, unethical photographers in past ten years that it would blow your mind. A lot of them have stolen things from me in an attempt to compete with me, and I expect this to continue. In one case, I even had a photographer book one of my shoots as a model, without letting me know what his real agenda was. He even had the nerve to try to pay me with a bad check. After settling things with him, I was surprised to discover a few months later that he was suddenly a “photographer” who was trying to go after my modeling and talent market. Real nice! I do not like being misled, and although I’ve been shopped before by other photographers, it is a bit extreme when they are so desperate to learn how you work that they misrepresent who they are and actually book a shoot with you! Just let it be known that the shootouts are for professional, ethical photographers. I don’t have any problems with other professionals, even if they are competition. It’s the unethical ones that I have issues with, and frankly, other professionals should also have issues with such people. After all, professionals being sick and tired of all of the unethical and unprofessional things going on in the industry is one of the main reasons that we started our shootouts and workshops! At any rate, going back to how we are going to get the shootouts going with or without the participation of strangers, after what happened on September 25, I decided that I was no longer going to just sit on my resources. I will use them. The trick was to figure out a way to support the shootouts with my photography business without creating a conflict, and without undermining my business. In electronics, I studied rectification in circuits when I was a kid. One component in electronics, used in rectification, and called a diode, is used as a valve to only allow current to flow in one direction. What I needed was a diode, of sorts, or a buffer, to bridge my business resources. I needed a way to allow support resources to flow into the shootouts, with a reduced chance of anyone being able to see how my business worked. So, I created that diode, or buffer. That’s what the Beacon Modeling Shootouts is all about. Beacon, as the name suggests, is there to attract outsiders to participate with the shootouts by providing models for the events, and to market the events with those models. It is also to prepare my models to participate in the shootout events. Before, I didn’t want any of my models involved, especially if they were clients of my photography business. Beacon, though, provides a safe way to refer some of those models to the shootouts (for more, please read my Beacon Modeling Photography Shootouts section here on Tampa Shootouts). So, the problem was solved. I’d staff the shootouts with mostly my models, and of my models, only a small percentage of my actual clientele. Like kindling for a fire, they would get the fire going, attract others to participate, and the shootouts would then take off, and continue to thrive. Conflicts are reduced to where I am comfortable, and I get to now use the resources which I was reluctant to before. I have some other things in the works, too, but I’m not going into details now. You’ll just have to find out later. PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST Tuesday, September 27, 2011 - Tampa Shootouts Blog Post by C. A. Passinault First Shootout Event Scrubbed And Rescheduled. Well, it happened. And it didn’t happen. Everything was set. I had two of my models (models whom I had worked with and who could be relied upon) set to come, one had an emergency the night before and called off, and the other was set to come to the shoot later. I had the paperwork, the video gear; everything was set. I had 20 people confirmed to show up. Except only one did. I loaded up my gear into my car. My camera, and the video camera, were charged and ready to go. I loaded up 24 bottles of bottled water into a cooler. I even had my laptop so I could give the models their image files at the end of the shoot. It was really early in the morning, too, with barely enough light to see. I heard a hawk in the distance calling, and considered it to be a sign of good luck. I couldn’t wait to get out there and shoot. So, I arrived at the rendevous point. So did one other. With no access to the Internet where I was, I had no way to check my email or anything else. My phone was on, but it wasn’t ringing (people need to start using the phone, or they will not be participating! PERIOD!). After an hour, no one showed up, and it was clear that no one else was coming. So, the other person and I decided to scrub the shoot, as heading out to the shootout location wasn’t worth our time, especially since I had already done a shoot with the other person, an actor who was local, and who was a friend. I called my one model who was still scheduled to attend, and waved her off. We decided to meet in Brandon later to take some pictures and hang out. I checked the Internet first, though. One of my photographers was sick. Another photographer had a blow-out and had to get a tow back to Orlando. A model had an emergency, and had to call off hours before the event. Another model had to go into work early, and had to cancel, too. These were all fine, and I can understand that (The shootout would have had 8 of us had every one shown up, counting the model who had to cancel the night before, which was enough to do the event, and I would have done it with as few as six. We were down to three, and one would not have attended until the last few hours). Losing five just before the event was enough to scrub it. It’s not the ones who cancelled who bother me, though. It’s the ones who said that they were coming, and didn’t bother to call off or show. That was about 14 people. If everyone would have shown up, we would have had a shootout of 22 people. Later, when I was in Brandon shooting my remaining model, who is one of the top models in the Tampa Bay market, and who has been one of my best friends for nine years now, we discussed it. We discussed the high number of flakes in the industry today. I told her that today, with the advent of social media, that everything was disposable, and the respect just wasn’t there. Buy a camera? Hell, you can claim to be a photographer, going around shooting models for free! Photogenic? Set up a free profile on the Internet with your free pictures and claim to be a model! How can these people be taken seriously? Without rambling on and on about these people, though, let’s move on with solutions. I know my model and this really cute aspiring model that we met heard me complain about it. It’s pretty much out of my system now, but I’m still annoyed. So, as of now, the first Athena Modeling Photography and Networking event, “The Outland”, has been rescheduled for Sunday, January 15, 2012. The event will also obtain some more enhancements. I will say that I will no longer rely upon strangers to make an event happen again, and that Athena will require substantial support infrastructure. It is going to get it, and that's why it has been delayed a few months. I will post some more about solutions later this week. PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST Friday, September 23, 2011 - Tampa Shootouts Blog Post by