[creyes8519]

Yet another fauxtographer who offers their services for weddings… ughhhh so annoying…

[creyes8519]

Holy cow.  If this website ever ran out of fauxtog photos to post, there is a GOLDMINE of photos on her facebook

 

[creyes8519]

And to Stef, discussions like these really show that photography can be subjective.  I looked through her work and saw that even in the shots with direct sunlight, the harsh shadows actually WORKED in her images.  Usually, I hate harsh shadows in photography.  Especially over the face.  Like in the wedding shots of David and Carolyn… but they are remarkably beautiful shots.  I would seek out a photographer like her for my photos because I know they would look nothing like any of my friend’s wedding photos….

To me, it seems that the OP knows the basics, but has her own style.   I am in love… seriously in love.  And I’m even surprised that she even had to ask if she was a fauxtog.

[creyes8519]

Are you a fauxtog.  Absolutley not.  Keep charging.  I would pay you some good money to shoot my wedding.  Remember fashion photography usually advertises products like outfits/bags/etc. so like the suggestions above have mentioned, overblowing or extreme color casts are generally not good in that area, but the shots are great nonetheless.  What I like about your work is that I looked through your Facebook and I wasn’t bored.  I happily spent a good 15 minutes looking at your photos.  I really love them.  Keep up the good work.

[creyes8519]

I hate when fauxtographers shoot freaking weddings!  That is the worst beyond worst type of fauxtographers.  Ugh!  I’m sorry, but the client wanted photos worth $150..  I’m sure the bride could have gotten her sister or cousin to take the pics with her camera phone and gotten better shots.   To the OP: Unfortunately, you are paying for the time of the photographer.  The photographer spent X amount of hours at your wedding so should be compensated as such.  If I was you, I would pay the full balance of $150 (since that was what was agreed upon) and express your displeasure to the photographer so that hopefully they do not attempt another wedding again.

[creyes8519]

You have improved, but you have a lot of improving to do.  The actions are horrible… just stop them.    You really have to look at portfolios of more skilled and experienced photographers, then compare them to your work and then ask yourself, as a consumer, which photographer would you choose?  You can find some great porfolios at http://www.iheartfaces.com/  … I appreciate that you do not give up and I encourage you to keep working on your photography.   It is really none of my business and I am not here to tell you to stop running your business.   But as a consumer, I can tell you that if I were to come across your portfolio as it stands right now, I would keep looking.  Here’s why:

1.  Skin tones are important to me.  Some of your subjects look like peaches.  I don’t know if it’s a monitor calibration issue or what, but please use a gray card for shoots.  Again, don’t use silly actions.  Keep it simple.  I don’t want a picture of my family on the wall that looks like a still from a Tim Burton film.  I want you to capture the best moments of that day as it was… you know, green grass, blue sky… normal colored skin…

2.  SHARPNESS is important to me.  I want everyone in my family to be in focus.  That means don’t shoot everything at the widest aperture your lens can handle.

Also, remember….. WEDDINGS….  again, I am not here to tell you how to run your business, but if the bride does not like the outcome of the photos she can’t reshoot her wedding with a more skilled photographer.  If it were MY business, I would not shoot weddings until I was 100% confident in my work and my ability to capture an event as important as a wedding.  I saw some wedding shots in your earlier work.  I don’t know if you still do it, but just keep that in mind.

[creyes8519]

You had some really awesome shots that were ruined with the tilt.  I’m guilty of ruining my shots with tilts as well.  Just stop them altogether and maybe just throw in one.    Some shots IMO were too close.  But everything else is very good.  Just top tilting and you should be good to go.

[creyes8519]

Honestly, I did not connect with any of your photos.  The pictures of the kids are out of focus, except for one and it’s really not that interesting to anyone other than the parent.  The landscape shots are nothing spectacular.  The mantis is over exposed, but even with proper exposure it is unlikely that I would find it very captivating.  The picture of the Shisha is probably your best shot.  Although I would have probably not used B&W.   The pic of the boat  is OK, portraits are OK.  I don’t know what it is…. I think you’ve got pretty much the handle on how to take photos properly, but I really didn’t see any of your photos and go, “Wow!”.  I really don’t have much advice to offer on that….. perhaps more experienced photographers may be able to chime in…

[creyes8519]

Agreed

[creyes8519]

I love your shots….. Just love them. The first shot! Wow!

