Fauxtogs who should end up on the main page…

[mykelhelene]

Equine photography; 8046120263_d1efc3a7f4_c.jpg

8046124938_f63e6d826e_c.jpg

8165254287_70b1c9829f_c.jpg

Live music; (some of these I took with my pancake lens, so not exactly the quality I like)

8166334573_db81559349_c.jpg

8166362920_d1b44e8fae_c.jpg

This picture has been up for discussion, since it wouldn’t be very usable to the artist, but I like the feel of it. 8166331727_9315081b26_c.jpg

8413572688_54c528c3f6_c.jpg

8356510689_e624e17ce1_c.jpg

8289259623_3e6b204a92_c.jpg

(another one up for discussion, I like it for the feel again) 8265880161_b0899aee8a_c.jpg

8245434457_512f943b4a_c.jpg

8357576392_f167d9cb52_c.jpg

 

Portraitureee.

8437708004_d5b9581859_c.jpg

8434592898_cd05e7c390_c.jpg

8434592898_cd05e7c390_c.jpg

8481539600_558608e5d3_c.jpg

8481060028_90b19fd563_c.jpg

8481538126_642b56e81e_c.jpg

8480469259_a9e22f90f0_c.jpg

 

There you go BrownEyedGirl.

[Cam]

I wondered if it was there to set a theme, your best picture, or maybe even a picture of you (not sure why though).

Great shot though.

 

[haylott]

My Heart now back to you. I admire you for changing the negative tone of this forum, and i am sorry that one person ignored that.

ideas when moving to a new city: join a camera club that way you can network and meet others in the industry. i think you would benefit form taking classes to gain technical knowledge, which will also help your meet other photographers.  perhaps advertise free shoots so that you can gain practice. people will remember your generosity and you may gain potential clients. reach out to local charities (the sometimes need a photog for events).  Try to find an established photographer and be his/her assistant. That is the best way to learn.

I think once you learn the technical side of photography your clientele will build up.

I agree that your website needs to be changed. It is so hard to navigate and potential clients with get frustrated. The website if very cute but if you want to use it for business then you will need something that is more efficient.

[mykelhelene]

Whoops, meant to post this in the portrait. It’s late and my mind is fuzzy. Sorry.

8436625947_3905f10d42_c.jpg

8481540938_c2c798878b_c.jpg

8435820593_69240fefdf_c.jpg

P.s. I’m not all that proud of my music work, since I am not confident in that area yet (only have been shooting shows maybe twice a month for 5 months).

[cicely]

Brown Eyed girl….do you think this many strangers all got together and said “lets hate her’?  Perhaps you should listen if this many people are agreeing to the same thing.  And your comment about people sayign mean things because we are “jealous”…thats the dumbest thing i have ever heard.  Because we have an opinion that makes us jealous?? how do you thing you sound saying that….like a spoiled, pretentious, stuck up, self centered. insecure brat. please just stop.

just walk away

[Mend]

i don’t think i’m going to follow this thread anymore if people don’t shut up and get back ORIGINAL topic.  not wanting to sound rude or anything but i want to see links to fauxtogs not drama from people on this thread, or critiques, make your own thread to ask for the critiques.

[seth]

Well, for what it’s worth, I think the rest of you are being unnecesarily hard on browneyedgirl and overall just plain ridiculous about it. Let’s chill the freak out and be normal human beings here.  Not everyone agrees with your over-the-top and hateful statements.

[halley]

Brown Eyed Girl I will critique your work. since you keep saying that someone needs to.  I looked at facebook, your website.  From what I saw on facebook you tilt the camera a whole lot. I know this topic has been brought up before, but I am looking at the most recent pictures added and they are all tilted. I am actually a fan of dutch angle but you overuse it to an extreme.  There was a family session from November 2012 in front of a brick wall that shows this. Also in that same session the older gentleman is wearing a shirt with a logo on it. Do you consult with your clients on outfits before?

In the wedding album from October 2012 the bride looks like she is miserable. I didn’t see a single pic of her smiling. As a photographer it is your job to capture the emotion and soul of your clients. I see that lacking in your work. The technical aspects are there but you just don’t seem to have the talent of capturing “the moment”, and that is something that you cant learn from a class. Your pictures don’t have emotion and because of that I was unable to connect.I hate to sound mean but the word BORING comes to mind.

Next topic is your use of premade actions.  It is obvious that you use them, a lot. Using actions is ok sometimes, but overuse of them has been proven to make photographers lazy.  That shows in your work ie the couples shoot from October 2012 (the fireman) and in all of the wedding photos that I saw. In fact in most of them I can easily see that you used an action and never gave it a second thought.

The photos of the people throwing the leaves in the air are all boring and poorly exposed. In fact most of your work is overexposed. You are losing highlights on skin and in the sky. Your pictures seem to have a blown out effect. Also the majority of your images are not sharp at all. They are very hazy and ever so slightly out of focus.

I looked at your work from the beginning of your flickr account until the most recent. It has shown little growth and very minimal improvement. I would certainly not look at your work today and say that it is the product of a professional photographer. Your technical knowledge will only get you so far. When you compare your work with real professionals it is subpar at best.

