For Models/Amatuer Models

In the experience I have had and from the people I have spoken to, some people need clarification on the concept of modeling. I have noticed that from my experience on a website for models and photographer, that most of the people claiming to be models, aren’t really that.

If you have posed for pictures, it doesn’t necessarily make you a model. A model is someone who knows what angles will work for showing off what is needed. Knowing the proportions of their body and how to make their body look their best.

Just because you have posed for some guy with a camera asking you to do sexy, partially nude pictures, that doesn’t make you a model either. That just makes you a victim. 90% of the pictures taken by a man claiming to be a photographer and wanting you to take you clothes off, come out looking like they belong in the amateur section of a Hustler magazine. If you don’t have aspirations or dreams of being in one of those magazines, then you should avoid doing that borderline sleazy work.

Listen to the photographer. When they ask you to crook your leg to the left and swivel your hips. Yes it might be uncomfortable, but your photographer may think that that particular pose will make a great shot. After all isn’t that what you are wanting? A great shot? Be willing to do anything that isn’t inappropriate. If you are asked to hang from a fire escape, do it. It’s not going to hurt you and the photographer isn’t going to make you do something that can potentially hurt or injure you.

When getting in contact with a photographer or anyone else in the industry, be sure to speak or type correctly. You definitely do not want someone to think you are uneducated. For they might just think you will not be someone they would enjoy working with. Also, be prepared. Have a recent photograph of yourself if not more. A few examples of the work that you have done can help a photographer get a feel for your potential and what they can expect from you.

If you are pursuing a career in modeling then you need to know something about the business. Like I mentioned earlier, if you have posed for pictures, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are a model. If you want to begin a portfolio, contact several photographers. Contact only those that you feel will be able to benefit your portfolio. Make sure that you enjoy their work. The worst thing to do is get work done from a person claiming to be a photographer and all it is, is someone with a camera who wants a title.

If you are less than 5’8”, remember that high fashion/runway models are taller than that. You might be great for commercial/print modeling. So if you want to do modeling make sure you are honest about your height and body measurements, so that you can be grouped into the proper category. It’s easier for a photographer to know these things before a shoot, so that everything is planned in advance.

Also, if you are really wanting to be a model; go for it. But remember that you need to do the things that are going to put you in the best light. You don’t want to be known for nude pics, if that is all you have done. You want to be known for your ability to model. So practice, practice, practice. The best way is to get as much time in front of the camera. Just make sure it is someone that knows how to work that camera.

If you would like any more information, feel free to email me !


*Above picture Copyrighted to Christine Pope Photography.

Why I charge the prices I do !

I have had many people question the prices I charge for sessions and such. I and others feel that the price is far cheaper for the quality of work that I do than some other photographers. I work really hard to offer great keepsake images to please the client.

When I charge 150 dollars for a session, the session lasts about 2-3 hours. That is 2-3 hours of me busting butt to get the best possible image. I get on the ground, crawl around and try to find the one that is going to be the best. It's a workout and tiring and sometimes not the cleanest of areas to be wallowing on the ground. Up,down and all around is what happens. I run myself ragged at times to get the best of the best.

In that time frame, we may visit several different locations and have several different wardrobe changes. I also spend time talking to the client to find out what they want out of the shoot and what they would like to see in their images. I am constantly thinking and working it out in my head on what is going to be the best.

When the shoot is over, I drive home. Spend about 30 minutes uploading to my computer the 200-500 images I have taken through out the 2-3 hour shoot. After that, I look at each image to make sure they are in perfect condition. Clear and crisp images, no blurs, no imperfections. I then go into editing process where I edit every image that I think is the absolute best picture. It can range from 30-all pictures being edited. This process can take anywhere from 3-10 hours depending on how well the shoot went and how much cooperation I had from the clients.

After the editing process, I then go back through all the unedited pictures to see if I might have missed a spectacular image. I also go back through the edited images to make sure they are up to my personal standards. I then put all the edited images on a CD, which takes about another 30 minutes. After the CD is burned and operable. I make a CD cover for the jewel case that the clients will receive if they purchase the disc. I print out a copyright release and sign it. All put into an envelope ready for the mail.

