Behind The Scenes Archives - James DeCamp Photography

Best Columbus Portrait Photographer Award Winner

James DeCamp Photography is proud to announce that for the fifth year in a row we have been named one of the Best Wedding Photographers in Columbus, Ohio by Expertise. This prestigious award is only presented to only a few highly selected photographers around the country.

“That this is the fifth year in a row that we have won the honor of Best Portrait Photographer in Columbus speaks highly of our dedication to our clients needs and their positive feedback is what drives us to do each job better and better”, James said in response to the award.

Why This Portrait Photographer?

Our goal is to connect people with the best local experts. We scored Columbus Portrait Photographers on more than 25 variables across five categories, and analyzed the results to give you a hand-picked list of the best.

We were graded on our Availability, Qualification, Reputation, Experience and Professionalism and found to be the best in Central Ohio.

1. Availability

Consistently approachable and responsive, so customers never feel ignored.
2. Qualifications

Building customer confidence with licensing, accreditations, and awards.
3. Reputation

A history of delighted customers and outstanding service.
4. Experience

Masters of their craft, based on years of practical experience and education.
5. Professionalism

Providing service with honesty, reliability, and respect.

March 16, 2022/0 Comments/by James

Jump!

Behind The Scenes, Images, People, Personal

A visual success story – The Fall 2021 Ohio Wesleyan Alumni Magazine.

When you raise more than $200 million dollars how do you visually tell the world about it?

How about jumping for joy!

While it borrows a bit from Philippe Halsman, the true inspiration was Madison Miller, OWU class of ’22. In her words:

“The jumping for joy idea came from the raw emotion of seeing the IRS determination in the mail about my organization, The Veteran Narrative, A non-profit organization that cultivates an empowering environment for our U.S. military veterans to share their testimonies from which educational resources are curated for the classroom.
I had worked for two years to create the nonprofit organization that met the IRS, state, and local standards to be a 501c3. I had hiked through mountains of paperwork, research, and case studies to ensure that I had everything in order to be a successful organization – a daunting task.
I remember looking online to check and saw the approval online first and the happy tears flowed. The Delaware Entrepreneurial Center at OWU had taken me under their wing as an intern, and I was given an office to further flourish. Seeing a letter under my door with my name; The Veteran Narrative, and a return address to the IRS made my heart sped up with anticipation. While opening it I saw the “Congratulations” and couldn’t help but express my emotions.
On my social media’s documenting my journey in the Miss America Organization, I am known for sharing vulnerable emotions. Joy can be expressed in multiple ways, but I did the most “Madison” thing possible and caught the emotion while jumping. It perfectly encapsulates the high of achieving something you’ve worked so hard for while also expressing the physical need to just jump with joy and excitement.
I am honored that OWU saw that and wanted to celebrate other students as well.
I like to say that joy and passion for what we care about can be contagious, and the OWU magazine proves that.”

Taking it from her que, OWU Alumni Magazine Editor Will Kopp reached out to me with this idea to capture a number of current OWU students celebrating the successful fund raising effort to raise $200,000,000 (they had actually raised more than $238 million!) by jumping for joy.
Working over several days (thankfully the November weather co-operated) we captured a dozen students jumping for joy inside or in front of several of the venues that had benefited from make-overs from the fund raising efforts. Combined with aerial views taken from my drone, expert narrative from Will and an awesome layout from William Walker, the final result conveys the excitement that the whole campus feels from the fund raising effort.

Kudos to the subjects who I nearly exhausted at times trying to get just the right angle, lighting, expression and jump height. 🙂

The Fall 2021 Ohio Wesleyan Alumni Magazine. (© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

January 14, 2022/0 Comments/by James

Honeybook Photography Scam

Behind The Scenes

I have been a member of Honeybook for some time – its a great application to pull scheduling and billing for photography shoots together all in one place.

There is also a portion of the app/website where fellow photographers can post help wanted notices. Its usually photographers looking for second shooters for weddings, or posting opportunities on dates they already have booked.

One such notice caught my eye in around the first of the year:

“Fashion photo shoot opportunity.. please reply to my email (langsmatt070@gmail.com) for more details about the photo gig”

I responded with an interest in the project and got the following reply back from Matt Langs the next day:

I need a photographer that will direct and produce an 
independent street fashion photo shoot for Complex Magazine. 
As the photographer you pick a suitable date and location, 
work with a male and a female model, one hair stylist, 
one makeup artist, and a pro wardrobe stylist.

Complex is a media platform and an online community that 
publishes the best, most diverse and most relevant voices 
in culture, period. With over 120 million unique monthly 
visitors and 1.4B monthly page views, Complex makes 
culture pop from its collection of partners, brands 
and its hub site Complex.com for one of the most 
sought after audiences of millennial influencers ever assembled.

Job details:
1. You will be required to work with 2 models
2. There will be 3 outfits and foot wears per model, 5 
images for each outfit/look, which totals 30 images
3. Outfits/Wardrobe will be supplied by us
4. Location, date, and time will be fixed by you
5. We want 30 professionally taken pictures in 
High Res Digital Copies (800 x 600px)
6. Image type: JPG
7. Transfer method: Fileshare or Dropbox
8. Delivery date:January 30th
9. Full budget: $6300
10. Compensation: $2200 ($700 upfront and $1500 final payment)
11. Talents' budget: $4100
12. You will hold full image right (Licensor)

Sounds like an awesome job opportunity except for a number of red flags:
For a typical shoot like this, the client WILL NOT dictate how many models are going to be used,
WOULD NOT want such low resolution images,
WOULD NOT from the get-go describe payment terms including the ‘upfront’ amount,
WOULD NOT allow the photographer to retain full rights

This was almost verbatim the script from the FLAUNT magazine scam that I blogged about in 2018 and get 5-6 similar ones every year.

Of course I said yes – LOL 🙂

Mr. Langs response:

Hello,

Thanks for the reply and the interest to work with 
us on this project. Your works are quite aesthetic 
and I would love to work with you on this gig. 
There are few details you need to know: 

Wardrobe will be picked by our stylist based on 
urban trends for the fall season. We want you to 
use an outdoor and urban location but not necessarily 
metropolitan. We're not expecting your images to be 
exactly like what’s in the sample images but at the 
same time we really want something creative and artistic.

You will have to do little retouching if pictures 
can be taken with natural lighting. Final images 
will be 30 individual photos; 15 (640 x 480px) 
and 15 (800 x 600px), to be delivered via file 
share or Dropbox. Images will on be used as an 
editorial content on Complex.com for 12 months.

An agency will provide a male and a female fashion 
model, makeup and hair stylists. I was just informed 
the budget for the project has changed a little; 
it’s now $6300 (photographer gets $2200 and $4100 
for the talents). You will be paid $700 upfront 
plus the talents budget while your balance payment 
will be paid after sending us proof that the job 
has been done; usually watermarked images.

Photographers we hire usually take on the 
responsibilities of coordinating the shoot, 
selecting location, and disbursing fees. 
An advance payment of $4800 will be issued 
prior to the shoot; this covers your $700 
upfront and fee for talents’ fee payable 
to their manager.The shoot will take place 
in your city.

you will have to agree to the shoot before 
the company's contract for you can be sent over

If you’re comfortable with the above, please 
confirm the name to be written on your payment 
and contract, phone number, and address.

note,the date for the shoot will be decided after 
you have agreed with our terms.

Regards

Me:

“All sounds good.
Please send over the contract and contact numbers of the local people I will be working with.”

Hello,

Thanks for agreeing to do the shoot; I look forward 
to having a wonderful working relationship with you. 

The agency providing models, Hair stylist, and MUA 
is Eggler and Queck and I will want you to discuss 
possible dates with the agent (Arthur Benjamin Eggler) 
while I work on getting your advance budget and the 
contract; you can email Eggler at Arthurben070@outlook.com
Please send these details: 
Name 
Address 
Phone number

Well, my email footer has my Name, Address and phone number in it already – my buddy Matt must have been missing that.

