Wouldn't Mind Some Feedback

[DeleteMePlease]

Actually photosbytw, I did thank the ones that gave helpful criticism. But I’ll be damned if I’m gonna take someone criticizing my photos when their photos look like someone picked up a disposable camera at the drug store and started taking random pictures of little kids. People who suck at something, have no business telling someone else the “right” way to do it.

It would be kind of like me, who can barely draw a stick figure, walking up to a painter at any level and telling them the right way to paint a picture. Don’t tell other people the “right” way to do something if you have zero experience and no talent at it yourself. People who do that are just pretending to be something they are not and I freaking can’t stand people like that. So yeah, you can fuck off too, you pretentious shit.

From what I’ve seen after digging a little deeper, this site is full of members like that. A bunch of crappy  to okay photographers who boost their own egos by making fun of horrible photographers.

Somebody cancel this fucking account please. Does anyone even run this fucking site?

[emf]

People who suck at something, have no business telling someone else the “right” way to do it.

It would be kind of like me, who can barely draw a stick figure, walking up to a painter at any level and telling them the right way to paint a picture. Don’t tell other people the “right” way to do something if you have zero experience and no talent at it yourself. People who do that are just pretending to be something they are not and I freaking can’t stand people like that. So yeah, you can fuck off too, you pretentious shit.

But you would be able to tell if a painting was badly done, or if you went into a restaurant and had a bad meal, you’d know, you wouldn’t have to be a chef yourself. This place is made up of professionals and amateurs alike (I’m in the latter). The connection between people here is that we all love photography, so even if some of us still have a long way to go, people can still recognise things that work and don’t work in images we see. It can sting but there’s no need to get defensive, people are trying to help you improve.

[IHF]

People who charge fellow artists to take pictures of them like this https://www.flickr.com/photos/dgterryphoto/sets/72157648485194673/

are the ones pretending to be something they’re not.

As far as deleting your account/post.  I’m not sure it’s possible.  It could be possible, but since so many in the past have changed their account names to things like “fuck Off”, “delete me”, and the like and yet their posts remain… I’m guessing there’s no option for it.  I once was successful at editing a post after the allotted time was up, but for the life of me I can’t remember how.

Im sorry that you didn’t take the time to realize how brutal and honest the critques usually are here.  Maybe a forum that requires people to sandwich any negative between complimentary nicey nice bullshit would be more your speed?  There are plenty forums like that out there.

My advice to you is in the future when you seek critisism of your work, be prepared mentally for it.  You might find this article helpful/useful

 

[IHF]

Oops forgot the link

5 Things You Should Know About Receiving Photography Critique

 

[DeleteMePlease]

I understand where you’re coming from, emf. I really do. But this…

“Nice jpegs of who appears to be a sweet young girl juxtaposed by one scroll of the mouse wheel with garrish, frightening shots of punk rockers with a decidedly sinister look. Forward to ducks, churches, rescued squirrels, and war heroes contrasted immediately by – wait for it – the scary punk rockers.

Then the Telly Savalis ‘Talking Tina’ doll from the Twilight Zone? Now I’m gonna have nightmares that a war hero dressed as your niece is going to a wedding of ducks and squirrels in a church where the punk rock band is performing.

Save your BEST work for a portfolio. Not every shot on the memory card.”

…is not trying to help me improve. That is just being a pretentious asshole. Especially coming from some creepy old dude who only takes random pictures of little kids. The only person I had a problem with is him. But others had to butt in and get involved. Anyway, now that I’ve gotten some sleep and I’m in a little less of a pissy mood, I will say that I simply disagree with your analogy.

And again, if someone out there could delete my account, that would be swell.

[DeleteMePlease]

Again, for the millionth time. I had a problem with exactly ONE person’s so called “critique”. I thanked everyone else and found what they had to say helpful. So, you as well, can fuck off. “I Hate Fauxtography.”

For the record, I haven’t charged anything for any pictures yet, Including the ones you linked to in order to try to prove some point. I have however had two bands I don’t know contact me after seeing the photos you linked to and offer to pay me to shoot them. So, although I will not charge very much because I am well aware of my skill level, if someone offers to pay me money to take photos, I’m sure as hell not going to turn them down.

Please do share with me your website and portfolio, so I may learn from your infinite pool of knowledge and immense talents.

 

 

Jesus, I can’t believe I’m actually arguing with people on the internets. 

[IHF]

I agree that eyedoc could have worded things differently, (he was looking for a giggle from us, and it worked lol, I think most of us take things a little easier on people new to photography, but eyedoc is rather new as well, and I assume he didn’t feel he had to censor himself) but the outcome is the same.  There’s no cohesiveness (is that even a word?) to your port, and it’s uncomfortable to veiw.  Culling/editing would help your viewers tremendously, and by regularly culling it will in turn help your photography as well.  We get that you took issue with it, but I don’t think you understand how arrogant and insulting you have been, not only to eyedoc, but to all of us in general.  Not cool.

eyedoc took his licks, and we had a lot of laughs at his expense when he first arrived.  He asked if he could stick around and give his two cents, and I told him we all are learning, we all suck and want to improve, we all want better photography out there, and that his opinions and observations are just as valid as anyone else’s.  I have to admit, I thought he’d be a softer touch with our group critques considering how rough we were with him lol, but he settled in quickly.

My port…sigh… I honestly don’t understand how viewing my port will help you to swallow the critisim you have received from eyedoc but here it is just the same.  Knock yourself out http://www.500pxart.com/MelindaPotter?q=user&only=&order=rating

[DeleteMePlease]

Again, my Flickr account is not my portfolio. It’s by far the most casual place I share photos. I just share photos that I like on there that I don’t think are completely horrible. That’s it.

