Hi Folks -

I just wanted to get the word out that as of Sept 1st, 2007, I will no longer be working from Los Angeles (Santa Monica), and will instead be based out of San Diego (Carlsbad/Vista area, to be specific).

Obviously, I'll still be very happy to work with anyone able to make it to my new location and I may still occasionally work in Los Angeles.

A few people I've spoken to about the move have said it doesn't matter. And to folks like that, I want to say thank you! It rocks to hear something like that.

If you have friends or acquaintances you feel might be interested in working with me in San Diego, please drop them a line and let them know I'll be in the area. It will help a lot, as I am re-building up a customer base and every referral helps.

For those who haven't noticed, my free short notice photo shoots were on hiatus for a while, but will be starting up again once I'm in San Diego.

I will also be looking for make-up artists & stylists available in San Diego and have a referral list they may want to get on if you know of any.

I hope my email finds everyone having a fantastic summer and I wish you good health, happiness, and the best of success in all your endeavors.

Sincerely,

Serving San Diego and Southern California

Here we go again... :)

This email is intended to inform you of the availability of a short notice photo shoot testing opportunity. To read more about my free photo shoot announcements list, read this blog entry. If interested and available, please contact me via MySpace mail.

[Today's photo shoot opportunity was unfortunately cancelled, so the details have been removed. But I hope to offer another one of these soon! Thanks to everyone who responded. As for details surrounding "why it was cancelled", please see the following...]

Update: So I finally heard back from the person I called today. And OOPS, they had their phone on vibrate and never heard it. D'oh!

Q: I noticed that you scheduled a free shoot, but then cancelled it. Were you ever really planning on doing the shoot?

A: As of 2/28/07, this has happened twice now. I've offered a free shoot, but then ultimately cancelled it later. Both times, this has only happened after I've contacted someone who stated they were available, only to get voicemail. After leaving a message stating they were selected and telling them to call me back ASAP, I didn't hear back (though the person I called today may still ultimately call me back, as it's only been an hour).

While in these cases I could then pick someone else to work with (after say 15 minutes time allowance for the first person to call me back), both times I've had other things come up that I should attend to.

For what it's worth, I'm a skeptical person myself, so I understand if people question whether I was really going to offer a free shoot to begin with when I ultimately cancel it, but then, would I really need to advertise that it didn't work out on a particular day? You wouldn't know one way or the other. So I'm open about when I cancel free shoots as opposed to letting people think that they actually took place.

So far, I think I've offered 8 free shoots since Jan 2007. Of those, 6 have gone forward as scheduled and without a hitch.

Hey Folks -

This email is intended to inform you of the availability of a short notice photo shoot testing opportunity. To read more about my free photo shoot announcements list, read this blog entry. If interested and available, please contact me via MySpace mail.

[This photo shoot opportunity has now been filled, so the details have been removed. But I hope to offer another one of these soon! Thanks to everyone who responded.]

Zero Dean
www.zerodean.com

DISCLAIMER: All opinions expressed here are strictly my own and have also been known to change over time. I am a work-in-progress. I am not always right. I do not consider myself an expert at anything or necessarily uniquely qualified to provide advice (if given) that may be helpful to you. But advice, when given, is intended only for a positive purpose. All readers are encouraged to always inform themselves in greater detail and make up their own minds with regards to anything I might write. To get a better idea of who I am, my experience, and where I'm coming from, see my "about me" blog entry.

Hey Folks -

Anyone who really knows me knows that I loves films (well, the good ones, at least) and I've always had a fascination with film making. In fact, back when I was knee-high to a grasshopper (or perhaps a little taller), I thought I was going to be a successful "practical special FX artist"... (This was back before the computer based visual FX revolution changed everything in case my height description isn't enough of a clue!).

And when computer graphics strutted onto the scene with their sheer coolness, I simply did what all the cool kids who were just like me did, I tweaked my goal. Screw practical special FX! I wanted to be a "computer special FX artist". Oh yeah.

Problem was, I was in Maine at the time. And the northeastern part of the United States aint exactly a hotspot for the special FX industry. So again, I did what all the cool kids who where just like me, living exactly where I was living did...

I started in "multimedia" and then transitioning into creating art for video games. And that's the career ("computer graphics artist") I eventually settled into...for several years. It's what the cool kids were doing. Or at least the ones named Zero. ;)

And now, several years after I picked my jaw off the floor after watching some amazingly cool, computer-related thingamajig that made me want to be a computer graphics artist, I'm a photographer.

In Hollywood!

