Critique"

[SamSchumacher]

Hello!

Long time reader, first time poster.

Now that smugmug has updated and isn’t ugly, I thought it would be a good idea to seek critique. A little background on me: I’m 16 years old and attempting to launch a consistent business (stuff comes in, just in spurts). I know that is kinda frowned upon on this forum, but I have fun doing it and I don’t get crazy and put together wedding packages or take on things beyond my scope. It would be immensely appreciated if you guys would critique my portfolio.

Here it is: http://www.shortlistphoto.smugmug.com (click portfolio on the top)

Probably a bad idea to venture into the “proofs” tabs. Some are old (don’t represent current quality of work), some are there only as a courtesy to clients. Don’t spend a whole lotta time on it. There’s far better things to do with your day.

Thanks,

Sam

 

[nesgran]

I think they look pretty good but I’ve got a few critiques as they could be a lot better (I think).

The shot of the guy in white trousers doing a handstand (?) could have so much potential for a nice party shot but it is ruined a bit by the decapitation of the people on the right. The angle works pretty well but chopping people in half is never a good idea. I would probably have liked a wider angle lens to accentuate the man in the middle and getting more of the crowd in the shot.

In general with the party shots I would have done them a little darker as parties rarely have that much light

Some of your studio shots seems a little overexposed loosing the facial features in a mass of white. I’m not keen on the massive reflection of the umbrella in the sunglasses of the guy with the head phones, get the brolly up higher to make sure you can’t see the reflection and it would make for nicer reflections on the left headphone which has been overexposed

You have much of it down, the facial expressions are good and you’ve captured much of the emotion but you have some things to work on. If you aren’t happy with shots then just get rid of them or set up a page just for your portfolio where you have great shots only. You want to sell yourself as well as possible. Have you worked at all as an assistant to a good local tog? If not I think that would be a good idea.

[SamSchumacher]

Thanks for taking the time to look at my site!

I totally agree that the umbrella reflection is ugly in the sunglasses. I have assisted a couple other photographers, one of whom is my mentor. Work with him has ranged from studio portrait to wedding. Other Question: my “about” copy is kinda crappy. Any thoughts on how to improve on that?

[nesgran]

1) get a real email address like sam@shortlistphoto.com. This can be done through gmail and won’t cost anything but will look far more professional.

2) a more orthodox photo would probably make sense, you know with your whole face in it 🙂

3)  write about what kind of photos and/or video that you can produce, whether you have a studio available etc.

4) the visual media sentence is a bit odd as you have media in there twice, maybe rephrase the end to social networks rather than social media?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[JustAndy]

Ok, I don’t have time for an in depth response at this time, and say I’m really impressed regarding your work for your age.  There are some areas for improvement, but overall you are WAY ahead of the curve, nicely played!

[iliketag]

The photographers who you have second shot for; have you asked them if you can use some of your shots in your portfolio? With the proper notations of course – crediting the core photographer and thanking them for the opportunity/experience in the notes.

I would definitely ask some of them. Many will tell their second shooters “No.” but some are all right as long as you use them exclusively for portfolio and not for sale. It’s always worth a shot.

You have a good grasp on lighting and expression from what I can see. There were some mishaps , which Nesgran already touched on. I really encourage you to get out and shoot more. Plan and organize a fashion shoot with friends – who doesn’t want a new facebook photo to show off? Take to Model Mayhem and see if there are any budding models in your area interested in helping you grow. Expand your portfolio! I would love to see more there – it’s a little limited and there’s not a ton of cohesion because you’re stretched thin by the number of photos you have. I’m guilty of the same thing.

You’re young and you’ve got a lot of time to take the plunge. I would recommend taking your time. You have a strong head start 🙂 Get a flickr account and share with us some of your practice shots and this community would be happy to work with you. We’re a nice bunch – unless you’re crazy!

[SamSchumacher]

Thanks again everyone!

Here’s a link to my flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/95103127@N08/. I don’t use it alot, but it has different content (and some overlap) than my website.

