Sponsorship

MuseCube is changing it's rate structure; moving from unlimited duration, free accounts to three month free trial accounts with the choices after three months being either join at $36/year or get deleted. The change seems to have caught some people by surprise. They are taking the attitude that if they have to pay anything, it isn't worth anything to them.

I see it quite differently.

If I do a googol search on my name, of all the Joe Kozlowskis out there, my MuseCube account is right at the top of the list. That's worth $3/month to me. Beyond that, the Cube offers some pretty decent templates. That means I have a professional looking place to hang my shingle without going through all the hassle of setting up and managing a site.

One thing I have to decide deals with my plans for OMP. Though it may be bigger, I'm not so sure it's better. I have actually found people to work with there. I have not with MuseCube -- though, to be perfectly honest, I've not really been trying to find anyone to work with.

I've "maintained" (though "to maintain" is not quite the right meaning) an account there for a number of years; since account were free there. I've been grandfathered into their current system, though they seem to have dumped some of the images I've had up there. I may actually have to start paying for an account there.

In any case, I digress. Given that the changes at MuseCube seem to be catching some people off guard, I've offered to sponsor any model who works with me on a TFP basis to the tune of a full years membership on MuseCube; that is, I'll pay for their membership for a year. I doubt there will be any takers (just as I doubt there are any models who would ever make the same kind of offer for an aspiring photographer). At worst, I get good press on the Cube.

Great Village - Down the Road and Around the Corner

It was good to get out to dinner, even though there was enough MSG to choke a Great Village. It's the first time in a while.

I was contacted by a aspiring Goth photographer/model. I guess Goth part has been accomplished. It's the other two that I believe fall under the "aspiring" heading. She started by outlining that she wanted to shoot but, never having done "anything like this before" we left it at "give me a yell when you're ready".

She seemed a little non-plused that I would shoot for the pictures.

The MakeUp Artist that I blew off a few months ago - because I don't like getting e-mail cancellations an hour or two before we're supposed to shoot - dropped me a note to tell me that she was really impressed by the new stuff. I guess she means the street photography that's been holding my attention lately. That was a very nice thing for her to say and for me to hear. I sent her a "thank you" note and signed it "The Grumpy Old Man". I hope she gets a chuckle out of that. I may want to work with her again and I'd hate to think I burned my bridges. (Actually, I thought I had until I saw her note.)

I've been haunting RetroKitty - a model site dedicateed to models and photographers involved in retro (20s 30s 40s, 50s and 60s era) pinups, Goth and a little fetish. I feel a lot more comfortable putting my stuff up there. At least I'm not going to get "wedding photographered". The people there are more likely to "get" what I'm doing - or at least I think its probable.

Dead cat

I rock (v.t.); I, rock (n.), Iraq (v.i)