[iliketag]

*sigh* I constantly post the articles about photographers and their clients getting hurt or killed on train tracks and the risks that it entails in the groups I belong to. I warn the photographers that post their train track sessions that active tracks are illegal to trespass on and that the railroads WILL press charges. I’m met with animosity almost every time. It’s very frustrating because where I live there are several decommissioned tracks that are safe (although, still trespassing) and there’s even a railroad museum that welcomes photographers very openly that’s perfectly safe… yet these people endanger their clients and, worse off, their clients’ children so they can stick them on cliche’d, active tracks.

The reaction that “model” had was rife with condescension and that’s just all the more frustrating. It’s like, damn people, we tell you these things for a reason! Come on now…
I almost want railroads to press charges more often so it forces people to be safer…

[iliketag]

So I have the much-neglected Canon EOS-M, I can honestly say I enjoy it though. I’ve taken it with me to several concerts and it just responds so much better than my other point and shoot. I ought to look into finding an 18-55 for it on the cheap and trying to get my hands on the zoom lens when they release it later this year (for concerts or events where “professional” cameras aren’t allowed [also, I HATE that distinction…]). I do have the EF adapter for it so I can mount all of my other lenses to it. For fun I stuck my 70-200 on it and played around.

Honestly, my favorite feature is the touch screen for focus and metering. I never thought I would ever use it, but for speed, it’s ridiculously handy. I’ve only ever shot in adequate light, so I’m not sure how it does in low light. The speed is pretty great on it too for events like I mentioned.
When I worked at Best Buy I loved the speed of the Sony’s though… but by far the Olympus mirrorless cameras were my favorite. Responsive, intuitive (very user friendly) and durable, they were definitely my preference. Avoid the Nikons though. Those things suck… hell, even the Canon isn’t fantastic.

 

Also, IHF, I totally recognize you from PhotoStealers <3

[iliketag]

Damn, I can’t edit now. Try this link.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pure-Touch-Photography/117887638226483

[iliketag]

Gosh I have missed you guys.
I was just on facebook and it showed up on my feed that a friend of me “liked” a picture from this “photographer”. The picture was pretty bad but I decided to take a look. What I found was a veritable smorgasbord of terrible selective coloring, barbie skin style smoothing, over ‘shopped eyes and out of focus shots. With the occasional terrible posing or wrinkled backdrop as well.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pure-Touch-Photography

The thing that really got me though… was all the shopped in backgrounds and skies. She uses the same sky picture for every shop-in! SAME ONE.

Whyyyyyyy?

[iliketag]

Ok, ok, so this is a little off… As in, this is not necessarily front page worthy work… but the feeling I got from reading this Craigslist post is definitely on par with the idea.

http://cosprings.craigslist.org/crs/4366703967.html

Seriously though, that is one of the creepiest ads I’ve come across.

[iliketag]

Perhaps you want to consider a typing class. Your post is just ridiculous.

[iliketag]

I’ve been a little MIA here in the last 6 months, but I’ll chime in.

Your shots overall are mostly clean and well lit and for the most part your white balance is fine. There are a few that are either too warm or a little too cool.
For instance, this one is slightly too peach colored:

Their skin tones may be pretty close to correct but it’s the background and the fact that their clothes have warm hues that cause it too need a slight tweaking.

This one here is slightly too cool:

A little extra warmth would help the blue cast from the shadow on the right side (left side of her face). Due to the lighting on the right side of her face, white balance might be trickier there since it seems like there is a little bit of detail lost in that portion of her face.

 

I would remove this set entirely:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/118576465@N06/12739132154/in/photostream/

While it may be difficult to let images go, this set does not fit with your overall feel and quality of your flickr and is largely out of focus. You have some truly great work but this could cause someone to second guess.

It seems you’ve been given a lot of opportunity for artistic shoots and ultimately they look really good. Your edits are mostly clean (with the few exceptions, well, a couple others as well) and other than some chopped limbs and soft focus issues, you’re work is a strong quality.

The other thing I want to ask about is the most recent shoot – the girl with the long brown hair posed in front of the brick wall. Did she seem relaxed or maybe not feeling the shoot? Her poses and expressions come off as rigid – and not in the model-y way. It seems forced, like she might not have been having a good day. It’s in stark contrast to the photos of the three girls together and the redhead who was blossoming with personality. Likewise, some of the clients have super cheesy smiles; I’m not saying this is bad! It just doesn’t fit the flow in some places. Perhaps consider rearranging the photo stream for some better flow.

 

In response to the thing about lighting equipment – buying or making reflector’s is very easy and beneficial. If you aren’t already, consider building some to get some more controlled catchlights in those eyes!

 

[iliketag]

Been MIA for a while (and frequenting Photo Stealers while looking for a new job) but I came across this from on of the fauxtogs busted by Photo Stealers.

http://www.littlefeetphotographytoronto.com/apps/photos/photo?photoid=181913859

Why the heck would you ever put that in a “portfolio”, especially if you’re going to pepper it with stolen images anyway?

[iliketag]

And just because I can:
I give absolutely no fucks what you think of your own work, OldClicks. You desperately need to stop charging and go back to the basics – relearn them, then hone them and then maybe start taking on clients. For now, it should be practice models or volunteers. If your provide a strong product, sure, you can get paid… but if not, kindly thanks them and decline payment until you finally know that you’re providing a quality product and service. At this time, you are not, so stop taking poor people’s  money!

I’m sure I’ll get reamed for this like so many others here. I’m mostly just tired of you insulting WCS. He’s helped me quite a bit with his straightforward advice and brash input. Hell, even when Ebi dialed it down he really started making an impact.
Never, ever go to an internet forum fishing for praise. We all see through it… it’s why pretty much everyone but CC, bless his soul – he really is a good guy, is completely tired of your nonsense.