I responded with my contact info and reached out to Arthur Ben, who responded:

Hello,

Thanks for touching base. We’re to provide 
2 models, a Hair/MUA, and a mobile studio 
(VanImage or Motor home) for Complex’s photo 
shoot you will be coordinating.My team will 
be available to shoot from the 13th January
except (Sundays) to January 25th

I will be waiting for you to pick a date that
best suits you.

Our fee for the entire services is $4100 
including refreshment for my team. Regarding 
payment, we require you to pay our fee prior 
to the shoot; we only accept cash deposit for 
shoot with less than 30 days booking notice 
but if you are unable to do that we accept 
mailing on Money Order.

You will be the one to choose a suitable location 
and a cloudy weather will be okay

If you have any question, please feel free to 
email me. Authurandqueck.com is presently offline 
so I attached the models’ com cards; 
Ray and Hannah fits into the profile Complex 
is looking for.

we look forward to working with you

We set a date of January 23rd and I heard nothing back for a while.

In the mean time I reached out to Honeybook and alerted them of the scam – sending them copies of the emails up to that point and referring them to my previous blog posts about scammers of this type.

Amelia from Honeybook got back to me almost immediately:

Hi James,

Amelia from HoneyBook here - thank you so much for 
reporting this in and really sorry for the delay! 

I wanted to confirm that we've fully blocked this 
profile and the listing has been removed from the 
community, and we are working to understand who, 
if anyone, this scammer has been in contact with 
on the system so we can prevent them from falling victim.

As manager of our Member Experience team, 
I generally handle reports of this nature, 
so feel free to call me directly at (415) 591-7768 
for any future reports like this that should be expedited.

Thanks so much,
Amelia

A week went by and it figured it was dead as half of these scams just go silent, and I had reported his profile on Honeybook to be a fake and they had taken it down, possibly cluing him into me know this was a fraud – but I prodded the cat to see if it was alive:

“What is the status of the assignment – I haven’t heard back from either of you regarding my several emails about it.
THANKS!!
Jim”

Hello 

I sent you a text on your phone number and 
I’m still waiting for you reply

The only number I had provided him was a landline and told him that.

Hello 

Your check is ready to be mailed,
You will need to insure the check and security fee.

This is because some clients won’t reply 
again when they receive the check So this 
is the measure the company has put in place  
against theft.

You are required to pay the insurance and 
security fee of $350 which will be refunded 
back to you immediately you receive the check.

Thanks

This was a new twist to the old game, asking for “insurance money” to get my money (that I would then have to send to someone else).

“Well of course. I understand the insurance.
THANKS!
Jim”

Thanks for understanding sir 

When will you get the payment done so that I can 
mail your payment check first thing on Monday morning.
You can get a Apple store gift card worth $350 
at any store around you.carefully scratch the 
card and send the picture to me.
It will be converted and paid

So this professional relationship has now turned into a gift card scam – hahaha

I googled “Apple gift card scratch off” and sent them an image that looked legit.

I’m sorry for disturbing you.Please take the 
picture properly to show the value of card
And it’s of high importance to show 
the name of the gift card
Thanks

my reply (another googled image)

I’m sorry for disturbing you,
I will need you to snap the full card sir...
there is difficulty in converting the card 
Please kindly do it immediately so that I 
can proceed to mailing your check

with in minutes he emailed me with:

I’m still waiting sir

five minutes later

Are you there sir ?

“Please good Sir Langs.
It takes time to set up my camera and photograph
Patience.
What is your rush?
THANKS!!
Jim”

Okay

I’m gonna sit here and wait...there is no rush
Please take your time

I figured I would take things down a new road and see how far I could go.

“Im rather disturbed that I have heard nothing from Arthur Ben
THANKS!!
Jim”

I chatted him up yesterday and he is ready 
with his team.
The only problem is their payment which will 
be resolved when you receive the payment check

“When will I receive the payment check?
THANKS!!
Jim”

I will mail the check when the insurance and 
security fee has been paid and it will take 
just 24hours for you to receive it

“Would you say that trust and honesty are the most important pieces of business?
THANKS!
Jim”

Yes 
Why did you ask ?
I know you are being cautious and I appreciate it because it shows you are a smart person and I’m sure you are the right person for this photo shoot.
Let your mind be at rest because everything will go on well as planned.

I decided I had had enough and figured this would be the end:

“I’m glad I can trust you.
I haven’t told anyone this but need to come clean to someone
When I was 12 years old I killed Bobby Scoval. He was a friend who tried to swindle some money from me and in my anger I stabbed him to death.
My parents helped me bury the body and keep it secret. No one ever knew what really happened and everyone thought he just ran away from home. That was 30 years ago, but still haunts me.
I hope that this doesn’t taint our great working relationship.
I know that I can trust you.
THANKS!
Jim

but less than 30 minutes later a desperate Mr. Langs replied:

It’s okay...your secret is safe with me and a 
mistake doesn’t define someone
What about the payment?

Gotta give him credit – he had his eyes on the prize.

I decided to borrow a cue from the great spam replier himself James Veitch and threw this at him:

“Thank you for the understanding.
Im concerned about security of our emails.
Please view this video – it raises valid concerns. Watch til the end – I think we should adopt codewords like he does.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QdPW8JrYzQ
THANKS!!
Kit Kat”

a couple hours later I taunted him:

“Are you still there?
Sincerely,
Kit Kat”

He came back three days later (the day of the actual shoot) with:

You have diverted from the line of business 
Maybe you aren’t interested in the photo shoot anymore

“I am deeply devoted to the craft of photography.
You obviously did not view the video I sent.
I would look at it if I were you.
You also might want to look at this since its is exactly the same line of business that you are in, but the name of the magazine is different:
https://www.jamesdecamp.com/2018/08/29/another-day-another-scam-going-around-flaunt-magazine/
Let me know if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Kit Kat”

I think I’ll see if he is still around and send him this blog post 🙂

January 23, 2020/2 Comments/by James

2019 Best of Columbus Award

Behind The Scenes

Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

James DeCamp Photography Receives 2019 Best of Columbus Award

Columbus Award Program Honors the Achievement

COLUMBUS October 21, 2019 — James DeCamp Photography has been selected for the 2019 Best of Columbus Award in the Professional Photographers category by the Columbus Award Program.

Each year, the Columbus Award Program identifies companies that we believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the Columbus area a great place to live, work and play.

Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2019 Columbus Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the Columbus Award Program and data provided by third parties.

About Columbus Award Program

The Columbus Award Program is an annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of local businesses throughout the Columbus area. Recognition is given to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages and long-term value.

The Columbus Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in our community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to recognize the small business community’s contributions to the U.S. economy.

SOURCE: Columbus Award Program

CONTACT:
Columbus Award Program
Email: PublicRelations@management-honor-contact.org
URL: http://www.management-honor-contact.org

###

Okay – yeah – I know – ANYONE can get this award, all you have to do is PAY THEM for the actual physical trophy, but it does look impressive (but NOT $229 worth of impressive – LOL)

October 21, 2019/0 Comments/by James

PexelPerfectImage.com SCAM

Behind The Scenes, Personal

UPDATE – 6/6/19

These scammers seem to be creating a new website and scam about every three months – all pulling the same scam that is described below.

Sometime in May 2019 the Mind Organ Studio appeared out of nowhere – similar website using stock photos too good to be true, different address and phone numbers, but advertising essentially the same job offer, looking for “Associate Photographers” across the country and the same method of operation “Your hired – we are sending you to (Fill in here) and we will send you a check that you need to use to pay the travel agent.”

