📸 Skai Chan Photography

Top 11 Ridiculous Things TFCD Models Do

Most photographers, like me, started off portrait photography by doing TFCD photoshoot. I began with friends and aspiring models on a collaboration basis, before clients started approaching me. Those aspiring photographers with financial power would hire freelance models to have an easier head start.

I'm fortunate to have worked with many nice TFCD models. Some of them are angel-like while the majority of them don't give me big problems. I'm proud that I do spend the effort to filter them based on not only looks but also personalities, to eliminate foreseeable problems. That's to say, I do turn down hot girls.

Reality is cruel that regardless of my effort, I have my fair share in dealing with ridiculous things that TFCD models do. Even after I have built a "solid" portfolio and have started working with clients, most of the TFCD models who approach me would still give me problems. Perhaps, when a thing comes for free, people will tend to appreciate it less.

Unfortunately, many of these problematic TFCD models aren't logical-thinking people.

No clear recent photographs Imagine you're a professional photographer and someone approaches you to collaborate, and yet you cannot figure out her looks, how would you determine if that person is worth your time and effort? Or perhaps, you may be a professional model and a "photographer" approaches you without showing you his photography portfolio, would you want to work with him?

I had encountered someone approaching me, telling me she used to be a model with an agency but she couldn't even produce any old modelling photographs. I had no idea what this supermodel looked like.

Another girl sent me two heavily edited photographs - her face's shape was edited and the filter added reminded me of geisha. When I reminded her again of photographs with no makeup and no editing, she simply brushed me off by saying she had to put on makeup for work. She probably didn't remove her makeup before going to bed as well.

There are many weird examples. Even though some of the girls may be hot in terms of dressing (unable to judge the actual looks), their intelligence levels should be one huge consideration for acceptance. Of course, if a TFCD photographer doesn't mind the result of the photoshoot because his main motive is something else, he can simply work with a bimbo who likely can't cooperate well.
Slow replies It takes lots of time to discuss and plan for the photoshoot. Therefore, if the model replies slowly, it will take forever to proceed with the actual photoshoot.

In my limited time, I also have to make the best out of every photoshoot. Since I'm a bespoke photographer, it's my job nature to inject some casual chats to build up trust and also to get more information from the model for more interesting photo concepts. Therefore, it may take longer for me, compared to most other photographers, to work out the photoshoot details with the model.

Unfortunately, there are times when I haven't even discussed the theme with the aspiring models, I have already given up replying to them. Just imagine someone approaches you to collaborate but takes a day just to exchange three or four short replies with you.

This is a great test of their sincerity and priority on the photoshoots. If you happen to encounter such people, do expect major problems to appear shortly should you decide to proceed to collaborate with them.
Insist for only fashion photoshoot The most common kind of photoshoot is a fashion photoshoot, which will not help much in portfolios because they are too common and often boring. Since many clients will be paying for such photoshoots, it's not very beneficial for professional photographers and makeup artists to take up such TFCD projects, unless the model has an x-factor. Models, photographers and HMUAs need to demonstrate that they are versatile and thus should have a wider variety of portfolios. If a model is given a good chance to do something creative with a good photographer and yet she only wants to do Garden Shoot, she's wasting the chance and being selfish to the photographer/ team. If the model isn't comfortable with showing too much skin, at least be open to doing something more creative.

From my observation, the majority of "models" who want to do TFCD photoshoots are simply people who want to upload new photographs to their social media profiles or blogs; their goals are more towards being influencers instead of models.
Refuse to disclose contact number In Singapore, one of the most commonly used chat applications is WhatsApp and it's much more convenient and user-friendly than other platforms and messengers. It requires the actual contact number of a user to add him/ her. Models can approach photographers on different social media platforms or even forums, which may not have very user-friendly chatting platforms. Some models somehow refuse to share their numbers to discuss via WhatsApp.

There was once when an aspiring model approached me on my personal Facebook profile for a TFCD photoshoot. Although we were able to view each other's profiles that we had already discussed for a while, she wasn't comfortable with sharing her number for WhatsApp. At that time, I was trying to her up with a professional makeup artist to do the TFCD photoshoot together and WhatsApp was our usual chat application, unlike Facebook Messenger.
Refuse to share pictures of outfits For most TFCD photoshoots, the models have to provide their outfits. If the photographers don't know what clothes the models have, it's impossible to find inspiration. Most photographers are also male and don't know a lot about women's clothes.
There are times the models would boast, "Just tell me what you want and I will find it in my wardrobe". You can judge the attitude through this. By the way, they usually fail to meet my request.
Behave like clients TFCD models can be more demanding than clients, partly because they are already being spoiled by other TFCD photographers who are trying very hard to get in between the legs of their models. While clients follow photographers' rules (service agreement) and accept the photography packages they pay for, some TFCD models may demand more.

