[Bill]

I have to agree. The photos are not bad, but not inspiring and look like they would be part of your personal page and not a photo gallery of any sort.

Ebi & CC are right, get out and take more shots, even if it’s only in your yard, house or around the block. Get a vision in your head and try to convey the story through the images you take. Remember the old saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” You don’t want those words to be that your photos are bad.

[Bill]

I’m a little confused? Did you include the link for critique or just wanted to point out that she is a fauxtog?
The photos are bad and in bad taste, IMO, but not going to get into it without reason.

[Bill]

CC – yes that is the cord string I was referring to. It is minor but it is like a shiny penny in your peripheral vision just drawing your attention away the slightest bit, or maybe that’s my ADD

[Bill]

WTF – Man that Blessed Memories hurt my eyes. Would have moderately okay of the color profile was somewhere near close, ouch!
And what the hell is up with the starburst vignette?

[Bill]

@ Seth…Not a problem, with just a name, it is easy to get mixed in with the others, LOL

[Bill]

@ CameraClicker – you bring up an interesting topic, about face facebook likes and Yelp reviews and such.
I see that there are businesses out there, for a fee, will generate “Likes” for your page. I am ?? How is that 1) legal and 2) ethical.
I see some of these “fauxtog” pages that have several hundred or even over a thousand “Likes” and wondered how can that many people like that crap? Puzzling to me, but that was before I saw the companies that will do the “Liking” for you.

@ Seth – I think you are getting me mixed up with the juicyboo/coomommy Bill. I did write the post that said “Love me or I will shut you up, but I’m not sure if you got the meaning of why I said it. That’s okay, the context is sometimes hard to convey on a post like this.

This Bill has a swirly image next to my name. I am not a Lawyer, I am not a doctor, but I play one from time to time. I am a photographer and a critic and not related to juicyboo/coomommy12 or whatever other names that Fake non-spelling person uses.

[Bill]

The problem is that some people that call themselves “Professionals” post sub-par work and cry about it when someone says it’s bad.  What’s really bad is the fact that you charged someone good money for bad work.  If I went into a restaurant and ordered a steak and got ground chuck, I would be pissed and damn straight I would tell them about it.

The thing to remember is even professional photographers make mistakes and take bad photos from time to time.  The difference between a professional and a faux-fessional is that the professional does not let anyone see the bad photos, they never see the light of day.  Only put your best work out there, that’s the way to being pro.  If your work is not good enough, then do something else.

Whether you are just starting out or a “Pro” be a sponge and absorb the knowledge that you can gain from others, that and practice, practice, practice.  That is the way you get better.  Hell, I practiced on a beauticians modeling head when a didn’t have anyone to help out, and I still have it.

[Bill]

I would remove those pics of the Ultimate Photo Battles, does not help your case one bit.  If anything it makes you look more like a fauxtog then anything or a guy looking for acclaim.

As for a hobby or professional, using facebook is a fine way to “promote” your photography but like nairbynair stated earlier, having it in some sort of order or cataloged in a way that is more flattering to your craft.  Having a random mix of photos mixed with a trip to the zoo and aquarium is fine for your personal page, but watermarking some of the photos tells me that you’re thinking a bit more serious then vacation snaps.  If they are just snaps, leave the watermark off of them, trust me.

As for the woman in the park, makes you look like a perv or stalker, unless you are one, I would have deleted it.  Facebook is cheap aka Free, create another page for your photography and keep the “serious ” ones on there and don’t inter-mix them.  Then others will take you more seriously.  If I were you, I would go through your photos, pick out your best and post them to one of the many Free sites, Facebook, Flickr, Weebly, Wix, 72dpi, 500px and so on.

My critique:  not trying to break you down or anything.  Some of the photos are meh to okay.  I see a lot of technical issues like composition, focus, complimentary contrasts and so on.  But it is hard for me to honestly look at your photos and really critique them without knowing which ones you were really trying on verses the ones that are just snaps.

[Bill]

No Problem SnapHappy, it’s all in good fun

[Bill]

@ Seth  The phrase I used

“Love me or I will find a way to shut you up until you do!!!”