MindOrgan
3899 Jackson St, Denver, CO 80205
info@mindorgan.com
720-770-4133

other contact info according to ICANN WHOIS:
Patrick Cole
790 W Rando St, Chicago, III 60661
609-543-4115
patcole086@gmail.com

UPDATE – 3/19/19

These scammers are now going under a number of different names and websites – all pulling the same scam that is described below.

About a month after this PexelPerfect.com scam came the MastrStudios.com scam – almost identical website, different address and phone numbers, but the same job offers and the same method of operation “Your hired – we are sending you to (Fill in here) and we will send you a check that you need to use to pay the travel agent.”

MastrStudios
1300 Hercules Ave, Houston, TX 77058
info@mastrstudios.com
(972) 427-3255

Also in 2019 they started with another website: PhotoGridStudios.com

PhotoGridStudios
190 W 8th Ave Eugene, OR 97401
1405 Broad Ripple Ave, Indianapolis, IN 46220
730 W Randolf St Chicago IL 60661
(765) 231-5137

other contact info according to ICANN WHOIS:
Ryan Johnson
190 W 8th Ave Eugene, OR 97401
704-809-2179
protravelpal@outlook.com

– again total scam as you can read from Brian Krecik in his comments below the post.

In short – if it sounds too good to be true – it is :-).

It seems that the scammers are getting smarter and more elaborate. Stay far away from this one and don’t get sucked in.

I responded to an ad from LinkedIn for an Assistant Photographer in Columbus, Ohio by Pexelperfect Images (https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/793016074).

It also appeared in my daily ZipRecruiter photographers list (https://recruit.zohopublic.com/recruit/ViewJob.na?digest=pvv1IOXZCdmL49btbn10dwbQitN8VskgiSAfsGAcUc0-&embedsource=ZipRecruiter).

I did a “1-click Apply” thru ZipRecruiter and got the following email from info@pexelperfectimage.com about 5 days later:

Hello James,

Best of Mornings to you, upon reviewing your resume, which was sent to us via Zoho Recruit and painstakingly taken our time to crucially cross-examine your resume, whether or not you possess/acquire the distinct characteristics and qualities, skill set, abilities and technical know-how to execute this job effectively with perfection/precision which we strive to attain per each production , gladly bring to your notice that you have been chosen as an ideal candidate that is sound,skilled, motivated, energetic passionate, talented and ideal to work with Pexelperfect Images production team.

We have been recently engaged/contracted for a photo shoot this September by/for our client Aviator Nation. You will be participating and working directly with our production crew throughout the production. This is a highly professional, creative, and collaborative project and should be executed flawlessly effortlessly without commas, this position could lead to long-term opportunity which would be good for development and based on your productivity, performance and skillset you shall we guaranteed and also be staffed permanently with this organization.

Company Profile:

We here at Pexelperfect Images offer photography services, both still photos and motion pictures. we believe in quality service serviced to you at the time you need it. We cover all areas of life, nature, wild life, family, Fashion, abstract and any other functions we grace with our outmost focus. You live the present, we capture them all you have left are the memories that are graphic form. That’s why it’s important to have a professional studio with an established reputation you trust to capture those once in a lifetime moments in photos & video.

Job Duties:

As an Assistant Photographer, you will help in keeping the set clean, run errands for the Lead Photographer and the crew during production, also helping the cinematography department with carrying of equipment’s and other tools required to make this production is executed without flaw. You will also assist with image manipulation and enhancement. You will be required to attend a skillset training with the team on the first day of your duty.

Pay: You will be paid $300/day which will amount to $900 for the 3 days.

Project Details: The photo shoot will be Held in San Francisco during the weekend of 9-28-2018 to 9-30-2018 at The Kimpton Buchanan, 1800 Sutter St. San Francisco CA 94115. Both your traveling, hotel bills ,per diem expenses will be covered by our clientele. We have been engaged for the date above and hope you’ll be chanced and are not booked for those dates in which we are required for the production, so i will be needing you to reassure me of your availability and commitment, time and energy. Dress code will be stipulated later on.
Thank you.
I believe you are not booked for those dates so i will be needing you to reassure me of your availability and commitment for those dates. Please reconfirm this information below:

Full name:

Mailing address:

State, City, Zip Code:

Mobile Phone Number:

Work or Personal References:

NOTE: You will also receive a check next week via USPS and this check will cover your personal expenses which includes travel/lodging and will be handled via our sponsors designated travel agent. You are to deduct the amount of $300 out of the check, this is allocated as your upfront payment while the remaining balance will be transferred to our Sponsors travel agent who will make all the necessary hotel and travel arrangement on your behalf. You get daily update via email Feel free to email your concerns and we will get back to you ASAP.

WOW – that was VERY verbose, but I have dealt with some shops that love to do that, so I accepted it – aside from the part that Pexel Perfect Images would pay ME the travel fees and I could then pay the travel agency of THEIR client.

Beyond that simple fact – first, this was listed as a job in Columbus, Ohio, but they want to fly me (without talking to me) to San Francisco.

I dug into the website and Whois info and things got really elaborate and screwy.

http://pexelperfectimage.com

At first glance the website looks good – a typical production firms website. A number of nice images, a story about their founding, etc. They even have an instagram account (https://www.instagram.com/pexelperfect_image/) and a logo.

Their contact page says that they are located at 72 Union Ave Memphis, TN 38103 and lists a phone number +1 (704) 809-2179.

First, I called the number (which is a actually a central Virginia area code) and it was out of service.

Then I looked up the address and found a “A Great Massage” massage therapist at the listed address and called them. The man who answered barely spoke English and could only say “Can I make you an appointment”. “A Great Massage” has several reviews listed in yelp and shows photos of what seems to be a legitimate place and lines up with the Google street view of the building despite their receptionists lack of English skills. The Google street view from April 2017 shows the location occupied by “Jazzy Boutique” which may have gone under.

Looking at their contact page again – a little clue is the verbiage used:

 Hi there, you can call us on +1 (704) 809-2179 and you can reach us at info@pexelperfectimage.com or just send us a message through the form below and we would get back to you as soon as possible.

“Call us on”? Thats a European term. Okay, I’ll give them that. Maybe their trying to sound haughty.

I tried calling the number – disconnected (look down further for the update from 9/11 – it seems they have a typo (intentional??) on their webpage as I did get a call from 740-809-2179).

Okay, I can’t get ahold of anyone thru the info on their website. Lets dig into the Whois info:

I went over to ICANN.org and looked them up:

https://whois.icann.org/en/lookup?name=pexelperfectimage.com

Domain Name: PEXELPERFECTIMAGE.COM
Registry Domain ID: 2257011978_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.hostinger.com
Registrar URL: https://www.hostinger.com
Updated Date: 2018-06-26T02:34:17Z
Creation Date: 2018-04-26T10:26:14Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2019-04-26T10:26:14Z
Registrar: Hostinger, UAB
Registrar IANA ID: 1636
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited https://icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited
Registry Registrant ID: Not Available From Registry
Registrant Name: Ronald Markowicz
Registrant Organization: Pexelperfect Images
Registrant Street: pinehurst avenue 700 curtiss asbell   
Registrant City: chesterton
Registrant State/Province: indiana
Registrant Postal Code: 46304
Registrant Country: US
Registrant Phone: +1.3160987865
Registrant Phone Ext: 
Registrant Fax: 
Registrant Fax Ext: 
Registrant Email: ronaldmarko.photography@gmail.com
Registry Admin ID: Not Available From Registry
Admin Name: Ronald Markowicz
Admin Organization: Pexelperfect Images
Admin Street: pinehurst avenue 700 curtiss asbell  
Admin City: chesterton
Admin State/Province: indiana
Admin Postal Code: 46304
Admin Country: US
Admin Phone: +1.3160987865
Admin Phone Ext: 
Admin Fax: 
Admin Fax Ext: 
Admin Email: ronaldmarko.photography@gmail.com
Registry Tech ID: Not Available From Registry
Tech Name: Ronald Markowicz
Tech Organization: Pexelperfect Images
Tech Street: pinehurst avenue 700 curtiss asbell  
Tech City: chesterton
Tech State/Province: indiana
Tech Postal Code: 46304
Tech Country: US
Tech Phone: +1.3160987865
Tech Phone Ext: 
Tech Fax: 
Tech Fax Ext: 
Tech Email: ronaldmarko.photography@gmail.com
Name Server: ns1.hostinger.com
Name Server: ns2.hostinger.com
Name Server: ns3.hostinger.com
Name Server: ns4.hostinger.com
DNSSEC: Unsigned
Registrar Abuse Contact Email: abuse@hostinger.com
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +37064503378
URL of the ICANN WHOIS Data Problem Reporting System: http://wdprs.internic.net/
>>> Last update of WHOIS database: 2018-09-07T18:44:37Z <<<

Looks good on the surface, but the slightest scratch and it all falls apart.