The most common demand from such TFCD models is to get back the photographs fast. If a professional photographer tells his potential clients that they will only get back their paid photographs within two or three months, how fast should the models expect? Of course, many amateur photographers can even produce the final work within the same day.
Give only bad timings for outdoor photoshoots For a studio photoshoot that's well blocked from the direct sun, the photographer can set up studio lighting and does not worry about any harsh sunlight; therefore, the timing of the photoshoot doesn't matter. An outdoor photoshoot depends heavily on the timing as the strobes may not be strong enough to overpower the harsh sunlight. However, many TFCD models think photographers are supposed to do magic even without their full cooperation.

When I was new to portrait photography, I worked with a model who was featured in a Singapore men's magazine. She postponed our photoshoot twice and eventually gave me a bad time - early afternoon. It was then a rare opportunity to work with a hot and "experienced" model for my portfolio and thus I tried my best to accommodate her. Since she was late and told me she had to leave soon, I didn't have the time to set up my basic lighting. She didn't have good makeup skills. Of course, I was too inexperienced to handle a such difficult situation, especially the fieriness of the sun. The photographs turned out to be very normal. From then on, I emphasise more on the attitude of my TFCD models.
1. Spending time to write more articles that explain the importance of the timing of outdoor photoshoots.
2. Stating my rules even more clearly on my terms and conditions pages.
3. Showcasing more portfolios on my website to demonstrate my knowledge.
4. Display more authority when it comes to the timing of outdoor photoshoots.
5. Switching to indoor or studio photoshoots if the model seriously has problems with the timing.
There are still times when the makeup sessions are delayed and I have to work outside the golden hour. My experience and lighting equipment overcome the harsh conditions but I often regret that the quality of the photographs could turn out to be so much better.
Oversleep/ late for shoot This happens a lot for early morning photoshoots.

I'm a night owl and I usually sleep right before sunrise, which means that for early morning photoshoots, I may sleep for only one or two hours. If I can wake up early to board the first train, why can't the model who has approached a professional photographer for a free photoshoot?

When I was still new to photography, I had two extreme cases of TFCD models oversleeping badly. One of my TFCD models had a mahjong session after midnight and thus overslept for the early morning photoshoot. We started the shoot hours later after she eventually woke up. It took me great pains to edit the photographs due to the not-very-good lighting and makeup. Eventually, she gave me problems by demanding all the snapped (bad) photographs. The other one turned the early morning photoshoot into an early evening photoshoot and many years later, she approached me to demand I remove the photographs from my website because even though we agreed the photographs were meant for my photography portfolio, we didn't specifically highlight that they would be uploaded onto my website. Ridiculous, yes.
"Overlook" the terms and conditions Even if you have your terms and conditions clearly stated, some TFCD models will not abide by them despite telling you they have already done it.

I have experienced some immature aspiring models who have edited my final work by adding a filter to change the entire feel before uploading it. I have encountered an even more ridiculous one who cropped and edited away my watermark before uploading. Then, she claimed she had the full right to do whatever she wanted.

I had also encountered an aspiring model who bashed me around on the internet because she subconsciously expected me to give her at least 15 final photographs (15 x 3 hours of work) and I made her too flawless (slimmer and stretch marks removed), and other ridiculous reasons although she had agreed to my terms and conditions and seen my portfolio.
Reject photographs In the commercial world, most models have no say. If the model thinks the photographer has a bad judgment of photographs, why should the model work with the photographer? Rejecting photographs chosen and edited by the photographer is directly insulting him.

When I was new, a TFCD model made me travel to the commercial makeup artist's house to go through the bikini photographs together. After the post-production was done, the model rejected all the full body photographs simply because she wasn't confident of her legs, even after the assurance from the very experienced commercial makeup artist.

I also encountered a few TFCD models who, only after the shoot, told me not to upload the photographs. I wasn't dating them by doing TFCD photoshoots like what some "photographers" might be doing and I had already told them beforehand that the photoshoots were meant for my portfolio and social media. One of them gave me the reason that she didn't want her boyfriend to know she had done a photoshoot, not even for a fully clothed casual outdoor fashion shoot. There was also an instance that the model's excuses to leave out some of the tastefully taken boudoir photographs (implied nude) was she didn't want anyone to know that she was topless (but covered) alone with a guy inside her bedroom, although both her parents were at home. Besides, she already had some such photographs posted on her public Instagram account.
Request/ demand to remove photographs The purpose of doing a TFCD photoshoot is for the team to build their portfolios, such as modelling portfolio, photography portfolio and makeup portfolio. It's straightforward. Most of the time, the photographer will be spending the greatest amount of time and effort for he has to take care of everything from pre-production to production and post-production. The post-production work usually requires more time and effort than the previous phases combined.

The majority of the aspiring models who do TFCD photoshoot is unlikely to succeed in the heavily saturated market and so do photographers and makeup artists. However, since youth (looks) is limited, while (photography and makeup) skills can be sharpened over time, more aspiring models will eventually drop their goal of becoming professional models. This is the beginning of the problem.

Some of the TFCD models would start "requesting" the photographers to remove the collaborated photo album(s) from their online photography portfolios and social media, regardless of the genre of the photoshoot. Most of these TFCD models are those who have done more casual photoshoots.

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