[PhotoDave1]

With respect to Rolando, I must agree with John and others who have voiced similar sentiments. When I first joined OMP I had some limited success but over the past few years it has turned into a self-promoting site and not much else. In the last year I have only had a shoot come out of a contact I made through OMP and the rest of the "models" that have contacted me or whom I have been referred to have not been worth my time.

What I am seeing a lot of on OMP lately is little girls with cell phone photos that have been taken by their drunk, lust-crazed boyfriends who email me and tell me that they have no experience but that they are easy to work with and their rates are "extremely reasonable". Basically what this means is these are children who have absolutely no respect for themselves and they will strip for any guy (or guys) who can come up with $50.00 and a hotel room and we all wonder why our industry is in so much trouble?? There needs to be a completely separate category for this type of " " (I don't want to call it modeling but I don't know what else to call it).

I maintain a minimal presence on OMP on the off chance that I will meet a model who is actually worth working with and I generally meet one a year.

G1 on the other hand, in my opinion, is a quality site. I have learned a lot from reading the posts here and putting up my own. These guys have really made me push the envelop and I have greatly benefited from it. Like others, I do wish the Workshops weren't so expensive but maybe someday. Guys like Rolando, RFS, and others make it all worthwhile.

G1 has also taught me a lot about where I fit in the food chain. I photograph in my own style and in my own way and my primary goal is the satisfaction of the models I photograph and also of my peers. I am not as technically proficient in Photoshop and probably never will be. I have also never shot in RAW and maybe I never will. It is just more work than I want to put into it but it serves its purpose and that's OK. I have made a niche for myself and I am quite happy in my niche. There will always be slight "imperfections" in my photographs but that's my style and I'm OK with it and more importantly, the people I photograph are OK with it. I will never reach the technical perfection of photographers like RFS or Bobby G but I have learned that I don't have to. I can do what I do and still make people happy and that to me is what counts.

Guys, keep up the great work here and keep reaching out. I would like to see G1 grow back to the size, reach, and popularity that Garage Glamour had. Now that was a rocking site and something to truly aspire to so let's see what we can do to bring back the glory days.

Nuff said !