I know, that one kinda threw me for a loop, too! It's not exactly the sort of thing I would have predicted for myself. And I'm still adapting to it. The world works in mysterious ways.

In any case, I may be a photographer now, but I still love films. I love how the various pieces of a film production come together and how really good films are much greater than the sum or their parts. And none of this actually has anything to do with computer graphics.

Anyway, now that I'm working in the entertainment capital of the world, my connection to "the biz" is getting stronger the longer I live here. Which makes sense because I now mostly work with actors, entertainers, and models.

Well, about 10 minutes ago I got a call from a filmmaker interested in having me shoot some promotional photos of him for his film (he's also the main actor in it). Low budget, as you may expect.

The phone call got me thinking about working with filmmakers... and then I had this selfish thought that I could somehow get involved with the filmmaking process at a more intimate (or at least more direct level).

But how does one do that? Well, if you're me, you write about it in your blog and hope some of the "powers that be" and people of influence notice. No rush. ;)

Soooo... I just wanted it to be known to any filmmakers out there (and I'm mostly directing that at the really low budget folks out there, since the bigger budget guys already have their "unit photographers" who do this professionally) that if you have any interest in having a photographer shoot some behind-the-scenes still images and/or some promotional-related photos for your production, I'm available.

In fact, I think I'd be thrilled to be a part of something like that, especially small independent films. Heck, I might even take some decent photos (ok, ok, I will!). ;)

And I've also heard from a pretty good source that my rate for such a thing will often accomodate a practically non-existent budget (at least for now as it's something I get introduced to and get more experience with).

So if you're a filmmaker or know a filmmaker who might be interested, let's talk! :)

Zero Dean

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I've been thinking about writing a blog entry on how many times I've seriously thought about giving up my newly found career and passion in order to go back to something a bit more "stable".

I know, the idea sounds like bit of a downer, but it's intended to be a motivational piece.

Seriously, if I'm still doing what I'm doing after all the crap challenges I've had to deal with, then maybe others won't feel so "alone". I don't mean that in the sense that they're "lonely", I mean "alone" in the sense that sometimes it easy to feel like you're the only one having to deal with certain challenges (rejection, lack of finances, mean people, and various "career roadblocks"). When the reality is, challenges in this type of thing are not only common, they're probably the "norm".

In fact, just knowing that makes me feel a bit better. After all, if "pursuing your dreams" (or whatever fancy phrase you want to call it) was easy, everyone would do it. Right?

I often have to remind myself that my career is starting off like almost any good success story. Oh yes, it's had struggles, hardships, and plenty of drama! Not always pleasant, but still pretty exciting stuff! 

And what I really have to remind myself is that every good story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. And that I can't just skip to the end (plus, after watching the movie "Click", I'm not sure I'd want to!)...otherwise I might miss out on all those important life lessons and experiences.

So the reality is, I'm still in chapter 4 or 5 and I haven't yet gotten to the later chapters where everything begins to fit together and all the hard work and determination truly pays off.

Having been an "artist" all my life, I know a lot of "creatives" (actors, models, photographers, etc) who have really had to struggle (and many still do) to pursue their passions and to make their dreams become their reality. And having moved to LA, I see it even more... what's it called, "The boulevard of broken dreams"?

So while I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I want to say in that piece, I did run across this poem today, by an anonymous author, and felt it really captured the heart of something I was thinking about...

You Are What You Think You Are

If you think you are beaten, you are.
If you think you dare not, you don't.
If you like to win but think you can't,
It's almost certain that you won't.
Life's little battles don't always go
To the stronger woman or man,
But sooner or later, those who win
Are those who think they can.

- Anonymous

If you like my blog and want to be notified when I post something new, subscribe to it.

DISCLAIMER: All opinions expressed here are strictly my own and have also been known to change over time. I am a work-in-progress. I do not consider myself an expert at anything or necessarily uniquely qualified to provide advice (if given) that may be helpful to you. But advice, when given, is intended only for a positive purpose. All readers are encouraged to always inform themselves in greater detail and make up their own minds with regards to anything I might write. To get a better idea of where I'm coming from, see my "about me" blog entry.

To remedy that, I've put together a "Short Notice Photo Shoot Announcements" list which anyone interested in the possibility of a free photo shoot is welcome to subscribe to.

[If you decide to sign up, it is very important that you confirm your email address afterwards. This is simply a safeguard to make sure that you actually want to receive the notices and protects you against other people submitting your email address without your permission.

