Fauxtogs who should end up on the main page…

[seth]

Fabled….  post away!  Doesn’t matter where you find fauxtographers, they are everywhere!

[seth]

Oh!  Misread the first post you made, so you ARE Cynthianna…

I just want to ask you…  how is taking a bench out of a photo having fun with it?  Seriously, enlighten me here.  The real fun, wouldn’t that be putting the girl in the grass in the first place?  Certainly less work and is more real.

[poisonivy]

It’s too much work? Maybe she wanted to practice her editing skills?

[dstone81]

I totally agree with you Seth.  I mean the other day when I was taking some practice shots of my daughter  I actually got down in the grass with her as she was crouched down looking at bugs and snapped some photos. It was a blast. I am a hobbyist and amature and would never dream of charging anyone for my photos until I have my art down pat. And that includes SOOC and editing.

[cameraclicker]

Cam, the link you put up was to Cole’s Flickr page.  I didn’t look at the camera he used.  My point was that he appears to be a teenager who has posted a few photos of his skateboarding buddies.  I didn’t see anything I thought was truly terrible and I did not see any indication that he was attempting to run a photography business.  I’m delighted to hear he has hundreds/thousands of likes.  He must have supportive friends.

I found his FB page.  I don’t see anything indicating he is trying to be a professional.  Someone did break a skateboard!  Actually he has some cool shots.  Others not so much, but he is young, and shows promise.  He has photos of board and rider in mid air that are reasonably sharp.  There are others that are advertising rates, and although they are shooting a baby that is just lying there, they don’t have their subject in focus!

[kbee]

Hobbyist =/= professional. If you’re advertising (meaning on your FB page) that you’re taking money for a service, you are in business. If you are in business, you are subject to criticism. Think Yelp – just here at YANAP. And if you read back, the regulars here don’t stand for picking apart amateurs and hobbyists if they’re clear that they’re actually learning and not profiting from their photography.

Here’s two points of advice, assuming you are Cynthianna:

a.) There will always be someone better (and worse) than you.

b.) There will always be a naysayer for every compliment you get.

In photography, there’s no degree to earn, no school to attend, no proof that you’ve learned your craft. Anybody can pick up a camera and call themselves a photog. You, me, my neighbor, my friend who posts to Instagram with her iPhone on a daily basis is a photographer. Yet, when you pay someone for a service, you entrust them to give you what you expect for your money. I know I do – because I assume they’re a professional. The same for a professional photographer. $3000, $300, $30, it’s still my hard earned cash, so I rely upon you to exchange goods for it.

As a tog, you must show your skill and art in your photos. You don’t need that degree or course, but you must deliver some sort of standard and consistency. First impressions are important, so you have to understand, there’s still an expectation when you deliver your goods to your clients, especially if you charge money.

I am a hobbyist, an enthusiast. I’ve been told to charge, and I laugh because I am not at the place yet where I can deliver consistent results. I posted a few test shots this evening and got a slew of compliments for the pictures from my FB friends. Yet, even now, I can spot the flaws. I take their compliments as encouragement but not as an incentive to go into business, because here at YANAP, I am sure someone with an objective eye would have advice for me. I come here for a dose of (sometimes harsh) reality. It’s helped me far more than the compliments I get.

Sorry if it hurts your feelings, but what I am getting at is: your photos drew criticism, and they were well deserved. Take what you want from it. Keep doing what you’re doing, or put aside your personal feelings (hard, I know) and try to learn from this page. It’s all on you. Good luck.

[cameraclicker]

Cynthianna, the photo of a pregnant belly marking the days is inspired.  Some of your other photos are worthy of much more criticism.  For instance, why would you put up a photo of a baby where focus is on the carpet in front of the baby like http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=506462756043594&set=a.436677336355470.96205.436676929688844&type=1&theater, or where the road beyond your subject seems to be the sharpest thing in the picture like http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=436685333021337&set=a.436677336355470.96205.436676929688844&type=1&theater?

Do people really pay for photos like those?  Do new customers look at your photos and still ask you to take photos for them?

[fstopper89]

Cynthianna, there is NOTHING “fun” about taking peoples’ money and promising the results of professional photography with the work you have posted. Do you honestly believe any of those people have gotten a 16×20 of one of those photos and hung it on their wall?

Judging by the major body of the work you have posted, your photos suffer from: being out-of-focus or grainy, or both; having major white balance issues (like very orange, red, or splotchy skin); having the attention completely drawn away from the subject by things such as selective color, distracting backgrounds, too long depth of field, and words typed in the photos); no attention to the lighting situation and how it can blow out part of the image, create odd-shaped shadows from other objects on the subject, or having their face severely underexposed; poor cropping, like cutting off limbs at the joints or having the top of a person’s head just barely touching the edge of the image frame; no understanding how to use the rule of thirds or to place lines and angles in the photograph at pleasing areas; using bright pop-up flash that washed out the face and creates harsh background shadows; lack of proper equipment for studio shoots like a wrinkled bedsheet instead of a real backdrop and harsh lighting; subjects caught looking away or making very uncomfortable expressions; sloppy editing (guessing you have never been trained in how to use editing software).

These are all MAJOR marks of a fauxtographer- someone who really does not understand their craft or the tools of their craft. What kind of camera do you own? What lenses? Do you understand basic terminology of photography? It appears you are using a point-and-shoot camera set on auto. Anybody can take a picture like that. Most people can take better photos with their cell phones nowadays. By taking paying clients you are giving them the impression you can provide a service of something that they, nor any average non-photographer, can produce.

