[Al]

Hmm.. hate commenting without much to add, but I have to say that I hate Fauxtography nailed it (again, I swear I’m not stalking you!) and despite dicksforeyes difficult to swallow approach, I agree with him in that anyone could have taken those shots.  It’s the trendy style at the moment, so therefore millions are doing it.  I don’t see, however, what he’s talking about re: flash, as I only saw one shot obviously with flash and yeah, it wasn’t good (http://www.hrodgers.com/gallery/upload/2012/05/14/pwg_high/20120514120207-4835aba1.jpg).

Also, I found many of your backgrounds distracting.. most clients might not notice, but I do, so advice may not matter to clients. That’s a thing to remember when asking advice from other shooters, we care about things the may not care about or even notice, so keep that in mind.

The main issue I have is what IHF said about careful with your lighting and WB when shooting outdoors.. wildly inconsistent.

PS as much as dicksforeyes is a blunt prick (not saying that bad dfe!), the little time I’ve spent on this site leads me to agree with  him (and IHF) more than most.  His body of work lends him credibility even if the words/methods are hard to swallow.. just sayin’.

[Al]

First things first, agree with sailgal, jetpix and brownie in that working with M will help. Maybe not right now (as I’ll explain below) but it will. Not sure how ready you are, but by no means would I tell you not to use M.  Can’t hurt.

Why I agree that M might not be for you at the moment is inline somewhat with what dicksforeyes says.  Basically, I find your images snap-shottish/boring.  Not bad, just not interesting to me.  They speak to me as someone clearly learning, and that’s ok. But none of your images stood out as something other than an image that could have been taken by any other newb.  I did the same when starting.  What you need to ask yourself is how you go about ensuring that your images are different from the billion other people who could have been standing there taking the same exact shot.

You’ve GOT to get more creative with your composition. The vast majority of your images are pretty much bang dead in the center which to me is really really boring.

Also, all of your animal images feels soft. Maybe it’s the upload, but I have a feeling it’s a result of your doing a great deal of cropping of the image since you can’t get close enough in-camera, right?

Short answer is that you’re still in snap-shot phase. Does that make you a fauxtog? No, it makes you an amateur that’s trying to learn and that’s ok. We’ve all been there.  Some guys, like “no one special”, are still there even if they don’t know it.   Keep shooting, but keep being harsh on yourself and ensure you’re trying to do something different than every other joe schmoe with a camera.

May I also recommend Digital Photography School.. great place to get critique.. but I’m biased, I’m a moderator there. (http://digital-photography-school.com/forum/members/bigfuzzy.html) 😉

Good luck!

NOTE TO “no one special” – “Proper exposure, nice composition, not a lot of editing if any”  thank you for your opinion, but your attitude/opinion might be better received if the vast majority of your portfolio wasn’t boringly composed dead center.. heck your Kimberly dawn portfolio has 4 of 35 images NOT composed bang dead in the center, ie boring.  All but ONE of your “Color” album are dead center!!  Every single image of your “B&W”, “Animals”,  portfolios are dead center.. Practically the same with your Sextones album. I stopped looking at this point.  I’m shocked honestly that you’d give advice on composition. I won’t comment on the editing and exposure issues on Kimberly, poor girl.

So, may I kindly suggest you reevaluate your own above quoted advice as you do exactly what you tell the OP is wrong with her work! Especially when doing it with such a holier than thou attitude, yeah?

[Al]

Oddly, I have nothing to add to what has been said (I usually LOVE hearing myself talk) but I think “I hate fauxtography” nailed the major issues on the head.  Especially the part of “ooh, pretty, CLICK”… In the end, they’re still snapshots. Not that it’s a horrible thing if that’s what you want, but it’s clear that’s not what you want, right?

I always suggest to folks that they really really have to start asking themselves “how can I take THIS picture and make it different than anyone else standing here with a camera would do?” That forces you to get out of the “ooh, pretty CLICK” phase and really think about your images.

Good luck!

 

PS nice critique IHF!

[Al]

diverging somewhat from dicksforeyes comment.. IF you’re going to be a prick and mock and condescend others work, then yes “pics or gtfo”..

participating in fun discussion and all that which doesn’t include the above.. welcome aboard!

DISCLAIMER: That’s how I’d like the world to be.. clearly you are allowed to participate all you want.. just don’t be surprised if pricks like me (and dicksforeyes!) say stuff like “pics or gtfo!”  🙂

 

[Al]

WTF are you talking about Henny?

How did I find Michaels profile/’work’ if it wasn’t posted here originally?  That’s who I responded to.. not this NEW EDIT profile that showing in that first response! There’s nothing on your profile NOW that would lead me to his work.  I couldn’t have randomly guessed your hubby’s work from your current edited profile.. that’s what I’m talking about.

It was him that posted the original a-hole reply to the OP and now his profile/name/links are GONE.   THAT’S what I’m talking about.

Unless I’m f’ing pyschic? Hmmm, that would be cool.

Someone want to be an ass on the web, be prepared to be called out. That’s all I’m sayin’… anyway, I’m done. [blip]

[Al]

@dicksforeyes – “they can post their work and be completely delusional with regard to its merit too”  true that.

“I don’t find either of these behaviors unexpected. ” DOn’t get me wrong, I expect it, I just don’t like it. 🙂 I’m a big shit talker myself. I call it as I see it with no fear, but am willing to take it as well (for better or worse)

“Hey wait you don’t seem to have any photos up either” Ooops,. shit, I thought the “website” section on my portfolio would show up. Fixed now, my sig and profile show my website. Now I don’t feel like a hypocrite, thanks!

@ Brownie – yeah, I’ve not. It’s why I said “I don’t see honest criticism actually existing here” because I’ve not seen any in all the things I’ve viewed. But if that’s the case, kudos on you. Though I’m not sure why you do it, do you think anyone reading and commenting actually will gain from it? If so, who knows maybe I’ll be a bit more constructive as well. Mostly I get a kick at all the a-hole comments and then chuckle when I see their work…. IF they have the balls to post it. 🙂

Anyway.. this was just a rant against all the internet anonymity bravado which irks me.  I know it’s how it is, don’t mean I have to like it! 🙂

[Al]

Henny … we’re not talking professional critics here.  We’re talking about people coming here and (rightfully or wrongfully) trashing something.  But whatever, I’m sure you’re just responding because I called out your husband for being a shit in an early post.

 

Brownie –  good question IF “honest criticism” was actually happening here.  Let’s not fool ourselves, this website (which I love btw) is geared totally towards mockery.. nothing less, nothing more.  Do we honestly believe that fauxtogs learn from this.. no, they’re not the target audience anyways.

So yeah, trash talking is what I was going after because I don’t see honest criticism actually existing here. 🙂

[Al]

Huh? Is it me or did Michael have his wife come in here, delete his posts, change the profile, and defend him when he was being an a-hole?

Tsk tsk.. “men” in the army sure have changed since I was in it.  Oh, and what happened to the photo in jetpix’s link? Deleted? Figures.

Oh well. Moving on…

[Al]

Yeah, camera.shy, you should really really take seriously smart ass comments from a guy who claims THIS as a portfolio worthy photo or refers to himself as “Mafia–Hitman“.   Yep, totally take him seriously.    Ignore the tool.  Seems that when I tried to use the “link” button above, it didn’t work so I had to do it in the html tab.

Hey “hitman” since you seem willing to give unasked for advice… how’s this for advice?: Less time on assholish useless posts, more time on learning how to expose and light images properly?
Would you mind me submitting THIS to YANAP Mikey?

[Author]

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