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Viewing 13 posts - 61 through 73 (of 73 total)
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  • in reply to: Neither faux nor pro – may I hang out here? #3961
    Mrs Woo
    Participant

    (and I’m more worried y’all will consider me faux than suddenly listing myself as “pro” – I don’t have the chops yet for people to call me pro, though a few really successful photographers are actually kind of mentoring me and being very encouraging, much to my surprise!)

     

    in reply to: Neither faux nor pro – may I hang out here? #3960
    Mrs Woo
    Participant

    I probably fall into faux nor pro – though maybe not now – I ended up creating a photography page on FB (cringe) so the middle school football team kids and parents can tag each other, etc., without having a ton more friends on my FB feed.  My FB is already so big that I lose track of people sometimes that are important to me.

    in reply to: How many make their living from photography #3959
    Mrs Woo
    Participant

    Nope – not me.  I have been a hobbyist photographer for more than 25 years.  I developed an illness that makes it hard to work a straight 40-hour work week and am hoping to take on photography work here and there on my good days and one day build it up high enough to be able to make enough to not be on disability anymore.  I considered pursuing graphic arts/photography or a degree in journalism out of high school but was talked out of it by parents who wanted me to be more practical, so now that I can’t do what I’m used to doing, hoping maybe my creativity can help me be productive on my good days often enough to provide for myself.

    in reply to: Looking for advice! #3765
    Mrs Woo
    Participant

    Katie, after ditching the instamatics (yes, I know that dates me) my first “real” camera to learn anything about photography on was a Pentax K1000.  Fully manual camera that was really impressed with itself for having TTL (through the lens) light metering.  I had to manually focus and manually expose all of my images myself.  Also didn’t have the convenience of being able to switch ISO between images like we do now.  Or, for that matter, to take hundreds at a time.

    I learned a lot about how ISO, shutter speed and aperture interact with each other when creating images, and it was a great thing to learn.  When playing with that you also learn how aperture affects depth of field and get a “feel” for about how much background blur you get between going wide open and stopping down and when you prefer one “look” to another.

    I kinda go back and forth on the digital learning stuff, though there is plenty of good information out there on the internet that won’t cost you anything.  You can also go looking for some photography books.  Depending on what you want to work depends on which ones are better.  I like Bryan Peterson and Michael Freeman quite a bit, though they won’t teach you too much about off camera lighting.

    I like the books better because I can go back to them more conveniently and/or tab the pages with stickies, etc.  It might just be that I’m still a bit of a luddite – which strikes me as funny in a way – I love my Kindle until it comes to looking for something I remembered… it’s much more cumbersome to page around in and the one I have is also not color, so it’s not really impressive to use for photography books.

    You’re doing great for just learning, and you want to improve.   Wanting to improve is one thing that offers hope you’ll never fall into “fauxtographer.”

    A friend of mine just started photography class (she returned to college to major in graphic design).  To take it she bought herself a Canon Rebel.  She’s had two weeks of photography class and is shooting a wedding this weekend.  What I do know about her financial situation, previous photography experience, etc., suggests this is NOT a good thing (i.e., she has only ever shot point and shoot, automated cameras, and probably didn’t buy additional lenses yet, never shot a wedding before, etc.).  When I volunteered to be second shooter, she never responded.  I can hope it means she’s actually being a second shooter instead and just didn’t want to tell me, but I suspect she is worried I might know more than she does and that it would make her feel awkward.  I’m cringing about all of this and just hoping the bride and groom don’t have any kind of high hopes…  🙁

    in reply to: How to avoid being called a fauxtographer in 10 steps #3458
    Mrs Woo
    Participant

    Had to laugh at the one about watermarks.  I have done a lot of creative writing and contributed photography and writing on creative forums before.  Nothing screams “someone without a clue” louder than someone who has copyright symbols and “all rights reserved” repeatedly throughout their work.  Anyone who understands the industry already knows that everything created is covered by international copyright law.  Now, if you do not REGISTER said works with the copyright office your recovery might not be as much, but if you’re an unknown, it is unlikely your work is considered that valuable anyhow.  Registering photos with the copyright office (to me, at least) is as easy or even possibly easier than registering print works.

    in reply to: Why would anyone photograph a fat person? #3454
    Mrs Woo
    Participant

    I am overweight.  I have a chronic illness that limits physical activities I can do and includes medication that slows metabolism to nearly a crawl while causing sweets cravings (documented side effects).  Seriously double-whammied.  Add getting older to the picture and I’m definitely hitting that “matronly appearance” type of thing.  My husband has put on weight over the years too (in his 60s)… neither of us are willing to have family photos done because we are so embarrassed to not be perfect.

