Was this a scam?

I don't think it sounds like a scam though her distance of travel may make one think. Perhaps if you thought it was not fair on her you could have offered something her way. However, since you were not comfortable you selected the best choice for you and that's all there is to it.

The bit about her claiming to be native and not coming off like English is her first language I'm not really sure why that's a problem. In England I'm sure I may bump into many models who have a first language that's not English.

If a model is happy to travel a long way that's up to her.

She probably blocked you as a filter method, she may have been questioning your approach to the situation.

When two people discuss a shoot and you learn you each have different ideas of what you want and can't come to agreement, blocking acts as a filter to not waste anymore time again.

Edited by Wondrous

I used to live in southern Connecticut and regularly travelled between NY and Boston as well as many other similar distances.

However - and pure conjecture as don't know the model nor the photographer - a photo friend of mine still in NY recently advertised some gear on the local markets and was paranoid literally everyone who answered him was trying g to scam him / set up a meet and rob his gear / car / home ...

So not saying that's the case here, but wondering if it's a general "fear factor" that's gripped over there - and likely to end up coming here...

PhotoBeautiful said

...

... She described herself as Native American. Her photos made it seem right, but her communication made it seem like English was not her first language.

...

Navaho?  Sioux?  Southern Quechua? Algonquian? Cherokee?

Nobody evolved on those continents, but the first people arrived not less than I think 12 000 years ago, and English arrived in about 15-1600 did it not? (Later)

Some time after Spanish, which was some time after some variety of Norse.

OK, I seem to have been wrong about her not being Native American. One of her photos shows her in a Native American beauty contest. I didn't see the caption at the bottom. Still, driving 3.5-4.5 hours one way for a 2 hour TFP seems excessive. Maybe I was too wary. I guess I was caught on "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is". And why would she travel from Boston which, I assume has plenty of photographers, to NYC?

What would be the worst that could happen? Unreasonable demands due to excessive travel. I would certainly pay for her gas, even though she said she would pay for that. I guess sending her a contract stipulating what would and would not be covered would have taken care of my concerns.

It's possible that I was worried about the pressure I might put on myself given that she was putting out so much effort for an uncertain return.

A lesson learned.