What have we become???

[Thomas]

I think I’m going to give up on this site. It used to be fun and people spent time mocking REAL Fauxtogs. You know, the ones who buy a P&S camera, stick it on auto, shoot for £10 with disks of images edited in Microsoft Paint…yeah, REAL Fauxtogs as we originally described them.

All I see here now are comments of arrogance, pomposity and personal opinion. I started a business in April this year, it’s not full time and it’s going to be a long while until it gets anything near that, but I love my work, so do my clients. I’m not the worlds BEST photographer, how many of you here are!?! There is a difference between genuinely improving yourself, and pandering to other peoples opinions of your work.

So in closing, I’m over this website, it’s not the same as it once was. I’m not saying that some of you don’t do great work, but is it really necessary for some of you to basically keep telling people that they need £000’s of pounds worth of equipment to be good? Telling them that a photo is bad or wrong just because YOU don’t personally like it? I look at some of the people posting their work here, be it for critique or otherwise, and I genuinely don’t see much wrong with 90% of it. When people do show praise for effort it gets lost in a storm of hate and bitchyness thrown around by other people. There’s nothing worthy of godlike awards here but it’s not as bad as some of you make out. Some critiques are great, constructive and knowledge driven. Some are just plain bollocks spouted from the mouths of people who have nothing better to do than slag people off for trying.

Most of you I get on with or like here, but the minority have ruined it and signs are showing of them leading some of you astray. Don’t spend your life being a critic, it makes you look like an arsehole!

[cameraclicker]

Best wishes, Thomas.

[BCLC]

Well said Thomas,  Too much negativity.

[ebi]

I’d throw you a going away party but it looks like you’re already throwing yourself a pity party.

[Bill]

Sorry you see things like that Thomas.

While it may be true that some criticism falls more in the realm of bullying then actual helpful criticism, I have seen good bad and ugly on this site.  I think you may be just focusing more on the bad then anything.

At first, I was a little intimidated to post anything on here, but I fell that I am comfortable with what I say.  I’m not the best photographer, anyone who says that is an ass, getting high off their own farts.

I call things as I see it.  Not to try to bully people, mock them or to prove if my skills are any better then anyone else’s.

Truth is, we all start from zero, it’s what we do after zero that defines us as photographers.  we, and I mean all that comment on this site, point out the short-comings of those that think they have the game all figured out, just because they don’t.  When you fail to realize that your skills are not at a particular level but fail to improve on them, you have just ventured into the Fauxtog area.

What separates true “professionals” from the “Fauxtogs” is the willingness to learn and know the basic fundamentals of photography and improve upon those fundamentals.  Going into a photo session not knowing how to compose a shot and shooting in full auto does not make a professional.  Having a lighting kit or OCF and burning retinas of your subjects does not make you a professional.  Not going to seminars or workshops to learn new and better techniques because your better then that does not make you a professional.

I have no problem with beginners charging for their services and making some cash on the side, but this is a hobby, not a profession.  I have no problem people using just a facebook  page to sell images, if anything, it keeps the overhead low and manageable when starting out.  What I have a problem with is people doing bad work and passing themselves off as “professionals.”  This gets exaggerated by people who “like” bad photography and don’t want to hurt the Photographers feelings by telling them that their photography is bad to begin with.

What defines me as a photographer?  The fact that I pay taxes as a photographer, I have a Tax ID number, a business license, I have a web-site and I am always trying to improve my skills by continually learning new techniques and processes.  When I said that I was first intimidated, I was.  I have a web site by use a G-mail account, my business name is really long and easily misspelled, so I shorten it to make it easy for people; I bought my serious DSLR after 2008, I could not afford a “real” camera until fairly recently.  Does this make me a Fauxtog, well maybe in the very beginning, but I hope that I am well beyond that, I think I am, but my journey os not over just yet.

I learned to shoot photography 25 years ago, winding B&W film from bulk stock into cartridges and developing the negatives.  From there I  was spending all my time in the darkroom, making my own prints, skills that have burned into my brain.  The camera I learned on does not have ISO, it has ASA speeds to give you an idea.

Am I the best photographer?  Not by a long shot.  Photography is like a golf player, you can play all your life and not get any better, but with time and practice you can become a pro.

 

Feel free to add any comments, I welcome them.

 

 

 

 

[Sharra]

Well said, Thomas and Bill. Now if we could convince a certain poster that complete and utter malice and self-righteous arrogance serve no purpose.

[ebi]

Sharra, you are an idiot. My comments aren’t complete and utter malice. I put a lot of thought into my posts and they, more often than not, contain a great deal of helpful information. I am not arrogant I am just blunt with my comments. They are reality, nothing less. You’re quickly becoming an annoying waste of time. I’d suggest that you crawl back under whatever rock you came out from.

[fstopper89]

It’s not what you say, ebi- it’s the WAY you say them. And you continue to belittle and attack. Seriously, YOU need to crawl back under a rock. You’re not the greatest gift to the world. You might be an excellent photographer but you have a crappy attitude, not really helpful at all.

[ebi]

Bullshit. I’m super helpful. You just can’t tolerate getting butthurt. You can continue critiquing the way you critique and I’ll continue critiquing the way I critique. I’m not going to continue going round and round with this dumb conversation. I’ve made some adjustments to my approach but i’m not going to pander to the lowest common denominator in here. Now please STFO.

[emf]

Can I just say, I find this thread somewhat bizarre. I have had a couple of disagreements with ebi – regarding some remarks I have found unfair and personal. However, the thread that seems to have been a catalyst for this thread, contained a harsh but accurate and considered critique, that wasn’t an attack. Anyone who’s been through art school would have regarded that as a normal crit.

 

[nesgran]

I think most of us are just getting a bit tired of the constant name calling as soon as he disagrees with someone

[Worst Case Scenario]

Thomas. Never let the terrorists win!

Bill..

I have seen good bad and ugly on this site

Are you calling me ugly?

[Worst Case Scenario]

Now please STFO

?????????

[Sharra]

Calling someone an idiot isn’t malice? Or the liberal use of profanity? Go figure…

[nesgran]

Given the string of ebi’s latest posts HE is now butthurt and has been called names. Now ebi, it isn’t very nice is it? Why not behave on here like you would in real life? However, if you behave like this in real life normally you may as well fuck off which would be a shame given that you can offer very valuable opinions and critiques when you aren’t calling people idiots.

[Author]

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