[fstopper89]

I’m a little offended- Cynthianna called us all illiterate idiots.

[monkeymess]

Constructive criticism can be handled, however, insults is another thing. What i own or how i operate my equipment has nothing to do with you. What i want to know is, WHY do you “people” find it necessary to troll a social networking cite and “bully”.. I thought people were more grown up than that these days.  On top of that YES people have paid for me to do their photos, and come back and ask me to do more.. What i take as an insult is more the offensive approach you have on the subjects in the photo.. YOU dont have to LIKE my images, rather just leave them alone, spend your time positively identifying the people you are STOCKING!!

[JanJan]

Monkeymess…while I do think your pictures are not very good and needs A TON of work, I do agree that all the trolling on your Facebook was uncalled for (I did mention this in an earlier post). I also think that throwing insults at your subjects was uncalled for as well. I rather do some constructive criticism on the composition of your subjects in your pictures, rather than your subject’s “imperfections”.

[fstopper89]

What you own or how you operate your equipment certainly has nothing to do with me personally, but it clearly would explain WHY your photos look the way they do, and that you are pretty much duping clients. As many of us have discussed in these forums, it doesn’t always matter how expensive of equipment you have, as long as you know how to use it to produce professional results. For instance, one of my camera bodies cost around $600 new, and another cost about $2300 new (though I bought mine used for much less). I’ve gotten very similar end results between the two bodies, though the more expensive model has definite advantages over the other (superb low-light performance and the fact that it’s full-frame). If I put a good lens on either I can get an equal or near-equal end result, depending on certain factors (such as lighting situation). How you use your tools is a very important factor. You must be able to adjust the ISO, shutter speed, aperture, white balance, focal length, focus, etc. in order to get the lighting, color, depth of field, sharpness right in the photo. These also offer creative control. When you leave this all up to the camera, there is no skill of your own coming across. I don’t need to know any answer to this question, it’ll only benefit you: Do you know what these terms mean, how to change the settings, or how they affect your images?

Personally I never insulted the subjects in your photos, only your technique (or lack thereof) or the way you posed the person. I can’t think of many parents who’d actually request you pose their toddler in a planter and have him chew on leaves, but if they really thought that was cute, give ’em the photo but don’t post it in your portfolio. (Not to mention those practices aren’t really safe for a toddler, but whatever). Someone mentioned stretch marks and a happy trail in a maternity photo… in my opinion, stretch marks should be left alone since they’re a natural part of pregnancy, but maybe edited to soften the look of the skin (it can get pretty veiny when stretched like that) and if I were a very pregnant client and was, for whatever reason, unable to shave the happy trail I’d probably ask the photographer if they could minimize its appearance in editing. It’s pretty simple. Taking a photo straight-on with pop-up flash is going to only accentuate these “imperfections” in the skin. The poses are unflattering and awkward. And no one insulted the girl in the photo with the clone-stamped grass. That photo makes YOU and only you look lazy. Your location had grass, but it also had distracting things in the background (the little bit of chain-link fence). Maybe you could have shifted positions of yourself, or had your client move a little bit? And put her on the ground? And even if you wanted to clone out an object, doing it so that it appears seamless takes much more time and careful manipulation. Your clone stamping cut sloppily into her chest, and there is a black shadowy line around her body where you cloned out the bench. I’ve cloned out countless objects and no one can tell when I do it. That’s the whole point of the clone stamp tool.

cite: a verb; meaning to reference something

site: noun; meaning a location or place; short for website

sight: noun; physical sense of vision, or something seen

stocking: noun; a sock, or verb; placing objects in a place such as on shelves at a store.

stalking: verb; following and watching

[cameraclicker]

What i want to know is, WHY do you “people” find it necessary to troll a social networking cite and “bully”.. I thought people were more grown up than that these days.

If by “social networking cite” you are referring to Facebook, the only time I ever visit is when I follow a link from here.  I opened a Facebook account to monitor my kids, and kept it because so many other sites require it.  There is nothing on it.   I come to this site for the entertainment, and the education.  Sometimes I can also offer information that might be useful to someone else.  Sometimes that information is appreciated, and sometimes not.

The difference between an amateur and professional is the amateur is doing it for enjoyment and the professional is doing it for money.  My definition does not evaluate quality, just money.  I’m not convinced that a watermark like “Fred’s Photography” or “Photography by Fred” makes Fred a professional photographer.  Fred may simply be copying what he has seen.  An indication someone is charging, such as a price list, is a much clearer indication of a business.   Facebook may have started as a social networking site, but it has obviously evolved beyond social networking since you are using it as a marketing and sales site, as are many others.

It would be fraudulent to hold yourself out as a professional photographer displaying beautiful photos but delivering poorly composed, out of focus photos with obvious colour casts.  It is simply brilliant marketing to display poorly composed, out of focus photos with obvious colour casts, and still manage to attract repeat and new business.  Caveat emptor!

 

[seth]

Wow, beg, I had no idea what she meant by “stocking” until you spelled out all the definitions.  LOL

[JLiu]

I dunno about you, Seth…but I have a good supply of blondes and brunettes stashed away.  Just sayin’.

[Author]

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