Reply To: I am terrified of you people! Here goes nothing.

[stef]

So, I’m only looking at your album marked Portfolio. Remember, this album is supposed to be the best of the best of your photography. It is what defines you as a photographer. There are no excuses for anything in any album marked as your “portfolio”.

Based on that, here are the problems I see.

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=304430642971884&set=a.135543886527228.35211.135543696527247&type=3&theater has 4 girls in it. It’s shot a little low, so everyone is chinny. One other girl is looking on… why? Because you didn’t pose them correctly. The 5th wheel looking over a shoulder is not good. I’m ignoring the processing… this is still a snapshot.

 

You have some issues with skin tones. This might be because you’re sending things through filters, but this one could be a nice image if you fix the skin tones: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=299551900126425&set=a.135543886527228.35211.135543696527247&type=3&theater It’s really flat lighting, but that can be overlooked because it’s a great pose. But I’m not a big fan of your overuse of post processing filters.

 

This shot seriously scared me. I literally recoiled in my chair. Was I looking at a murder? SIDS? THE EYES ARE BLACK. When you get a shot like this, don’t try to save it. DELETE IT, and whatever you do, do not put it in a folder marked “portfolio”. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=249553735126242&set=a.135543886527228.35211.135543696527247&type=3&theater

 

This one is cute and it tells a story, but you should’ve used a smaller aperture. The girl in back is not in focus. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=169569626457987&set=a.135543886527228.35211.135543696527247&type=3&theater This is one of your better shots… and it has too small DOF.

 

Another thing you’re doing is you think extreme close-up shots need YOU to be there using the minimum focus distance on your lens. THIS IS WRONG.  You get a much better perspective zooming in from a bit farther back. When you get in close, physically, your subjects get horrible distortion. Here are examples: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=166602893421327&set=a.135543886527228.35211.135543696527247&type=3&theater https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=259202060828076&set=a.135543886527228.35211.135543696527247&type=3&theater https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=232578616823754&set=a.135543886527228.35211.135543696527247&type=3&theater

The last one is distorted, but is a good use of the close-up distortion. The others are not. Do you see why? One is a kid being a kid and it emphasizes the personality of that baby. The others are not so good… with huge foreheads and such. I guess I don’t hate them all, but getting in too close and distorting your subjects is a theme of yours, and only one out of several look good distorted.

 

The crop on this is too tight. It needs to be a touch wider. It’s a decent shot, from a low angle, but that’s okay. But cutting someone’s head off at the middle of the ear is bad cropping. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=228895110525438&set=a.135543886527228.35211.135543696527247&type=3&theater

 

4 of your 25 images are worthy of being in anything marked portfolio. That’s not a very good number.

 

Here’s what you need to do to improve your photography.

Remove everything from your album marked “portfolio” and add only those things that are your best work. The majority is not worthy of that title… and it’s better to have a small number of great shots, than a large number of mediocre shots diluting your good shots.

Watch your exposures, especially in sunlight. You blew out some big portions of skin and dress on at least two shots. Either get a scrim and have someone hold it for you, or shoot in the shade.

Stand back a little farther to avoid distortion, especially when you think “Oh, I want a nice close up”. Get a longer lens for that instead. Stay at least 3 feet away except occasionally when shooting kids.

Work on getting a really good exposure and pose. Make sure everyone is in focus. Make a nice portrait without any goofy aged filters and such. Feel free to also add those filters, but only AFTER you do it normally. Repeat.

 

Some of your photos are good. I really did like several. The processing was getting a little old, but even ignoring that, there were some compositional issues that simply could not be surmounted.

 

You’re close, but right now you are a fauxtographer.