First the registrant – Ronald Markowicz – his email address is ronaldmarko.photography@gmail.com. You would think that with an email address like that, he would actually have a website for photography – nope couldn’t find one.

Next the phone number – (316) 098-7865 – it comes back to a central Kansas area code, but the address listed is in Chesterton, Indiana?? And yes, its not valid when called. The first three numbers of the exchange after the area code is 098. Any ‘0’ exchange is invalid – it would go straight to an operator in any area code.

Next is the mailing address: “pinehurst avenue 700 curtiss asbell, chesterton indiana 46304 US”
Chesterton, Indiana has no such address. It DOES have a Pinhurst Avenue, but all of their addresses are in the thousands, not the hundreds.

Not sure who or what the “curtiss asbell” is. Couldn’t find any connection to anything when googling that. Let me know if you do.

Another search, this time with WebAnalyzer:
https://wa-com.com/pexelperfectimage.com
shows that the pexelperfectimage.com website is being hosted from IP 156.67.222.110 which is located in CYPRUS GREECE. Very odd for an American company.

Going back to the LinkedIn job posting – it has a link to the Pexelperfect Images LinkedIn listing:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/pexelperfectimages/

The LinkedIn listing shows an address of 29 W Thomas Rd, Phoenix, Arizona 85013

Umm Yeah – its a Phoenix, Arizona company, not a Memphis, Tennessee company.

Looking the address up in Google, again, a nail salon and other businesses listed, but no Pexel Perfect Images. The Street view image from August 2017 showed a realtors sign posted – I called the number and talked with Bob. SURPRISE, he had never heard of Pexel Perfect Images and said he had no such tenant in the building.

The LinkedIn link to its two employees also draws a blank.

I reported it as a scam to LinkedIn with minimal results from them.

UPDATE 9/11/18:

I responded to their first email on September 7, 2018 to see where this would go:

Hello:
Thank you for the email.
I am free the weekend of September 28-30, 2018 and would love to help assisting you on the photo shoot in San Fransisco.
The daily pay rate is more than acceptable, provided that ALL travel expenses and per diem are covered in full in advance.
You can contact me via the address and phone number in the footer of this email.
Professional Reference:
(redacted)
Please let me know further details of the travel arrangements, dress code, and any gear that I am expected to supply for the shoot.
Also, please let me have full contact information for you, the manager on site and the travel agency this will be booked thru.  I have specific needs when traveling with camera equipment and need to make sure those needs are met in advance. :-)
THANKS!!
Jim

On September 11, 2018 I received a phone call from 740-809-2179 and chatted with a man who identified himself as “David Marchand”. He spoke fluent english and was quite convincing. He apologized for the delay in getting back to me and assured me that this was legitimate (I hadn’t asked if it was :-). He said that Pexel Perfect Images had offices in Memphis, New York, San Francisco and was starting an office in Columbus. He said that he would send details about the travel arrangements and information about the job in an email that would go out on 9/12/18 to me.

I told him I was looking forward to the email and would be in touch if I had any questions after that.

A bit a sleuthing and found that the 740-809-2179 phone number is just a Google Phone number and could be forwarded from anyplace.

UPDATE 9/14/18:

On 9/14/18 I had yet to receive an email from info@PexelPerfectImages.com and sent an email to pressure them a bit:

Hello:
Thanks for your call on Tuesday about this job.
To recap, during the call you said that I would receive a detailed email about the job and travel arrangements on Wednesday, September 12.  I did not receive any email.
Can you please send me an update on the status of this job.
I have another client looking to use me on the same weekend, and if I don’t hear from you soon, I will have to take the other job.
THANKS!!
Jim

I quickly got a reply:

Hi James,

Thanks for your timely response; I am pleased that you have depicted your availability for the production/shoot. This e-mail outlines and encompasses of an/the entire process before and during the production and also etiquettes to be observed at the site of production. How to proceed, including the Production/Itinerary Schedule,the DO’s and DON’TS TO BE APPLIED AND MANDATED ON THE FIELD OF WORK. Please note that during the production,PRECISION is what we want to thrive at.

You will required to conduct yourself with outmost professionalism, putting in your skillsets and/or abilities to perfect PRECISION in order to assist the production/cinematography crew to produce a flawless, memorable show for our Clients.

You will also receive a check for $3565 in the following days via FedEx and this check will cover your personal expenses and travel/lodging expenses which will be handled via a designated travel agent. The amount of $300 out of the check is allocated as down payment to show our keen interest in your services while the remaining balance will be transferred to the travel agent who will make all the necessary feeding, hotel and travel arrangements on your behalf to San Francisco CA (more information on the travel agent will be provided to you ASAP). The balance ($600) of your pay will be given to you after the production.

Itinerary/production schedule is:
September 27th 2018 - Arrive in California and check in Kimpton Buchanan, 1800 Sutter St. San Francisco CA 9411 Orientation and trial production

9am-11pm - There will be a 2 hours seminar prior to your arrival , the seminar is to provide more information on duties/tasks that will be required from all crew members in attendance and a hard copy of the production call sheet will be provided to all and all crew members will be grouped to their area of expertise as in their resumes. N.B: This seminar will be held at the hotel’s auditorium

September 28th 2018 (Opening day)- Red carpet and Production
9am-3pm

September 29th 2018- Production and Gala night.
6pm-11pm

September 30th 2018- Production Closing paperwork and departure
9am-12pm

Upon the arrival of the check, you are to have it deposited into your account immediately so that the funds will be made available within 24 hours which is the next day. Once the funds has been made available, i will be providing you the sponsors travel agent details in which you will be making payments, after deducting your upfront payment of $300. He will handle your travel/lodging arrangements and will place a call to you, provide you your flight itinerary once he is done with your arrangements, this may take a day or 2 days. Attached to the email is the agreement form .You are to fill the blank spaces, have it signed and emailed back to me. The check is processed immediately once your signed form has been received and documented

DO’S AND DON’T TO BE OBSERVED ONSET;
· Precision and paying attention to details on set.
· Effectiveness and speed.
· Late-coming to set would not be entertained.
· Tidiness.

Make to our notice any questions you got the update for the day.

Note: kindly find time to reach out to us before the contract agreement form is sent.
Best,

David Marchand,
HR Department Pexelperfect Images.

Here is a copy of their contract that they sent me. I love that their signature just says “Steve” but the name is Jefferson Davis – a bit confederate fatherish – LOL.

I have to say again that they are dotting their i’s and crossing their t’s, BUT: “Upon the arrival of the check, you are to have it deposited into your account immediately so that the funds will be made available within 24 hours which is the next day. Once the funds has been made available, i will be providing you the sponsors travel agent details in which you will be making payments” and LOVE “I am pleased that you have depicted your availability for the production/shoot.”

Again: Why would THEY pay ME to pay THEIR CLIENTS travel agent for MY travel costs????