Basically means that people love getting praise and acclaim, but say something that they do not like, they try to pull every trick in the book to get you to retract the “bad”.  People who cannot take criticism well will go to great lengths to keep those who don’t like their work quiet.  Sometimes it backfires on them, called the Streisand Effect.

Instead of taking the criticism like a grown up and moving on, they go and pull childish pranks and lash out at others.

[Bill]

Let’s not get me confused with the person who is impersonating a lawyer who cannot spell.

My name is Bill, there are more then one of us out there named Bill.  Bill Gates, Bill Shakespeare, Bill Clinton and so on…

Please refer the comments about Monkey whatever the name is to the Bill that goes by coolmommy12, Thank you!

[Bill]

I have to agree mostly with CC on the photos, but I just wanted to give what I saw.  I will go in the order of the way the links are posted.

1st photo – Not sure if it the DOF or if you masked out the background but the outer edges of the horse are too soft.  I don’t know horses, but having the mane draped over may have looked better, but then again, I don’t know the horse or your situation.  What was the background?  A key light behind the horse may have gave the image some more depth.  Just guessing here since I’m not sure what was there and what you had to work with.

2nd photo – Horses in motion can be very dramatic shots.  The muscle tones look good but IMO could use a bit more contrast and a different angle.  Truly, no one wants to see a horse’s ass.  In this case a fill flash would have made the image worse by highlighting something that should not be highlighted.  These shots can be trying to get, sometimes you got to spray and pray because going in the corral may not be allowed and be dangerous.  If you were at the 2 – 4 o’clock position taking this shot, things would have been greatly different.

3rd photo – Agree with CC, fill flash on the right side of the horses face would make this better.  I would also crop out that distracting string in the upper right-hand corner.  As small as it is, it draws my attention away from the cute little pony.  I “assume” the uploaded image is a low-res version?  I zoom into it and it looks soft, rightfully so if it is a low-res version.  If not, it could use a slight bit of sharpening, but not too much.  Otherwise that shot is something I would see in a cutesy calendar.

4th photo – fill flash or reflector to see the horse’s face details.  The lens flare looks good but the horse’s face is way too dark, too dark to make any of the facial features out.  If this was shot in RAW, you might be able to save it by adding some fill, but I would not go too far as it will create a ton of noise.  As you can see by bringing into ACR, the blue areas are where details are too dark.  I know horses don’t stay still for long, so a slow shutter speed would not help.

http://tinypic.com/m/hrwuw0/1

[Bill]

It’s the American Way!

 

Love me or I will find a way to shut you up until you do!!!
Got to love it.
I think if anything if I saw my photography on here, I would take a long hard look at it and see what people are truly saying about it and see what I could do to improve on it.  Yeah, I would be a little shammed in knowing that my name and business is listed as a “Fauxtog,” but like you said, I would rather it be here then on a Yelp Page.  On here, people are giving their unbiased opinions and true critiques, not just some “good Job” or “nice pic” from friends and family.

I reviewed a local burger place on Yelp that everyone around town said was just better then awesome.  I went and the burger was visually awesome, but tasted like something a neighbor could have made on a backyard grill.  I clearly stated on my review that I did not have their signature burger and that I was harder on burger and pizza joints then other types of businesses.  I did point out that the service was great, the burger was picturesque and besides the taste, it was just great.

But what good is a burger if it doesn’t taste good?  Same thing in photography.  If you have heart and passion, that is great, but if you lack the skills to execute that heart and passion, you need to learn them or try something else.  Simple as that!

By the way, the owner of that burger place [a chain that has several locations across the US] emailed me wanting me to come back and give them another try.  I stated that I “may” someday, but I have not been back since.

[Bill]

Looks like got just got DEEP in here!!!

I will, be finding A Lawyer for you will be in lots of Trouble.

I am a lawyer not a photographer.

Bi-polar, maybe?  I not a professional when it comes to disorders, but if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it must be a goose.

 

[Bill]

Where do I sign up, this is just too good to be true.

 

Just in case, I’ll be waitin’ in the Wal-Mart parking lot.  I’ll be in the other broken down RV, but mine is 6 different colors and part Dodge, part Chevy and part something else.

Just plain awesome!!!

[Author]

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