Once you hit "submit" to sign up, you will be sent a confirmation email. You must click the link in that email to confirm your subscription. If you do not confirm your email address, you will not receive any announcements. If you don't receive a confirmation letter (after checking your spam folder), be sure to let me know.]

Anyone in the Los Angeles area interested in shooting and potentially available at short notice (usually between 2 and 48 hours notice) should subscribe to this announcements list. (And no, I am absolutely not going to do anything with your email address or spam you. I despise people who do that.)

Whenever I have an unexpected availability and a desire to shoot, I will send subscribers an email which will include all the necessary *details for folks to determine whether they can (or want to) participate.

If you happen to be free at that particular time and want to shoot, then you simply respond and let me know.

No experience is necessary, so anyone can get involved. And these shoots will be provided free of charge. I'll be happy to just have someone to work with.

The only "catch" is that I will generally only work with one person per shoot. So depending upon the number of people who respond to a given announcement, I will base my selection on the person I feel is most appropriate for the type of shooting I am most interested in on that day. I will also take into consideration the number of hours the person is available. For example, if I have 4 hours of availability, but you're only available for 2, but someone else is available for 4, I may choose the person who's available longer.

With that said, it is my intention, over time, to work with a variety of different people, styles, and looks and accomodate as many different people as possible.

Also, I can almost always accomodate anyone who needs headshots at these type of shoots.

Date of Shoot (example: Jan 22)
Specific Hours That I Have Available (example: 1-4pm)
Minimum Availability Required To Participate (usually 2)
Shoot Location (example: Santa Monica)
Stylist/Make-Up Artist Available (Yes/No)
Theme or Focus of Shoot (if any)

If this sounds like a good idea or if you think I can improve upon this in any way, please let me know.

A: I mainly offer free shoots because I enjoy it. I know, that's probably hard to believe in this day in age, but if you think about it, I could easily charge a small fee for shoots (like $25) and people would likely pay for the opportunity. So the "free" in "free shoots" is intentional (but it also doesn't mean I don't value my services). I know I'm worth more than the rates I do charge (which are kept "affordable" for a reason) and I don't need to provide free shoots to build up my portfolio (or my confidence) like someone just starting out. So I do it because I enjoy it.

I also provide free shoots because it's good publicity which also results in great word-of-mouth advertising. I know that if I provide someone with a free shoot and they have a good time and love their photos, they're likely to tell somebody about it. Eventually I think stuff like this comes back around. (You do a good deed for someone else and it comes back to you in one form or another.)

As for a "catch", there really isn't one. I provide the same features with my free shoots as I do with my paid shoots. This means you get a comparable number of photos and features provided with your shoot as you would with a paid shoot of similar timing. (I.e. If we shoot for an hour, you get the options for the 1 hour package I provide, and so on).

Yes, if you want 5 *processed photos (provided with a 2 hour shoot), but we only shoot for one hour (which includes 3 processed photos), then I'll ask that you pay for the additional 2 photos. That should make sense.

*See the rates and services section on my site for a definition of "processed" and a breakdown of my rates & services.

A: Believe it or not, yes. It's simply the way I work and the values I believe in. I don't ever want anyone to walk away with photos they don't like or can't use.

Just keep in mind, the type of shoot I provide will be described in the "photo shoot details" section. Some days I may just be shooting headshots, so that's what you'll get. Other days I may focus on glamour photography, and that's what you'd get. My satisfaction guarantee won't apply if you sign up for a headshots shoot and you're upset because all we shot were lifestyle photos because that was the theme of the shoot. Make sense? And if you're not happy with your photos, you have to tell me right away. You can't wait 3 months to drop the news, ok?

A: Absolutely. One of my goals in providing free shoots is to provide opportunities to a broad range of people encompassing a variety of different looks and styles.

A: It depends. Ideally, I'd like to be able to offer at least one free shoot every week. But many times this isn't possible. Sometimes I have time for 2 shoots in a single week…and other times, it's been over a month between free sessions. It really just depends. But again, my goal is to provide these as often as I am and can afford to.

A: Due to the nature of natural light photography and shooting outdoors, I am at the whim of the weather and lighting conditions. I generally try not to schedule shoots at times when inclement weather (or poor lighting conditions) is predicted, even though most of the time SoCal weather forecasts are wrong (you tend to notice this more when you rely on them). So in cases where the weather actually cooperates on a day I don't have anything scheduled, I often like to fill this time by shooting.

And, of course, there are also times in which I've intentionally left "me time" available or simply blocks of time that no one scheduled. And when I'm up to it, I like to fill this time by shooting.

