Critique please? I don't want to be another fauxtog teen with a dslr

[christinamphoto]

https://www.facebook.com/ChristinaMPhoto

[christinamphoto]

My equipment is a Canon t2i, and a 50mm 1.4. I have a couple kit lenses I don’t really use. Recently, I upgraded to a 6D, but most of my work is with the t2i.

[cameraclicker]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=555475724487606&set=a.555457064489472.1073741830.139011372800712&type=1&theater looks a bit over exposed (probably a stop to a stop and a half), as does the dress in https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=555474501154395&set=a.555457064489472.1073741830.139011372800712&type=1&theater.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=548914725143706&set=a.547950305240148.1073741828.139011372800712&type=1&theater is a low contrast look that’s popular with some people but I don’t like it.  I think you need a lens hood.  https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=420034898031690&set=a.420034894698357.85893.139011372800712&type=1&theater is another example of this.  https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=543084719060040&set=a.336183113083536.69809.139011372800712&type=1&theater is interesting, it makes me think you are doing it on purpose.

 

I have not been through all of them, I only spent a few minutes.  I see you can use an editor well and while there are some noted exceptions, I like your photos.

Once you have had a chance to use the 6D, let us know what you think of it.  It is supposed to be slightly better than the 5D Mk III in low light, but not as good at focusing.

 

 

[ebi]

You certainly have some talent. Compositions are great. You use photoshop too much sometimes. You catch a lot of bad angles of people and you don’t always get the right moment, which is fine. The good news is, it looks like you have a good rapport with people so you can just keep on playing and practicing. You’ll probably do very well making a little money here and there in the small town that you live in where your customers don’t know any better. But if you want to move into a bigger market and make a real living at it, you’ll need to improve. I recommend you find some photographers that you like and try to assist with them and, i guess go to university for it and learn more about composition and color and light. Or you could save yourself the tuition, move to NYC and start assisting for 2-300 a day, freelance and really learn. TBH, I wish I had done that instead of going to university, although it’s not a bad idea to have a degree to fall back on.

Bottom line: you have some talent, don’t let it go to your head, plateau and never really achieve anything.

[christinamphoto]

Thank you, I really appreciate it! I don’t want to be just told I’m wonderful all of the time (while I am glad people support me), because I know I’m not where I want to be and have things to work on. Now I know where to focus. Could I possibly have other examples of bad angles/lighting vs good ones in my work?

ebi: I would like to move to NYC, but I am concerned about the cost of living what with rent being so high, and the questionable areas of Brooklyn etc. where a lot of the performing arts and arts schools are. Is it worse than any other city? I’m possibly blowing this out of proportion, but I know it’s going to be really competitive, and I want to make sure I can survive. Getting involved with entertainment (like Broadway), has been my goal for awhile. I sing/act/dance, but I honestly don’t think I am good enough right now. But I would like to make connections.

On the other hand, would moving to California be a better option? I’m actually on the west coast, and have family there because I lived there when I was really young. I have a couple options I could pursue, established industry people I can study under and assist. Is there a market difference in NYC vs say, the LA or OC area? Does one place tend to focus more on fine art vs commercial? Since I want to save, I’m going to community college near my small town because the tuition is paid for, but I don’t know if I should take photography or focus more on a business class.

Sorry for all of the questions, I don’t know how much you can actually help me with them. I’m just curious, and you seem knowledgable. Would you mind showing me your work?

And cameraclicker: The low contrast is probably because I try to edit some pictures in a “matte” way. But I need to be consistent. There are some photographers that heavily apply actions, and that is their style. I probably have been wavering between disliking that matte low contrast look, and thinking it improves the picture. I know with another photographer, she started editing her pictures more and I prefer the more natural style. I could never dream of being as successful as Annie Leibovitz, but that is the direction I want to go. I know I need to learn lighting and white balance. My goal at one point was to have a “vintage style”, but I never want to go to the point where it looks like instagram. I follow a lot of photographers that heavily edit their pictures, but they make it work better than I do. I realize I should just lean towards less editing, to save time, and focus on getting it right in camera, and maybe increasing as I improve?  I don’t know if you have heard of Gabrielle Shamon, but I’ve worked with her, and she is also 17. The vintage/fashion/conceptual style that she edits works I think, but I’d like to know your opinion as well.

 

Thank you both, cheers!

