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If you look closely at the photos, the shirt on the child, etc., you can see where the baby was being held by someone, and then edited out. It reminds me of a rip off on Jason Lee’s absolutely amazing and hysterical work. This one isn’t bad, but Jason’s a master.

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“Nobody is going to “talk to an IP lawyer” over a hundred dollars. Not unless they work for a pack of skittles now”

Bwahahahahaaa!!! Thanks JJ, I literally did a spit-take on my computer screen. By the looks of the work, that’s what she SHOULD be charging.

 

I will add here, just a little. The photographer needs to cover their bases, because the fauxtographer could decide to lawyer up, and there’s no excuse you could give that would justify altering someone else’s work without a copyright release (and anyone that gives a copyright release deserves a good punch in the head) before a judge and allow this hack to walk away with quite a bit of your shit.

I have been asked to do the same thing for people and won’t touch it unless they have a copyright release, and even then I am not crazy about doing it. Copyright law is pretty evasive, and there’s not much precedent established as far as photography is concerned, since the digital age is relatively uncharted territory. I realize it’s a friend, and you just want to help out, but why didn’t the ‘friend’ hire you in the first place?

I would run, not walk, in the other direction, and chalk it up to lesson learned.

 

ETA- I did see the reason why you weren’t the original photographer, I must have missed it on first viewing.

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I couldn’t agree more whole-heartedly if I tried. Excellent post and contribution to the photography world. Of course, this is all lost on those it should help the most.

 

Oh the irony.

 

I would expunge on #2 a tad- if you can not shoot in manual, don’t know what aperture priority is for, or how to adjust f-stops, you should NOT be charging money.  Directly referring to what Andy said a few days ago, if you don’t know how to use lighting, the on board flash is NOT going to help, and will only make your photograph worse.

 

The only other thing I would add to this is; if you are going to become a photographer, be honest. Which translates to, PAY TAXES. Those hacks out there that charge 50.00 for a CD with every image on it are becoming more the rule than the exception and it’s beginning to frost my cookies. Some competition is good for pricing, and some that are charging entirely more than they should are getting exactly what they deserve, but for the great majority of us charging fair prices and basing it off of what we feel is a completely legitimate wage are really growing weary of trying to justify what we charge based on these HACKS charging 1/16th of what should be charged. You can argue all you like with the standard ‘your portfolio should make all the difference’ but the majority of customers refuse to see the difference until it’s too late. Do us all a favor, and if it’s just your ‘hobby’ while you work a 9-5, then stop charging. If it’s something you want to turn into a career, please do so legitimately.

 

 

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Don’t forget, Jason could have posted links to someone else’s work. He’s boorish, and a tad condescending; not too terribly concerned with what his opinion is.

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What exactly is it you want from this forum? Are you seriously asking if you are a faux, or are you searching for compliments?

Your sports stuff is good, your portrait stuff lacks composition. The one with the girl on the bridge looking over her shoulder? Her face should be brighter. The girl on the ice, her face should be edited. The first thing I see is her acne. Due to the stark whiteness of the image, the first thing my eye goes to is her face, and the acne, while it isn’t bad, is blatantly noticeable. The football player, the lighting is too harsh. You can see the actual redness in his face, and it makes me hot to just view the image. And not in a good way lol. The shadow down the bridge of his nose makes his nose even more pronounced.

 

 

 

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Agree with SG, you are making progress, but your photographs lack ‘oomph’. There’s nothing powerful about them, nothing that gives the viewer a direct emotion other than to say ‘oh, that’s nice’. Think about the emotions you want to stir within the viewer when you are taking a photograph, for instance, a HS senior. This is their last photograph before they enter into the ‘real world’. What is it they want to say with these photographs, and how are you going to help them say it?
Basically, these aren’t anything that Joe Blow can’t do with a point and shoot, why would I come to you for portraits? To get clients, your photographs should move people. Whether thoughtfully, provocatively, retrospectively, what have you, people should feel something the instant they look at your work.

Not horrible, in fact, not even bad, just lack enthusiasm. Push yourself a little harder to be more than what you are.

 

Just MHO.

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This has to be someone submitting someone else’s photos as a joke. I am not sure how you could, in good conscience, put a link of these photos up, then ask with a straight face if these are good or not.

If this is the case, you are an ass. If these are truly your own photographs, you need to intern under someone for a while.

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Davey nailed it.

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Not horrible, I would agree with the rest on the yellowing. It’s all personal taste though, and if you get clients that are clamoring for it, then by all means, yellow away.

The 3rd photo you posted a link to, way too contrasted for my tastes. If you have to do that to get the bubbles to show up, fix it in-camera. If you are shooting manually, adjust for a shallow DOF, knock your ISO around a tick, and you should get what you are looking for without having to do a lot of post-processing. No one will think less of you if you take a peek at your monitor and zoom in to your bubbles to see if you’re getting the desired effects. I know a lot of communication tells you NOT to look, but if you’re trying something new, and you tell your clients that, they will understand. Take a test shot before your session with someone simulating so you know approximately where you want to be, then you can adjust accordingly during your session.

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A couple of things. I agree with Carmen, there’s some little things you can improve on, but as a whole, it’s not horrible so, no, not really a faux.

1) Fix attire. Wrinkles in shirts, posture, etc., all contribute to the appeal of a portrait. See things in frame before you shoot.

2) Edit. I know some photographers want to charge extra for editing, but I don’t believe in it, and I will tell you why; it makes you look better when your clients look better. Don’t over-edit the hell of of a photo, but smooth skin tones, check your white balances, whiten teeth, smooth lines, etc. It just gives potential clients all the more reason to call you, and quite honestly, that’s why you post pics, to draw new clients.

3) I try not to let my backgrounds play too big of a part in my portrait photography. Why? Because it distracts from your focal point, your client. There’s nothing particularly appealing about a gravel road, or the timber in the background. Frame your shot with some background, but not so much as to be distracting.

 

Basically, try to see your shot as you are taking it. Make a mental checklist before you take every single shot, and before you know it, you do it every time automatically. I do a rundown like this, clothing, posture (head tilt, hip sling, arms, feet), background, white areas, and then go. After your first shot, check in-camera, make sure it looks like you imagined, if it doesn’t fix it, if it does, then go to different positions.

 

I will say though, I don’t particularly pose, I observe interactions and personalities, then ask them to do things, and take photographs of that.

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