“Depicted your availability.” HAHA

The contract said nothing about paying them back, but did say that I would receive a check for $3565 and my fee was to be drawn from that. I signed the contract with a fake signature and sent it back.

UPDATE 9/26/18:

Again there was a lag in communications from David Marchand.

I know their game – this is purposeful to push things to the shoot date and make the writing of my check to them an emergency so on 9/22/18 I had yet to receive an email from info@PexelPerfectImages.com and sent an email to pressure them a bit:

Hi David:
Is there an update on this?
Tracking number for the check?
Travel arrangement details?
We are less than a week out and you have given me no information about my flight or travel arrangements.
Why am I the one driving this?
THANKS!!
Jim

Again there was nothing but crickets from Mr. Marchand, so on 9/24/18 I sent another email :

Bueller, Bueller?
Is there an update on this?
Tracking number for the check?
Travel arrangement details?
We are less than a week out and you have given me no information about my flight or travel arrangements.
THANKS!!
Jim

Then on 9/25/18 I sent them just a link to this video: https://vimeo.com/292135062

I was intentionally being obstinate to see what response I would get.
If someone who wanted to work for me did that, I would say goodbye.

Instead I get:

Good Morning James,
  We sincerely apologize for the delay of the check to be sent to you, This is as a result of the first failed attempt to deliver to the first submitted address. FedEx will be delivering the check tomorrow morning to your address, tracking address (redacted).
Please be reminded the event is fast approaching and we are behind schedule, Due to this, Your orientation program is going to delayed and the funds are to be deposited and paid to the Travel Agent ASAP to hasten the logistics of your trip.
You can reach out to me personally via call or text on this number ((740) 809-2179) for more inquiries
Thank you.
David Marchand,
HR Department Pexelperfectimages.

The check arrived via FedEx Priority Overnight first thing in the morning on 9/26/18 as promised.
It came from:
Origin ID: MIFA
Chad Bringle
Pro Cargo
15619 Morales Road
Houston, Texas 77032
with a senders phone number of 313-635-8144.

Cashiers check #201898325
In the amount of $3665.00
Remitted by David Rouls
Drawn on the Simmons Bank, Branch 1053
Dated 9/25/2018
Routing number 082900432
Account #12555024

And while the check says “Warning: This document has security features in the paper” there is no watermark in the check as there should be.

I called Simmons Bank and they confirmed that the check was a fraud. Their advice when I explained the scenario was “Just shred it, we can’t do anything with it.”

The check came with a note, typed and printed on an ink jet printer that seemed to run out ink towards the end of the half page of type.

It was a Mrs. Angela Banks from the Pexel Perfect Payment Department. It said:

Good Day..,

I hope this Package reaches you doing great?

This is Mrs  Angela banks  from  The Payment department and you are required to manage these funds as instructed by your Online Hiring Manager/Online Training supervisor You are to get back to us via email with the following information ::

1. How the funds were used.
2. Exact amount used.
3. Whom you ordered or got the materials from.
4. The Deposit Slip/Receipt is also required.
5. As soon as the check is receive

Here is the email to reply to : Angelabanks018@gmail.com
The deposit slip should be emailed to us ASAP for immediate clearance.

NOTE : lf you are being told to discard this letter.DO NOT SO SUCH . You must keep us informed on the check and it’s funds from your email (By yourself) and not from your employers email.

Failure to do this is against the company’s protocol. Also, don't forget to email us one you receive the check to

The note seems to stop in mid sentence with the next line only partly there.

INTERESTING – they want a copy of the deposit receipt. I haven’t run into that before with dealing with a number of these scams. A little research revealed the obvious – by getting a copy of the deposit receipt they would have my banking info and could possibly use it to clear out my account with a fake ACH agreement since they have my fake signature on the contract.

I emailed both info@PexelPerfect.com and the Angelabanks018@gmail.com address:

Hi David & Angela:
Thanks for all the info.
The check came earlier and I will cash it later today.
FYI:  The bottom of the letter was cut off (didn’t seem to print properly, so I don’t know what “the company protocol” is.
What are the travel arrangements?
THANKS!
Jim

About 5 minutes later my phone exploded – it was ‘David’ calling me from their google phone number: 740-809-2179. He called 4 times, each time I let it go to voicemail. On the fourth call he left a message – You can listen HERE. He wanted the check deposited right away and for me to call him back ASAP.

I waited a couple of hours and emailed both of them back with all the info they requested in the letter:

Hi Angela & David:
I have deposited the cashiers check #201898325 in the amount of $3665.00 remitted by David Rouls, drawn on the Simmons Bank, Branch 1053, dated 9/25/2018, Routing number 082900432, Account #12555024, that arrived today via FedEx parcel as per your orders.  
There is no deposit slip/receipt since I did it electronically.
The funds will be used for travel tomorrow to San Fransisco for a job with PexelPerfect Images.
THANKS!!
Jim

Again about 5 minutes later ‘David’ was calling me from their google phone number: 740-809-2179. Again he called 4 times in rapid succession, but didn’t leave a message, instead he emailed me:

Ok, we’ll be needing a proof of deposit for documentation.

I sent back:

Sorry - I just did it electronically thru my phone - no receipt.
What are the travel plans?

He quickly replied:

Ok I understand, But If we can receive a screenshot of the deposit that will do just fine.
It is highly required for documentation.

I waited until I went to bed (keeping in mind I should be on a plane to them in less than 24 hours, but I haven’t heard one word of travel arrangements) and sent this:

Hi David & Angela:

Since you didn’t get me the check until today, I made my own travel arrangements and found a savings for you of more than $2000.  
Since the orientation seminar is so early in the morning on Friday, and I would have missed it with the flight your travel agent had booked me on, I booked a flight the day before to get into town before the seminar so I won’t miss it.  Besides, the Spirit Air flight is less than half the cost ($259 Total) of what your agent had me booked on.
A high school buddy of mine runs the Artists Inn (http://artistsinn.com) a little more than a block away from the Kimpton and has offered me a room for only $50/night ($200 Total), so thats a huge savings for you over the $450+ per night rate the Kimpton was charging.
I got a car thru Enterprise ($297 Total) for the weekend with my special corporate rate dirt cheap too.
My buddy also runs Roam Artisan Burgers (https://www.roamburgers.com) on Fillmore Street only two blocks from the Kimpton and has offered to shut the place down to the public to throw a wrap party for us on Sunday evening once the shoot is complete.  No cost to you - he would just charge individuals half price to collect the tab.  If you want to reach out to him directly, his name is John Hancock.

I will give you a check for the difference ($2009) tomorrow at the orientation meeting when I arrive.
See you on the tomorrow!

UPDATE 9/27/18:

I was surprised there hadn’t been any response to my email overnight.

At 11 AM I got an email from Angela Banks (angelabanks018@gmail.com) simply saying:

Sounds good.

I guess they figured the game was up, but about 20 minutes later David (info@pexelperfectimage.com) responded:

Good morning Jim,
 We at Pexelperfect implemented strict protocols for traveling procedures to avoid scams and delays.
We work with a specific agency which handles all traveling logistics and hotel reservations pertaining to the organization.
You directly disobeyed instructions and protocol demands you first inform the organization before you carry out payments pertaining to the organization on your own.
This is totally unacceptable and must not happen again.
Unfortunately we run a cashless organization so the remaining fund will have to be transferred to one of our finicial institutions before the end of the day.
David Marchand

I figured I would keep them on the line and responded later in the afternoon:

I’m about to board the plane.  
I will try and meet up with you tonight once I get to the hotel. If not I will see you in the morning at the orientation meeting and will give you the check for the difference. 
What room are you staying in?
THANKS!
Jim
Sent from my iPhone

They responded pretty quickly (keeping in mind, I’m supposedly on a plane right now and couldn’t answer them if I wanted to):

I’m sorry James we cannot move forward with you
You keep making decisions without the go ahead of the organization.
Your contract will be therefore terminated and the check is to be mailed back to an address that will be communicated to you later on.
Have a great day.
David Marchand
HR Department Pexelperfect Images

Following on the myth that I was traveling, I emailed them back late that night:

Hi David & Angela:
Im at the Kimpton in San Francisco, the location of the shoot tomorrow and they don’t know anything about it.  They have never heard of you or PexelPerfect Images, they don’t have reservations for you or any of the crew, and don’t have any rooms reserved for the shoot.
Can you please let me know whats going on?

