Where are the best places in the U.S. for portrait photographers to live?

I mean this inclusively. Which areas have the most:

Nearby beautiful scenes
Models who love the art and act professionally by not bailing
Number of beautiful models
Openness to nude art
Galleries which are happy to showcase portraits
Potential for earning money (e.g. by shooting weddings, fashion)
Nearby locations for nude shoots (e.g. Lake Powell)
Skilled models (perhaps through modeling agencies)

I doubt there's a single location that would hit all of these points, plus any that I forgot. Overall though, which locations are the best places for portrait photographers to live?

icor1031 wrote in post #18978517
I mean this inclusively. Which areas have the most:

Nearby beautiful scenes
Models who love the art and act professionally by not bailing
Number of beautiful models
Openness to nude art
Galleries which are happy to showcase portraits
Potential for earning money (e.g. by shooting weddings, fashion)
Nearby locations for nude shoots (e.g. Lake Powell)
Skilled models (perhaps through modeling agencies)

I doubt there's a single location that would hit all of these points, plus any that I forgot. Overall though, which locations are the best places for portrait photographers to live?

I'm not sure what you're conceptualizing as "portrait photography."

If your aim is to make a living specifically in "portrait photography," you're going to be doing either commercial editorial work or retail portrait work. Either one may also include commercial head shots. Either may include some "fine art" portraits.

Those are two different markets, though, and don't have anything to do with nude work (or the environment or market for nudes). And neither is going to necessarily have you photographing a lot of "beautiful models." But if your concept is actually to make a living photographing beautiful models, then you're talking about Los Angeles or New York City. I don't think anywhere else can support "model photography" as a specialty.

If you make weddings your real specialty, you can do that anywhere. I'm finding the South more naturally amenable to retail portrait photography across income levels without having to market mostly to upper-middle-class.

RDKirk wrote in post #18978579
I'm not sure what you're conceptualizing as "portrait photography."

If your aim is to make a living specifically in "portrait photography," you're going to be doing either commercial editorial work or retail portrait work.

Nude stuff as a hobby, though pay would be great.
Weddings/seniors/fashi​on/whatever for pay.

Order of importance: Hobby first, pay second.
I'm planning to go into software development, so although I'd like to be paid for my portraits (and would like to shoot occasional weddings etc.), my career plan pays so well that I'm staying in photography for the enjoyment.

For me it would be a 15 minute drive to a Canon service facility.

icor1031 wrote in post #18978587
Nude stuff as a hobby, though pay would be great.
Weddings/seniors/fashi​on/whatever for pay.

Order of importance: Hobby first, pay second.
I'm planning to go into software development, so although I'd like to be paid for my portraits (and would like to shoot occasional weddings etc.), my career plan pays so well that I'm staying in photography for the enjoyment.

RD made some excellent points in his recommendation for various photography markets. "Beauty" is often in the eye of the beholder if you're looking for just that type of model, so you might want to consider other major cities like Chicago, the SF Bay area and Atlanta. He is absolutely right when he says you can do weddings anymore. You just have to understand the particular market, create a high quality and memorable product and of course give them what they want.

Have you done many weddings? That type of work is potentially stressful to some folks compared to model/fine art work. The days can be quite long also and people skills are absolutely critical. Wedding photography is not for the faint of heart