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All of these photographers cater to military families, and ofer pre deployment shoots, family photo shoots, newborn shoots, and boudoir while a spouse or loved one is away serving, and homecoming sessions.  Some discount heavily, and most give their time.  All of them are legit photography businesses, and have invested in themselves and their photography before going into business.  They are not all that and a bag of chips, or anything over the top fantastic, just togs making a living with their photography.  All of them have been operating profitably for at least 3 years.  This is the level of quality that not only our military deserve, but also anyone who hires a professional, or semi professional to make photographs for them.  This is just a hand ful, after a quick Internet search.  Whether someone pays $10 or $10,000, they deserve the product they are paying for.  A well composed, properly exposed,  properly lit, flattering photograph of themselves or their loved ones.

http://www.mirandacorbellphotography.com/

http://www.clickingthroughlife.com/

http://powellwoulfe.com/

http://kristensphoto.com/

http://baileylanephotography.com/

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I am low ranking military, and im having a hard time not taking offense to what you just said.  It read like this to me “I shoot for low raking military, and not only do they know no better, but they dont give a crap.  They are happy with anything anyone does for them cheaply”

I would not hire you.  I’d ask you about your camera and save up for it if I wanted better pictures than a cell phone can produce, or ask you if I could borrow yours.  If I wanted professional quality photographs, I would hire a pro.  This would prove to be very difficult because people like you make things about as clear as mud.  As it stands, you are just a girl with a nice camera.  That’s totally obtainable  for anyone near a NEX or the like.  In fact how many people in your area have done just that?  I know my neighborhood is chuck full.

if your goal was/is to produce a product better than a cell phone can produce, congratulations!  You are there!  Right along with thousands of others.  I wish you luck, and lots of clients. Some shoot to convey, with the sole purpose of becoming the best photographer they can be.  Others shoot for money.  If the latter, I expect them to produce higher quality photographs than I or my aunt Nelly can produce, and if they dont, they are a fauxtog.  Learn to embrace it for what it is.  You have plenty of company, and no one is stopping you.  Keep going, and just leave the whole “I need to be excepted  by my peers” thing alone, because that wont happen for you as long as you continue to feel the way you do about this.  Go ahead and be an owner of a shoddy business, hand people a subpar product and tell them its amazing.  Have fun while it lasts, and enjoy the ride until you move on to something else.

my work is irrelevant.  I am not a pro, and don’t have the expertise or skills to become one.  I’ll leave that up to all the pros and semi pros out there.  But I do have eyes and can see a difference between a quality photograph, and what you are producing.  I am also self aware, and I understand that there is no way a person can obtain an expertise in anything, without putting time effort and training into it first.  You do realize that it takes years to accomplish what you are setting out to do, and not weeks or months?

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Ahh! Another semi pro, I see.

ok, I’m going to forgo the lecture about not being in business until you have had time to learn and become a photographer.  You obviously already know this, and chose to continue on anyway.

right now I see very little difference in your recent shots compared to earlier shots unfortunately.  I DID notice that you include multiple edits for a single pose, and multiple shots for a single pose.  One pose, should be represented once.  You have albums with 10 to 20 shots in them, that really only contain 5 different poses.  Still not using light to your advantage, still not paying attention to backgrounds, or details.  Still cutting off at the joints, and not cropping properly, still having white balance and exposure problems, still not understanding basic composition, still making snap shots.  The editing has gotten worse instead of better. Your black and white conversions aren’t going very well , and the editing in general is all over the place.

advice?  Lay off the editing until you get your basic camera work down.  Learn proper comp, learn direction and posing, then move on to lighting.  You have a long way to go before you start shooting for others, “affordable” or not.

