Fauxtogs who should end up on the main page…

[Rizzo]

well aren’t they a bag full of wtf covered in bad ideas.

[Mend]

props for even trying to give cain advice.

he gave me that whole “creative differences” thing too. i haven’t tried saying too much to him because i didn’t want to lose any IQ points from him. but i told him “oh i know we have a creative difference” i just didn’t want to seem cocky and say that it’s because i knew i was better than him and i’m not a professional.4

he very strongly is the “just because you have a camera, doesn’t make you a photographer”….and i think same goes for “just because you have an editing program, doesn’t make you good at editing”

[seth]

The baby ironing photo is horrid!!!  What a bad bad bad idea!

[iliketag]

I take a few days off and miss out!

@BEG:  I have been really tempted to contact some of these photographers through facebook but I also don’t want them having my personal page info, seeing as something of them are really blockheaded. Props for trying to reach out though! I personally have a very rough time with harsh criticism. I’m a little overly sensitive at times, it’s just how I’m wired… but I also understand when criticism is constructive and someone is trying to help me, rather than just be mean and hinder my growth. It’s a hard thing to swallow, when friends and family coddle you, then suddenly reality catches up. What I hate is that these people posting “great pic!” etc. don’t give their friend into any insight about what makes the photo good (let alone improvements to be made)!
It makes feel great when people “like” a photo I’ve taken on facebook, but when someone comments and leaves me some actual insight or a real compliment (lighting, coloring, feel, etc.) it means so much more. Even on Cain’s page when someone told him “I’m not into these photos” he immediately shot back with “Oh these aren’t mine, I just edited them” and that was the end of it. No dialouge about why they didn’t like them or anything.

@Totes:  Oh gosh… the poor babies! They look so incredibly uncomfortable! I would feel guilty if I looked back at that oreo shot… the poor thing’s head pressed up against the side of the bowl 🙁 and the ironing picture is the same way. Interesting idea but much too dangerous! The height, the firmness of the board with no head support (or body cushion either) and the fact that a toddler has a very heavy iron (it looks like an old sad iron, so VERY heavy, very dangerous.) next to an infant, elevated off the floor… Just… wow.

[fstopper89]

Yeah, in a way, Ricky Cain basically threatened to report “us” and get “our page” shut down… I mean wtf dude, this isn’t our page, and nothing that any of us (at least myself) did warrants any sort of reporting. He had also made roundabout threats in fewer words that he would do something to damage my business or my name because of what I was telling him about his work via private message! Now THAT is clearly slander.

I did message him first about removing the images he took down from other photogs’ Flickr pages. He claimed that he thought it was ok, because he uses some kind of Flickr-based downloader that only takes the images that are NOT marked “all rights reserved.” But I told him that he had images that clearly stated all rights reserved, and because of that, the photographer did not allow others to download/use their image and that while what he was doing couldn’t be classified quite as illegal, it was in really bad taste. He thanked me and then asked how I liked his HDR images. Once he got a dose of honesty, he became extremely defensive, and began attempts at personal attacks against me. I wasn’t even being overly harsh in my critiques… I mean let me tell you, I could have been really mean! To me, his work screams “look, I can make my camera take a picture with a really shallow depth of field, how cool is that, let me take a picture of the side of an office building with that technique and call it art!” and not to mention his “HDR” photos of his garbage cans in his backyard. There was nothing redeeming about any of those. He had photos taken from some kind of political dinner banquet, and they were all dark and soft, and had no artistic or even much documentary merit. But, because he doesn’t like the “look” of any photo shot with an ISO higher than 100, he won’t dare change it (and instead end up with blurry dark photos!). Then he wanted to vent about his life story or something to me and I told him I was solely going to talk about photography. He said that in 10-20 years we should compare photography to see who has gotten further but he will always be better or something because he travels the world. I was never trying to make it a contest about how awesome our lives were nor do I have a clue why he even went there. I think the dude’s really lonely to be honest. I feel kind of bad for him. He’d probably benefit from making friends with local photogs or taking photography classes/workshops.