I have your check for you.
THANKS!!
Jim
Sent from my iPhone

I doubt I will hear from them again, but if I do, will keep you updated.

Have you run into any similar scams? Let me know below.

September 7, 2018/9 Comments/by James

Another day, Another scam going around – FLAUNT Magazine

Behind The Scenes, Personal

My fellow photogs, beware of another scam going around:

I received the following emails from Clarabel Ward (clarabelward85@gmail.com) this month. The first one seemed legitimate, but they quickly turned a bit fishy, so I contacted FLAUNT directly who confirmed they do not solicit photography in this way and have never heard of Clarabel Ward.

The email chain reads (8/21):

“Hello,
   I saw your photography portfolio online and would like to learn more about your services. I’m looking for an experienced photographer to work with on an ongoing blogging and articles.
clarabel”

My response (8/21):

“Hi Clarabel:
I would be very interested in working with you to create some wonderful cutting edge images for Faunt.
Please let me know more details about the shoot and I can work up a quote.
THANKS!!
Jim”

This is where it gets fishy – it is almost a copy and paste from the same sort of email I got last year that I blogged on HERE

Her resonse later in the day (8/21):

“Hello James,
I’m compiling shots for Flaunt magazine “fashion page” segment and the online fashion magazine is looking for professional and reliable photographers who want to create stunning images to feature on our website- Flaunt is particularly looking for outdoor and urban looks.

If you’re interested this project, it is important to understand few details about the project. These are:

You will be required to work with 2 models.
There will be 3 outfits per model, 5 looks for each outfit, which totals 30 looks/images.
Outfits/Wardrobe will be supplied by us.
Location, date, and time will be fixed by you.
We want 30 professionally taken pictures in High Res Digital Copies.
Delivery date: latest Sept 10th 2018.
Compensation: $2500 ($700 upfront and $1800 final payment).
You will hold full image right (Licensor)
As the photographer we want you to handle other aspect of the gig and dictate the creative direction. If you can handle this, please reply with your full name/Business name (to be written on your payment and contract), phone number, and address (if it is different from the one above). I will forward a contract to be signed by both parties.
Regards”

My response on August 24th:

“Hi Clarabel:

I have a few questions about the shoot:

When can I expect delivery of the clothes?
Sizes of clothing?
Accessories provided?
Are you paying the models directly?
What talent agency are you using?
HMUA provided?
Any particular looks that you are going for?
Any examples of the work you are expecting?
Your contract specifics?

Right now the weekend of September 1 & 2 is open and I could shoot then to meet your deadline.

Can I get your full billing address, contact phone number, and two business references.

My contact information is listed below in my footer and on my website.

THANKS!!

Jim”

Note that I asked for HER full billing address, contract phone number and two business references as well as information about the talent agency she is using.

Her response later in the day (8/24):

“Hi Jim,

Thanks for the reply and the interest to work with us on this project.I would like to work with you on this project. There are few details you need to know:

Wardrobe will be picked by our stylist based on urban trends for the season. We expect you to shoot in an urban gritty or/and natural outdoor look with clean product focused images; I'm attaching some pictures as samples.

You will have to do little retouching if pictures can be taken with natural lighting. Final images will be 300dpi or larger, mix of rectangular and verticals, to be delivered via file share. Images will be used as an editorial content on flaunt.com for 12 months.

An agency will provide a male and a female fashion model, makeup and hair stylists.You will be paid $700 upfront plus the talents budget while your balance payment will be paid after sending us proof that the job has been done; usually watermarked images.

Photographers we hire usually take on the responsibilities of coordinating the shoot, selecting location, and disbursing fees. An advance payment of $5300 will be issued prior to the shoot; this covers your $700 upfront and fee for talents’ fee payable to their manager.photographers pay and disburse fees so as to create a great working relationship and be in charge of the whole shoot and crew(photographers use discretion and personal experience in producing a good and quality shoot)

Attached is a sample of the contract.When is the best time to chat about the shoot?

Regards
clarabel Ward”

This is where it gets really interesting because she actually took the time to find images and draw up a contract (you can find a copy of it HERE).

But note that they have not given me ANY information about themselves – ever. They also did not give me ANY information about the MUA or talent agency that I asked for, nor do they give me the business references I asked for, and the contract reads like something I would put together with the names changed – WAY too many rights given to me – actually come to think about it – it seems like a wedding contract sample that Honeybook was offering for free sign-ups. Hmmm :-0

My response (8/24):

“Hi Clarabel:

Thanks for the email and the ideas.  I would love to move forward with this.

Only sticking point is the payment - While I would love to work with you, I will not make payments to the modeling agency or the HMUA.

Simply pay me for my part of the project and pay the talent directly for theirs.  That is industry standard.

THANKS!!

Jim”

I didnt hear anything for several days and then sent this email to poke the bear, figuring I wouldnt get a response.

My response (8/28 6:45 AM EST):

“So are we doing this or is this the scam that I thought it was from the start.
If I don’t hear from you I will post it to my blog to warn others as I have with many of these in the past.
THANKS!!
Jim”

But she immediately shot back (keeping in mind she is supposedly west coast and is up at 3:45 AM in the morning – but its the afternoon in Nigeria :-):

Her response (8/28 6:51 AM EST):

“Hi James,
Thanks for your mail,this is not a SCAM,FLAUNT finance dept issues a single check/budget for shoots and projects like this,I am sorry but I am not in a position to influence or change the position of the finance section of the magazine,the budget check is ready if you can take charge of the whole shoot and disbursement of funds as contained in the CONTRACT. We can clearly still do this if the terms are OK by you,will only ask that the agency rep (supplying Models,MUA ,mobile studio etc) contact you to work out date and location that you choose fast and any other necessary arrangements since it is only a day's shoot. sorry for my late response,i have been off work(office) for a few days to attend to a personal health issue (Ear infection minor surgery) .
please let me know if we can run this shoot together as i am still on a tight timeline to deliver the pics as the magazine will be using them in their content starting from October.
regards”

And then another quick follow up from her (8/28 6:52 AM EST):

“Hi Jim
kindly send name and address for check to be issued to so i can forward to the Finance Dept for prompt disbursement so we can make this work ”

She is still sticking to it at this point, so I actually reached out to FLAUNT.
Keep in mind that I already gave her my address and contact information – its even in the contract she sent me and in the footer of every email I send out, but she doesn’t seem to remember that, or isn’t able to look two lines further down the email.

My email to FLAUNT (8/28 AM):

“Hello FLAUNT:

I am writing to you to confirm that the attached emails are true or false.  It seems like the typical Nigerian money scam, but the emails are very well written and the contract that they sent seems convincing.  Further when I called her on it, she fought back, so I am reaching out to you for confirmation.

Clarabel Ward reached out to me several weeks ago to produce photographs for your October edition.  She included a contract in one of the emails, but insists that one check will be issued and I have to pay the talent and MUA from that one check that will also include my payment.

Is this legitimate??
THANKS!!
Jim”

8/29 – I thought this was dead a buried:

I received a wonderful call from Scott Cook Photography in Orlando Florida today. It seems that Clarabel Ward had been emailing him as well with the same offer to photograph fashion for FLAUNT. Scott smelled the rat right away, especially when Clarabel sent him MY contract – LOL. He reached out to me to see why MY contact information would be on HIS contract.

