Reply To: Ok…. Just curious

[batgirl]

I don’t bash her using magazines for inspiration I use books as well at times, but I dont carry them with me. I have no beef with her doing photography. What I did have an issue with was that she knew I did the special needs kids and that it was meaningful to me. I don’t post those pics on facebook unless the family truly wants me to and even those that have said its ok to, I havent yet and am back and forth on if I should or not. She was basically a little sister type to me for years. I taught her a few things about how to leave auto mode and how to shoot in raw etc.. I fixed a few of her “indians” (red people all over) for her and then she joined a local photography group that basically has a hierachy of standards, the top person’s rates can not be exceeded by anyone else in the group, its really kinda like a communist group from what I understand ::shrugging shoulders:: I did so much for her for free, she had zero willingness to cooperate, she wanted her man in pics yet he refused to shave or dress half decent, she brought me her baby at 6 weeks old, starving and in dire need of a nap with a bunch of stuff and outfits she wanted pics in (with no warning) and said will you take some pics, then that Christmas she does it again saying she needed them for her christmas gifts she was having photos on and she knew I was most likely to get the best shots. But overnight she decides I’m competition, I dont even do paid stuff I seriously dont! If someone I do offers a tip thats one thing but other than factoring in gas and stuff I mentioned above I dont say here’s my rates. Her and her group criticized my doing special needs kids and basically called a poker move by saying oh not only will they do special kids, but they will do cancer patients, military etc and that a few photogs would participate in each. Yes it upset me that all I want to actually do is work with the kids, thats it. And she had to do that crap. She assisted me (by carrying stuff and I paid her for it) with Amanda and Rickys wedding and I let her do a few pics. I posted maybe 3 of them for her so she felt special and as soon as she started her page up she grabbed a few from my page and put them on hers as her work (the ones she took werent) and then she posted her link on MY page saying that she knew i didnt like maternity or babies so she figured she’d offer herself to anyone wanting those types of pics and came across my page. THAT is why I am not cool with her. And she has said she wont invest in any additional gear because she sees no point. She’ll just do all her pics in wide open sunlight and she’ll be fine. Thats cool. I have the gear I have because I knew what I needed to do the best I wanted to do. I think its great to learn from others, I wish I had the free time to do so as well. Obviously with 5 kids, full time law school, working PRN at the hospital and dealing with lifes other crap, I hardly have time to breathe. Photography was my one thing that I felt was mine, I could do it with none of my kids interrupting me, I could focus on taking pictures of what I wanted to, play with the settings, learn how they work etc… I cant figure out the alien bee lights. I know that might sound stupid but I suppose I am missing something simple and just need to have an ah ha moment. So maybe I dont need more gear or i have too much gear for my lack of expertise, but I have the knowledge to know that skill and the lens can make or break a pic. Once you master lighting and the little camera tweaks yeah you can shoot with a kit lens and get good shots but I want the shots I get from my 50mm 1.2L and I miss my 24-70 :(((( I could cry just thinking about it. As far a having a group of photo friends to go work with, I sadly never meet the criteria for any sort of group activity. My life is way too busy and childcare is something I do not have the luxury of.

As for learning- I have all of Scott Kelby’s books on Digital Photography, I used to read up on the dps online page regularly for stuff but all I find are shortcuts I want the long method so I can develop the true way of doing it then I’ll find my own shortcuts that work for me. So does anyone suggest any books, (videos would be better lol) or sites that would be helpful that would be great.

 

And out of curiosity do any of you have links to your work? I would love to see some of it.

 

And my stupid random autocorrect moments are compliments of Apple and their ingenious sense of humor. 😉