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JanJan
ParticipantI hope I don’t get called an arrogant dickhead for defending Brownie, but here’s my 2 cents…
I actually don’t see any mean-spirited criticism from Brownie or anyone in this thread, and personally, I would see Brownie’s response as constructive criticism. To me, complete criticism to the point of insulting would be along the lines of “Your work sucks”, “Give it up, you’re not good enough”, etc. Brownie’s response is along the lines of constructive criticism because he spent the time to point out the areas and give examples of where you need to improve. I agree with Stef that Brownie’s comments were pretty tame. However, Stef also said he would call you a fauxtographer in a heartbeat if asked. I would personally find that comment more insulting and I’m pretty surprised you didn’t call Stef an “arogant dickhead” because of it.
It looks to me, in hindsight, that you were expecting the people in this forum to rave over your photography, considering that you’re a beginner, but you didn’t get the answer you wanted and you took it personally. The fact that you said, “I know I said I’d accept criticism, but by the looks of it, I haven’t” completely gave that away. I admit, whenever I show off my work, I hope that people raves over my photography with little criticism, but I know that’s not going to happen.
Now on to your work…I’m on the same boat as you are. I’ve loosely been a hobby photographer since 2006, but I got more serious with it a few months ago when I started taking pictures of people, so I’m not one to pinpoint exactly what you need to work on. Overall, I think your work is great for someone who started only 5 months ago. I’m into bright and bold colors in pictures, so I think you have the right amount of saturation in your images.
Edit: I realized I’m too late with this post and that you guys worked it out! 🙂
ParticipantSo I added her on Facebook. I saw that her and her friends were talking about buying cameras so they can start a photography business. So clueless! Just because you buy a DSLR does not automatically make you a professional, let alone create professional looking-pictures.
Here is the screen shot of that conversation (she has a regular FB page, not a business page): http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p95/aablis/facebook.jpg
She’s been also getting a lot of work. I guess those people have been responding well to her $25 special. I think her customers are just as worse as her…they enable bad photography.
I also saw that she’s been doing this a lot longer than I and have not improved at all. She also accepts credit cards, but charges an additional $2.
Looking at her work makes me really want to raise my price, especially since I have received very good feedback about my work, but I’m hesitant because of my lack of experience and equipment. I feel that if someone is paying good money for photo shoots, the photographer should be able to shoot anything well at any given time. I still have to work on that, especially with flashes and strobes.
I also worry about doing paid photoshoots with people who has a better camera than mine. One time, I did a shoot with a family of 14 who met up during the Thanksgiving break and they were taking pictures of their own with a Canon 60D. This was clearly a better camera than my Nikon D3000.
But then of course, it’s the photographer, not the camera, that makes the difference. I saw that family’s pictures on their Facebook with the 60D and it was underexposed with too much saturation during the editing process.
ParticipantMonkeymess…while I do think your pictures are not very good and needs A TON of work, I do agree that all the trolling on your Facebook was uncalled for (I did mention this in an earlier post). I also think that throwing insults at your subjects was uncalled for as well. I rather do some constructive criticism on the composition of your subjects in your pictures, rather than your subject’s “imperfections”.
ParticipantI don’t speak for everyone, but for me, I am criticizing people’s work. Cynthianna and KTM might seem like nice people, but I’m criticizing their work, not them personally. However, I find it a little bit too far to troll on their Facebook pages and make comments with the intent of making them look dumb.
Just because someone is doing something as a hobby doesn’t mean they can charge people. A hobby can turn into a paid job that they love and enjoy, but they have to meet with industry or consumer standards. Sorry to say…Cynthianna’s and KTM’s work are not up to par with the photography industry.
For instance, my full-time job as a web/graphic designer started out as a hobby when I was in high school, and it became my career 6 years later. My first websites (which were made using Geocities, AOL, and Tripod) were not up to par with the industry.
Same thing goes with photography. I’m about as new as Cynthianna and KTM, but I’ve been told my work is clearly better (http://www.photosbyanjanette.com/). However, because my work is not up to par with someone more experience, I rarely charge for my photography services. If I do get paid work, I make sure as hell that my pictures don’t appear on this website and this forum, and neither should anyone trying to pursue this as a business.