We had a good laugh about it all and compared notes about the business briefly. If you need a photographer in Central Florida, Scott’s your man.

What tipped me off that this was a scam?

This was one of the better written scams I have seen – very good english with little to no grammatical errors. My first inkling of the scam is that this is not the type of work I normally do – while I would love to do more of it. 🙂 The second email from her looks almost identical to the scam that was sent to me last year involving a supposed shoot for HypeBeast, and gives a specific description of what you will shoot, how much you will be paid, and that they are up fronting you $700 without ever having worked with you is a warning sign. There is much more negotiation than this for any legitimate assignment.

Second tip is that they are paying you, but you get to keep full image rights. Almost all work for hire jobs require you to relinquish some or all of the rights for a period of time

Third is the quick turn-around. They want to pressure you to make payments out of your pocket quickly before their check bounces.

They have never worked with me, but want to cut me a check? “Give us your full name, phone and address for the check”.

People in some of the Facebook groups that I posted this in have been asking what the scam is with this since Clarabel is paying me.

The scams are all a bit different, but I’m sure if I followed thru – they would send me the $5,300 check (or some other amount greater than the agreed upon amount) and then ask me to pay a ‘stylist’ or another photographer in another city with the excess. They hope that I’m stupid enough to pay out before their check clears (or in this case bounces) and my pay-out is actually going back to them thru a third party.

I used to play with people like this and have about a dozen fake checks and money orders from these type of scammers. What I loved was when I refused to pay out before their check cleared and they would threaten to contact the police and played other heavy handed tactics the were just hollow threats.

The response from FLAUNT:

Hi James,

We have never heard of Clarabel Ward and any legitimate photography assignments would not come from a gmail account, but instead be from a flaunt.com address.

This is likely an attempt to steal your personal or company information and cheat you out of money.

FLAUNT staff

August 29, 2018/13 Comments/by James

2000 S. High Street

Architecture, Behind The Scenes, Images, Places

A friend of mine has purchased and is rehabbing an olde industrial space on South High Street.

Built in the late 1800’s it has many floors and beautiful wood & brick walls. While they have done extensive work to clean the space up, being an industrial workplace for nearly 100 years before being abandoned, it IS rather dusty and the original wood floors are covered in it, despite the deep cleaning.

Currently he is still trying to come up with ideas on what to do with the 50,000 + square feet of space. Sectioning it off into dozens of offices and rental spaces is the obvious choice, but he is very photographer friendly, and already has one photographer tenant.

My idea for him is to make the space available to photographers on a daily or hourly basis. I see a need in Columbus on the weekends for places to take bridal parties, especially in bad weather, to shoot first looks or post ceremony formals. This could be done by keypad access codes and paying online with a previous rental agreement already worked out and signed. The user would have access for a limited time span and the space (currently) is more than big enough to host several wedding parties without them running into each other.

Since the Ohio Statehouse its the main ‘go-to’ for inclement weather, competitive rates would apply: $75 for two hours, $100 for three, or something similar.

Let me know your thoughts!

2000 & 2050 South High Street photographed Thursday, June 14, 2018. (© James D. DeCamp | http://JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

June 14, 2018/2 Comments/by James

France Aims To Get Real

Behind The Scenes, Personal

Retouched Photos Of Models Now Require A Disclaimer

Questions about whether a perfect-looking model could possibly be real will soon be answered more definitively in France, where new rules stipulate that some digitally altered images must come with a disclaimer.

The law says any models appearing in commercial photography whose bodies have been made thinner or thicker by image processing software must be accompanied by the notice of “photographie retouchée,” or retouched photograph.

Failure to comply with the new law is punishable by a fine of more than $44,000, or 30 percent of the money spent on advertising.

France’s former health minister, Marisol Touraine, initiated the idea, according to the newspaper Le Parisien.

“It is necessary to act on body image in society to avoid the promotion of inaccessible beauty ideals and prevent anorexia among young people,” Touraine said, according to the French daily. It reported that eating disorders affect some 600,000 people in France.

France has a history of taking a stand against the promotion of unhealthy body images. In 2015, it passed a law aimed at banning the hiring of models deemed “excessively thin,”. The French government passed the bill decreeing that models working in the country must possess a medical certificate deeming them fit to work, in a bid to prevent the use of “excessively thin” models. Italy, Spain and Israel have passed similar legislation.

Measured using body mass index (BMI), models’ health will be evaluated by a medical professional – who will be permitted to take into account the individual’s weight, age, and body shape to ultimately determine their wellbeing, The Fashion Law reports – and companies will be prohibited from employing any model not in possession of a certificate. Any company found to be hiring models who have not provided the certificate will be liable to a fine of more than £50,000 and could be given a prison sentence of up to six months.

Despite the seemingly positive agenda behind the move, model agencies in France are less than impressed – with many feeling that regulating and increasing sample sizes as an industry standard would be a kinder and fairer way to legislate.

“The power is in the hands of designers, photographers and editors,” Isabelle Saint-Félix, general secretary of Synam, France’s union of model agencies said. “They’re the ones who make dresses in size 34 or 36 (American sizes 00 or 0), who decide to shoot or feature them. Modeling agencies respond to the demand of advertisers, designers and photographers. One asks models to fit in a dress – not the opposite. I would like everyone to sit around a table and say that the time of models who are too thin is over.”

The Photoshopping rule goes into effect October 1, 2017 in France, but it’s already having a ripple effect across the Atlantic.

Also as of October 1, 2017, Getty Images, the widely used American stock photo agency, is no longer accepting creative content “depicting models whose body shapes have been retouched to make them look thinner or larger,” according to Getty spokeswoman Anne Flanagan.

Flanagan said the move is a direct response to France’s rule. She added the company is not looking to phase out such retouched images, but will be labeling those it already has.

“Altering a model’s body shape as described by the new French law is quite rare in commercial stock photography,” Flanagan said, noting that it is time-consuming and bucks “the increasing trend toward more authentic imagery.”

But Flanagan says the change is an important one nonetheless.

“Our perceptions of what is possible are often shaped by what we see,” she said. “Positive imagery can have direct impact on fighting stereotypes, creating tolerance, and empowering communities to feel represented in society.”

Other companies, including Seventeen Magazine and retailer ModCloth, have pledged not to digitally alter the models they feature.

The nonprofit National Eating Disorders Association, or NEDA, says numerous “studies have linked exposure to the thin ideal in mass media to body dissatisfaction, internalization of the thin ideal, and disordered eating among women.”

“Seventy percent of girls ages 10 to 18 report that they define perfect body image based on what they see in magazines,” said Katherine Record, deputy director with the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission.

Some 30 million Americans suffer from an eating disorder at some point in their lives, according to NEDA.

Modeling shoot with Erinn photographed in the 1445 studio Friday March 9, 2007. (© James D. DeCamp | http://www.JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

The law, as written is below:

Les photographies à usage commercial de mannequins, définis à l’article L. 7123-2 du code du travail, dont l’apparence corporelle a été modifiée par un logiciel de traitement d’image afin d’affiner ou d’épaissir la silhouette du mannequin doivent être accompagnées de la mention : ” Photographie retouchée “.

Les modalités d’application et de contrôle permettant la mise en œuvre du premier alinéa du présent article sont déterminées par décret en Conseil d’Etat, pris après consultation de l’autorité de régulation professionnelle de la publicité et de l’ Agence nationale de santé publique.

Le présent article entre en vigueur à la date de publication du décret mentionné au deuxième alinéa, et au plus tard le 1er janvier 2017.

Le non-respect du présent article est puni de 37 500 € d’amende, le montant de cette amende pouvant être porté à 30 % des dépenses consacrées à la publicité.

