Reply To: I'm guessing this person is a fauxtographer

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I don’t know what that link is.  It seems to be one post of artwork of many and whether the blogger takes it seriously or not or even is a photographer, I don’t know.  If it’s a statement that someone who doesn’t know what iso, f-stops and so on are, can take a decent shot, that’s possible.  However, I would suspect most professionals do know what those all are and care about it on a regular basis as they do mean something if you want good results.

That all aside, fauxtogs are a curious bunch.  There are a number of reasons in my opinion as to why they both suck and blow with such regularity and damned determination.  And by that I mean that month after month and year after year, many will continue to “s and b” in spite of the fact that there is so much free information out there that can help your pics to look better.  Maybe not $20k per wedding stunning great but at least better.  Even faux gear can be used to take decent shots…if you know what you’re doing so not being able to afford 5D3s, D800s and so on is not an excuse.

So, what’s up with the fauxs?  I suspect some aren’t cut out for photography.  I have friends (that I don’t call a faux cause they know their limitations and the difference between good and bad photos but are using my friends to prove a point), who aren’t stupid but, bless them, just don’t get the relationship between iso and aperture and shutter speed and “what it’s all about”.  Aperture priority vs. Manual and so forth is like reading Greek.  And it’s fine for them because they know just enough to get the shots they need most of the time but then, they aren’t fauxs claiming to be pros.  Some fauxs though, I suspect, just don’t get it all and go on with being a “pro” anyway.

Then there are the ones who just don’t care.  They might have in the beginning.  I don’t know.  But it’s easy to imagine that taking crap shots and being “liked” and, WOW, actually getting paid could cause some people to not want to improve.  Well, why bother?  Dozens of people line up to get pics of their kids, babies, weddings and seniors so hell, you must be pretty good so what’s the motivation to waste time pouring over tutorials about strobing or photoshop?  “They pay me so I must rock”, is the mentality some probably adopt.  Us real pros though usually follow that with “but maybe I can do better or there is something else I can do to improve on what I did, even if it’s just a fraction of a percent better”.

Do fauxs actually look at other photogs stuff?  From personal experience, I can say yes.  So, they’ve actually seen what the shot can be and should be.  One example comes to mind and that’s of a church I’ve often shot weddings.  The carpet is blue.  So?  Well, when I shoot a wedding, the bride coming up the aisle has a white dress (or ivory or whichever colour it is in real life) and the carpet is blue.  Well, does the carpet colour matter?  Not really, but seeing a faux’s pics where the carpet was green was the first clue that this person had no idea what white balance was.  So you can imagine that the carpet being green instead of blue, what the colour of the dress might have been, not to mention the bride’s skin.  Ugh.  And did the faux think there was something wrong with the pics?  Did people not “like” them?  Of course not.  So why did this faux not care?  Fairly similar pics were hers to see so that the difference between bad and good should make her think, “ooh, I suck, so what can I do so these look like those other ones”?  Ego?  Lack of caring?  Denial?  Refusal to admit that she doesn’t get it and probably won’t so what does it matter as long as people give me money?

Of course, the clients share some responsibility.  Today, more than ever, people are inundated with photos.  They sit down to lunch and take a pic of their sandwich for fb for cripes sake.  People take hundreds of pics a week of their kids and dogs in their first few years of life.  Terabytes of hd space are full of pic after pic of many times pretty much any time their kid spit up.  Which is fine.  But the value of a photo is diminished.  Or at least, the value it holds today is.  Twenty years from now, those pics will be priceless.  So will quality photos of , say, their wedding.  But just as they have a clogged hd of pics, they see them as “just another pic” so don’t understand that twenty years from now, when they truly care about them and will really look a them, not just share them on fb, they’ll then realize too late that they sorta suck.  Too late.  Don’t support your local faux.  Invest in your own future and give yourself the quality pics your deserve twenty years from now.  The faux is counting on your to not think past next Tuesday.

Oy, don’t get me started…..