Am I the worst ever or do I just need to update my Facebook page?

[hellkittenn]

Yo. I am a 19 year old “photographer”, completely self taught (I know you guys hate those concession of words but apart from a 2 day course on basic camera functions + compo. etc I just haven’t gotten round to studying it).

 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mayflower-Photography/116103815082493?fref=ts 

 

The images on my Facebook range from very recent stuff to what I was doing at age 14 or 15. Mostly it’s the latter. Is the stuff I took as a young team absolutely too terrible to keep up or does it show progress?

[Worst Case Scenario]

You have some really nice stuff there, one or two that don’t don’t make the grade compared to the others.

But haven’t we seen the girl in a bath with a octopus before?

[nairbynairb]

We’ve seen these photos… well, the ones past the obvious new ones.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=822775897748611&set=pb.116103815082493.-2207520000.1390839123.&type=3&theater
She looks like she’s taking a very nice poop. Aside from that, the pose you have her in is just weird and unflattering. Her nose defines the contour of her face because of how high up she’s looking.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/t1/1544312_823405414352326_994313102_n.jpg
Focus is on her hair, making her eyes out of focus. And it’s not really an interesting image. We can’t see enough to understand what’s going on, but we can see too much to not have the intrigue that a tighter shot would have.

 

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/t1/9818_822775971081937_310957838_n.jpg
I can’t figure out WHY you took this image?

https://scontent-a-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t31/1500916_806639616028906_387114851_o.jpg
This would be your best photo on there in my opinion if only you had a bit better composition. As for lighting/editing of it, it’s awesome. Reminds me of Robby Cavanaugh.

The few images of the girl following that photo aren’t even worth talking about.
https://scontent-a-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/t31/1548081_806637799362421_1093837801_o.jpg

This one seems to have camera shake motion blur?

 

I’m not sure you should be charging. But if you’re the only photographer in your area that will shoot octopi on your clients, then I guess you have that genre all to yourself.

[fstopper89]

You definitely have some interesting work. There are a lot of technical falloffs but I think if you worked at fine-tuning things like exposure and composition you could really become good. Your style isn’t at all my style but I do see merit in it. It catches my attention. There are a few bad eggs in the portfolio that made me question your skills more though, then I saw a few that looked quite a bit better. I don’t think you should be charging at this point due to a bit of inconsistency in the images but keep working and building your portfolio. Weed out the images that have technical errors.

[emf]

Maya, you seem to be trying out lots of things, which I think for the stage you are at, is great, I’d say keep experimenting. Finding your own artistic voice is like trying on a lot of different hats ’til you find what works best.

I agree with the above comments that you need to hone your technical skills more.

One thing I wanted to say was sometimes, less is more. While it is great you’re trying lots of different things, imho, some of the images seem to be being different, just for the sake of being different. I find the octopus ones like this. I think you can create more of a sense of impact, or that something out of the ordinary is happening by simplifying the image/idea. For example, if everything was normal except for the fact that there was this octopus in her bath – I think it would have more impact. I’m not saying don’t try out different things – I’m saying try not to overload any one idea – I hope that makes sense.

Your Ophelia idea seemed interesting too – did you find anyone for the shoot? If you don’t know him, you may be interested in this guy, who did a series of creating contemporary images based on classical art.

http://www.artslondonnews.com/2012/11/22/from-hackney-to-the-national-gallery/

 

[IHF]

I agree with all of the above.

All I know is, I’m not bored while looking through your images and that’s a good thing.  There’s real potential there.  Learn to nail the technicals and work with it, and keep doing what you are doing.  I’d love to see what you are doing a few years from now as your photography starts to mature.  I can see you doing fantastic things.

[nesgran]

in addition to nailing the technical stuff, be more critical when it comes to selecting shots. If you want to show them off I’d suggest flickr or 500px instead of facebook though as fb does horrible things to your photos.

[Bill]

The above comments have pointed out the obvious so not going to re-hash those.  There is nothing wrong with experimentation and finding a niche, in photography, you need whatever edge  you can get to stand out in the crowd.

The one thing that I would probably suggest over and beyond the above suggestions is the use of directional fills and catch lights.  I like the use of interesting backgrounds that don’t take away from the subject matter, but you have to make your subject stand out from the background and the their details shine, hence the direction fills.

You can use what ever you have at your disposal, but I find that grids and or a fresnel light work great for this, but it will obviously depend on your budget and or your location.  Barn-doors will work but may not be able to focus the light to a tight enough area.

For the catch lights, a simple piece of poster board can work or if you have the $$, maybe a ring-flash, but not always needed.  It looks like you are trying to make the subjects as dark as possible, and I mean in a Gothic kind of way, but the catch lights will show some sort of life in your subject even if your going for that living dead beauty thing.  Try it and see, trust me, it will add some Pop into the photos.

[Author]

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