great thread BoneDaddy. I also do a lot of photography. PM me if you want to trade links. our experience seems very similar. I've never used craigslist to find models (although I will now try it), only modelmayhem.
a few additions:
1) social proof seems especially key in this environment. sometimes I will message a girl to shoot and she ignores it. then I will shoot with one of her friends and all of a sudden she wants to shoot also. this happens continuously, and was initially irritating but now I just see it as a different form of networking.
2) these girls are generally among the best looking in their area and age group. with that comes the absolute worst behavior imaginable. it was very frustrating when I started but I now just overbook my schedule in order to compensate for flaking, which causes me to sometimes flake on the girls myself, thus completing the circle.
3) the amount of ass-kissing in this industry will make you dizzy. these girls are absolutely swarmed with "omg you are so hot please shoot with me" messages. I try to keep it simple and direct, with a bit of teasing. sometimes the girls have no sense of humor and just block me on modelmayhem. I figure that those shoots were not going to happen anyway.
any of this sound familiar? it's basically the exact same situations we discuss as "game", just with every girl behaving like a 10, and with a different reward. I see it as training to deal with super-hot girls, plus I have always loved photography, so it's a win-win for me.
a few additions:
1) social proof seems especially key in this environment. sometimes I will message a girl to shoot and she ignores it. then I will shoot with one of her friends and all of a sudden she wants to shoot also. this happens continuously, and was initially irritating but now I just see it as a different form of networking.
2) these girls are generally among the best looking in their area and age group. with that comes the absolute worst behavior imaginable. it was very frustrating when I started but I now just overbook my schedule in order to compensate for flaking, which causes me to sometimes flake on the girls myself, thus completing the circle.
3) the amount of ass-kissing in this industry will make you dizzy. these girls are absolutely swarmed with "omg you are so hot please shoot with me" messages. I try to keep it simple and direct, with a bit of teasing. sometimes the girls have no sense of humor and just block me on modelmayhem. I figure that those shoots were not going to happen anyway.
any of this sound familiar? it's basically the exact same situations we discuss as "game", just with every girl behaving like a 10, and with a different reward. I see it as training to deal with super-hot girls, plus I have always loved photography, so it's a win-win for me.