My portfolio is on my website, there are less than 100 photos there in 12 different categories, and as a design choice, there are some random photos together on the front page, but there are categorized menus at the top for visitors to look at specific categories. The bottom line is, I like to take a lot of different types of photographs. Maybe one day, I’ll decide I want to focus 100% on one type of photography, but for now, I’m going to share a little of everything I’m interested in.
But, honestly I didn’t ask for critique on my layout on Flickr or my website. Maybe that’s part of why I got pissed off. I asked for critique of the photos, specifically the portraits I did, simply because I had never attempted to do them before. I just don’t get why a few people keep talking about my “portfolio” layout on Flickr when it isn’t my portfolio.

Anyway, sorry I got so upset and for my rude remarks. I’m actually a really laid back guy. Some things just set me off every now and then. You’re photos are lovely, by the way. Very distinct style.

 

[emf]

I agree with Don about the posing. Also her expression seems a bit uneasy. Learning how to pose and also get the subject to relax is something I have struggled with too so I can’t advice much sorry! But I think these are areas that you especially need to focus on. There have already been good links posted. Another thing is I would suggest is watch your backgrounds as the woodland is a nice setting but in a couple the branches cut right through your subject, such as here

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dgterryphoto/16369546328/

You have a pretty model and the images are well executed so with some reading up and practice on posing and eliciting good expressions, you will have stronger portraits.

[DeleteMePlease]

I see what you mean about the background. That tree limb is kinda going right into her eye, isn’t it? Haha. Can you explain exactly why she seems uneasy? I really don’t see that in the image, even though you are right about it. What I mean, is I know that she was uneasy, but wondering what it is about the photo that made you pick up on that?

Without getting too personal, this is my niece and she’s had a pretty rough life and has a ridiculously low self esteem, so you’re spot on in your observation that she’s not relaxed. She’s extremely self conscious about her looks. Honestly, one of the main reasons I asked her to let me shoot her was I was hoping some nice photos would help boost her confidence a little.

The other main thing I was concerned with was the processing. Does her skin look natural and not over processed? I did some slight spot removal of blemishes and brightened up the eyes just slightly because she already has gorgeous eyes. Just wondering if anything seems over processed in the pictures and how close I am to getting that aspect of it down.

[DeleteMePlease]

For the record, I’d like to publicly apologize to EyeDocPhotog. I lost my temper and acted like an asshole. If you read this, you are obviously a bigger man than I am because you chose to just leave this conversation once I went in to douche bag mode.  So, again, if you read this, I apologize for my immature rants. I lose my temper much too easily sometimes.

[emf]

Like here for example,

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dgterryphoto/16557217395/

She is smiling but her smile and facial muscles seem tense, like she is smiling because she’s been asked to rather than because she genuinely smiling. Also, her eyebrows seem raised slightly and her eyes seem to have a hint of suspicion in them – but now you explain a little about her, it comes across more as self consciousness and worry.

Here,

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dgterryphoto/16557219325/in/photostream/

her expression seems very unhappy, which may have been intentional, but I read it more as she is uncomfortable in front of the camera. Her shoulders seem high and and tense, so does her hand and arm.

I am stumbling my way through posing and getting genuinely good expressions too; actually it sounds so dumb but the realisation that these things are so important, slapped me in the face during a disaster shoot where I realised I had NO idea about them what-so-ever!. It didn’t even occur to me; I spent so much time thinking about technical details and composition but none about posing and expression. Here is the thread, I had some great advice and it may be help you too.

Getting people to relax in front of the camera.

I think developing the way you work with your sitters/models involves a lot if trail and error and psychology too – working out what the they will respond to best, it will vary from person to person. A lady I particularly like is Ana Brandt, not especially for her photos but more the ease and friendly way she directs her clients. Here’s a short link of hers,

I don’t find the portaits over processed, the one thing I notice though there are some colour inconsistencies between them and as a series it’s good to have more unified colour palette that runs throughout, linking them as a series, some are quite cool in colour temperature while others are much warmer.

like here is cooler, https://www.flickr.com/photos/dgterryphoto/16557219325/in/photostream/

but here is much warmer, https://www.flickr.com/photos/dgterryphoto/16555534191/in/photostream/

Good luck!

[Bill]

Tempers and other things aside, I had a chance to look at your “Flickr” account and I wanted to jump in and give my 2¢, but didn’t have the time.

Yes, your Flickr page/account/portfolio should not be your go-to portfolio, but that being said, it does make things easier to share and display without having a dedicated website.  Either way, who really cares,as long as we can see what you are trying to display.

 

In my humble opinion, I did not care for your processing on your later shots, but that’s just me.  I am referring to the HDR look. To me, making a  punk band look grungy adds to their character but it didn’t come through with the processing style you went with, at least to me anyway. That being said, the black and whites do the band no justice either.  From my experience, mind you, B&W processing is a go-to when you are trying to convey texture, depth and feeling without the disruption of color.  This is why you see so many dramatic portraits done in B&W.  For the band, it doesn’t fire for me, but hey that’s my opinion.

As for your niece, she is a beautiful girl, coming out of her shell to pose in front of a camera must be a very new experience and a big step forward for her.  No matter how the photos come out, keep encouraging her and try to ease up and have her [and you] relax, have fun, that’s when the best photos will come out.

As for the posing, that just takes time and practice.  You can go online and get several “free” ideas for techniques like this one HERE, there are tons available online if you search hard enough, but the key is to relax and have fun with it.

I see some small technical mistakes that are easily correctable, but that comes with time and shooting.

Out of all of the photos on your flickr page, I like this one the most.  It’s simple, clear, in focus and straight to the point.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/dgterryphoto/16415941725/

 

Another thing I see is that you like to shoot, keep it up and keep sharing.
 

[Author]

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