Is she a fauxtog?

[zades158]

I don’t like to be mean but…I’ve been following this girl’s page for a while. She just started photography last year, and made it “official” when she bought an SLR. Right away she started this photography page and was going to jump right into a business because she owned an SLR. Just to be nice, her photos have gotten better since then…but barely. She clearly doesn’t know how to use her camera to its fullest. I’m not a pro photographer by any means but I like to think my photos are ok. I have a Canon Rebel T2i, which in my opinion is an amazing camera, and I’m still learning things about it. I’ve had it for 3 years and nowhere near tried to start a business with it like this girl did as soon as she bought her Fujifilm. Anyway here’s her page

https://www.facebook.com/ShaFlemPhotography

She even posted this for prom photoshoots:

Looking for a photographer for your prom? Look no further!
If you live from Wolfville – Greenwood, I will be happy to do a quick photo-shoot prior to your big night, at a small cost. So please email me for availability. Thanks!

*Schools: Horton High, Central Kings, West Kings students only*

I hope no one actually paid her to take their prom photos, because honestly, unless you are an established business with a lot of clients, you shouldn’t charge anyone for a photo shoot.

Also, she uses internet photo editing sites to edit her photos. I mean, I use them too, but only for my hobby. If I were serious about starting a business, I’d invest in Photoshop or anything else.

[cameraclicker]

I hope no one actually paid her to take their prom photos, because honestly, unless you are an established business with a lot of clients, you shouldn’t charge anyone for a photo shoot.

Hummmm… Might I ask, how do you become an established business with a lot of clients?  I always thought it was by charging!

 

[Worst Case Scenario]

Well the link you posted doesn’t work so we can’t say anything about ShaFlem photography (apart from it’s a crap name).

And usually when some one new turns up here slating another photographer it’s because they have an axe to grind, so I expect this is the case again.

Also I must ask, why do amateur photographers insist on telling us what camera they have? You posted here to tell us how bad this girl is so why on earth do we need to know what camera YOU own????

[zades158]

Well when I posted this, I didn’t expect to be the one to be attacked…but of course, that’s usually the case. I guess I shouldn’t have posted at all so never mind. As for being someone “new”, well I am not new. I’ve been following this page for quite a while. I just never posted before. But don’t worry, I won’t be posting here again.

[cameraclicker]

Attacked!?!  Hardly.  I was just asking for clarification.  If I decided to attack you the tone would be much different!

I too had difficulty with the link but found that by singing onto FB then searching, the page was easy to find.  I went through a few of her photos, got bored and checked out the videos on her personal web page.  She is 19.  She will improve and if someone is willing to pay her based on the photos I saw,  well more power to her!

[zades158]

I’ve seen people on here make fun of fauxtogs for charging people for taking crappy photos. Shouldn’t she wait until she’s better before she starts charging people? That’s all I was trying to say.

[cameraclicker]

If you go back through enough of the old threads you will see I am one of those who has been appalled, saddened, amazed, astounded, and so on, by some of the terrible photos which have apparently been paid for by someone.  At the same time, if the photographer’s advertising is showing photos of the same quality they are delivering to their customers, at least there is a degree of honesty and the customer should know what to expect.  Caveat emptor, and all that.

It looks like she has had one photo shoot with a model and while the results aren’t awesome, they’re not totally front page worthy here, either.  She seems to have white balance problems and too much DOF for typical model photos, but it also sounds like she has barely started to accumulate gear and is using basic kit level stuff.   Stay tuned, she may surprise you.

What I was wondering about was your statement.  Since you only have clients if they pay you, how do you get lots of clients if you don’t charge them?  It seems like a chicken and egg situation.  And, she has to start somewhere if she is going to start.

So-so photos from someone who says, “I’ve been doing this for a year, and finally I am getting a better camera” seems pretty reasonable.  She’s not saying she’s an awesome pro and you can have super photos for cheap.

[zades158]

I guess you are right, but I would still not charge someone for my photos unless I was really serious about starting a business, and I actually knew what I was doing. If I was only so-so, I wouldn’t charge them. I’d just do them for free until I got better and my name got out. That’s just my opinion. She’s not bad, but her first photos when she first started were really kinda bad. If she improves then good for her. I just kind of think she’s going a bit overboard now. For example, I’ve done a couple weddings for family and friends, and while I consider myself decent, I didn’t ask for money or charge them. Plus they came to me, I didn’t advertise myself. One of them gave me a gift card.

So I guess to each his own.

[Worst Case Scenario]

Attacked? You don’t know how lucky you are that ebi was asleep when you posted!

You posted here, so you must of wanted comments.

But the link you posted didn’t work and even after doing a facebook search the best I could find was a google listing for Shalem photography. So the only thing I had to comment on was your post.

I told you that we’ve had a spate of posts recently that have been trying to bad mouth photographers who aren’t faux worthy, and I pointed out they always come from new posters. This is all true. Trying to get a 19 year olds facebook page mentioned here is pretty harsh, so I’m guessing you have had dealings with this girl? You could have just posted a link and waited for our comments but YOU attacked her with your comments.

If you really are not a troll and you want to engage in a conversation about photography, please answer my question. Why did you feel the need to tell us what camera you own?

 

[cameraclicker]

These are the pages I looked at:

https://www.facebook.com/ShaFlemPhotography

http://shaflemphotography.weebly.com/

[zades158]

To Worst Case Scenario, as for why I posted what camera I own, I guess I was probably just “trying to get attention” or something. Assume whatever you want, you can think that I’m a troll or whatever, I don’t really care. And you’re also assuming things by telling me that she is only 19 and therefore I must have a problem with her when you don’t even know me. This site is for fauxtogs right? That was the whole point of my post. I don’t have anything against the girl. I guess you guys answered my original question, she is not a fauxtog and she should keep charging people for her “so-so” shots, so thank you for answering. Good day to both of you.

[emf]

I must say her ‘about me’ page takes concise to a whole new level!

[cassie]

I agree with CC wholeheartedly here. She isn’t misrepresenting herself and even though her photos aren’t the best they aren’t horrible either. I have a friend who got her first dSLR like 4 years ago and she basically poured her soul into photography and started charging 3 years ago. There is a marked improvement in what she takes each year, yes. But in those three years, she’s been published, started a full time business that she can actually support herself on, and has a loyal following. I think ShaFlem could be the same way- her photos aren’t awesome but she looks willing to learn new skills and practice. The fauxtographers being posted here often don’t show any improvement and make the same mistakes over and over and don’t bother to learn more.

[zades158]

Yeah I guess I made the wrong choice by posting her here…she’s not as horrible as some I’ve seen that actually think they are good.

[ebi]

No, Zades, I think you are right. These images are pretty horrible. I could tell by the white vignette in the intro image. And it was just as bad throughout. These are not images you pay for these are images that you put on your facebook wall so your friends and family can ignore them.

Thanks for noticing WCS. I slept like a baby.

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