A: You mean like bribing me? Well maybe. But seriously, it depends. Sometimes I do find it valuable to hear how significant a free shoot would be to you or your motivation for wanting one. Even if that means telling me that you just got new headshots taken last week (which generally means you don't need more), but you're hoping for something better.

But if you have a "real story" behind what a free shoot would mean to you, all that I ask, if you want to share it, is that you're truthful. Please don't make up some story about how your husband left you, you lost your job, and you're broke if it isn't true.

I'm already going to assume that almost anyone who wants a free shoot is broke. Or thrifty. Or both. There's nothing wrong with that. But if you can easily afford a photo shoot (at my rates), then I ask that you leave these free opportunities for people who are not quite as financially fortunate, as that's who these shoots are of most value to.

I don't know where to begin with this one because if I don't start off right, then the people that this blog entry is for are going to miss it. (Oops, too late! I was just informed that those people are gone already!)

*EXPLOSION* (just trying to keep your interest)

That's right, this one's for you non-readers out there who won't be reading this. (For those who are readers, please feel free to skip this entry as it doesn't apply to you.)

*FREE SEX*

Look, I get that most of you are from the MTV/ADD generation with attention spans of about .5 seconds. That's cool. I'm ok with that and I'm sure you're all perfectly nice people. So this entry doesn't mean I don't like you!

*ON SALE NOW*

The problem is that I tend to be a very thorough person for a reason. For example, when I send out bulletins, the information you need is in there. Seriously. It's there. That may sound crazy, but you just have to read it to find out. :)

*YOU MAY ALREADY BE A WINNER!*

It's just a little strange to me when I send out a bulletin titled "I offer actors/models free photo shoot opportunities" or one for hair & make-up artists (which contain all the information & instruction one needs to act on something within the bulletin), to suddenly get emails from half a dozen a full dozen people asking me how to get on my short notice list or where they need to go. Or people requesting that I add them. Or asking me to personally keep them in the loop anytime an opportunity presents itself. Or even tell me that they have a friend who might be interested in an opportunity and I should call them.

*VOTE OR DIE*

And it's strange because I put all the information people need to do the thing they're asking about in the message they supposedly read. And it probably took the person longer to write to me to ask the question than it would've for them to look for the information in my bulletin that they're asking about.

*MORE FREE SEX* (hey, it worked the first time)

And so I usually have to respond telling people, in some hopefully clever fashion, that the answer to the question they're asking is actually in the bulletin they're asking about.

*HEY LOOK, IT'S BRAD PITT!*

See, the thing is, you won't know what I've read if you don't read it. And if you don't read what I write, you won't know what I wrote. (I may not have worded that correctly, but I'm sure there's a catch 22 in there somewhere.)

Don't misread my tone. I'm absolutely cool with all of it and this is simply meant to be some light (but informative) reading for some people who probably won't actually read it. Which is fine (the world moves on). But if it helps just one person realize that the answers to their questions may actually exist in the words on the page that they're asking about, it'll help make the system a bit more efficient. :)

And if not, at least I got to express myself while I'm waiting for my Tylenol Flu to kick in. :)

Zero Dean

If you like my blog and want to be notified when I post something new, subscribe to it.

DISCLAIMER: All opinions expressed here are strictly my own and have also been known to change over time. I am a work-in-progress. I am not always right. I do not consider myself an expert at anything or necessarily uniquely qualified to provide advice (if given) that may be helpful to you. But advice, when given, is intended only for a positive purpose. All readers are encouraged to always inform themselves in greater detail and make up their own minds with regards to anything I might write. To get a better idea of who I am, my experience, and where I'm coming from, see my "about me" blog entry.

I'm losing my battle with MySpace mail. It's sad.

I want to be able to reply to each and every message that comes in, but unfortunately, that's becoming almost impossible due to the nature of the MySpace mail system. The system makes it very easy to get buried with messages and complicates it further by not allowing an easy way to sort or save messages based on certain criteria (name, subject, date).

Yes, this blog entry is about MySpace mail. If you're already bored, please feel free to pull out now. You won't miss anything terribly spectacular by not reading further and you might just be saving yourself 3 minutes of your life that you'll never get back. Unless you're a slow reader, in which case, you might be saving 10 minutes or more! (Don't say I didn't warn you!) :)

Right now I have exactly 565 MySpace messages (57 pages) sitting in my "Inbox" since only mid-December 06. I'm sure that's not any sort of MySpace record, as I bet many of you have far more messages in your inbox than I do.

Well, my "situation" (that's what we're calling it downtown, a "situation" -- though I live in Santa Monica) was actually much worse a week ago before I started deleting dozens and dozens of messages that I'd already replied to.

