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Yeesh. Not too much better. I think the “whimsy-ness” of the site is tacky. Wouldn’t it be considered false advertising to call yourself “Award Winning Photography” if you haven’t won any awards?

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Holy CRAP!

Before the photo on the main page even loaded, the site was godawful. Then the picture loaded… They had SUCH a great chance to capture something fun and great. That backdrop was really pretty and everyone looked like they were having fun… but a blurry picture like that with no fill light to even it out? WHYYYYY. I’m scared to look at the rest. I might cry for these poor brides.

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Well it’s good they gave up I guess? It’s humorous that they tried anything in the first place.

Yeah, I started picking mine this year to get the facebook page with that name reserved and to start on buying domain names early on. I figure I could sell them off later if contacted and I choose to change the name.
I didn’t want to use my name, not because it’s common, but because I don’t actually like my name… so I settled for something easily brand-able (hooray for business!) while still being catchy/memorable enough to stick out in your mind.

A friend of mine trademarked his name I want to say about five years ago. He made 15k selling advertising space on his forehead for 30 days (yeah, he got a henna tattoo of whatever brand bid the highest… freaking weirdo-genius guy.). Now that he’s making a movie, people are tying to buy up his domains that he registered and sat on. I see a lot of that in this industry; names that are sat on/inactive but have outrageous asking prices for the domain.

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That’s how my first wedding was. I was asked by my mom to “donate” my services for a couple at their church who didnt have a lot of money to spend on a wedding and were basically asking people to throw them one. I agreed because it was a good opportunity and it was communicated I wasn’t really a professional. I had only second shot weddings prior and they understood and really only wanted the event documented. Thankfully they ended up loving the photos, but when I shot that, I didn’t have a back up at the time. I do now, but I understand that a lot of the time the favors that some early photographers take on are not what anyone expects from a professional.
I have never advertised myself as a pro though.

If this girl is advertising as a professional, she should absolutely have a back up. Even if it’s a dinky, old dslr. Hell, even a high end point and shoot is better than nothing (although they cost about the same). I was thinking we were talking about the girl with the slew of “Firsts” in her facebook post, because that was prefaced as a favor-wedding for a family friend.

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I’m not even sure which person we’re referencing. Are they advertising themselves as a professional or as an amateur/hobbyist?

I’m not saying I disagree that it’s important to have a back up. I just think if I paid a nominal amount for a photographer for something like a wedding, I wouldn’t necessarily expect that. I would be disappointed if their camera failed, absolutely and I probably wouldn’t pay them if they aren’t delivering… but I guess that could be because I have an understanding of “you get what you pay for”. I’m not condoning it either, but I do understand where it’s coming from and I have seen other pros that are fantastic, that don’t have a spare. It makes me worried but that’s their gamble.

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I really want someone to link them please!

Here’s the advantage of totally frivilous names like that though, and possibly why fauxtogs grab them: Search Engines.
When you get a lock on a domain name or go to register a name that would be wanted by others, especially something so easily grabbed by a search bot, you can be sitting on some serious cash for virtually nothing.
Remember all those weird .co.uk domains Thomas linked us to in the Fauxtogs Who Should End Up on the Main Page thread? Same kind of thing; the domains easily grabbed by search engines drum up hits on it’s own.

That is the most annoying thing about them. Exposure and the allure of cheap prices for a “professional” service will bring in clients and severely damage local trust and possibly reputations if the client gets burned (which is inevitable).

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To be fair, I’m sure there are people who have shot their first weddings without a back up body. It’s not the best of ideas, but sometimes, just starting out – especially if it’s a favor to a friend or family member – aspiring photographers can’t afford a back up body.
I don’t think that should be used to gauge a pro at all.

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Oooh BEG:   I think this one might be my favorite

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=521909617836969&set=pb.240117699349497.-2207520000.1369204642.&type=3&src=http%3A%2F%2Fsphotos-g.ak.fbcdn.net%2Fhphotos-ak-ash3%2F579393_521909617836969_1740004739_n.jpg&size=960%2C686

Poor thing. He’s even kinda cute even though he’s sad. If you look at the rest, the editing just kills them! Cute baby, bad fauxtog D:

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@ Photocriticgirl   That’s not the worst one from the senior session. I think this one is worse…
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=512415828800677&set=pb.408292615879666.-2207520000.1369090128.&type=3&src=https%3A%2F%2Ffbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net%2Fhphotos-ak-ash4%2F483732_512415828800677_1922953903_n.jpg&size=640%2C960

I agree with Thomas though, there is absolutely hope for these fauxtogs… but they should not be charging…

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The moderator of this site who posts the photos is posting from people marketing themselves as professionals. Just like in the thread “Fauxtographers Who Should End Up On The Main Page”. We post from people charging people for this… “service”…

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Picarusslim pretty much hit the nail on the head there.