[nairbynairb]

The biggest thing I’ve noticed is that you love your shallow depth of field a bit too much…

Yes a lot of the times it looks amazing, but sometimes you have it with photos that shouldn’t have it and you actually put people out of focus.

Perfect example of this:  https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/1085152_555474501154395_577826797_o.jpg

 

Another thing to watch for is over exposing skintones… https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/q71/s720x720/1000933_555139211187924_585162487_n.jpg
(she might have pale skin to begin with so over exposing isn’t really helping her :P)

Here’s a quick example I did…
This is your original:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/q71/s720x720/1148954_555126217855890_697621604_n.jpg

 

And I did a bit of curves lowering the brightness and adding a bit of colour back into her skin:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/80294871@N07/9461630006/lightbox/

 

Other than that, you’re on the right track!

[christinamphoto]

nairbynairb: hmm..I wonder if my monitor is off. The edit looks more pink, but yes, this girl does have very pale skin. I will try to look at my metering more! And in that particular example with the brides & bridesmaids, my intention was to have the bridesmaids out of focus, and the bride in the center focal point, but I guess it didn’t turn out quite the way I wanted to since it didn’t look that intentional. But thank you! I think I have gone from underexposing to overexposing, haha.

[wtf]

My monitor must be off as well. The edit does look more pink in her face then the original.  I like the original more, however she seems to have lost her texture to her skin due to over exposure.  Just my little thought in there. 🙂 Lovely pics, just a little over exposed. But I like deeper contrast. Just personal preference. 😀

[nairbynairb]

Oops! It was too pink… I was editing on my second monitor which actually isn’t calibrated.

Sorry folks!

But yeah, I’m a fan of detail in the skin which is what I was trying to get at… 😛

[cameraclicker]

This Gabrielle Shamon:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/gabrielleaphoto/ ?

There is an Annie Leibovitz gallery here:  http://alafoto.com/listing/thumbnails.php?album=2 and http://www.google.ca/search?q=annie+leibovitz&sa=N&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&ei=CcwCUrGQKKacyQGy64DQBg&ved=0CDIQsAQ4Cg&biw=1920&bih=1096

Gabrielle has some very dark stuff (in the sense of subject material, rather than in the sense of lack of exposure)!  She does have a few with reduced contrast, they are still not a style I like.   Annie Leibovitz”s photos seem to have pretty good contrast.   I think my objection to the low contrast style is the appearance of a film of fog over the image.  Sometimes excess humidity causes my photos to look like that and unless the shot was taken in fog and I am trying to show the fog, I adjust contrast to bring out the detail and make the photo appear clear.  Sometimes, light striking the lens gives a similar result which is why I use a lens hood.

What I like doesn’t really matter.  What matters is what you like and how you can use the tools available to get pictures you are happy with.  The key to that is knowledge.

 

 

 

 

[wtf]

Thank you cc!  I hadn’t heard of Gabrielle Shamon till now.  🙂

[christinamphoto]

Another person who came to mind is Joel Robison. They actually have actions because some photographers are trying to get that “hazy” vintage look. Sometimes that does happen naturally with light.

[cameraclicker]

WTF, you are welcome, but all I did was read christinamphoto’s post, look up the name and post the link.  I had never heard of Gabrielle Shamon either.

 

christinamphoto, they also have actions and plug-ins to add grain to a photo so it looks like it was shot on film, which is a riot since when we were shooting film one of our preoccupations was trying to get the grain out of our pictures.

[jackd]

In regards to the pale skin girl, there isn’t much you can do with her. There is just no skin texture data there, at least not in the jpgs present on facebook’s page. If you have the originals in raw, there might be something there that can be worked with.

Though in the bookstore she actually has some skin tone, so it seems more like you just blew the highlights there. Overall your photos aren’t bad.This was a quick redo of your bookstore shot in photoshop. There is only so much you can do with a facebook jpg.. You should look at some photoshop video series online, as your photos could probably benefit from some proper editing. It is easy to go overboard.
Original
https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/q71/s720x720/733788_555096927858819_2737139_n.jpg
vs my redo.
http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/7816/c4rg.jpg

(for some reason these both showed up in the editor, then on posting disappeared)

[wtf]

Oops on missing that in her post originally.  Im not sure how I missed it….. oopsies.  Well thanks to you both for introducing me to that artist. haha 🙂

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