Bondage Photo Shoot - Expenses Incurred

Alrighty then, just what the heck does one of your photo shoots set you back M?  Let me make one thing clear here, this journal entry is not a bitch or a whine.  Please understand that every single piece of work uploaded onto dA, irregardless of the quality, cost somebody something.  This stuff does not magically appear out of thin air.  Listed below are items and services that Uncle M Productions foots the bill for at each and every shoot:

1) Photographer.  My photographer has been in the business for over 25 years and knows his stuff let me tell you.  The equipment he uses at each and every shoot is valued in the tens of thousands of dollars.  Compare the images his camera and lens produces next to a very good digital SLR that you would pay say $1,500 for and you won't go back.  After the shoot each and every photograph is cleaned up and my logo inserted by my photographer.  This is done on an expensive computer running expensive software.  Between the shoot and processing my photographer invests two full days of his time and considerable talent in the project.  Does he get compensated in monetary terms?  You betcha.  

2) Studio space.  Ever wonder where we shoot?  In a room in a building is where.  Heat?  Light?  Maintenance?  Taxes?  Alas, we are not a part of the occupy Wall Street movement and consider it poor form to demand free shoot space as a constitutional right.  Don't get me started on those brainless, you owe me man... fuckers.  Opps.  Did I use a swear word in a politically incorrect statement?

3) Props.  Where did that chair, table, stool, swing, rope ladder, plate, cupcakes (insert object here) come from?  I either go out and purchase the props (Safeway gets a lot of my money.  "Honey?  I see we have more Safeway points.  What did you buy?"  ) or I make them with my own hands with my own tools and materials I purchased with money I earned.  We don't steal our stuff.  

4) Speaking of Safeway, I feed the entire crew lunch, beverages and snacks at each and every shoot.  On me baby.

5) Custom clothing.  You think Sisi goes out and purchases material then designs and builds all those clothes and accessories for free?  "Here Uncle M, please use all my custom clothes I create in order to make a living, pay my bills, have a life and not sit on my lazy ass in a tent on public property and demand the fat cat capitalist swine take care of my every needs."  Damn, there I go again.  Like my photographer, Sisi gets compensated in real terms and fairly I might add.  

6) Make up artist.  "Ummmm....I actually purchase my kit supplies Uncle M and I would like to be reimbursed for them if you please."

7) Stockings.  I love stockings.  Stockings are mandatory at a shoot.  My cookie folks.  I purchase them.  All of them.  Stockings can and do run, though I am very, very good around them and rarely get runs in them.  

8) Shoes.  Yup, I participate in the costs of shoes.  Not all of the time mind you, but if Sisi has her eye on a specific pair for a shoot we make it happen.  $$

9) Rope.  Most important part.  I spend $100's in rope each year.  Rope gets dirty and the rope I use does not wash all that well.  My girls get fresh rope.

10) Web site.  Owning a web site is akin to owning a boat.  A boat is a hole in the water in which to pour money.  A web site is a hole in cyber in which to pour even more money.  If you think for one instant that us guys and gals that own and operate a pay web site are raking in the dough...think again.  Mine was attacked late last winter and was irreparably damaged.  I came within a whisker of taking the thing down and walking away never to venture into the world of cyber again.  Turns out like any business these days, one needs a web site to showcase yourself.  I have something now that is clean, simple and actually setup to display galleries properly.  Dumped more than enough of my resources into fixing and upgrading the site and what you see is what you get.  I still have many hours of fixing broken links in the behind the scene section ahead of me.  

11)  Pre shoot breakfast/lunch meetings.  It is our custom and practice to sit down over a meal and discuss and plan shoots as well as critique past shoots.  Our shoots run like a well oiled machine for a reason and that reason is pre-planning.  Plan you work and work you plan as they say.  I have these meetings with my models at least twice a month and more if need be.  The tab is on me and we don't do the fast food thing.  

12) Uncle M's time.  Uncle M is the creative pervert behind the pinup bondage of Uncle M Productions.  The art is his vision. Uncle M works for free.

Bondage Shoot-Providing Deniability

Not revealing the identity of a model at my photo shoots is a topic that comes up more often than not these days when in negotiation with a potential model.  In the very beginning of this venture, we took great pains to protect the identity of all our models and even went so far as to block out the models eyes by photo shopping in a silly black bar.  Anna was our first model to announce at a shoot she had no problem being recognized and the flood gates opened from there.  

One of the drawbacks of only using unpaid models as opposed to models that get compensated in monetary terms, is the issue of having images of themselves plastered all over the internet in bondage no matter how classy the work is.  Many very attractive and very willing women have come to me and expressed a keen interest in doing a bondage shoot but were extremely hesitant to do so because of career or personal reasons.  Elementary school teachers, bankers, lawyers, sales professionals, office workers, managers and even doctors have shied away from shooting because photos of this nature could be potentially damaging in more ways than one.  Of course and quite apparently, there are more than enough attractive women that have no such issues and get more than a little pleasure in seeing photos of themselves on display for the world to see.

I could go into some detail why a paid model would be no more expensive for me or in some cases even less costly than photographing a model that is unpaid.  As you can read, I am taking great pains not to use the terms "professional" and "amateur" because as far as I am concerned the woman I shoot are as professional as they come.  They just don't model for a living is all.  They model for me because they enjoy doing pinup style bondage which is the whole point.  Is the model being PAID to look happy and excited or is she ACTUALLY happy and excited in the photograph?  Cost is not the issue here folks.  Realism is.  

Yes of course we will work hard to ensure model confidentiality.  There are lots of very clever and classy ways to hide the identity of a model during the shoot.  Photos, while owned by Uncle M Productions, do not necessarily have to be posted on my website or even on the internet if agreed upon prior to the shoot.  Your role in the shoot may be limited, but damn it if we like each other details can and will be ironed out.

Cheers!