    Do you really think we should feel that way?  That we should not document anything since our wedding (second marriages for both)?   At our wedding he had dieted and I was so sick then (hadn’t been diagnosed yet) we didn’t know if I was going to live or die.  I weighed about 30 pounds less than I do now for those pictures.

    Your attitude, of course, is ours, at least about ourselves.  We adore our overweight friends and wouldn’t think for a moment that they weren’t attractive enough to be photographed.  We know that with age often comes a bit more weight.  Their chunkiness in their 60s and 70s seems pretty average.  It is just who they are.

    I guess I’m kind of backwards from the OP – will photograph anyone.  It’s just who they are, “warts and all,” so to speak.  Why not celebrate it?

    Won’t let anyone take my picture fat though… OH no!

     

    in reply to: Other photography sites besides FB #2681
    Mrs Woo
    Participant

    ROFL at “left my wallet in my other pants.”

    in reply to: Hello everyone #2622
    Mrs Woo
    Participant

    Well, since I don’t sell anything yet at this point, there is no way I would call myself a “real” photographer.  For that matter, it would take more than a few images for me to consider myself “real.”  I am, however a photographer.

    in reply to: Other photography sites besides FB #2621
    Mrs Woo
    Participant

    I just keep wondering if he has ever sold anything?  Most of his stuff doesn’t really strike me as anything special.

    in reply to: How do I become a real photographer like you guys #2513
    Mrs Woo
    Participant

    Well Jason, after reviewing your work, first I suggest you get a much cheaper camera and ditch the lens collection.  Inexpensive kit lenses are all you really need – anything else is just taking money from naive people.  Then you should consider doing your edits in PicMonkey to make them more “real” – or maybe on your iPhone.  Finally – your watermarking is nowhere near obvious enough – work a bit harder on that…  😉

    in reply to: Hello everyone #2511
    Mrs Woo
    Participant

    Hey look!  We’ve got a smart aleck (sorry, I try to be umm… really polite and usually sweet) here!  I guess we’ll either have to get used to the strange humor or ignore them.

    I’m might be a photographer.  I know quite a bit about the craft, but there’s always more to learn.  I have a lot of experience in nature/wildlife/landscape photography, a little with people photography, and made the switch to digital SLR about two years ago.  Way back when I had a film SLR and learned to make my own prints (which I keep considering doing again now that I’ve had a digital SLR in hand for awhile! – have to buy all the equipment and get the room put together though), so I consider myself at least a little experienced.  The inability to control depth of field as accurately with point and shoot cameras and lack of manual focus was driving me crazy and I begged DH to get me a DSLR whatever Christmas it would take him to save up (i.e., put aside the budget for my Christmas every year until enough Christmases had passed to get me a DSLR).  Since I am treated really well by my beloved spouse, he somehow made it happen the Christmas I asked.

    I was assured by the person who trained me in the darkroom (former wedding photographer) that it was too hard of a business to make a worthwhile living in and he talked me out of pursuing photography as a career.  Well, fast forward almost 30 years and I’ve developed an incurable disabling illness and am looking for something to make a little money here and there and to make me feel like I am not totally useless.   Hoping to put together some images for microstock companies and maybe sell my nature photography as fine art and make enough money to at least keep feeding the photography gear obsession that most of us develop sooner or later.

    Look forward to participating. I shoot almost exclusively Canon except for my water-resistant Panasonic P&S.

    in reply to: Other photography sites besides FB #2504
    Mrs Woo
    Participant

    I hadn’t realized it was only FB photos (though there are a lot of people who use Flickr for nothing more than personal photo sharing, etc.)?

    You guys need to check out this guy’s stuff – he apparently is trying to work the “if I price it really high people will think it is really special and obviously worth it” idea.  Or maybe Barnum’s “there’s a sucker born every minute?”

    http://www.etsy.com/listing/76253986/the-swan-princess-tragedy-20×30-print

    in reply to: Opinions please? #2503
    Mrs Woo
    Participant

    I didn’t see too much of a white balance issue either, but I still need a new calibrator and sometimes different websites come up a bit off, anyhow, so usually unless I see a serious problem with color I don’t comment on it.

    The only photo that I really disliked was number 4.  I think it would have been a stronger image if it were much closer to the subject and more of the area around was cropped out.  You still can get a feel for how wonderful and green everything is without having the entire bridge in the picture.

    Compared to what is posted on here, you’re heads and shoulders above many who consider themselves photographers.  The fact that you are invested in constant improvement and have high standards is a good thing – just don’t let your perfectionism make you completely crazy (grew up with a perfectionist father and find myself falling into that too much myself, too).

Viewing 13 posts - 61 through 73 (of 73 total)