Home Forums Am I a Fauxtog? Needing reassurance! Reply To: Needing reassurance!

#4364
creyes8519
Participant

MBC….  stop being a damn snob.    Horrible!   I think your comment on how she should stop charging to take photos is ridiculous.  I am not a photographer…I’m a hobbyist, and I am more of a consumer who has a good understanding of photography and the elements that go into it…      If I looked at her portfolio, yes  I would consider her to take my family pictures.  Sure there are other photographers out there with years of experience, who have been to workshops, who may be award-winning photographers and they take beyond stunning photos, but 99.9% of the time to book with a photographer like that it’s going to cost some serious $$$$.  As the OP said, she’s affordable… so yes I would choose her over the more experienced photographer.

Also, for the other snob complaining about her logo…. her logo makes her business more approachable.  I can tell without even knowing who this person is that this is a fellow mom like myself who loves kids and would be pleasant to talk to if I called her on the phone.  She probably doesn’t struggle too hard to get clients because of her friendly inviting logo.  And really it’s an annoying thing to tell photographers… about their stupid logo/watermarks… it’s none of your business.  It is THEIR BUSINESS!   Your not liking the logo is your opinion and it is subjective.  I love her logo.  She’s marketing to moms!

I looked at most of your work and for a photographer who’s only been working for a year, you do awesome work.   I would hire you.  My favorite album is the birth album!  BEAUTIFUL!   You definitely need to work on getting the best expressions out of people…. A lot of your pregnant moms look sad or don’t seem very engaged… they’re just there, you know?.  Definitely when you’re photographing them, talk about the new arrival… what they’re going to name the baby, talk about your own birth experience and your newborn experiences and you’ll see that motherly glow come right out and catch it!   You definitely need some better angles and you need to work on your composition to make your pics really stand out.   Also, don’t become a “natural light” snob… artificial lighting is a wonderful tool and it will cut your PP down in half if you really learn how to work with it properly.  In fact, you can work better with natural light if you have a better understanding about studio lighting.  Just keep that in mind…  don’t limit yourself.  Exception would be your pop-up flash…. the pop-up flash is the devil!  Even in daylight it fucking sucks… do yourself a favor and get some strobes.  I actually got a few manual strobes from Amazon for like $28 each and they work just fine.  A little more work than if you would use Nikon’s flashes, but the cost is like a very small fraction of what the Nikon flashes will cost you.

I agree with some of what MBC says about your pictures… they’re definitely good things to keep in mind.  However, these things do not make you a fauxtog… these are just things that you need to work on.  That’s all.   Things you should listen to, absorb, and make your next session all the more better.  Should these mothers have paid for these shots… ABSOLUTELY!  They are photographs that they will cherish.  To the critical photographer’s eye, your photos are full of technical problems, composition problems, posing problems, etc.  To your clients, these are great pictures.  No, grandma could not have done a better job.  They’re really good.    Also, please remember that WB can be a bit subjective!   For instance, the photo of the mom with the tats that MBC pointed out should have been balanced for daylight… no… the WB is fine. Her skin tone looks natural and the light is warm enough.  I’ve looked at MBC’s own porfolio and I do not find the skin tones of his subjects very appealing…. and for someone who likes to pick apart a new photographer’s work, sir,  your own work after 20 years is mediocre.   I would never pay you to photograph my wedding and no HARSH shadows are NEVER good unless you’re Terry Richardson which sir you are not.    I really looked through your portfolio and back at this forum, and back to your portfolio and did not believe that those pics are actually yours.  You have some pics on your site that actually DO belong on YANAP….