When a client purchases a session, they are not paying me by the hour. They are paying me for the amount of work I put into the entire effort. From the travel, to the shoot, to the editing process, to the final product. When the purchase a CD with images they are paying for the copyright release that they receive which gives them the right to print as many images as they want, whenever they want.

So if a client opts for a session and a CD, they might be charged $350 depending on the disc they want. That is $350 dollars for 6-15 hours of my time. So the next time, you question a photographers prices, just remember the amount of work that some of us put into our work and the quality and experience we strive to provide for our clients.

* Above picture is Copyrighted to Christine Pope Photography.

The Greatest Gift

Reece, my precious little boy, was born in March of 2006 with severe complications, which we were not aware nor prepared for. I saw my little boy, after nine months of normal, routine pregnancy whisked away bundled up in a blanket not making any sound. I knew something was wrong, for I never heard anything from the doctors nor my newborn baby. I was to find out later that things were worse that I could have ever imagined.

Reece was born with a malformed arm, that only had an index finger and a thumb. But that wasn’t the worst of it. His heart was enlarged with fluid encasing it. One of his lungs would not inflate due to the enlargement of the heart. He was not breathing on his own and for sometime the doctor’s were not even sure if he had an esophagus. They told my family and I to be prepared, that he might not make it.

My little boy I carried for nine months with no sign of the complications he was brought into this world to overcome might be lost to me forever. I didn’t get to hold him after his birth; I barely caught a glimpse of him. After the doctor’s told me of the problems he was facing they brought him to me in an incubator with little ear muffs on prepared for his helicopter ride to Ochsner’s in New Orleans. I remember I only was able to touch his foot.

He was diagnosed with Cornelia de Lange Syndrome immediately at the hospital in New Orleans. He was hooked up to a breathing machine along with an IV drip. The doctors told me to pray.

When Reece turned three days old I was released from the hospital (he was delivered by C-Section) and was able to go and visit him the hour drive away. I was the last to get to see him. When I walked in to the NICU, I saw the smallest babies I would ever see in my life. As I passed each little life, I said a small prayer for each of them, because I knew first hand how these parents were feeling. My little boy was at then end of the room, the only baby in the NICU not in an incubator but in a warming bed. He was so small and frail looking to me. So handsome. So still. Although he was awake, he just didn’t seem like a normal baby. Something seemed wrong.

At three days old, I held Reece for the first time. Hundreds of wires and tubes were connected and I remember my biggest fear was ripping them out. Reece is my first and only child as of right now. My fear should have been, am I holding him right? But I was terrified that I would do something wrong and rip a tube out and kill my baby. I sat in a rocking chair for three hours holding my little boy in the most awkward position so as not to interfere with his machinery. I remember the joy I felt when he pooted in my hand! It was such a great feeling to at least know that my son was able to have normal body functions at the time although everything else was still unknown.

A few days later, Reece was taken off of all his machinery. His doctor has prescribed him heart medication to aid his heart in the reparation process. He was starting to nurse a bottle. I pumped milk and would freeze it so that he could at least get some aid from what I had to offer him, even though I was unable to be there for him like I should have been. Reece was in the NICU for three weeks.

Reece is now a healthy, happy little three year old boy. Although he is severely developmentally delayed (around a 10 month old level) he is my pride and joy. He is so sweet and funny. His laugh will make even the hardest hearts melt with love. He attracts people from everywhere. Walking through the store, people flock to him to touch him, talk to him, even to give him money.

He is unable to talk and walk at this time, but is well on his way to learning these things. He is my little boy and will always be the love of my life. I thank God everyday for such a special little man !


A prayer for the greatest gift:

Dear Heavenly Father,
I thank you every day for the greatest gift. A beautiful little boy with a heart of gold. Someone to bring a smile to my face and teach me the patience I never was able to learn. I thank you for his kindness and unconditional love. His health and happiness which in turn gives me so much love and joy. I thank you for protecting him and giving him the strength to survive when he needed it the most. I thank you for my little man, who is so awesomely precious in my eyes, and I cannot think of anything in life that would have been so amazing of a gift. Please watch over him and protect him from the evils of our world. From the evils of man and the darkness that befalls the weak. Keep him strong, healthy and always full of life. For I believe that is how you would want him to be. He this sweetest little boy and I will teach him of you and your word. For he will always know that God has sent me an angel with a broken wing. I am eternally grateful.

