[Peterography]

I think out of all the images of Kyle you posted, you only have one worthy of displaying, which is the image of him staring into the camera holding his guitar (the 3rd image). All of the other images look pretty flat and boring. Nothing really stands out or gives you a “wow” factor.. kind of looks straight out of the camera and the last image looks like it could have been taken with a point-n-shoot.

Also, it feels out of place for him to be wearing a suit in the environment you chose. Always take in account what your clients are going to wear and chose a location that best fits or seems more natural. This rule doesn’t always apply, especially if your creative intent it to contrast the environment with clothing but generally should be kept in mind.

Lastly, the lighting in some of the images is very nice and soft whereas in others its harsh and gives Kyle raccoon eyes. Probable you should invest in a reflector or build your own. You can use a 20×30 plain white poster board, its inexpensive and easy to find.

 

[Peterography]

It is very interesting to see all the different techniques people use.

I’ll add mine. Two things have worked for me when trying to relax or ease them into taking nice photos are: first, small talk and jokes. Usually I’ll make fun of myself or my wife (sorry hun). As for example, a couple I was photographing was telling about their plans to hike Yosemite.. I figured this was a good time to tell them about my fear of heights trying to climb half-dome and how my wife made fun of me.. (You’ll understand this is you’ve ever been to Yosemite). Another thing I do is constantly ask them questions that are open ended, questions that can’t be answered with a simple yes or no. When I do engagement sessions I always ask the guy to look at his bride and name the thing he loves the most about her or if there is one thing he would never change about his fiance, what would it be, this always gets the bride all giddy and brings a genuine smile on the face of the guy.

My second way of getting clients to relax a bit is to ask them to act out a scene relevant to the pose I want to capture, something simple. I just did some headshots last week and I ask the model/actress to pretend she was a at a bar and some attractive guy just gave her a smile across the room.. now give him a smile back.. a smile that would make him buy you and me a drink!

This was probably the hardest thing for me to do when I first started.. basically every personality test I’ve ever taken classifies me a an introvert. So it does take some practice, I can attest to the awkward moments I’ve had with my clients in the beginning lol

A way to get some practice is get some random people from craigslist and offer $20 headshots. Practice on them and treat yourself to lunch afterwards.

[Peterography]

Not a fauxtog.

With that said, I actually liked your work, they all seem to have this soft dreamy effect. I think your clients also like the style you take as they seem to be young and in-tune with instagram. Your photo’s do have an instagram feel to it and I can understand why.. but i wouldn’t say its a bad thing.

I believe you take more of an artsy direction rather than traditional style portraits. As with anything, the more you do it, the better you’ll get. So keep up the work.

I would recommend that you kill off the other galleries on your website such as black & white and Misc.. doesn’t really serve what you are trying to do with portrait photography. Also if you have the option.. change the facebook and instagram links to open in a new tab when you click them. That way your website always stays available for clients to come back to more easily. That is me just being nit-picky.

You might want to check out this photographer as I think you would enjoy her work and gather inspiration.

https://www.facebook.com/juliatrottiphotography

[Peterography]

Here is another.. one of my competitors on Craigslist 🙂

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/evs/4422738516.html

[Peterography]

Looks like they’re trying to build SEO of the linked company implanted with in the text.

Are there any moderators that take care of this spam/scam posts?

[Peterography]

Looks like they’re trying to build SEO of the linked company implanted with in the text.

Are there any moderators that take care of this spam/scam posts?

[Peterography]

Thanks Cameraclicker

IHF I can understand your position with prints and I like prints just as much. There is something very gratifying in actually holding your picture and you get a sense of accomplishment and completion when your holding that finished product.

Technically I offer prints.. I don’t really mention it to my clients but the online gallery I use allows clients to purchase prints and it automatically fills the order (pixieset.com is the company). I did have one print order online and I had to register with the board of equalization to pay the sales tax.. so much work for $1.26 😉

Thanks for the compliments on Flickr.. Amatuer is awesome! I’ve booked enough clients so far this year to cover all my tuition so I took yours and Nes advice and up my prices.. not to what is recommended but significantly more than what I was originally charging. If this works out well.. then no need to ever change the price back.

I like the community here on YANAP and I appreciate the welcoming.

 

[Peterography]

The great thing is she is booking clients.. before I got into photography I use to think everything with a blurred background was amazing. So I can understand how clients may find her work “appealing”.

Honestly, I am quite jealous and envious 😉

[Peterography]

IHF as I was reading through this thread I thought.. “She is a bad-ass!” 🙂

I think you gave her enough chances to fix her wrong.. I don’t know if I could do the same. It was pretty stupid of her to come on a site to have her website critiqued knowing she stole a ton of content. The sad part is she’ll probably just create another name and website and do it all over again.

[Peterography]

1) Thanks for noticing. Fixed!

2) I always do traditional poses as well. I just post the “fun” ones on my website.

Thanks for the compliments. That little guy was a charmer!

[Peterography]

Well, let me add to the list.

http://www.losangelesweddingpro.com/

He advertises on Craigslist and includes with his wedding sessions a “13×19 digital painting dry mounted on foam core and brush stroked with acrylic and double matted for framing”

[Peterography]

This was definitely an interesting thread

[Peterography]

Thanks for the jumpstart! 😉

One of the reasons I like forum critiques vs. in-person is the bluntness and straight-talk, typically lol I believe that you and Nesgran offered some great advice that was straight to the point.

Here is a link to my personal stuff.. https://www.flickr.com/photos/floatingabout/ — No critiques needed.. but hopefully I’ll be able to start shooting random shit again once school is finished I can afford some more fun lenses like macro’s, fisheyes, etc.

I someone mentioned earlier about the Bokeh.. I use primes either Nikkor’s 24mm f/1.4G or 50mm f/1.4G or 50mm f/1.8G.. I pretty sure the jittery bokeh has something to do with the processing.. I usually add sharpness to it when I export out of LR5

[Peterography]

Also, thanks very much for the resources! I’ve been taking notes while reading them.

When I first stated I actually charged $500 for all day coverage and 1000 images given to the client. I soon realized that I wasn’t making much at all.. I had all these ideas of grandeur and thought I was going to make a killing.. then reality hit me like a train. Although I still may be delusional for the low price I charge I guess its better than when I first started.

 

[Peterography]

While I understand that it is easy to assume that I don’t use contracts, have insurance, or pay taxes because I am new to the wedding photography world, that isn’t the case.  I will admit initially I didn’t have insurance, but I’ve always used contracts. As for taxes, I pay both federal and state. I do avoid paying sales tax by not selling tangible/physical items.

I guess the reason for my critique is to get some feedback. Although wedding photography isn’t meant to be my future source of income, we can’t always predict what will happen. I will be doing wedding photography for the next couple of years and I would like to improve in the years to come, and hopefully charge more for my services.

Let see, if I work at McDonalds I’ll make $8.50/hr at 24hrs a week.. equalling about $650-$700 after taxes. Now if I do one wedding month at $800, given that I would shoot for 6hrs and edit 16 hrs I’ll make the same amount but with less time actually working. McDonalds I would be investing 96 hrs a month, whereas photography I would be investing maybe 40-50 hrs. Before I made the switch to wedding photography I was working retail to pay through school, but when I realized I could make the same amount in less time so I made the switch and used all this ample time to take classes during the day and not at night. It also gave me a significantly more time to study. As for the coffee table book, it is only $50 and makes for a nice gift, sure I could save that $50 which adds up to to like $600 for the year but hey I’m not that great of a business person lol

 

[Author]

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