[creyes8519]

The OOF pics to me were unappealing.  I didn’t like the editing… if you bring some shots back and strip down the editing, you’d have some decent shots like this one:  http://s1299.beta.photobucket.com/user/yawn1027/media/IMG_0587.jpg.html?sort=3&o=10  I love it even though you can see a roll in her belly that’s not very flattering (which you I’m sure you can photoshop a little to fix that) but that’s the pic that sticks out at me that I really like.   It just looks so comfortable and laid back and I like that their hands are touching… cute cute shot but I’m just not a fan of that desaturated look… that’s my personal preference but you have an excellent shot there.  I like this one: http://s1299.beta.photobucket.com/user/yawn1027/media/IMG_0479.jpg.html?sort=3&o=13 except the color is just a little too warm for me.   This: http://s1299.beta.photobucket.com/user/yawn1027/media/IMG_0411.jpg.html?sort=3&o=17 .. cute pic, not-so-great editing.  Biggest flaw is your editing.  Some may like it, I’m just not a fan of the style.   I agree with MBC to like throw away a lot of your shots.

 

[creyes8519]

what.dreams, I’m sorry honey but I would not pay you to photograph my family, and whatever clients you have are either going to take the $50-70 at a loss when they finally see the final product, or they are going to come to forums like this and ask photographers if she hired a fauxtog.   You have a lot to work on and I’m sorry that no one here has offered you much constructive criticism besides  “calibrate your monitor” and “suck it up and learn to take harsh criticism”.

Study composition, lighting, stop over-editing your photos.  Flatter your subject, ESPECIALLY the mother!   SKIN TONES are so important to me…  I don’t want my kids looking jaundiced and I don’t want my newborn faced down in a blanket.  Get a grey card.   Shoot in RAW and learn how to edit Raw files properly… less is more!!  Think about that when you’re editing.  Use B&W when the image really calls for it and actually you need to learn how to get better tones in B&W too.  These are all the things that you need to work on along with many many other things.  And if a client was not pleased with your work, give her the money back.

 

[creyes8519]

Like cooking, photography is subjective I guess.  I saw her work and was actually surprised by the advice for her to stop her business because her work truly is not bad at all.  There are a couple of pictures that I could do without, but really it isn’t bad.  And you basically called her a fauxtog which she is not.  I was annoyed with the comments because there are people who post pictures that are far far worse and they don’t get as much criticism as I’ve seen in this particular thread and I just did not understand it.  I think her honesty about how long she’s been in photography maybe stirred the pot I suppose…. anyway, I appreciate this discussion and I will respectfully disagree with much that has been said, but I’m going to move on to another thread lol.

[creyes8519]

I have never been in the photography business itself so I really can not say how much time it actually takes.  I know paying taxes, gas, equipment, photo time, editing time, etc all need to be factored.  I understand that photographers need to charge 200-300 etc to stay in business.  I get it.  But I just do not understand the opinion that a person needs to spend years of their time and basically offer their services FOR FREE before they can go into business.  I did one photo shoot in my lifetime and it was for free as a favor and that shoot cost me money and time.  I don’t think I can truly LEARN how to be a photographer if I did not have more photo shoots like that because taking pics of my kids and my dog is just totally different.  My pics of my kids are pretty decent… the pics I took of this girl were…. bad.  I think if I did a few more photo shoots like that I could practice more, but again.. that would cost me money and its really unfeasable.  I will admit that I am not close enough with my friend that I’ve discussed her own personal business with her, but I do know she started out with very little practice and I remember her earlier work to be really bad.  But she has since improved and has become very serious about her work.

Anyway, I am going to respectfully disagree with the fact that you need to be rude in order to give criticism.  You could have told the OP, “I suggest you focus more on your photography skills and technique, improve on this and that” instead of basically ordering her to put her business at a halt because honestly… she is not that bad!  She is actually very talented and her birth album was awesome.  I don’t know if either of you have photographed a birth but I’ve given birth a couple of times and the moments the baby is born is very fast….  and she managed to get some really great photos out of it.  Mind you, indoors with a D5100…. which is incredibly complicated because I’m not sure if you’re used to entry-level cameras but there are way less AF points in a D5100 compared to more advanced cameras, they cannot handle High ISOs at all, and in darker rooms the AF is close to impossible to get the shot you want when you want it.

[creyes8519]

And NO, I don’t agree the new photographer is working for peanuts, she is getting paid to learn.  I can take pictures of my kids and family all day every.  I actually did one photo shoot for a friend because she honestly could not afford a photographer for her daughter’s Sweet 15.  I tell you…. the session definitely did not live up to the pictures that she’s seen from me before of my kids.  There’s a difference between taking pictures of people you know and doing a professional photo session.  She needs to truly learn from experience.  She needs to be put in positions where she is on an assignment in a room with no fucking light!  She needs to really experience in order to truly learn and become a great photographer!   She needs to be IN BUSINESS to learn how to be IN BUSINESS.  I have seen many photographers go from mediocre to amazing while IN BUSINESS.  And they have been successful.  My own friend has been taking photos for 7 years and she started out just like the OP… just a month into photography and she was in business.  Now her photography compared to 7 years ago is great and she has went through a few price increases in that time.  I am no longer her client because of her prices, but she has many more now so I am certainly not a loss to her.

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