Now, that's not something I like doing because I very much prefer to have a record of what's been said in a conversation (I'll admit it, I'm an anal email collector - I wish there was a support group for that!). But my inbox "situation" was getting impossible. And did you realize that messages that are sorted to your "sent" folder in MySpace are automatically deleted after a time? Yup. So unless the person copied everything I'd said in a previous message into their new one, I'd have to try to figure out what they were replying to based on the content of their message (sometimes that's easier than others). Regular email rules definitely do not apply to MySpace. Thats fine. I just wish there was a better way.

So now in my effort to bring my email "situation" under control, I've deleted complete conversations with people that I will likely forget. And if you wonder if it's the people or the conversations I'm referring to...sadly, it's potentially both.

Sorry "Buffy from Milwaukee", be confident that I still love you, even if I don't remember you. And "Tad from Agoura Hills", nothing but the best to you...unless that was hate mail you sent me (obviously I don't remember). In which case, dude, what's up with that? You must chill! :)

I have a lot of contact with people who I've never actually met in real life. What? What? What!? You mean I don't actually know all the people I have listed in my friends list? Shockingly, no. Not yet anyway! It's not that I'm a "friend whore" (lovely name) and it's certainly not a popularity contest. If you know me, (and based on my friends list, you probably don't - yet), I'm actually a big believer that "popular" doesn't always equal "good". So I'm really not trying to say anything by having a lot of friends.

I'm here for networking, y'all. After all, it's pretty hard to secure work when people don't know you exist. So I'm building a network...(Can you hear me now?). Not just for my own purposes, but also with the intention of "giving back" (like here and here) whenever I can. 

Good karma is a beautiful thing. And through my "friends" I've had some wonderful opportunities (did you know I got invited to shoot an after party at the Golden Globes? Couldn't go, but how cool is that?) and I've had the privilege of meeting and working with some very cool and very interesting people (Evan, Paul, Jay Jay, Christel...).

So anyway, because this is "cyber-space", I often have to mentally attach names & conversations to the images they use to represent themselves on MySpace. But, of course, many people change their main images often. That dude who was Kermit the Frog is now a tap dancing Fozzie Bear. And that "Terminator" dude is now a picture of Big Bird giving me the finger.

Seriously, how am I supposed to make sense of that? It's like going to a Halloween party and expecting to recognize all your friends who are wearing masks and constantly switching them with others when you're not looking. Crazy!

Plus, "will you shoot me for free?" is probably the most common topic of email I get... and the individual senders all sort of roll into one amorphious blob of a person after a while. (Answer to this question: See the "Q: RE: Free Photo Shoots? Everyone wants one. How can you get one?" entry midway down my profile.

But I digress (as I often do). :)

So while my 57 pages of emails (58 by the time I finish writing this) is way down from what it was, I'm sure there are some messages I still haven't replied to (maybe on page 42, who knows?), but finding them requires a whole search team of Saint Bernards with those cool barrels of hooch around their necks. Or more importantly, it would take me minutes of time that I'm sure I'd much rather be doing something else!

Yes, I'm kinda selfish that way. But isn't the computer age supposed to be making life easier for us? Things like searching and sorting through emails should not take minutes and minutes of time in this day and age. I mean, I've got a Pentium, baby.

Not to mention, where is all this time we've been "saving" by using computers going? Even when I do save 20 minutes of time here and there, it's not like I end up with a surplus at the end of the year... 4 days of "nothingness" saved up. Ah, that would be nice.

Anyway, I know the same task of searching any combination of emails from the past 6 weeks in any other email "program" would take less than a minute.

So I'm losing my battle with MySpace mail.

So if you wrote to me and I didn't reply, I apologize. It's not necessarily that I didn't want to (though sometimes I don't). And it's not necessarily because I have bad manners (though sometimes I do).

And if you re-write to me and I don't immediately "recognize" you because you changed your avatar to some animated bouncy dude strapped to a jungle gym with bungee cords, then I'm an idiot, but it doesn't mean I don't value your time. :)

And for those who are open to perhaps writing to me outside of the MySpace mail system (it's a whole new world "out there")... If you know my first name (and I kinda think you do), and if you know my website domain (pretty easy to figure out, Charlie), then you already have my email address. And if you're wondering if that's zerodean.com or zerotopia.com, it works with both because I'm cool like that (brain the size of a planet, actually).

And if you write to me at that address and I still don't reply... Then I'm an ass and I really am ignoring you. :P

Zero Dean

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