Sh*t fauxtogs say (feel free to add your own)

[Katie]

Although probably just posted quickly with a camera phone to make a point, this doesn’t inspire much confidence in her skills. And I am so over the blocks on the tummy, which this fauxtog loves!

 

http://s1352.beta.photobucket.com/user/enchantedkatie1/media/blocks.jpg.html

[fstopper89]

Here we go. Found this ad on Craigslist today (hope the link works, sometimes people have trouble on this site) http://appleton.craigslist.org/for/3397928118.html

 

She says “I print at local stores to keep the cost down for both of us.”

Fail. I jsut did a print quality test with six images, using 5 different services. Walgreens and Walmart pretty much failed as I expected (I never use discount places to print, I did this to prove to clients why they want to choose a quality printer).

I also looked up her images and while she has some interesting nature shots, I didn’t see any portraits except for the crappy wedding photo on her Craigslist ad.

[Katie]

I can see it, good one.

Very true, I had some pictures printed at a local drugstore (not even for clients, just for hobby) and they were horrible. Ended up getting them reprinted at a local lab that specializes in photos and they were a thousand times better.

[cameraclicker]

Summer before last, we needed a lot of 4 X 6 prints.  We needed three of some print, two of others and singles of still others.  To save time in the store, I made up 3 DVD’s with the files.   At Costco we handed over the discs and asked for one of each.  Imagine my surprise when three copies of my file resulted in three different appearances in print.  With that behind us, we tried the same thing at Walmart, with the same result.  We don’t have Walgreens here.  Now that sort of job goes to Blacks, a chain camera store that has much more consistent quality.

I think it was Mark Wallace in one of the Adorama videos that said when he heard someone say they like natural light, all he hears is that they don’t know how to use flash.  Of course, in the movie, Quigly Down Under, after using pistols to shoot all the bad guys in a quick draw gun fight, the main bad guy says to Quigly, as he is about to die, “I thought you said you didn’t know how to use a pistol”.  To which Quigly replies “No, I said I didn’t have much use for pistols, not I didn’t know how to use them.”    Looking at Kyra’s photos, I think it may be a case of not having the gear she wants.  I too, like her nature shots.

[Nightrose]

Costco in Australia are actually pretty good when it comes to prints. Their paper is decent and supposedly “archival quality”. For my every day snaps I will use them.   However, the difference in quality between them and a pro lab that I also use is like night and day! Yes the pro lab is more expensive but wow is their paper stunningly beautiful!  The richness of colours and monochromes is light-years ahead of cheaper places.  They also have the option of all photos being printed on a single printer, so there is minimal to no difference in colour quality within a single batch of photos.

[Katie]

Another by the same fauxtog:

http://i1352.photobucket.com/albums/q659/enchantedkatie1/rr.jpg

[Nightrose]

It doesn’t help when people post ads like this:   ” Hi, i’m looking for a not professional photographer but still good and loves to take pictures for my wedding in february, and who wants to have a fun.”  This sort of thing brings the fauxtogs out in their droves!

Also, anyone who has photographed a wedding knows just how exhausting and decidedly un-fun they are.

[Katie]

Nightrose- Very true! Weddings are stressful and something you don’t want to mess up!

[fstopper89]

Shooting a wedding is only fun at the end of the day when you kick off your shoes and watch your computer download over 1000 RAW images and have to decide which couple to post right away as sneak peeks.

The last wedding I did was for my friend’s sister though, so I knew most of the family, so it actually was a very fun weekend.

[fstopper89]

This is the series of messages with this girl (originally her work was posted by someone else one of the other threads on here) and when I scanned her FB page, she had a post saying that “People have nothing better to do that criticize my work.” I wrote a comment something along the lines of, “It’s not that they have nothing better to do, if you are getting criticism, it’s a sign that you need to change or grow. Take some courses or workshops in photography. Invest in some good cameras and lenses and editing software. It’s not cheap, it’s not instant, but if you are really passionate about what you do, you need to learn. I can give you some advice if you’d like.” blah blah blah. She deleted the whole post and sent me a message:

Ashley: I have been doing it for years…and the only reason that chick had ride comments was because she was put up to it….but that doesnt matter….I have taken.course and dont like them…i dont want my style of taking photos change…i ike and love doing it and theres always going to be an ass out there

