I'm kind of scared but check me out?

[RachelGPhotography]

https://www.facebook.com/RachelGPhotographyNC

[Brownie]

You have reason to be scared, unfortunately.

[Notaphotographer]

In my opinion you need some work.  I can see where you had a couple of good concepts but the execution of them is not quite there. I also know FB compression can ruin a sharp photo but lots of these do not look sharp at all. Not sure what lens you are shooting with but that may be a good investment after you get some more basics down. I see you use post vignetting a good deal. This is not a substitute for a badly composed shot. Keep working at it. Shoot thousands of photos a week and learn what works. Also visit some other sites and other photographers. If you have the skills to duplicate a shot you like then that will better enable you to create your own. Best of luck.

[AndyF]

Well TBH I’ve seen a LOT worse. I wouldn’t say there is anything majorly wrong, just a few things that need picking up on.

The vignetting is far too much on some images, and I’m not crazy about some of the PPing with the bleached look on a LOT of images.

And what is going on here?

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=436966562983761&set=a.392935300720221.106988.368612416485843&type=1&theater

You have lots of this image, but why on earth have you kept the distorted images? In fact, why on earth are they even on FB in the first place? Is it for the cover image? If so, why would you want this image as the first image your customer sees? I’d see it and go- oh dear, better look for another ‘tog.

Also, do you have the lighting to achieve this? (is this your image? I’d be inclined to say “no”)

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=481250428555374&set=a.371003629580055.103258.368612416485843&type=3&theater

This was taken using portable studio kit. Do you have this? And the skill to recreate what is in this image? If you do, then good for you. If not, you won’t be able to produce this image, so it’s false advertising.

Some images aren’t sharp and some don’t have the DOF they need to work (butterfly shot).

On the plus side, most of your images, IMO, are quite good, at least from a content and composition perspective. Maybe a little improvement work is needed, but personally I don’t see you being on this site with any of your work.

You certainly have some creativity that a lot of fauxtogs don’t

 

 

 

 

[RachelGPhotography]

I’ll take it. I’m still fairly new, so I agree I still need work.

[RachelGPhotography]

I’ll take it. I’m still fairly new, so I agree I still need work.

[IHF]

What I don’t get is you admit you are new and need to learn and work harder, yet you are in business selling an expertise, you don’t yet have….  Why?  Instead you should work on your photography.  Learn the foundations of photography  first, then the foundations of business.  It’s not necessary to have a “clientele” or a million faces to work with when you are first starting out.  Now is not the time for “portfolio building”.   No need for people to get taken advantage of, or you yourself to be taken advantage of.  Use objects, and willing family members to teach yourself lessons.  Learning lighting and exposure and in camera work doesn’t require tons of people invested in your photography, to achieve.  No need to “advertise”, market, or seek out “models” when you are just learning the basics of photography.  My suggestion is, to slow down.  Shoot for yourself, not others.  This step alone will improve your photography immensely .

[katanna]

My first thought (specifically while looking through the baby photos) is: EVERY SINGLE PHOTO has a filter applied to it. I looked and looked and found a few that might have not been over-saturated, but I wasn’t really sure. Every photo was either “aged”, “black and white”, “over-saturated”, or a combination of those. Professional photographers apply filters to maybe 5% of their photos (with the exception of B&W). When I see multiple albums with 95%+ photos with filters, it SCREAMS fauxtag!

Using filters is not a bad thing but it should not be overused (or, more specifically, they should only be used when there is a reason to use them). Fauxtags use filters not to enhance photos but to hide the flaws in their photos (IE: their inexperience).

So, the next time you apply a filter to a photo, ask yourself: “Is this filter enhancing (adding to) an already good photo, or is it hiding flaws in a photo that it was not good to begin with?”

Matthew

[stef]

Looking through only the album marked “portfolio”…. Unlike AndyF, I found much that is majorly wrong, so brace yourself.

 

You’re missing focus on many shots. Not always by a lot, but if you’re going to shoot with the aperture wide open, you can’t be missing focus like you are. https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/536415_462332867113797_1925127907_n.jpg https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/s720x720/543547_462344487112635_2083310632_n.jpg

 

Tilty. Ugh.  And not just now and then, but many dutch angles. This is only one of several, and looks especially bad with the water and bizarre focus effects like shot through a lensbaby. https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/s720x720/165865_462344593779291_945291783_n.jpg

 

Fads & Gimmicks. Railroad tracks on several different sessions, seriously? Aged wash over everything (and I mean EVERYTHING)? This shot just terrifies me, and I’m surprised I didn’t see it on the front page of this website. https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/s720x720/581253_462338550446562_693292005_n.jpg

 

It looks like you did up your game a bit on wedding shots, but still are using too much processing. The processing is probably why this dress is blown, as I doubt it was before processing. https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/s720x720/525137_462345287112555_1188558233_n.jpg

 

You need to be able to make an actual good picture, before any of your overprocessed images will ever be good. You’re guilty of trying to salvage things in post, instead of create good things from the get-go. This one is almost a nice, well-lit picture of the couple by their cake, except THE GROOM IS BLINKING. Holy crap, you put this in a portfolio? https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/292136_462345637112520_574747435_n.jpg

 

Some of your albums (not in the portfolio album) are decent… especially the kids. While most of the crops aren’t great, your photography shows improvement. I suspect those are more recent, so that’s a bonus.

 

You need to:

[ol][li]Learn to focus[/li][li]Learn to make a real portrait, before screwing it all up in post.[/li][li]Stop using fads until you show you know how to work your camera better.[/li][li]Study. Seriously… go look at some great portrait photographers. Think of where the light is coming from, and ask yourself “what makes this so good?” When you have that answer and understand it, try to replicate some of those good aspects in your own photography.[/li][/ol]

 

This image sums up your portfolio: https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/s720x720/577090_462345783779172_2076576549_n.jpg

It’s off balance, out of focus, and overprocessed.

 

You are a fauxtographer.

[Intuition]

Quoted from Stef : “This image sums up your portfolio: https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/s720x720/577090_462345783779172_2076576549_n.jpg ”

Holy cow if I got that in my wedding pictures I’d be upset. How do you even hang that? It kind of hurts my eyes, and while it looks a little dark ( but that may be the holy cow vignette) it looks like a sweet picture with a nice look at the back of a very pretty dress. But it’s practically sideways.

[hellomarcy]

stef, you said it! i am a fan of your eye 🙂 everytime i do this lens correction function, i think of you. 🙂

[Author]

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