And for anyone who wants to say that I am mean or being “hateful” to brown eyed girl,just stop before you even start.  She said numerous times in this post that she wanted people to critic her work and that is what I did.  Just because someone has an opinion that differs from you does not mean that they are being hateful

[seth]

My use of “hateful” was in reference to senseless anger and outbursts, not asked-for critique when done properly.

[fstopper89]

Thank you for the critique. Those are all good points. I disagree with some of them though, like the part where you said a lot of highlights are blown out or overexposed. On my monitor at least, they look really good, but it could be time to re-calibrate. I do also use prints I get back as a comparison for exposure and set my monitor brightness accordingly (which on my Macbook, is 3 notches down from brightest). Could it be your monitor potentially being too bright as you’re viewing them? Someone said earlier it didn’t look like I had connection with the clients. Most have seemed excited and relaxed at their sessions. What might be a better way to connect with them? I typically have a phone consult before the session. Also, which images in particular looked emotionally disconnected? Yes I do consult about outfit choices to all my clients. I was very disappointed when I got to that shoot and the grandpa had the “Hurley” shirt. I thought about photoshopping it out but it was what he wanted to wear, so I left it alone. People won’t always do what is suggested. I’ll have to look at this more later, as I’m on my phone on my lunch break currently. Cicely, why don’t you just leave this conversation? You haven’t offered up anything but name-calling and bitterness, and that is why I brought up jealousy. It’s usually the factor that plays in when there seems to be no logical response and craziness.

[halley]

Although you may connect with clients and they are relaxed on set, the connection is not portrayed in your work.  There is no emotion there. Just some people posed for a nice picture. Photography is art and most new photographers like yourself forget that. The images should make the viewer feel something, even if they don’t know the subjects in the photo.. As for specific photos, I would honestly have to say it is almost all of them.  I have never in my life seen a wedding album where the bride is not smiling.  That blew my mind. You seem to be more concerned with proper posing, composition, lighting etc that you are missing all of those special moments that capture the emotion of the day/shoot. You seem to have extensive knowledge of technical aspects. What I would recommend is working on your candid photography. Take your camera to the park and go people watching.  See what you get. Go to a concert, club, bar, any event where you can catch people in action and practice a photojournalistic style. Learn to catch those little moments because it is completely absent from your current work. As for the overexposure it seems like that is done in post processing from the use of actions. I am only guessing but a lot of your photos seem flat and overexposed, but there is a continuous elements that is seen in more than one album. So could it be an action?

Now I will address all of the drama, and I will do it in the nicest way possible. Although some people have a poor way of communicating their opinions I think that some of what was said could be useful to you.  It looks like Jenna was giving you solid advice and people just did not know how to process that. What she seems to be trying to say is that the way that you talk in this forum can be perceived as intrusive and immature. Your actions on a daily basis whether you are in a forum, at home, in public, or on location shooting are a direct representation of your business. To be a professional, one must act like a professional. I know if I were looking for a photographer to hire and I came across someone bickering/belittling people online I would not hire them in a second. I would prefer someone who spends more time shooting than they do calling out amateur photographers. That is not a personal insult to you, I am looking at it from a strictly business aspect. Everything that you do online is available for any potential client to see. I hope you can see it as positive feedback instead of people hating you.  Criticism from strangers when you didn’t ask for it is hard to take. Imagine all of the unwanted advice you have been responsible for. It is a hard pill to swallow, right?

My final opinion is that you are not in the position to give critics, teach classes, or own your own business. You are good at photography and one day you will be very successful but your images have along way to go. Check out these photographers and compare your work to them. Where does it fall?

studio tran

gattie photography

a southern rose photography

 

 

[haylott]

Just wrong on so many levels

http://www.flickr.com/photos/roxanne_elise_photography/8395797823/

You managed to make people look completely bored while throwing leaves in the air. I hope you didn’t waste time on their wedding day to get this shot

http://www.flickr.com/photos/roxanne_elise_photography/8363954918/

How very cliche’. It is so overexposed that I can barely read the blocks, which seem oddly placed. Lets stand above the baby laying on his back and call it photography…No wait it needs blocks…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/roxanne_elise_photography/7842673822/

[jim-e]

@hally – Are those all your websites?

[halley]

jim-e no I teach photography courses at a university. I do not have a business so I do not have a web portfolio. Those are three notable photographers who have a clientele comparable to brown eyed girl (ie price, similar, events, range of products).

[jim-e]

@Halley. Ah, I see. Although to be honest  I have issues with some of the pictures,  it is a step up in quality. I do agree that some people should not teach courses. In the end they do more harm than good – they’re  teaching how they use their cameras, not necessarily the correct way.

It still blows me away that so few people understand how their camera’s meter determines “correct” exposure. In fact I would argue that for most, meters are irrelevant – we use our LCD’s now and chimp. Not very accurate IMO. The digital age has really transformed photography, and not in a good way. All the basics, such as proper exposure, careful framing, the ability to see great light – that hasn’t changed since photography started. Now, with instant feedback from our LCD’s and the ability to so call  “fix” the image in post has really bred laziness and a poor way of thinking. I hear the “it’s art” excuse to which I retort “shitty light is shitty light” and no amount of “creative” post is going to disguise that. No amount of PP is going to make a a bad pose look good. It’s starts with a solid foundation in good photographic principles and an innate understanding of your camera, and once you have that, the creative side can really shine.

[Author]

Posts