Would love some advice

[Sassy]

Hi everybody, i am not a fauxtographer because i don’t charge, it is currently just a hobby. I would love to become a professional photographer (specializing in newborn and family portraiture) in the future when i feel my photography is at a professional level, this may take 6 months or may take 2 years plus. I would like to know if i am on the right track with my photography and some areas which i can work on.

Some back ground, i have been shooting in only full manual for under 6 months. Every time i do a shoot for friends or family i pick one thing that i really need to work on (determined from CC of my previous sessions) and focus on that. I feel my strike rate is improving and i take less photos each session.  I am completely self taught, haven’t done any courses but I read in my free time about everything to do with photography. Any reading material (especially on line) you can recommend would be great.

I edit lightly in PSE and use no actions, i am doing a few PS courses currently. When i take pics of newborns i prefer their skin to look relatively natural, i remove some blemishes and even their skin tone out slightly. I am not a fan of the porcelain doll look which is very popular at the moment. I am quite capable of editing my newborns to have creamy white skin but choose not to, its not for everyone i understand but i will make this my style.

 

I am quite happy with my previous 5 sessions so feel free to CC any of those images, I will use all CC. If you go back further you can see where i started out (selective color and all!), the first album was 11 months ago 🙂

<a href="" https://www.facebook.com/SarahsPics title="">

 

thankyou in advance 🙂

 

 

[Sassy]

OHH and i should mention that the Image of the dog and baby was a composite, my first try. and that i know bubs is out of focus but mum really wanted to see it anyway, normally i wouldnt add an image like that which i wasnt happy with.

[cameraclicker]

The link says SarahsPics but the page says Dart’s Pics?  I’m not sure if I’m in the right page or not.

[Sassy]

thanks @Camera clicker, yes you are in the right page, the link was done a long time ago and i wanted to name the page Dart’s.

[Cam]

You are not a fauxtographer, however your shots look like they need work. For animal shots, maybe try a different prospective? Get eye level with the animal and shoot from there. Also animal shots have no effect if the eyes are not the focal point of the image (the animal has to be looking at the camera)  A couple rules to follow are try a get the crop as tight as possible, and if an item doesn’t need to be in the shot, don’t include it as it may distract the viewers attention. That being said, make sure your photos have some context to them, otherwise no-one will understand what you’re trying to communicate. For the record, you don’t have to charge to be a fauxtographer, as a fauxtographer is a person who thinks they’re a good photographer, but really all they’re images are crap

[Sassy]

thankyou Cam, i actually dont like doing animals and wont be doing them in the future (im highly allergic to Dogs, this was a favour for a friend!), but thankyou for the advice.

 

May i ask advice on the people portraits and what areas i need to improve 🙂

[creyes8519]

You’re having a little trouble with lighting, particularly with back-lit photos.  You need to bring out the subject more.  There are many techniques to doing this that you can read about.  I personally use artificial lighting. Your most recent newborn shot is probably your best.  But even in the pic of the dog and the baby, the baby looks a little dark.  Work on that.  You’re doing well and improving very fast.  Keep up the good work!

[Sassy]

Thankyou so much Creyes, i really appreciate and value your feedback, I do think lighting is one of the things i struggle with as well. Currently i am trying to learn as much as there is about natural lightening (simply because i cant afford a decent flash and the pop up one on my camera is a piece of dirt!), i sometimes use a reflector but i think i need to do more research and more experimenting.

 

would you be able to let me know which ones in particular are looking pretty clumsy with the lighting and which ones are ok?

The image of the dog and baby is crap, i look at it and shudder but my friend really wanted to see that one (my first time doing a composite) even though i told her i didnt like the quality of it. Unfortunately its the one she like the best! grrr! it was shot in a very dark room with a very high iso and has been cropped significantly because the dad had to hold the dog in place (what do they say? never work with animals and children! LOL!) An image like this would never end up in a portfolio of mine. This site is just playing around with photography not a business one, i will start fresh if i decide to go down that route.

 

Anyone else have any CC?

[creyes8519]

I’m  a DIY photographer… I shoot myself and my kids bc I can’t afford a pro.  So, in essense, I continue to learn to become a pro at taking my own pics.  I can’t afford anything obviously because if I could afford fancy photography gear I wouldn’t bother taking photos myself and would just hire a photographer.   So, I use a Nikon D3100 – which, at the time I purchased it, was like $600,  Yonguo flash which was about $30 bucks (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003IT7BLQ/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00), a reflector (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002ZIMEMW/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00), a pixel  remote control (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058ITGOK/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00), a cheap tripod (also from amazon, but I can’t find the link at the moment) and  I use Gimp to edit because it’s free…. all in all, I think I spent like 700-800 total on everything I have photography wise.  Everything besides the camera totaled to about $100.  And my pics do not come out half bad, really. Here’s my stream:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/cristinaspics/

For the Christmas shots, I used a chair as a stand and placed my reflector on it, I put a chair in front of it and laid my flash a stack of books on the chair, and pointed it at the white reflector and the reflector faced us (I’ll take a picture of my setup someday) …   Mind you, I’m not a pro at all, and my pics won’t “WOW” anyone…. I’m just a mom on a budget and these are little ghetto things that I do to solve problems I’ve had with my photos without breaking the bank.

The flash I use is not i-TTL so it takes a little work, but I personally like the results.

[Jaime84]

This might not be too helpful, but I think you take nice, tasteful pictures. Technically speaking you have room for improvement, but I certainly wouldn’t call you a fauxtog. You’re learning!

[OctoberMoon]

I love the ones from your last shoot (the autumn one), but the thing that sticks out to me the most is that the pictures are way too warm and a good bit too dark. A lot of your other photos could stand to be lightened up some as well.

[Sassy]

Hi Jamie thankyou for your compliment, i am aiming for nice and tasteful so i’m very happy you thought that.

 

OctoberMoon, those pics were literally taken and edited last night (with 3 very uncooperative children LOL!). I shoot RAW so i have room to move with WB and exposure, i always feel that i tend to over expose in camera but then when i get into post i have to bump the exposure up even more, i worry about blowing areas but maybe i need to lighten more, Ive just started using layers and masks to selectively edit different parts of my pics and i feel this has helped. According to histograms generally my WB is relatively spot on (i prefer warm) and i am on a calibrated monitor.

 

I just finished a shoot with a baby and will put the pics up when ive finished editing some this afternoon. will post the link if anyone is keen to CC them i would love the feed back. I get my work CCed as much as possible but im finding it harder and harder to find people to CC, does anyone know any other forums?

[OctoberMoon]

I prefer warm too, but those are waaaay too warm. Many of your other pictures are perfect on the WB. I’m also on a calibrated monitor.

[Sassy]

Thankyou, there was no offence intended ive just learnt to check that the people giving me CC on WB and colours are calibrated after some poor advice 🙂

 

i will have another play.

 

in the mean time this is the shoot i did today,if anybody wants to CC while im on a roll 🙂

 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.394722600606785.95276.272109452868101&type=1

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