Fauxtog spottings in the wild!

[fstopper89]

Ok yes, I can see that now with the clarity slider. When I use it, it’s usually for objects or people that are naturally smooth in real life and need a little oomph. I’ve noticed it doesn’t work out well when there are branches and tree trunks or anything with a lot of texture naturally in a photo. Sometimes I decrease the clarity slightly in those photos. If you use Photoshop as well, you can try some sharpening on the image and then use a layer mask to get rid of it on everything except for the eyes, mouths, and maybe clothing. And the larger portion of the image your subject takes up, the more permissible increasing the clarity seem to be, at least in my experience. If you have a photo of several people, you’re going to notice the clarity more easily than if it’s just a close-up of one person. I hope that makes sense?

When I 2nd-shot a wedding last fall there were a few poses the 1st shooter had set up and was primarily shooting. I did get a few shots in from other angles, but it was more just for practice/playing around. I was a little disappointed to see one of those photos actually made it to the finished portfolio (I did not do the editing, that was up to the studio owner) because it was not an intended shot and I should have just deleted it on-camera before turning in the CF cards. I guess he though it was ok, but the bridesmaids were clearly not looking at me and I didn’t even like the composition.

I agree, that is odd that she’d be nervous if she has been doing it awhile.

[PhotoDon]

I was up at Temple Square in Salt Lake City getting some spring shots of the Salt Lake Temple, and there was an apparent faux shooting wedding shots about 10 feet from me. She had the  bride and groom standing on a planter box in shade with the temple in the background (sunny day, azure sky, not a cloud in sight), and I heard her tell them this: “The sky’s going to look all white, but I can put in any sky you want, with cumulus clouds or cirrus clouds.” It was all I could do to refrain from screaming “That’s what fill flash is for, you nitwit!”

[PJ99212]

A couple of years ago, my parents were visiting from Long Island and I took them to Kerry Park in Seattle to see the most famous view of the city.
There was a fauxtog with a point and shoot doing a “save the date” shoot… with a P&S.
The “tog” kept saying she couldn’t get the couple in focus because her camera kept focusing on the skyline. I could see the couple was getting upset.
Frustrated because I was trying to get some shots and this woman kept moving in front of me, I said I’d shoot the photo and email it to them. It took me about 15 minutes and I sent it out from my hotel that night.
I got a thank you and booked their wedding the next day 🙂

[nesgran]

I was at a wine fair here in London a couple of weekends ago and there were a number of people with press passes there. First was a middle aged lady who went round shooting at f13 indoors without a tripod on a mid range nikon with the 18-105 lens. Other great things were the use of pop up flash but only for some shots and particularly for the shots where she tried to capture the entire hall it was held in. She also tried to use manual focus without turning the af off on the camera and the lens isn’t ftm anyway.

Next was a guy who pulled up a gripped 5d mkII which looked like a good start, the 50mm 1.8 wouldn’t have been my first choice but it is  a good lens for the price at least. He then proceeded to be in the way of everyone for the next 15 minutes as he continued walking around the barbecue shooting the food in a really awkward way as he kept turning the camera the wrong way which seems silly given that there a separate shutter button on the grip for vertical shooting. He was probably less faux than the other woman but still, he was far more annoying.

 

 

 

[Worst Case Scenario]

I had a guy contact me not long ago about hiring my studio. He popped in for a chat and told me he had lots of experience but just talking to him, it became clear that he didn’t have a clue and I suggested that before hiring the studio he might like to do one of my training days, which he did. During the day it emerged that he had been told by another local faux that he should always keep his camera on manual and 1600 iso. Which he had been doing. Trouble was he had no idea what manual was, did not know anything about apertures or speeds and had been taking shots and then blindly moving the dials until he got a picture on the back of the camera that looked okay.!

He then told me that he had shot several WEDDINGS like this!

[Author]

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