There are a few shots floating around on my site from the second shooter events; example: the random food ones floating around under event proofs>examples. For some reason I have better luck shooting events out on my own. Maybe the pressure got to me? I don’t know…

 

 

[ebi]

your portraits are not very good. Your event stuff is better but the event stuff is really shitty work for very little return. You’ll probably grow sick of it as you get older.

You said: “Probably a bad idea to venture into the “proofs” tabs. Some are old (don’t represent current quality of work…”

Then take it down. Don’t let people see work you aren’t proud of.  I took a quick look and i’d take it down. the whole thing.

[iliketag]

Ebi, it is not a critique when all you say is “Your portraits are not very good.”
How about you give some practical feedback on what you think should be a focus first for improvement?

Just because he said they don’t represent the current quality of work doesn’t mean he’s not proud of them. If there is anything though, that he doesn’t want to share — absolutely, yes, take it down.

As it stands though, your post just came off as something to almost entirely disregard.

[ebi]

it is so overwhelmingly mediocre, i don’t even know where to begin. If you’ve been following some of the other stuff I’ve posted you’ll find that I prefer a better presentation of the work before i’ll go into any detail. Baby steps.

[sky.pesce]

I’m pretty impressed. A couple things I noticed (in my opinion):
The prom set:

1)In the same set of images, I see normally colored faces, red faces, yellow faces, purple faces,  blue faces. You might want to color correct them a bit, even if you use a mask to leave the saturated background colors in place.

2) It looks like you used bounce flash or a large diffused light source for some of them. If so, it completely killed the ambiance of the room. You could probably have toned down your flash a bit to allow more of the event lighting to show in the images.

The portraits: To be honest, I didn’t really like them too much.
1) the guy with the sunglasses – This is why professionals shoot in all-black studios. This lighting setup obviously doesn’t work with people with large glasses. Read “Light, Science, and Magic”  by Fil Hunter.

2) The guy in the suit: A classic “power” pose. This would be nice, if not for the hairs and dust on his suit. Once you notice them, you’ll never un-notice them.

3) The tilted guy: Tilted guy, ’nuff said. Unless you have a background that lends itself well to tilting, don’t do it. You also chopped the top of his head off.

4) The kid with the guitar – you chopped his ass and knee off.

5) The girl on the porch – not sharp, as well as an unflattering pose/expression/lighting.

6) Self-portrait – I like it a lot, just not the way you cropped it. Straight through your nose could work, and your pose seems to lend itself well to a symmetrical image, with one half light and the other dark. This 3/4 crop definitely doesn’t work.

7) The B&W girl – you missed the focus. Eyes, eyes, eyes. And  it might be a little too bright.

 

 

[ebi]

1) the guy with the sunglasses – This is why professionals shoot in all-black studios.

no we do not. You might be thinking of product photographers who shoot reflective things and even still we tend to build black around the object.

An all black studio? That’s just crazy talk.

[cameraclicker]

1) the guy with the sunglasses – This is why professionals shoot in all-black studios.

no we do not. You might be thinking of product photographers who shoot reflective things and even still we tend to build black around the object.

An all black studio? That’s just crazy talk.

 

I’ve been in a studio that was all black.  Got to say, it was a breeze to get  a low key shot.  And, it had all the lights hanging from the ceiling so there was nothing to trip on which is a good thing because you are sort of walking around in the dark even with lights on!  It had both black and white seamless mounted on the wall so changing to high key only took a minute.  It was an efficient place, but dark.

I don’t see how a black studio would help if the light is placed where it will reflect into the lens.  The choices are move the light or move the glasses.  If the glasses are reflective, you can also get the photographer reflected, which can be either good or bad depending on what you want.  Sometimes you see a really big softbox reflected, and nothing else, which can be a cool look for some shots.

[ebi]

there is nothing wrong with reflections. it’s natural. You can do things to elongate, like put a V-FLat in front of your subject or make it smaller, using an umbrella. But this light is so low and way too frontal and over exposed.

[sky.pesce]

I was referring more to the table that is clearly visible in the left lens; I actually think the  umbrella reflection is interesting

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