Maybe within time, they can do better, but they have to pretty much throw all their techniques out the window. If you look at their work objectively, would you honestly pay a single dime for the end product? For me, NO! I would be VERY pissed and even embarrassed!
ParticipantI mentioned her in a different post. She calls herself a “Freelance Photographer”. Here’s her website – http://www.toyayoung.com/
Her pictures on her Facebook are even more worse!
I would fire the person who hired her to take professional pictures of them:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.308605492539962.73702.100001715400441&type=3This is no better than a regular tourist taking a picture in front of the Las Vegas sign:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=308605512539960&set=a.308605492539962.73702.100001715400441&type=3&theaterHorrible Wedding Pictures
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.306054426128402.73099.100001715400441&type=3This one just looks awkward
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=308299429237235&set=a.308266332573878.73637.100001715400441&type=3&theaterParticipantI don’t understand why she spot-colored the baby and left the grass colored
Participant@Intuition….awww I love pugs! I got 2 of them and I love them dearly. Here is a pic of my little girl!
ParticipantI’ve been a Las Vegas resident since 2006. I was born and raised in the Los Angeles area prior to that, so I go back and forth between cities often.
ParticipantThank you for all the positive feedback on my portfolio! I’ve been a hobbyist photographer, mainly shooting landscapes since 2006, but after taking an online photography class at my local community college in Spring 2012, I’ve moved on to taking pictures of people.
I might just keep in touch with her, only to make a new friend, which I don’t mind. However, I don’t think I plan on taking her with me to any of my shoots. The most I’ll probably do with her photography-wise is probably have a photo day just for fun, with no money involved or anything.
I continued to talk with her through text and asked if she gets paid for her work. She told me she just did a 3-hour baby shower for $150, but her normal shoots are $50. I told her that I’ve had paid shoots before (mainly to ensure that people don’t take advantage of my time), but I’m very careful and ask a lot of questions first to see if I can do it, and if I can’t, I just turn them down (especially if it’s for a wedding or special event). I make sure to be very honest about my skill level and let people know that I’m just starting out. In response, she told me that she will shoot anything, but will let people know if she can do it or not.
After she told me her rate, I’m starting to think that I’m charging too low to give myself so much stress on making my pictures perfect. I always get nervous before doing a paid shoot and I really plan ahead. I’ve been only charging people $60 for sessions up to 2-hours, and it also includes at least 10 of the best shots edited. However, for the most part, I’ve been offering free shoots or doing TFP shoots to build my portfolio, and only had 5 people pay me.
This is off-topic, but the reason why I’ve been charging on some of my shoots is to ensure that no one takes advantage of my time. When I did my first TFP shoot, I ended up spending about 10 hours with this girl her over a span of 3 days, and I don’t want that to happen again!
ParticipantThanks for your feedback. To answer your questions, I mostly shoot aperture priority. I use full manual mode when I use my Yongnuo speedlight because it’s fully manual and it’s not a TTL. I do bracket my shots, but I don’t use the light meter in my camera as much. I know, I need to use it more! I think I’m doing bracketing all wrong because I make my adjustments, take a shot, look at my LCD screen, make more adjustments, and then I continue the cycle. This probably slows down the process and looking at my camera’s light meter would be much easier. (I tend to make things harder on myself. LOL)
I shoot in both RAW and JPG, but since I started using Lightroom, I rarely touch my unedited JPG files. I prefer Lightroom over Aperture because the transition to Photoshop is easier with Lightroom. I start my editing with Lightroom, and if I need to do more retouching, I open the file in Photoshop.
I’ve been told that I’m good with the overall composition. I just need to work on making my photos stand out in a good way!
Participant@BrownEyedGirl…my website was not free, but I because I am a web designer by profession, I set it up myself. I purchased my domain name (www.photosbyanjanette.com) and the hosting through GoDaddy. My domain name is about $12-$15 a year and the hosting is $9 a month, but my hosting plan is higher than the basic plan because I am hosting 5 sites. A regular hosting plan is about $4-$6 a month.
I downloaded the entire WordPress platform through wordpress.org, and I uploaded it into my hosting server and did all the configurations. There are many WordPress themes to choose from, especially for photography portfolios. You just have to Google “WordPress Themes”.
