Reply To: Fauxtogs who should end up on the main page…

[fstopper89]

Sorry but I really have to put this fauxtographer on blast now. The message she sent me still ticks me off because after looking through her entire page I am seeing how absolutely horrible she is with the same things she accused me of! Pretty much all of that too I looked through my stuff over and over to try to find it and couldn’t find any examples. Backstory, she posted in a group forum asking why the couple was unhappy with their photos and linked the gallery, which I linked here earlier. She even asked “should I just refund them their deposit and let them find a new photographer?” I was very nice in my response and said that what I was noticing were a lot of exposure issues with bright sun spots hitting their skin, and that a lot of the photos would have benefited from a shallower dof to help bring attention to the couple. I said honestly I’d offer a re-shoot so that they are happy. She responded “Wow that is horrible advice…” (I couldn’t see the rest, as she deleted the entire thread.) I messaged her asking what she had said, and that I was very respectful in my critique and that if she asked for advice or constructive criticism she needs to take it and grow. She freaked out at me and said this:

“I do mind telling what the rest of the message said because I am pretty sure you will take that the wrong way as well. I never asked if I should refund them, why make up stuff? I guess you are the type that really likes drama. I don’t think you should really be offering advice when your photos are so amateur. I looked at your page and I was surprised you posted a photo of a girl with her eyes closed and another more recent one with a woman grabbing her crotch. I can tell you didn’t go to school for photography you don’t consider the background at all, do you know what a merger is? Your focus is also off in a lot of your photos. I guess my engagement photos could be better if I added some cheap props (XO) and did an “artistic tilt” lol. I love how amateurs think they are so amazing.”

Well I will just point out that I did go to a real school (2 of them, not online) for photography and am very aware of what’s in my backgrounds. I always take care to angle myself or my shots to not get trees growing out of heads, mergers, etc. So I’m not sure exactly where she’s getting that. The only possible idea I have on the eyes closed is one senior shoot where a girl is squinty in most of the photos because she has a rare eye disorder where her pupils don’t dilate/constrict so even small amounts of light are difficult. During the session we found shaded areas and I had her mom hold up a thick blanket in the direction she was looking. Any other images I posted of a girl with her eyes closed were a bride and a bride-to-be kissing with eyes closed. The woman grabbing her crotch baffled me because that doesn’t exist. I do have some engagement photos of the couples holding a wooden X and O and I think it’s actually really cute, but maybe some people find it cheesy. I don’t have out of focus images either except maybe 3-4 that were slightly off but I felt the image was beautiful otherwise so I “saved” them- but viewed on FB or even my website you can’t really even tell anyway. As far as a tilt I used to use it more often but any of my recent work only has it used in some photos where I thought it to add something.

In my viewing of her work, 90% of her stuff has terrible exposure problems, and she has a special knack for getting mottled, spotty sun on peoples’ skin. She also is terrible at watching her backgrounds. Most of her shots have trees growing out of heads, or other objects that are way too in focus and distract the viewer. She isn’t good at separating her subject from her backgrounds. A lot of images she used a tilt as well, while others the horizon was slightly off which makes me believe she didn’t intend to do it. She uses harsh flash a lot as well and it creates shadows. She has lots of shots with cheap chalkboards, sings, and frames that people are holding up. These are common props of course and I have a real vintage chalkboard, vintage chairs, and some barn board frames. Not cheap like her dollar store junk. I can pick out a small handful of photos that I really did like (some from a wedding with a gorgeous couple), but the rest were just horrible!

Sorry I just needed to vent more about this. I’m not professing to be a perfect photographer or anything but I know I am so much better than her and I think she was just seriously pissed that I was right in my critique and she was being a jealous failure. Everything I gave her for advice was completely sound and educated.

Here’s her page. https://www.facebook.com/lizphoto530

End of rant.