* Above picture is Copyrighted to Christine Pope Photography.

"The friendship that can cease has never been real."- Saint Jerome

A couple of months ago, I had a terrible bump in the road of life. I lost a good friend. Not only was I ashamed, I was devastated. Completely, utterly devastated. This person I had not known long, but time was not an indicator of the depth of our friendship. At least that is how I felt. This person didn’t pass away, or move from the area, she was taken away from me by someone that was envious of the friendship we shared.

By no means am I the type of person who likes to play the victim role. But I really felt like I had been a victim of circumstance and evil. I was made to be the bad person in a situation that should never have been. I was told that I was a horrible friend and a horrible person for having an opinion. It hurt. More than words can express. It cut deep, tore through the sole. I really spent time questioning myself and the person I always thought I was.

Was I truly a bad person? Was I a crappy friend? Did I intentionally hurt people? I couldn’t find the answer within myself. So I just slowly closed myself off from other people. This went on for several weeks and it broke my spirit. I wasn’t really the person I should have been, that I had always been.

I eventually moved on from the drama and bull that had been crowding my head. I understood that these people would never be in my life and that it might be for the best. I don’t need anyone in my life that is going to make me feel less that what I KNOW I am. I am not a mean person; I am not a bad friend. As a matter of fact, my true friends understand me and that’s what matters. My best friends knows that when I tell her something that might be harsh or sting that I am doing it for the love that I have for her.

I have only wanted the best for my friends. No matter how close or how deep our friendship runs. I want nothing but happiness and health for those I love. I truly love my friends. If we don’t talk for months or we talk everyday. My friends are an important factor in my life. I would do anything that I could possibly do to help a friend in need.

I thought I had been that friend. I thought I had been supportive, caring, a good listener, advice giver, and all around good friend. So when I found out that I was thought of as a horrible friend and person, it was crushing. It was also easy to get over. I realized some time after that I wasn’t the bad person, I wasn’t the bad friend. But in all honesty if that’s what they choose to believe then that’s their choice. I’ll pray for them to see the truth and one day realize that I wasn’t who they thought I was.

Just the other day the friend that I had lost, returned to my life. It was a bittersweet moment. But one I will cherish, should everything be as it was at one time. The reason I say it was a bittersweet moment, is that I missed this person tremendously. This person, I hadn’t gotten so close with that I felt as if she had been part of my life since childhood. But at the same time, I wasn’t sure if anything would come between us again like it had months before. But I realize that that is something only time will tell and if I look at our friendship as a trial then our friendship will never be what it was. It will be my fault this time that something comes between us. I won’t let that something be me or my doubts and insecurities.
It felt amazing when my friend told me that she had missed me as I had missed her. That I was a good friend to her. It made such a difference knowing that she had thought that I was, when at one time I seriously questioned myself. I spoke with her on the phone for the first time in months and the oddest thing happened. It was like we had picked up where we left off, as if nothing had happened at all. It didn’t feel like months later it felt like the next day. At the moment I knew that I had found my friend. I knew that we were meant to be friends, we were meant to be in each others lives in some capacity. I am eternally grateful that all seems to be working itself out.

After all this time our friendship has been renewed. I hope it stays this way because I don’t think I can mentally take on another defeat. Time heals all. Time is like a Band-Aid, it eventually helps in the healing process. Open communication also. I hope to be able to communicate at full length face to face how all of this has affected us as individuals, since we both now how it has affected our friendship firsthand.

I will always remember the long road this friendship has traveled. I will always carry in my heart the pain in which I felt for a while. But I know that I am a good friend and I will always be a good friend to those I have in my life and will have in my life. I will always keep close to me that a storm is always on the horizon, it’s only a matter of how you weather that storm. Staying strong and firm in your beliefs and true to yourself will be the only way to protect and save yourself. Only you can be your best friend, when there is no one left and you are alone, there is only you to comfort yourself. The only way to be a good friend in return is to be good to yourself. You can’t make others happy if you yourself are not. You can’t love others if you can’t love yourself. It’s a hard pill to swallow knowing that your happiness, the love for yourself and your overall well being depends solely on yourself. Friendship is just an added bonus. A great bonus if you find true friends.

I think I have found a true friend.


* Picture is a manipulation of several images that I compiled from stock images.