Then he messaged me again demanding I “call off my cadre.” When I told him I know none of you in real life he said there must be some “loose association.” Ugh. Claiming I had power to tell all these people who were “spamming” and leaving negative comments on his site, and that I was responsible. Well for one, I didn’t post the original link to his page here. I told him maybe he should try taking responsibility for himself and asking those people to stop leaving spam on his site.

[Rizzo]

okay i’m not sure about this one. it’s kind of hit or miss? but the fact that she’s offering “workshops” and doesn’t even pay for her own damn domain name screams fauxtog. and her website says she gives “cd with copyrights.”

also, she can’t spell “lens” properly and that bugs the shit out of me.

https://www.facebook.com/cieararuessphotography

[fstopper89]

Weird, Cieara has a few really nice photos, then a handful of photos that are slightly out of focus that otherwise look really nice (but would be unusable in my opinion), as well as a ton that if some technical issues would have been fixed they would have been really good. Yet she has a ton of fans (which we know can be fake or purchased but don’t look to be in her case). I can’t put my finger on it. It’s like she has the potential and the equipment to be really good, but can’t get some of the basic technical stuff down.

[Mend]

lol i’m the one who posted cain, but since i haven’t said anything directly too him since i first saw his stuff, doubtful he even knows it’s me that did it

[Concerned]

That photo with the ironing board is scary!!!  Here is another scary one!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=370608866376866&set=a.136887463082342.23230.136042449833510&type=1&theater

The typical – use the dress as the background photo!!

[Concerned]

I have to add one more!  lol  Just had me cracking up laughing…

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=367807606656992&set=a.367583566679396.1073741839.136042449833510&type=1&theater

[JanJan]

I’ve stumbled upon this person. He says he’s been a professional photographer for 39 years

http://www.apeonline.biz

I don’t know what to say about this one:
http://apeonline.biz/gallery/portraiture/1.jpg

This is from his Craig’s List Ad
http://images.craigslist.org/3K23Me3Jc5N75G95M2d554141af3928b91f52.jpg

He is the 2nd person I’ve ran into from my area who claims they have been doing this for many years, but their work clearly says otherwise.

I’m thinking that this person really has been a photographer for 39 years because much of his work posted looks like they were from the 80’s, but then was scanned and edited in Photoshop. It looks like he was much comfortable working with film in the past and failed to make the transition to digital. I think he just needs to lay off the Photoshop and just focus on the composition. It’s not horrible, but the editing makes it look horrible!

I also don’t get his “Evidence Photography” pricing at $199 for 6 images. His “Evidence Photography” are just pictures of wrecked cars that seemed to be no different than an appraiser taking pictures.

http://apeonline.biz/gallery/evidence.html

[Concerned]

LOL… that was him as a child… since most of those photos look like they are from the 70’s and 80’s!

Hahahahaha… Party time boob shot!

[Tomservo51]

I’m so glad he has OVER 39 years of experience, if he only had 39 years, I’d be thinking, wow…he needs more experience….

Love the ‘portrait’ of the guy in Blockbuster! What the?!?!

[iliketag]

I would never, in a million years, think that “Evidence Photography” is a smart move. An appraiser works for the insurance company and knows what to look for and what to detail. They know what the company needs and it’s part of their job! For an everyday portrait photographer to offer this is INSANE. If you miss any crucial detail, you could cost someone a LOT of money! Why the hell would you put yourself at risk like that? The measely 200 you collect from the client could become a lawsuit worth thousands… So so so so SO stupid!

[iliketag]

@Rizzo  Ok, so I looked at her page too. There’s absolutely potential there but it does strike me as odd that she has so many fans and is “always booked months in advance”. I think the thing that I had a problem with was constantly blow highlights and, especially in the most recent photos, the really noticable green cast. A lot of the shots just seem… off.

[Author]

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