The OMG is (we think) the longest consecutively/consistently running model photography trade event in central Florida.
A model photography trade event is when models and aspiring models get together with local photographers (and aspiring photographers) to take pictures without either party giving money to the other. The models are “paid” for their time spent modeling with digital images, and photographers are “paid” for their time spent taking the pictures and editing them by having the chance to work with models they may not normally have the chance to work with. It should be noted that each model and photographer are responsible for exchanging information and the group does not monitor or “police” whether or not photographer provide images to models. We merely provide a setting for models and photographers to work with each other.
We do have a small fee for photographers for general admissions, which is usually $5.00. We do not charge models or stylists for their attendance. The reason for that is actually quite straight-forward – 1) though we aren’t making a profit off of admissions, we do have to cover the venue rental fees; 2) time and experimentation has taught us that if models are asked to pay even a small cover fee, they aren’t terribly likely to attend; and 3) the $5.00 cover for photographers doesn’t seem to dissuade large numbers of photographers from attending.
The OMG also provides a separately ticketed early event called the VIP Early Bird Photoshoot, occurring 2 hours prior to the general admissions for the OMG. This is an event specifically for photographers, where they will have a chance to work with models selected by the OMG staff specifically for the VIP event. The biggest perk is having fewer people at the venue and a better photographer to model ratio to ensure that photographers have quality time with quality models. The VIP tickets go on sale usually about a month in advance of the next OMG event, can range in price from $45-$75 (depending on the venue as this is what generally pays the majority of the venue rental fees), and are sold on EventBrite. The date of the ticket sales is noticed in the Facebook event group.