Or if you prefer the english version:

The photographs for commercial use of mannequins, defined in article L. 7123-2 of the Labor Code, whose body appearance has been modified by image processing software in order to refine or thicken the figure’s silhouette. mannequin (in the version of this law, mannequin refers to a live model, not a static display figure) must be accompanied by the words: “Photo retouched”.

The implementing and control procedures for the implementation of the first subparagraph of this Article shall be determined by decree of the Council of State, after consultation with the professional regulatory authority for advertising and the National Health Agency public.

This section comes into force on the date of publication of the order referred to in the second paragraph and not later than January 1, 2017.

Failure to comply with this Article shall be punished by a fine of € 37,500, the amount of which may be increased to 30% of the expenditure on advertising.

October 1, 2017/0 Comments/by James

To Fellow Photogs: Scam Going Around

Behind The Scenes, Personal

To fellow photogs, beware of a scam going around:

I received the following email from Shirley Alban (shirleyalban7@gmail.com) on September 13th. It looked fishy and I contacted HypeBeast directly who confirmed they do not solicit photography in this way and have never heard of Shirley.

The email reads:

“I saw your portfolio on Photoserve.com. I'm Shirley one of the North America Assistant editors mostly work with T.S. Fox, Jason Dike and Karl Smith. I would like to learn more about your services. we are looking for an experienced photographer to work with on an ongoing blogging and articles. we blog for various online platforms and would love to collaborate with photographers on genre such as beauty, vintage, fashion, lifestyle, and outdoor.

I am compiling shots for hypebeast.com “fashion page” segment and the online fashion magazine is looking for professional and reliable photographers who want to create stunning images. hypebeast is particularly looking for outdoor and urban looks.

If you’re interested in this project, it is important to understand a few details about the project. These are:

• You will be required to work with 2 models.
• There will be 3 outfits per model, 5 looks for each outfit, which totals 30 looks/images.
• Outfits/Wardrobe will be supplied by us.
• Location, date, and time will be fixed by you which should be convenient between both parties.
• We want 30 professionally taken pictures in High Res Digital Copies.
• Delivery date must be between 28th September and 5th October Latest.
• Compensation: $2000 ($1000 upfront and $1000 final payment).
• You will hold full image right (Licensor)

As the photographer we want you to handle other aspect of the gig and dictate the creative direction. If you can handle this, please reply with your full name (Business name), phone number, and address (to be written on your contract and check ). So i can forward a contract to be signed by both parties if the description is satisfactory.

Regards.”

What tipped me off that this was a scam?

There are tiny english errors, but more than that the specific description of what you will shoot, how much you will be paid, and that they are up fronting you $1k without ever having worked with you is a warning sign. There is more negotiation than this for any legitimate assignment.

Second would be they are paying you, but you get to keep full image rights.

Third is the quick turn-around.

They have never worked with me, but want to cut me a check? “Give us your full name, phone and address for the check”.

People in some of the Facebook groups that I posted this in have been asking what the scam is with this since Shirley is paying me.

The scams are all a bit different, but Im sure if I followed thru – they would send me a $10k check (or some other amount greater than the agreed upon amount) instead of the $1k deposit and then ask me to pay a ‘stylist’ or another photographer in another city with the excess. They hope that I’m stupid enough to pay out before their check clears (or in this case bounces) and my pay-out is actually going back to them thru a third party.

I used to play with people like this and have about a dozen fake checks and money orders from scammers. What I loved was when I refused to pay out before their check cleared and they would threaten to contact the police and played other heavy handed tactics the were just hollow threats.

The response from HypeBeast:

Hi James,

We do not work with a person named 'Shirley Alban'.

Any correspondence to you from our company should have an official email addresses ending in either @hypebeast.com or @101medialab.com. Any other emails you receive without these designations from persons claiming to be an employee, partner, or representative or partner of 101 Media Lab Limited and/or Hypebeast LTD. are fraudulent and very likely being used in furtherance of a potential scam to obtain your personal information, or even in some cases, your moneys.

Irene Cheung

September 14, 2017/7 Comments/by James

Deputy Shoots New Carlisle News Photographer

Behind The Scenes, Personal, Spot News

A Columbus Police Officer examines the body of a young hispanic male who was found shot and dead in the front seat of a Volkswagen in the middle of Allegheny Avenue shortly after 9 PM Friday night May 14, 2004. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene by Columbus paramedics. The Columbus PD Homicide squad is investigating the incident. (© James D. DeCamp | http://www.JamesDeCamp.com | 614-367-6366)

I was on the streets of Columbus for more than 20 years photographing spot news for the Columbus Dispatch and other publications and have a fare share of horror stories to tell, but none compares to this:

A Clark County Sheriff’s Deputy shot an Ohio news photographer after confusing his camera and tripod for a weapon, according to the paper. New Carlisle News photographer Andy Grimm was shot in the side as he unloaded a tripod from his vehicle to take pictures of a traffic stop around 10 p.m. Monday September 4, 2017.

Without warning, the deputy opened fire as Grimm was setting up the tripod. The photographer said he and the deputy knew each other.
“I turned around from the Jeep and it seemed like instant, I heard pop-pop,” Grimm said from his hospital bed.

One bullet struck him in the chest and Grimm said another may have grazed his shoulder.
The officer that wounded the cameraman rushed over to help, repeatedly saying, “I thought it was a gun,” Grimm said.
“Now that I’m OK, I’m not so much mad, but when I was on the ground and in the back of the ambulance, I was kind of angry at him,” Grimm said.
New Carlisle News Publisher Dale Grimm said the photographer — his son — left work minutes before the shooting to chase a lightning storm passing over the small town, which boasts a population of about 5,700 people 20 miles north of Dayton. He encountered the traffic stop and turned his camera toward that instead.

He learned of the shooting when Grimm called from the ambulance.
“He said there was no warning, no ‘show me hands’ or ‘drop what you have,'” the paper owner said, while changing Tuesday’s front page to reflect his son’s shooting around 3 a.m.

From the hospital, Grimm retraced his steps leading up to the shooting, wondering what caused the deputy to reach for his gun.
“Until I hear his side, I guess I won’t know what I did wrong,” Grimm said.
The state’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation is probing the incident, but Grimm’s father said his son isn’t looking for swift punishment.
“Andy does not want him to get fired,” Grimm said, calling the shooting a misunderstanding.

Update 5/4/2019:

NEW CARLISLE, Ohio (AP) — A photojournalist shot by a sheriff’s deputy while preparing to photograph a late-night traffic stop has settled a federal civil rights lawsuit against the deputy and a central Ohio county.

The Springfield News-Sun reports Andrew Grimm says he’s glad about this week’s settlement and plans to move from Clark County, where he’s lived much of his life. Grimm wouldn’t provide the settlement amount.

Grimm had gone into New Carlisle in September 2017 to photograph a lightning storm and was about to photograph a traffic stop when Clark County Deputy Jacob Shaw shot him. Shaw’s body camera recorded him telling Grimm, whom he knew, that he thought Grimm had a gun.

The Clark County Sheriff’s Office says the settlement is satisfactory to both parties.

A grand jury cleared Shaw of wrongdoing.

September 5, 2017/0 Comments/by James

Best Columbus Portrait Photographer Award Winner

Why This Portrait Photographer?

1. Availability

2. Qualifications

3. Reputation

4. Experience

5. Professionalism

Jump!

A visual success story – The Fall 2021 Ohio Wesleyan Alumni Magazine.

When you raise more than $200 million dollars how do you visually tell the world about it?

How about jumping for joy!

Honeybook Photography Scam

Of course I said yes – LOL 🙂

2019 Best of Columbus Award

PexelPerfectImage.com SCAM

Another day, Another scam going around – FLAUNT Magazine

2000 S. High Street

France Aims To Get Real

To Fellow Photogs: Scam Going Around

Deputy Shoots New Carlisle News Photographer

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