Got a modeling offer, but am weirded out by it.

[The_Traveler]

I'm not against some parts of the 'full range of depravity' but my opinion was based on not letting a relatively new photographer getting caught in something that might taint his future.

 

[Designer]

Well, any time someone lies to me I am put off from furthering any kind of relationship.

 

[Solarflare]

There is no way in hell I would have done that job.

And yes I would have tried to inform the daughter, the mother, the school of the daughter and the local child welfare services about this.

 

[Designer]

There is no way in hell I would have done that job.

And yes I would have tried to inform the daughter, the mother, the school of the daughter and the local child welfare services about this.

You're assuming that the man was talking about his actual daughter?

The man is a liar, so you believe whatever you choose to believe, but for my money, I'd say he was going to go on Model Mayhem next to try to find a model.

 

[The_Traveler]

The man is a liar, so you believe whatever you choose to believe, but for my money, I'd say he was going to go on Model Mayhem next to try to find a model.

You are making a jump from the 'man' for a second hand account of what the man said to an statement that he is a liar.
There are many reasons to not do this shoot without making assumptions and calling him a liar.
Conclusion-jumping is a very bad habit to cultivate.

 

[TreeofLifeStairs]

Conclusion-jumping is a very bad habit to cultivate.

Is that the conclusion you've jumped to?

 

[Designer]

Conclusion-jumping is a very bad habit to cultivate.

But I'm good at it.

 

[Designer]

Besides; I think the majority consensus is to avoid taking the gig. And this is based on what? Why do the majority of members here tell the young photographer to NOT do this shoot? What could be their reasons?

We have only the OP's statement of the facts as he knows them, and yet most members have somehow smelled a rat. Why is my calling the man a liar so farfetched? Apparently some here are of a mind to believe the man who would be a customer, and presumably take the gig.

Who knows; maybe the mother of the girl will bake some cookies.

More power to you.

 

[Designer]

I don't often use red text, but in this case, it seemed to me that the OP might still be considering the gig, so that red text was my way to making sure he noticed it.

 

[The_Traveler]

Besides; I think the majority consensus is to avoid taking the gig. And this is based on what? Why do the majority of members here tell the young photographer to NOT do this shoot? What could be their reasons?

We have only the OP's statement of the facts as he knows them, and yet most members have somehow smelled a rat. Why is my calling the man a liar so farfetched? Apparently some here are of a mind to believe the man who would be a customer, and presumably take the gig.

Who knows; maybe the mother of the girl will bake some cookies.

More power to you.

You are trying to diminish my argument in a rather silly way by implying I thought the op should take the job.
I didn't say that the op should do the job, in fact I was the first person to say not to do it.
And my conclusion was based on the facts as recounted, not any judgement external to that.

Whatever the reality, the downside of doing it was too great

But, since I didn't hear any lie from the man himself, calling this unknown man a liar is a real leap because you actually don't know what he said. He may be an ephebophile, he may be tall, he may be short, but you don't know.

 

[robbins.photo]

Besides; I think the majority consensus is to avoid taking the gig. And this is based on what? Why do the majority of members here tell the young photographer to NOT do this shoot? What could be their reasons?

We have only the OP's statement of the facts as he knows them, and yet most members have somehow smelled a rat. Why is my calling the man a liar so farfetched? Apparently some here are of a mind to believe the man who would be a customer, and presumably take the gig.

Who knows; maybe the mother of the girl will bake some cookies.

More power to you.

You are trying to diminish my argument in a rather silly way by implying I thought the op should take the job.
I didn't say that the op should do the job, in fact I was the first person to say not to do it.
And my conclusion was based on the facts as recounted, not any judgement external to that.

Whatever the reality, the downside of doing it was too great

But, since I didn't hear any lie from the man himself, calling this unknown man a liar is a real leap because you actually don't know what he said. He may be an ephebophile, he may be tall, he may be short, but you don't know.

All quite true. The truth is we can't even be certain this wasn't just a prank, someone sees the craigslist ad and decides to contact the op and just see how outlandish they have to get before he declines.

Like I said, I'm a prude. I would have hung up after the feet pictures request.

Sent from my 306SH using Tapatalk

 

[vfotog]

After buying my first DSLR I posted an ad on craigslist saying essentially that I am a photographer, looking for to do shoots with, I specifically specified in the ad that I would do senior portraits, But I am open to a variety of different types of photography.

Last week, I was contacted by someone that saw my ad, and was interested in doing a shoot for their daughter. Initially I didn't know much about the shoot, other than that it was for their daughter.

Over the next couple of days I began talking to the interested customer, I found out that it was a father looking for a photographer for his daughter, he said that he wanted "senior photo type photos" but upon talking to him more, he also asked for photos of her feet, because she wanted to be a foot model, I was a little bit weirded out by this, but still I was open to it. After further talking, he mentioned if we could do some shots in a hotel room, I said yes, even though this added to my concern about the shoot, he later went on to ask if I could do some shoots in lingerie, I said yes, but just like the previous requests, this further raised my concerns. After more talking, I asked him how old his daughter was, and if her mother or another legal guardian knew about the shoot, and he said that his daughter was 15, this raised a major read flag, he also told me that her mother knew about the shoot, and modeling. He did also state that the shoot wouldn't be pornographic. I told him that I was a bit weary of this situation and that I would have to look into the legality of doing a shoot with a minor in lingerie, to ensure that we weren't breaking any laws. I did also state that I would have to have both of their IDs and have them sign a release form, stating that the requested my photography service. He was also willing to pay about $250 for a 4 hour shoot, I also told him, that if I agreed to the shoot, that I would have another person be present on my behalf to ensure the safety of his daughter and my own.

