Reply To: Let me have it, I promise I can handle it. I think I'm a fauxtogrpher……

[Jones]

Well, it seems like wildlife/landscapes/nature is certainly your area and what you feel comfortable with. Some of the nature shots just seem like high-ISO evening shots instead of actual planned landscapes with a tripod, long exposure, etc. Long exposures will make your water have that silky smooth texture and then you can use your base ISO to get clean shots.

 

“All of the prints are for sale. […]I shoot for the love of it and not the money.” That’s probably not necessary. If you have an ‘official’ photography page, it’s probably implied somewhere that you are shooting for the money, to some extent. But you should love what you’re doing anyway, so no need to mention it. It doesn’t tell me anything about YOU. So, you shoot for the love of photography. Cool — you and every other photographer on the planet do, too. Put something there that will make people read and care about what you have to say.

 

An incredible photographer told me recently — Just because you’re shooting something [to pay the bills] doesn’t mean you’ve got to tell everyone else that’s what you do. Some of the photos of the girl with the wine glasses look a little… “what’s the point?” https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/859893_478668795515483_2046203372_o.jpg looks like it had off camera flash, but it’s not particularly nice off camera flash.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=478668532182176&set=a.478667662182263.105762.160417077340658&type=1&theater is very much out of focus. Not sure how that happened. Even her arm looks a little soft. Separate the personal projects from the “business” projects. Just because a photo was taken, does not mean it has to go on the business page. That only gets your BEST stuff.

 

The wedding stuff needs some work if you plan on doing that and marketing it as “something you do.” If not, then shoot the weddings when they come up and don’t advertise on your page that you do them regularly. Again, back to that whole “shoot what you need to pay the bills. Doesn’t mean you have to tell people that.” The wedding shots aren’t bad. However, it seems that you have snapshots mixed in with nice moments. Weddings take a special breed of person. I was originally trained on wedding photography, and it’s still something I try to avoid. I will try and go more in depth for the wedding stuff because I know a little more about weddings and portraits and I know nothing about landscapes so that’s been touched on.

https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/p206x206/946878_519249694790726_1584653286_n.jpg His eyes are closed and the body position is looking off camera. She’s looking at the camera. As the wedding photographer, you have to take charge to make sure that people aren’t looking all in different directions. Make sure your camera is what people are looking at. You are the most important camera at that event. I always tell people to let me get my shots first and they can shoot the large group at the end for a few minutes. Same with https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/464654_519249688124060_367162806_o.jpg. There are random eyes shut and people facing off you.

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=519250898123939&set=a.519249644790731.1073741833.160417077340658&type=3&theater Split lighting does not look good on brides in this situation, with her facial structure and teeth. Her eye has a catchlight, and is lost to an extent that it looks unflattering.

 

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/469267_519250791457283_1031844952_o.jpg is rather nice. I would remove whatever is on the window there. It does nothing for the photo and distracts. It’s a very easy removal.

 

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/474351_519250824790613_1506032946_o.jpg is also nice. It may be a tad warm for my tastes, but that’s personal preference. Looks a little grainy. See if some noise reduction could help it if better gear is not an option. Could also be facebook ruining your photos.

 

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/981676_519250921457270_1191261377_o.jpg You caught yourself in the mirror. Big no no. That can (read: should) be easily cropped in any wedding photos.

 

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=519251011457261&set=a.519249644790731.1073741833.160417077340658&type=3&theater I know she is crying, but these are not flattering bride tears. The direct flash does nothing for her. Rent, beg, borrow, or steal some kind of speedlight for your weddings. You can’t afford NOT to have one. Bounce it, diffuse it. Put it on a paint pole and throw a zumbrella over it. Something. If weddings is something you want to do, learn the light.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/474348_519251201457242_1312617134_o.jpg does nothing for *you* without context. The first thing I thought when I saw it was “family feud. Bride dad and father in law hate one another and don’t want the wedding.” Doesn’t work for your album in this case.

There should be no reason for any out of focus wedding shot to ever be delivered to a client, and ESPECIALLY not put on your facebook page. If it’s a wonderful moment and it’s slightly soft, do what you can and deliver it to Mom anyway because she’ll love it. But everyone else does NOT need to know you let an out of focus shot through you. DON’T put it on your page. Same goes for brides and beer. That’s fine if that’s the wedding, but it doesn’t need to be on your page. Potential clients will not be impressed.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/468416_519249931457369_993068298_o.jpg Powerlines are running through heads. That’s a 10 second removal in photoshop.

Something is seriously wrong with the exposure. One shot to a next and there has to be at least a 3-4 stop difference in exposure. Check your metering or something.

 

Your own comments on your gallery — “In a few of them you look fully retarded…….LOL” Probably not the best thing to say. Comment on your page as your personal self, or private message friendly comments like that. People browsing aren’t going to know the difference of who is your friend’s wedding and who was your paid wedding, and they don’t want to be called looking fully retarded.

Watch out for things like the plants in https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/464517_519249694790726_1584653286_o.jpg. things like that pop up a lot in your photos. They aren’t needed, and when you can you should do a quick eye border check and take out anything that shouldn’t be there in camera.

 

That’s what I have for now. Keep working at it. If you have any questions on what was said, I would be happy to try and go into more depth.