[Nightrose]

IHF: Maybe you should take the photos because your work is infinitely better, lol.  Love your orbs, what a cool idea!

Choosing between the two links offered, I’d pick AGloverphotos over Peaceful Moments Photography. I’ll agree with other posters that it isn’t much of a choice, but the first one at least contains photos that haven’t been tampered with too much, to create insane saturation and badly-executed selective colour.

As with many things in this world, when it comes to photography, you usually get what you pay for.

 

 

 

 

[Nightrose]

The funny thing with the ad you linked to, is the supposed “professional” didn’t even take the time to check his punctuation and spelling. Professionalism isn’t just being able to take great photos, it’s about communication and marketing (among many other aspects).

What is even worse is when fellow photographers are doing much better than you and their work is so horrendous that you just want to curl up in the foetal position and never leave your house again.  There’s one who is advertising on FB at the moment, who has over 800 “likes” and as far as I can tell, everything in their portfolio is worthy of this site!  Hideously saturated sepia, even worse HDR, badly-executed (and boring) landscapes, and people shots that look like they’ve been taken with a low-quality point&shoot.  Man, it HURTS me to look at this stuff!

While the petty side of me would dearly love to “name and shame” them , it is poor form to do so, as it makes said namer (ie me) look like a sad and desperate fool.

The best thing to do is to go back and reassess one’s own marketing skills and create new strategies and wares with which to seduce potential clients.  It’s also never a good idea to compare oneself with others, but unfortunately that is usually easier said than done!

 

 

 

[Nightrose]

Laura Beth, you should definately keep using the strap!  It has a great history and is an essential part of your kit.  Besides, who wants to be like everyone else?

Having said that, I use a “boring” black strap, but I opted for Black Rapid who have designed one for women and it is the best invention ever!

[Nightrose]

I have to agree that your studio work is amazing! I especially like the two photos of the model with the lily in her hair – great colours and expression.

 

[Nightrose]

You were gracious with your response to a fairly harsh (but admittedly fair) critique.  Shooting with high ISO is fine, but of course there is the issue of graininess.  You can reduce this noise in post-production with a program such as Lightroom, and also, most importantly, shoot in raw as it is a lot easier to clean up an image in this format than it is in jpeg.

[Nightrose]

@ jasonjared:  Oh, it is most obvious that trolling is occuring, I for one have been deliberately ignoring it and, rather than verbally abuse you (which for some reason you seem to revel in, leading me to wonder if perhaps you are a fan of 50 Shades of Grey), I have been putting forth my opinions in a manner that they can hopefully garner a few thoughtful responses from other users. I shall be on my way now, good day to you sir! *Haughty sniff*.

[Nightrose]

I like the first album with the dogs – just watch that some of the backgrounds look a little wonky and would benefit from being straightened (nitpicking).  The other pet photo albums are good too, and I think they’re better than the ones with the children (this could be because I like animals more than I like kids, lol). Perhaps pet photography could be something you can focus on once you finish your schooling?

The “stunning canvas” shots are cool, and you’ve got some pretty interesting conceptual work – maybe some of them could be better focussed – but there are some nice ideas.

The action shots of the girl in the snow don’t really work – wonky horizons, too dark (as you pointed out in your post, you only recently calibrated your monitor), and not enough shutter speed to make them crisp. The intentionally blurry shot of her jumping needs to be taken out of your portfolio, as it is nowhere near the quality of your other work.  Sometimes ideas don’t work out, and the resulting shots should never been seen by others 😀

I did notice you have some photos that are selectively coloured. Be aware that people will rip you to shreds for these, but it is something that most of us have dabbled with at some time or another, and at least your colours stay within the lines!  I’d say just work on honing your post-production skills, lighten photos up a bit more and work to your strengths. Try and avoid the gimmiky effects as they tend to date really quickly.  Simple and classic is always better.

I think you are doing well and have some definate areas of strength with the pet photos. It’s just a matter of experimenting, having fun, and finding out what you are best at. Also try to leave sub-par photos out of your portfolio to make it look stronger 🙂

 

 

[Nightrose]

I like the cat photo too!  I’d say the one of the girl wearing the hoodie needs better lighting as it pretty much loses all of her facial features and it would be awesome if you could have lit up her eyes more. Just a matter of experimenting with light 🙂

[Nightrose]

Haha Vampire, someone has been watching Gabriel Iglesias – he’s a funny man!  He upped it to six levels where number 6 is “oh Hell no!”

Stellathai: I’m a size 14 so I guess I’m fat then. Sigh.

To general:  A great photographer can bring out the beauty in anyone 😉  Besides, being photogenic isn’t about size, but more about facial symmetry, having interesting features, and being able to relax in front of the camera, rather than stiffening up and looking all unnatural and freaked out. I’d rather shoot a larger person who is comfortable and happy with who they are, than a slimmer person who has endless body issues and hates every photo that he or she is in. That’s so annoying!

[Nightrose]

A quick tip for the photo of your sister and her wedding dress train: crop or clone out the car on the left hand side of the picture 🙂

[Nightrose]

Churchy is bang on.  Nothing more vomit-inducing than an “I am so great” attitude.

Besides, I’ve seen better 😉

[Nightrose]

The good: Your portraits overall are quite good, and I particularly like the first black and white shot of Sarah holding the 2013 sign – nicely composed with interesting bokeh in the background. I also really like the girl holding the mask to her face in Wall Photos. You also seem to have quite a flair for action/movement shots – the muddy water splashing, the dancers and the kids playing.

The not so good: There are quite a few photos in your albums which look out of focus (unless it is Facebook which has destroyed them). For portraits it is better to use a single focal point, and aside from a few exceptions, the eyes should pretty much always be in focus.  Your wedding album is, in my opinion, the weakest, because there are a lot of pics which don’t have great focus or look grainy/oversharpened. Wedding photography is super challenging as everything happens so quickly, and you have one chance to get it right, with no do-overs. It isn’t something to be taken lightly and not everyone is cut out to be a wedding photographer (which isn’t to say you can’t try!).

A few pieces of advice:  The colours in your photos are nice and vibrant, but do keep an eye on the saturation levels as they are on the borderline of being too much. If you can and haven’t already done so, get your monitor calibrated – you can buy calibrators that are relatively cheap and do a good job. Spyder4 Express is $120.  Also, and this isn’t always easy to do: be ruthless in what you show in your public albums; only display your very best work, even if you have to cull the majority of what you’ve done. Quality over quantity in this case 🙂 I’d rather see an album with 5 amazing photos than one with 20 so-so ones mixed in.

Overall I think you’re doing really well and I’d recommend that you focus on portraiture and action shots as these look to be your areas of strength. Photograph what you love, and you will get better and better with time 🙂

 

 

[Nightrose]

In reference to the second two images that Stef linked – disregarding the exposures, I have real issues with them being on angles for that ‘arty’ effect.  Crooked horizons, whether intentional or not, always look amateurish to me, and it is my biggest pet peeve. Does anyone else hate wonky angles?

And yes, I’m one of those people who straightens pictures on strangers’ walls 😀

 

[Nightrose]

AndyF, I would click “like” on your comment, as I’ve be thinking the same thing!   Having had my monitor calibrated with SpyderPro, I am seeing quite decent WB, although perhaps a teeny bit to the warmer side.

[Nightrose]

You have some lovely work, and can only get better with time. When I clicked on the “Seniors” link I was expecting photos of elderly people, heheh.

[Author]

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