Upon doing some research, I stumbled upon many different forums, on this site, Model Mayhem, and others that stated that this type of photography shoot is in more of a grey area in terms of it being considered a proper shoot, or child pornography. Upon reading that, I decided to decline his offer, as to not jeopardize my reputation or find myself in a legal mess.

My main concern was if I had agreed to the shoot, what would happen if someone found the photographs on my camera or laptop, would I get into any legal trouble or end up on a sex offender registry, which made me also decline his offer.

much of what you have written is very concerning. especially the last paragraph. If you are going to shoot, you need to understand the law. Being ignorant of it is no excuse; before the registry comes jail time.

Of course you should have refused, but you gave the potential customer some wrong answers. You should have been saying NO a lot sooner. Senior pictures means a minor. Senior pictures aren't done in hotel rooms, and minors shouldn't be in hotel rooms being photographed. Period. Let alone in lingerie, which you also said you would be willing to do. Telling them they'd have to sign something saying they asked for the photos is absolutely meaningless. You are the one who would be behind the lens. If the action is illegal, it's illegal. Whether this man is her pervert dad, a pimp, or whatever, there just isn't any legitimate reason for this shoot.

Something else to consider is this proposed shoot could have been a sting. If it was an undercover officer, you sure didn't put yourself in a good position. The more you said yes, the worse the scenario got. You ultimately said no, but you did say you would be willing to go to a hotel room with a high school student and be willing to shoot her in lingerie. You gave them plenty of reason to put you under surveillance. How did you communicate with this person? If the story is as you say, you might want to seriously consider turning all of this information over to law enforcement.

 

[footballfan993]

I believe I have to clarify some points here...

I did not know the model's age, until after I knew all the other details about the hotel room, foot modeling, lingerie, etc. As I learned more about the type of shoot that this man was requesting, the more weary and uneasy I got about it. As I started to talk to him, he first mentioned that it was going to be a "senior photo style", he later elaborated on that it would be foot photos, and that the model (who at the time I didn't know her age, as that bit came after everything else) was only 15. That was a bit alarming, but I do realize that foot models are needed for magazines and ads to model shoes, socks, and other foot attire.

My stance on shooting erotic images definitely doesn't mean that I would go through with this particular situation. After learning of the model's age, I declined his offer, because the model herself was underage, and not knowing any of the legal matter, and after looking it up, finding that there is a bunch of grey areas, I declined. I knew that I was going to decline the offer even before looking up the legality on photographer forums. I simply wanted to see what other photographers have done, as this would have been my first gig. Furthermore, the suspicious situation of the model and her supposed father and their request, made me decline the gig.

I am more than comfortable shooting nude photos of people in an artistic sense, as currently being a nude model myself at my university, I have come to appreciate it. But of course, due to the model being a minor and under the age of 18, I declined the photo gig. Like I had said previously, had she been 18, I would have considered doing it, yet still with high caution, but she was not 18, therefore I declined it.

 

[unpopular]

it's entirely possible you just getting messed with.

seems kinda goofy, actually. not impossible, not at all. just kinda goofy. in fact, at first i figured you were trolling.

By the way, here in Montana it's nude photos of 16 year old girls is legal, so long as you keep your hands off of them:

Missoula photographer charged with sexually assaulting teenage girl

Which seems a little odd.

 

[vfotog]

I believe I have to clarify some points here...

I did not know the model's age, until after I knew all the other details about the hotel room, foot modeling, lingerie, etc. As I learned more about the type of shoot that this man was requesting, the more weary and uneasy I got about it. As I started to talk to him, he first mentioned that it was going to be a "senior photo style", he later elaborated on that it would be foot photos, and that the model (who at the time I didn't know her age, as that bit came after everything else) was only 15. That was a bit alarming, but I do realize that foot models are needed for magazines and ads to model shoes, socks, and other foot attire.

My stance on shooting erotic images definitely doesn't mean that I would go through with this particular situation. After learning of the model's age, I declined his offer, because the model herself was underage, and not knowing any of the legal matter, and after looking it up, finding that there is a bunch of grey areas, I declined. I knew that I was going to decline the offer even before looking up the legality on photographer forums. I simply wanted to see what other photographers have done, as this would have been my first gig. Furthermore, the suspicious situation of the model and her supposed father and their request, made me decline the gig.

I am more than comfortable shooting nude photos of people in an artistic sense, as currently being a nude model myself at my university, I have come to appreciate it. But of course, due to the model being a minor and under the age of 18, I declined the photo gig. Like I had said previously, had she been 18, I would have considered doing it, yet still with high caution, but she was not 18, therefore I declined it.

this doesn't clarify anything. You say that the first thing you talked about was senior photos. That means the model is a minor. So before you talked about anything else, you knew she was underage. Neither foot modeling nor hotels nor lingerie have anything to do with senior photos.