Me: Taken classes and don’t like them? That is a very ignorant statement. I don’t know you, don’t even live in the same country as you, but I guess I was trying to help you out. But you don’t want the help, and those who never accept advice will never improve. It has nothing to do with your “style” of taking photos. Most of what I have seen are out of focus images, graininess, high saturation and contrast, orange skin, spot-color, and the use of on-camera flash which causes horrible shadows and odd lighting on the skin. You can keep getting clients who want a major bargain, shooting and giving them a disk of mediocre photos and not really caring about your work. And I can tell you those clients will not frame those photos for their home. I guess not all photographers take their work seriously like I do. Do you even shoot with a DSLR camera? Do you shoot in RAW? Do you own Photoshop or Lightroom? Do you know what f-stop, focal length, shutter speed, ISO, wide-open, fast lenses, crop sensor vs. full frame, shoe-mount flash, al servo vs. one shot focusing, all means and how they all relate? Shooting with your camera on auto and over-editing an out-of-focus image is not a style, it’s laziness. I’ve been doing photography seriously for about 2 years now (part of that, working for another photographer who later moved away). I also took college courses in photography. I’ve nearly gone broke buying equipment, a new hard drive for my computer, and paying for file backup services to ensure my clients’ photos will be safe. I have a 2-page contract. I care about my work and my future.

Ashley: I was talking to the lady at the college and shes says its not worth it

Me: Well that lady sounds pretty ignorant herself. I don’t have a degree in photography. Having an art degree often doesn’t lead to a job. But classes themselves lead to a wealth of knowledge, experience, and ability to take critique.

Ashley: Havent had any customers complaine yet

Me: Alright then…. guess I’m done trying to help. Let’s just say you need A LOT of help. And I’m speaking from the viewpoint of a consumer as well as a semi-professional photographer. The worst mistake any artist or aspiring artist can make is to say they are perfectly satisfied producing mediocre work and that they just don’t need to learn anything new. Therefore, you will always produce mediocre work.

(FB said she saw that last message) Was it wrong of me to go at her like that? I guess I didn’t care that much, but it irked me so much to hear someone say those things I couldn’t just leave it alone. I was prepared to actually help the girl out if she asked though I suspected from the beginning that she wouldn’t want to hear it. She said she’s been doing this since 2009. Obviously, she has not improved and probably won’t. And I could not get over her grammatical errors all over the place and even on her business page. She must have also turned off comments on her images because yesterday the comment box was available to me and it no longer is… lol.

[reality check]

Brown eyed,

I don’t think you are in any position to teach someone.  You know minimal yourself.  You also  are in business before you are able to achieve consistent professional results, and products.  I know it’s frustrating when you are trying your hardest to learn and you see someone be so flippant, but the only difference between you and the woman you are so angry with, is that you knowingly are charging as a pro while learning the basics it takes to shoot professionally, and she already thinks she’s a pro and isn’t trying to learn.

Both of you are making mistakes… Let it go

[Katie]

Browneyedgirl- So happy you posted that, and that you said something! That kind of attitude is why her photos look like sh*t and will continue to look like that. I don’t think there is anything at all wrong with you offering tips. A person doesn’t have to be a pro to offer tips, I get questions answered all the time from people I know are not pros, but they have been at it a little longer than me, so they know a lot more and can point me in the right direction. That was very nice of you. She is very ignorant and so not worth your time! And the grammar, she has several wedding photos where words are misspelled, on the photo! Someone even pointed it out and she didn’t take it down. Just wow.

[fstopper89]

@reality check: Still thinking you’re confusing me with someone else, because you’re the only one on here who is saying I’m producing bad work. Lol. really? I’m charging as a semi-pro. I am not still learning the basics. I certainly know the basics. The things I’m learning are things I’m building on the basics. I have college and job experience in photography as well as personal experience on my own after that. You’re actually quite offensive saying I know minimal myself. Are you the one who said on here somewhere that you’re just a hobbyist? (I could be wrong, correct me if I am). I already shoot much better images than a local pro in my town who’s been in business for 35 years. And I’m not the only one who thinks that. Yes, he has more experience and knowledge running a business than I do, certainly! Photography is not a full-time job for me as I can’t yet support myself on it. My goal is to get there someday but I’m not going to be a shoot-and-burn fauxtog like the dozens in my town who are actually paying all their bills doing just that.

[Katie]

I made a mistake, I thought you were saying you went to the “pictures by chell” page and made a comment, I just realized from another post you made, in a different thread, that it was someone else you were talking about. Funny, because pictures by chell had a similar comment about “people have nothing better to do”..and her grammar is horrible. I would love to see what she would say if you made that same offer to help…

[fstopper89]

Oh! No I didn’t see Pictures by Chell before I just read your comment. I searched her page, if it’s the one in Ohio, yuck. I mean, she’s got some sharp images, and some are good. But most are ruined by tacky spot-color, superimposing, or picnik-esque edits. A couple of a senior for her yearbook shot was poorly cut-and-pasted onto some plain background. I think with some work she could get a lot better. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=286240248094108&set=a.249062191811914.86154.129605440424257&type=1&theater

[Author]

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