These are people charging folks for a service. People are paying for said service and receiving a product that is lacking in quality.
None of us here will say that we haven’t given a client an image we wouldn’t normally have for sentimental reasons. I have a photo of a friend of mine and her daughter where mom had stepped slightly out of my depth of field to hold onto her squirming child. Her daughter’s expression is fantastic (so was mom’s) but with her being out of focus, I will never include that in my portfolio or public (watermarked) work, but I gave it to her and it’s one of her favorites anyway.

The problem here is expectations.

Let’s look at what statistics among any consumer business say: A customer sees what they want to see.
In terms of a wedding photographer boasting a full day of wedding photography for $500 and one for say, $3000, a customer sees $500 and may not even go on to look at the portfolio, they want cheap and they’ll pay. A savvy shopper will look at the one for less and continue onto the portfolio and guage from there. BUT they still have the lesser price ingrained in their head. So they move on to the $3000 photographer and ask things like “Well, I don’t need an album. How much is it now?” or “I don’t think we need engagement pictures, we’ll have a friend take some, can I get a discount?” until they finally hit on “Well, this photographer will do my whole wedding for 500!”

They don’t necessarily see the value in the service you provide anymore, only the price tag.
A consumer can look at two photos side by side and see which is better… but if they don’t understand value per dollar, they will always go with the lower price tag.
How does this effect the business? A client burned by a cheap wedding photographer will have a hard time trusting another photographer later, let alone for more money. It devalues the market as a whole. People grow to expect lower pricing; even from a more experienced, higher quality photographer. It hurts those of us who paid our dues learning and investing. These fauxtographers are not even making minimum wage! So when potential clients expect that from a true professional, it actually does begin to hurt the industry.

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I definitely agree with Cameraclicker about the flower image. That’s the first thing my eye hit and even just changing your angle could help with the focal point.
I looked at the flickr. Please, for your sake, lose the AC002 image. That is the only one I saw that screamed “fauxtog” and you should absolutely pull it. You have a great grasp on mechanics that I can see but that image made me raise an eyebrow and start second guessing. You never want that to be a reaction, so keep consistency and really… just get rid of it.

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@Thomas   That guy screams scam artist! (The foto-folio guy) He has the advantage of having a lock on very simple domain names that can be grabbed by search engines easily. I think that’s what pisses me off most. The exposure to a clientele is huge and he is freaking terrible! How can people pay for this nonsense?

I will be 100% honest, these shots give me more confidence in myself that I’m providing my “clients” with a great product. I still have tons of room to learn and grow, but it does make me feel better about my abilities. On the other hand, it makes me feel really sad for the people receiving these shots! Family and friends may say “Hey, great picture!” but when comparing it to the duck lips, cockeyed angles and peace signs of a self taught myspace photographer, yeah, it looks better… but it’s still not a quality image!

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First, I would recommend just copy and pasting your post over to this Forum. Reason being, most of us will not click links without being told quite what we’re clicking on.
Second, go ahead and post the image here or link it for us. We can take a look at it and let you know if it’s something profile worthy and if it is, then we tackle the controversy of it.

Yes, a photo can absolutely be a reminder and bring to surface a lot of emotion, that’s our goal right? So there are two sides and ultimately you will still have to make the call.
On one side you have a photo you are proud of that you have the right to display and use as you see fit.
The other side requires sensitivity to the clients and maybe putting this photo away and not using it for your public portfolio to protect their emotional interests.

As a professional, you have to draw a line. How long ago was the divorce? Has she purged her life of all imagery and reminders of him due to being extremely sensitive? You have to think about tact in this kind of situation and if she is still hurting and would have access to your portfolio (and use that access), I would say put the photo away for now. If she has healed or is handling the situation well, I see no cause to not use the image, but ask for permission to be respectful.

Honestly, it won’t necessarily be an easy choice and you need to guage the level of sensitivity you need to express.
I’ve had to face something similar but not quite as rough. I have a wedding I shot for a friend last year and a few months down the road, after moving to England with him, him growing despondant and not wanting to help with her daughter, she realized things were too rushed and it was not going to work out. Sadly, they officially divorced. So when I wanted to include her photos in a mini portfolio, I asked her. She said it was fine but maybe only use one or two of them as a couple and she that she still loved her bridals, even if it didn’t work out. She was at a healthy place emotionally though, so it was easier for her.

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ha… ha ha ha… brightened your day… because the website is a neon assault on the eyes… awesome. 🙂

For real though. Awful! That site is not only ugly and looks like something built with Geocities in the 90’s, but none of the photos actually smoothed themselves out for me, so it’s like they were still compressed. “Portable Studio” = hanging a “backdrop” in front of a window apparently… why not a solid wall? Why on earth would you hang it in front of a window and have half of it backlit?!

Why do people fork over money for crap?
I seriously do not understand, like with so many fauxtogs posted in this thread, why people think this is good.
It’s one thing for a family friend or relative to do family photos or even something like senior pictures… but a modeling portfolio? If you were serious about it wouldn’t you want to hire someone with quality? You have to sell yourself with these shots and if they’re not good enough you’re basically shooting yourself in the foot.

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