C. A. Passinault The Tampa Shootouts Site Has Launched! It’s been roughly eight years in the making, with my plans accelerated by an encounter with a con artist and his amateur shootout event back in May, but the Tampa Shootouts site has finally launched, and our first official shootout event, the Athena Modeling Photography and Networking Event Series, will be held this Sunday! The Athena shootout event series is the backbone of Tampa Shootouts, and there will be an Athena shootout event every month, conditions permitting. Although the first Athena shootout will not have all of the bells and the whistles of the full event, it will still be another level better than anything done in the history of the Tampa Bay market as far as photography and modeling events go. I expect the Athena shootout events to be fully operational after the first three, and we will have a full rollout of all of the features by the fourth event. Each Athena event will also have a main theme, too, and although most of them will be family friendly, because they are private events that you have to be invited to, some of them will overlap with our other shootout events into high-risk territory. Tampa Shootouts is not just about Athena, though, as Athena is our flagship, and main, event series. We will have shootout events, with various brands, formats, and themes, addressing every facet of the photography and modeling industries. All of these shootout events will be marketed here on Tampa Shootouts. Now, although my main shootout events, like Athena, will primarily be family and career-friendly, with no risks. That’s our main market, but keep in mind that if that is all that we limited ourselves too, that we would not be a threat to the people out there who do high-risk shootouts. I want to provide an ethical and professional alternative to the high-risk shootout events that are out there now, and make them as safe (career safe) as possible. I also want to make sure that the participants understand the risks, and really want to specialize in high-risk work. High-risk work, of course, includes some bikini modeling, some swimsuit, glamour, boudoir, and other types of risque work which are inappropriate for mainstream modeling (and photography) careers. One of the reasons that we started Tampa Shootouts was because the people out there who run shootout events which do a lot of high-risk work (the skanky model who does her “modeling” photography events at a clothing-optional resort, the sleazy guys with all of the glamour shootouts and workshops, etc) are idiots, IMO, who pose a risk to the careers of models and photographers. I’ll write more on that soon, though. Tampa Shootouts is not for parents who want to get their kids into modeling or for amateurs. Amateurs participating with any shootout event is pointless, especially when it undermines the markets that the professionals who are involved with the shootout events (Professionals should never give away the store!). For amateur photographers, we have workshops for the training that you need, and those will cost money. It’s called an investment, and it will open the door for you to have a career as a real, professional photographer. For aspiring models, well, you need to go to a professional photographer who specializes in modeling portfolios and invest in a modeling portfolio. That costs money, too, and the investment into your career, which is exactly what it is, will give you an effective portfolio which will enable you to book paying modeling jobs. I’d say that you should go to me, as that is what I specialize in, and you should, but to be honest, I did not put Tampa Shootouts or my shootout events to market my modeling portfolio services to aspiring models, as aspiring models are NOT the target market of these shootouts. I already have businesses and strategies in place for this market, and have for the past decade, and no one else comes close in the Tampa Bay market. I’m at the top of the game, now, and I book more modeling portfolio and talent headshot shoots than even the agency-represented photographers do. Sure, there are photographers out there who may be better than I am (there are only a few who work my market, and it’s not a long list, IMO- Most of the photographers who run their mouths about me can’t even come close to my skill and experience as a photographer, which means that they are no threat to my business... Ahem, Larry and Duh-Wayne. Either that, and/ or they do work which is inappropriate for modeling and talent portfolios... Ahem, Rick, Bobby, Bruce, Raymond, Doug, and countless others who are morons, IMO), but I’m the full package, and no one can touch what I can do. Additionally, it takes a lot more than being a better photographer to be able to compete with me. If no one see’s you, you’re not in the game, and are not competition for me. I’m the most visible photographer in the Tampa Bay market, and my work is good enough for what the models need. It’s about to get a whole lot better, too, and in the next few years, I will not only be pulling in six figures shooting models, but I will become one of the best photographers in the world, literally. I’ll close the photography gap quite nicely, if one actually exists right now. While our workshops will be marketed to amateurs and aspiring professionals, and Tampa Shootouts will overlap into that area, we will be building and deploying another web site for that. The new web site will overlap with Tampa Shootouts, and both sites will be interconnected, although each will focus on separate markets. For the Tampa Shootouts site, we will focus on something different for our workshops. We will be using our shootout events as working auditions for professionals who want to book subcontracted work in our industry workshops and help teach the students. It’s about segmenting markets, people, and may this be another lesson in how to work the business, and become a real player in the industry. PREVIOUS POST - TAMPA SHOOTOUTS BLOG POSTS - NEXT POST PUBLISHED 09/23/11 UPDATED 06/05/12
DISCLAIMER - TERMS OF USE - MINUTES - CREDITS - SPECIAL THANKS Athena Modeling Photography and Networking Event Series Beacon Modeling Photography Shootouts Allure Sexy Photography Shootouts Tampa Shootouts on social media; Follow us, friend us, like us, and subscribe to us on: Twitter - Facebook - Youtube an event series by Tampa Bay Photography Society - Tampa Bay Modeling - Aurora PhotoArts - Frontier Event Planning - Frontier Stage Productions in association with Modeling and talent expert and photographer C. A. Passinault, Aurora PhotoArts Tampa Photography and Design, and director of Tampa Bay Modeling. C. A. Passinault has been the professional behind the modeling careers of several top models in the Tampa Bay market, and has been Tampa Bay's original, and best, model maker since 2000. C. A. Passinault is also an event planner, and owns all of the organizations, web sites, and companies supporting his Tampa Shootouts series. *Pioneer Class* web site by Aurora PhotoArts, a Passinault.Com company. Pioneer Class 0002, Commissioned 092311.1344hrs. Webmaster and Pioneer Class web site designer C. A. Passinault. ONLINE 09/23/11 UPDATED 09/15/12 Tampa Shootouts Update Log © Copyright 2011-2012 Tampa Shootouts. All rights reserved.