II. I will only agree to work with models whom I have met in person. I will not assume that I want to work with a model based solely on scanned images, email, forum postings, or even phone calls. I have access to models at a local agency and I scout models on the street, and these will be my primary methods of building my portfolio.  Models that I scout on the internet have to prove to me that they have the determination to help themselves if I am going to lay out time and money to set up a shoot. Talk is cheap, but renting a studio and equipment isn't, so before I shoot with any model I will meet with them in person.

III. I will have the model sign a release before the shoot, one which describes clearly the payment to be made. If a trade of services is involved, then the payment to be made will never be just negatives or slides, but will be professional prints no smaller than 8 x 10. I will give at least one print per outfit and charge no more than actual cost for any additional prints. In these prints-for-time arrangements, payment for additional prints will be made by the model in advance of print development.

IV. Any release signed will also state clearly that payment from my end should be made in a timely manner. Anything longer than four weeks is not timely. If circumstances beyond my reasonable control force me to push the delivery date back, then I will see it as my duty to inform the model and/or the agency of these circumstances and I will do everything I can to deliver payment as soon as humanly possible.

V. I will remember that a model's time is worth money, and so I will treat the prints-for-time agreement as if the model were expecting payment in cash. As such, I acknowledge that I am essentially withholding money from the model and/or the agency when I do not pay the model for her time. Not only is this wrong legally, but more importantly it goes against my personal sense of morality to promise payment and to delay its delivery unnecessarily and/or without explanation.

VI. I will acknowledge that models rely on these pictures to build their portfolio and thus to increase their chances of getting work. The prints-for-time arrangement is entered into with the idea that each party is helping the other, and I cannot help the model if I have not provided prints for her portfolio. Once the shoot is complete the model has already paid me, and it is my duty to fulfill my side of the bargain.

VII. All of these rules will be held sacred at all times regardless of the model's personality and behavior, the conditions of the shoot, or the quality of the final results.

This pledge may seem pointless to some who read this. It may, in fact, be naivete on my part. But I'm posting it for myself, and I would ask the professionals out there to imagine living by any other code when dealing with a big-time modeling agency or reputable client. From my own experience as a model as well as having heard from countless other models on this subject, I can assure you that models, like anyone else who has provided a professional service, do not understand when a photographer gets too busy to pay them in a timely manner.

Those who know me and have worked with me know why I am making this pledge in a public forum; it has not been made only as a result of bad experiences. After speaking with other photographers, none of whom are on the internet, I've learned that it IS possible to maintain your personal integrity in the professional realm, and that the keys to doing so are to exercise understanding, balance, confidence, and diligence.

I am, of course, open to further input; my life's purpose is to move toward's enlightment, not to wander in ignorance. Regardless, I plan to set these keys and this pledge as the foundation of my photographic endeavors. If I fail in my photographic pursuits because I am being true to myself, then I will not have have failed at all.

 Skeets
16 March 1999