Michael Cardoza

My work is intended to invoke emotion... The emotion and can be subtle or powerful. In a perfect world we should hold the creative process in the highest regard. In the real world we only hold money and fame as the highest of honor. And they call me crazy!

So to survive in the real world an artist must find a way to create new work while holding a job that often involves little or no creativity. That is where I find myself today. When I was much younger I tried to make photography my full time job. I worked with some very talented photographers and started to work with models to build portfolios and get them work in the world of agency modeling. I worked with a few local agencies that were more concerned with milking the models out of there money than actually getting then any real work. After doing that for a year I felt my talents started to diminish and desire to shot fall off. I decided to quit my dreams of becoming a professional photographer and went back to school to finish my degree in civil engineering.



So to all the models out there, here is how I like to work. The most important thing I can give to the process is my time. I have a full time job that more than pays my bills so I am not in this for the money. I am in this to create. I try to meet with all the people I work with prior to actually getting them in front of the camera. I believe in chemistry and vibes. I would like to think that what we try to create in that slim moment when I push the shutter release is more than just light and dark. I do feel that if you put your emotion and feeling into your work that moment can capture more. When the model and photographer are in sync you are more likely to capture those moments. The only way to hope to be in sync is to get to know one another prior to pushing the button. So... that first meet allows us to try and get a sense of each other. And then you need trust.
Trust is a powerful word that I think gets thrown around way too much.
Note to models: There are some very strange and dangerous people out there. Be smart, cautious and trust your senses. Every model I have met has told me stories of shoots gone wrong. When I meet with models I always bring my wife. She is with me at every shoot and is a big part of the process. I have no problem with models bringing an escort to the first meet or shoots. That is one way I hope to add to the trust between us. When I speak of trust I use the word with reverence. I trust that you will give me your best effort, that you will also open yourself to the creative process. For this I give you my word that I will not take the shot until I feel you are ready. I don't just fire away and hope to catch lighting in a bottle. I compose every shot and will often dance around the lighting until I find the angle that fits the pose just right, then take the shot. Also to guarantee your trust we sign the "Model Release", after the shot. Without the release I can not use any image taken that day. That guarantee is sustained by California law. My personal guarantee is that any image taken that you don not like the way you are portrayed I will not use. The last way I show the model my is trust is by paying each model for her time. While it may not be much, I pay every model I work with for their time. I feel that your time is valuable. I also feel that if we both have a vested interest in the work, we will produce our best images.



If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

Thank you for taking the time to look at my portfolio and I wish you the best of luck in all you do.

Mike Cardoza.