Can you please make this DVD downloadable?

As I’m interested in the video content, paying $70 plus for shipping the package and booklet to Germany is a bit too much.

FStoppers made their recent DVD downloadable.

I use Lynda.com and for $ 250 per year one gets an amazing amount of information and they have in the last few months added interviews with photographers about their work and style.

I was tempted to purchase this DVD from Melissa Rodwell, but I am only interested in the business side and networking, but I am getting this type of information from blogs anyway.

This is the producer of the Fashion Photography Exposed DVD writing you.
I just wanted to say to you and to everyone else who is upset about the cost; To please keep the comments to yourselves until you’ve seen the actual DVD…. 

I know that I am too close to the project to really say anything. But, I can honestly tell you that this DVD is unlike any other educational DVD you have ever seen before. Anybody who knows Melissa personally will tell you she is one of the most honest / humble people they’ve ever met and this DVD reflects that tenfold. 

Secondly, the question you have to ask yourself is: how much 20+ years of real-world knowledge within the industry is worth? Is it worth the amount of money you would spend on a college degree, perhaps? I have payed my own fair share for educational products. I’ve ordered Natalia Taffarel’s DVD, Lynda.com tutorials, Kelby Training, pretty much everything I know about graphic design and retouching has been from my online education and I couldn’t even put a price tag on how invaluable that information has been to me… 

To be straight with you, the DVD might actually make you NOT want to get into Fashion Photography because of the reality of the industry and how difficult it can be and we put it out there… Why? Because We have to give our readers the truth, not the “Hokey Pokey” your going to “Make it” overnight speech. AND because it may save you years of trial and error plus the amount of money spens investing in expenses, gear, etc. and THAT kind of information to me… is priceless.

It would be impossible to judge this DVD off of the 3 minute trailer alone. So, again, I ask you to please keep your comments to yourself until you have sat through the entire 3 hour DVD that is about to launch. 

Best, 
David Skyler

If you want to sell a ton of these dvd’s you need to think of exposure for profit and not just big time one shot transactions. When your product is good, but TOO expensive, you are just asking for it to be pirated by angry people.

By contrast, Adoroma provides videos almost everyday that provide enough education for any growing photographer to understand photography. What it does not do is give you a style, but Melissa’s will not do this either as her style is the way she views the world.

If this dvd provided contact phone numbers to editors, or retouchers, or people who can get your portfolio into the hands of art directors, I would see the $299 price tag, but that wont happen.

I like Melissa and her work, and her blog. There are just so many just as good photographers with free video clips out there. Though they may not talk and tell you what they are doing, you just need to look around the clip and you will see they lighting setup. The camera settings are almost always the same across the board.  F8-F11 in the studio with strobes so everything is in focus, shutter speed 200-250 unless you shoot with a leaf shutter.  The rest is lighting and post. There really is no magic in any basic type of photography like fashion. You can almost have awful lighting and if the model and the clothes are important, the shot is important. IE Terry Richardson.

I think if you have zero knowledge of real fashion photography, you should buy a dvd like this from a source like Melissa because she is the real deal.  If you already have knowledge of fashion photography and you just need some  inspiration, youtube hunt and buy more fashion magazines. If you don’t even like fashion but just want to be known as a fashion photographer (you don’t care about fashion week, who runs Vogue, the current kings of fashion photography, or the names of important fashion magazines that if you are good you would one day be shooting for) just stop pressing the fashion photography thing so much and move on.  Passion for the craft is what makes you better, the rest will come.