[iliketag]

Nairby is that all the same person or does the one woman just use a bajillion different locals? The first one I would say is faux-ish… not all their stuff is bad – although it’s hard to tell with blurry or terribly lit photos in between the lucky ones.

[iliketag]

To be perfectly honest, I don’t even know how to take advantage of light room. I bought it for $20 bucks right before 5 came out (it was too good a deal to not try). I’ve only ever worked in Photoshop CS before, so Lightroom is a whole new beast to me.

It’s good to know there will be some natural variances from image to image as long as they aren’t noticeable. The shoot in mind that made me ask this question was actually at Golden Hour/Sunset/Twilight and they moved locations multiple times so I tried to get a consistent tone going and somehow wound up with like, 5 really blue shots.

[iliketag]

I skipped the last couple of responses because I’m getting sleepy, but I’ll come back to them later and maybe expand.

A lot has been touched on thus far and is very accurate, very good advice.
I noticed a LOT of soft focus and, maybe it’s just me, but the photos of the young man look extremely feminine. Remember to take great care with posing! You seem to have a comfortable interaction with your clients and they seem genuinely at ease in some of the portraits. That being said, when you work with a couple (and not a large group or a group with young children) you can take more time. Chimping is generally discouraged, but after a few shots take a look at the viewfinder, zoom that sucker in and check your clarity. Catching it early will save you a lot of heartbreak when you get home. It’s the mark of an amateur but it’ll definitely help keep you alert, just make sure you’re not totally reliant on it.

[iliketag]

I would think of sushi everytime I saw Ebi’s name too but I figured I was just being weird. Nice to feel not-crazy!
The Miranda’s photography one is so bad. Goodness gracious.

[iliketag]

I have two I’ve been meaning to share.

Though they may not be front page worthy in terms of their work, their attitudes tell me they are flying high and racking up miles in fauxtog land. I couldn’t think of a more appropriate place to share them so, please, forgive the sort-of-off-topic-ness.

Let me start with the first story:

Have you ever been driving down the road, excited to get home from a long day at work then BOOM! Someone is practically running you off the road while cutting you off and driving like a bat out of hell? Even better, that person has their business name plastered ALL OVER their vehicle? Now, I’m critical of anyone who behaves that way. However, driving like a lunatic while representing your business is just pure stupidity.
Of course, I look them up.
http://www.exlotus.com/

This “company” randomly switches from first person to third person in their descriptions, has a terrible grasp on the English language and adores ellipses. Plus, their work is rife with poor editing choices. Some are not so bad, some are actually ok or even good. BUT, if you’re going to behave like a complete jackass, at least have the decency to WOW me! Also, their logo is a stock photo… and after contacting the artist, there is no record of them purchasing it… hooray!

The second happened the very next day! Gosh, it was a fun week for interactions with “photographers” for me!
As a lot of you know, I work in retail. It’s a crappy full time job but it pays the bills and supports my photography habit as well as feeding me on a daily basis. I answer phones all freaking day. Usually there is some unintelligible being on the other end with whom I go around and around with trying to figure out just what the hell they want from me and why they’re incapable of coming into the damn store. I digress.

I got a call from a gal who said she got a new monitor and that the color wasn’t good enough. I asked if she had had the monitor calibrated and she said no. She asked how much it would cost to get it done and I told her; she of course freaked out at the price and exclaimed that she could buy a whole new monitor for that same price so she would either do it herself or buy another monitor in hopes it would be better.
I went on to explain the Spyder calibration software for either home computers or professional business computers. When I told her the prices those could run, again, she freaked out. “I’m a photographer,” she said “I need to have the right color on my monitor! I shouldn’t have to pay for something the company should do for free!”
I have to stifle a giggle. I told her how several of the photographers I knew had spent hundreds, if not thousands, on their computer equipment and print calibration. Then I explained that most labs also ask for color profiles anyway.
She told me she would be returning everything and that this was “ridiculous”. I told her that that was her decision and we’re sorry she feels that way but unfortunately there’s not much else we can do after offering those solutions. She hung up.

I got curious so I put the phone number into google and came upon this:
http://capturelife.printroom.com/

It looks like something made with geocities in 1999. Apparently it’s a “Professional Photography Storefront”… I couldn’t help but think that, if those were the kind of photos she was taking, it wasn’t worth getting the equipment calibrated…

Then she called back! The next day. Asking how much photoshop was… and guess what? She was outraged at the price. I told her about Adobe CC but she still wasn’t having it. Too expensive.
*sigh*

I get phone calls from “photographers” all the time that are mad we don’t have certain lenses in stock at any given time because they “need them for a job today” or furious at the cost of spare batteries or a replacement charger… but I rarely get calls from a “business” that doesn’t understand that it costs money to operate one.

[iliketag]

I seriously don’t get how people can pass some of this shit off as photography. It’s fine to call them “pictures” and post them to facebook for all your friends and family to see into your day to day or the events you attend with friends and family… but holy crumpets. Seriously. I can’t think of a word for it other than shit.

 

The one Fauxfighters posted had me gritting my teeth. I was young and stupid with my camera once… but I never passed my stuff off as pro. I did do a friend’s senior portraits, but his parents paid me only after they decided they loved the shots. I spent hours editing and removing/softening his acne and cloning instead of blurring to make it look natural. Good ‘ol PS7 served me well in those years… but I never slapped a watermark with my name on anything! I shared to facebook photos I took for fun in my own, personal albums. I went on “photo dates” with friends where I would get lunch or coffee and scamper around town practicing with girlfriends as my models…

How can anyone with a shred of dignity try and SELL this GARBAGE? Ughhhh. Maybe it’s because it’s late but it’s REALLY bothering me right now… ok ok. Deep breaths. /rant

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