Home Forums Let’s Talk Photography Equipment and education… yes they matter! Reply To: Equipment and education… yes they matter!

#5641
fstopper89
Participant

Dutch angles are actually one of the things I’m doing less of. A photographer I used to work for (very successful, great photographer) used them a lot which may be where I got it from. Still, I stand behind my idea that using them in some cases works and does improve a photo, and that is where I’m going to dictate their use in the future. In other cases not so much, and I’ve been guilty of using them in some of those cases. I hope you’re not implying that I don’t know how to use the rule of thirds though. Most of my images exhibit a good use of that, though there are many times I purposely break that rule. It all depends on visual weight; color, contrast, and organic/inorganic shapes I use to guide a viewer’s eyes to the subject. I understand that one person may see an image in a different way than another person. Art does not necessarily have to look one way because a viewer’s own life experiences most often dictate how they view art. I know this is a broad statement, but just because one person may hate an image (like Archy says he/she hates the image of the husband framed by the bride walking down the aisle) you should also remember there are countless people who LOVED that image for the same reasons I did. The visual weight is pulled slightly in two directions. As humans our eyes tend to go to faces naturally, and though her dress is white, the shapes and lines curve to frame his face. Just look through wedding photos on Flickr or other sites. You will see many uncommon images that people love because there is an element of surprise to them. Photographers can benefit greatly with some education in art outside of photography. Many of us (well, all of us) should have the artistic “gene” already, but art courses do help us realize why something is art vs. not art.

Archy, you’re accusing me of being condescending and trying to assert myself as better than everyone else. I bet your masters degree in progress makes you feel on top of the world (I do not have a masters degree.)

Also, yes, second shooter. The owner never met me before. My friend is his top shooter (3 hours away from where I live). He hired me based on the recommendation from my friend after one of his other employees could not commit to that date, and was very pleased with the decision. He offered me a job if I would move there, but for now I told him if he schedules weddings closer to me I’d be willing to shoot those. I’ve only posted two of the images I shot that day. (His studio holds the copyright but he has allowed me to edit and use my own in my portfolio.) I consider this quite an honor since he is probably one of the pickiest photographers I’ve ever heard of and all of the accreditation he’s received on a national level.  If you’d like to see more of them on his website, here is the album. About half of the photos in this album were shot by me, and the other half by the primary shooter. The studio owner did all the editing on these. (Oh, and for anyone who wants to jab at the dutch angles, both of us used that type of composition.) http://nickandmelissa.martinusphotography.com/#/wedding/

And, no, these threads are not linked from any of my business or portfolio pages. I’ve linked my work to this site. This site is to vent about all the horrible fauxtogs, and that’s what we’re doing. And yes to some degree fauxtogs do harm business for good photographers. At least initially, until people who hire them find they hate all the photos and decide they should have paid a little more money to go to someone who knows what they’re doing.