Home Forums Am I a Fauxtog? My favorite local fauxtog Reply To: My favorite local fauxtog

#10622
iliketag
Participant

@everyone else: Omigosh it gets really hilarious when you guys get going on something completely random like that. It makes me laugh! The “I’ll just take my bowler hat and go” was the best I think. 🙂 I love you guys.

 

———————–

@Blueeyes:    You have to understand something: when you put your work out there for all the world to see, sometimes it winds up in the hands of unapologetic mockers. We are those people (mostly-unapologetic, I would say. We’re not too far gone. We’re not 4Chan.). Yes, there are some things that are mean spirited but if you were to approach us and ask for constructive criticism, the regulars here would provide it.
Even if this is a hobby for you… if you have charged, you fall into the category of “Fauxtographer”. That is someone who has neither the technical skills, nor eye, to provide a professional service to clients for an exchange of money… yet they are marketing themselves as such.

Go back to just shooting for fun, stop charging and spend some quality time with your camera. Invest in a beginning end 50mm lens and learn to love those wide open apertures and get used to focusing manually or spending the time making sure what needs to be in focus is and everything else is not distracting. Practice your composition and please, just trust us on this one, lose those terrible filters.

No one is running your name into the ground. We are not approaching clients in your local area and telling them to avoid you. We are mocking the work here. Is that mean spirited? A little. But none of us are running around on craiglist, or facebook, or anywhere else shouting “Hey! See this?! Avoid at all costs!”
If you were to look at another local photographer’s work (a proven, reputable PHOTOGRAPHER), would you say what you do is up to standards? Are you providing a quality product? Nevermind that they say they love the shots, nevermind that friends and family are proud of what you do. Those are people who view through the lenses of loving you, not necessarily the work… Look at your photos and honestly say if they’re something you would enter in a fair or other competition with confidence in both your skills and your artistic style.
I think if you were very honest with yourself and you took a deep breath, you would let out a long sigh and say “No…”.

But you can get there! That’s always the good news! You need to get involved with more technical aspects and find people who understand that! They can help you learn and grow and fall back in love with the craft while getting better.
The work you are cranking out now is poor quality. But, if you’re up for it, many of us are completely willing to provide constructive criticism… you just need to be open to it.