GoDaddy can also assist you with setting up a WordPress site. I don’t know if this is an extra cost, but their customer service help you out.
ParticipantHi My Heart…I am in the same boat as you, trying to learn and get better at photography, and with that said, I feel I don’t have the experience to fully critique your work.
However, I do want to critique your website, since I have the experience in that area =) I’ve been proficient with HTML since 1997 when I self-taught myself HTML in high school. Professionally, I’ve been a web designer for 7 years and internet marketer for 6 years, including 2 1/2 years as an E-Commerce Manager.
Obviously, you are trying to sell your services through your website. When creating a website, the number one rule is to make it user-friendly enough so that people will stay on your website longer enough to see your “product” (your photography). Keep it simple, straightforward, and easy to navigate.
As for the auto-start music, I understand it has sentimental meaning, but it’s a big no-no from a marketing standpoint. It is forcing people to turn down their sound, especially if they are viewing your website from their office. It will interfere with people who are already listening to music, especially with Pandora or Spotify running in the background. If you really want to share the music and it’s meaning, maybe you should put it on your “About” section. Or you can highlight it somewhere on the front page and give the user the option to turn it on.
I agree with BrownEyedGirl that maybe you should look into WordPress. My photography portfolio website, http://www.photosbyanjanette.com, is made with WordPress. The bad thing about Wix is that it’s all Flash-based, which is a dying trend especially with smartphones. iPhones are not capable of viewing Flash sites, and that is at least 50% of the market. The great thing about WordPress (especially with my site), is that you can view it on smartphones and tablets easily. Some WordPress themes has the ability to automatically format correctly if you’re viewing from your phone or on your computer (it’s called Responsive Design). Another reason why Flash sites are dying because they are not friendly for search engines. If people already know the name of your business, it’s easy to find on Google, but if people are searching for generic keywords like “photographer in Las Vegas” or “Las Vegas wedding photography”, a search-engine friendly site will pick up these keywords and have a higher chance to appear on the first 10 of the search page.
As for your photography, my critiques mostly echos everyone’s posts before mine, but again, I’m starting out and I don’t have the same level of confidence to critique your photography the same way I can critique your website.
On a final note, it seems like you really love your website, so I would just keep it for your own personal use or to share with friends and family. But if really want to advertise your photography, I would make a separate website solely on that.
And by the way, sorry for my shameless promotion, but I am also a freelance web and graphic designer, so if you need help at a low price, let me know!
ParticipantJust like the previous posts above, I am mostly here to gawk at the photos that made it on the first page and mostly shake my head in disbelief that people actually paid for them. As for my own personal photography growth, I somewhat use this website as a learning experience.
ParticipantMake sure you’re logged on Facebook to view these atrocious pictures.
This guy claims he’s a fashion photographer, turned radio DJ. He was going to teach me some photography techniques and got me access into Las Vegas fashion week in exchange for working on his website (I’m a full-time web designer). He bragged that he could “teach me techniques that doesn’t require Photoshop”. I was naive and new back then.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=519309214749554&set=a.518951358118673.136905.100000114416678&type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=518954331451709&set=a.518951358118673.136905.100000114416678&type=3&theaterThis is supposed to be “artistic”. It looks nasty:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=594023993944742&set=a.344031158944028.101914.100000114416678&type=3&theaterJust his entire album is awful. I’m glad I didn’t take any advice from him.
ParticipantKimera, I’m kind of in the same boat as you…
Nikon D3000
Nikon D50 (I pawned this camera for a little bit and when I took it out of pawn, the thumbwheel that adjusts that aperture and shutter speed was broken and it now works no better than a point and shoot. I don’t know if I should count this.)
Nikkor 50mm 1.8
Nikkor 35mm 1.8 DX
Nikkor 18-55mm 3.5-5.6 (the kit lens)
Tamron 18-5mm 3.5-6.3
Nikon SB-400 flash (it’s compact, only tilts to 90 degrees, and doesn’t swivel)
Yongnuo YN560II speedlightI’ve been dying to go full-frame (and I’ve been eying the Nikon D600), but I know I should invest in lenses first, so my wish list is a 85mm 1.8 or 1.4 and a 24-70 2.8.
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