 

and hey!  I personally think photogs in this genre, that shoot for hire should make more than someone working for minimum wage at some fast food chain. Lots of time, money, and very  hard work go into being in the photography profession.  If this means portraiture and event photography is a luxury, than so be it.  If you’re going to go ahead and be in business, and charge for your services, at least have the decently to charge appropriately  and/or not make legit togs that actually put the time, money, and effort into being for hire and need to make a living, look bad with the words you use in your bio to promote yourself.  Sorry for being so harsh, but reading your “about” just completely rubbed me the wrong way, and put a bitter taste in my mouth, and I see it happening way too often to let it go uncorrected.  Couple that with the learn as go pro mentality, and offering mediocrity for money..ugh… I’m done

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Both pros and cons to either.  There’s no right or wrong answer to this question, it all boils down to personal preference, and how the individual photographer works.  Just like shooting JPG or RAW (only, a little less heated).  Go ahead and google “DNG vs. RAW” and I’m sure you will get lots of information to help you make your decision.

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“It is sad that some people equate amateur with inferior quality”  AMEN!

and why can’t people allow themselves to be an amateur/hobbyist/enthusiast and have a little pride that goes with it, and just enjoy the craft?  It’s almost as though there is this instant pressure on people to charge and open up shop as soon as they get their new camera out of the box.  Get that website up, start a facebook page, get a logo going, make up a price list, and learning how to photograph will come later.  I’m not joking.  One week after getting my newest camera, I had friends telling me just that.  Luckily I’m pretty self aware lol  Still to this day people are relentless about me going pro  LMAO.  “Glad you like my recent photo of a lady bug, but I’m going to have to decline the offer to shoot your wedding for money” or “So pleased you liked and purchased one of my finished landscape photographs, but I’m afraid I can’t take pictures of your newborn for you next week” (honest convos that have taken place with me) LOL  it’s so silly out there right now.  Hopefully with time things will calm down, and maybe resemble some sort of “normal” again some day.  or then again, maybe some of the togs out there are right and it’s the beginning of the end of professional photography.

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Oops!  So the thread reads “shit fauxtog s say” I see Arizona chimed in with his remarks “What is  a semi pro”. I see this one being said a lot, by a lot of serious offenders.  I added my 2 cents, even though I wasn’t following this thread and reading all the posts within.  I sincerely was not addressing Brown at all, just handing over my first thought to “semi pro”. Ya know that whole “learn to be pro as you go” mentality.

So there ya go, an honest first reaction from a stranger.  No, you’re not a fauxtog Brown, but a lot of your behavior is like one.  I’m an enthusiast, hobbiest, amateur… I have sold some photographs, but I don’t sell photography services, aka portraits or event photography.  I’m not in business, and don’t plan to be any time soon.  I’ll leave that up to the pros and semi pros

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Semi pro: A tog that knows their work is crap anyone could make if they handed them their camera and software, but still wants to charge people and/or pretend they are in business providing a professional service.

or people that want their cake and want to eat it too.

Semi pro is just a nicer sounding label than fauxtographer.  They give themselves this label, to help them sleep better at night

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Dawn,

you charge, and market your services/products, therefor you ARE saying you are professional to your potential and current clients.  You are also saying photography isn’t worth much, by charging so little.  This is exactly why sites like this exist.  Either A) charge appropriately for your time, or B) continue to learn and develop your skills by not being in business and allowing yourself time to learn.

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Not crazy for some of the post work.  Namely the jaundice filter/action being used, but over all… No, not a fauxtog

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Here is a cost of doing business calculator, just to give you a basic idea.

https://www.nppa.org/calculator

(there are others out there as well google them, and try them out)

go ahead and fill it in, and give yourself just minimum wage salary for the work you do.  It will calculate what you would need to charge per assignment if you were in business.  Now ask yourself “Is my service and finished product worth this amount to the people I am trying to market to?”  Until that answer is “yes” don’t open up shop.

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Agreed.  Don’t book any weddings in the near future, you have a long way to go.

First, I think you may need to calibrate.  Colors are way off, and your prints aren’t going to look very good as things stand.  Start working on a physical paper portfolio of your best shots.  By finishing your images and making photographs you will learn so much about color, comp, editing, light etc and it may even change and improve the way you shoot.  So many new togs skip this fundamental step, and miss out on a very important learning opportunity.

then study basic composition, and begin to learn directing and posing.

If purchasing and learning lighting is an issue for you right now, read up on using natural or available light, and consider getting some modifiers, because you aren’t using it at all to your advantage at the moment.  This is a much more difficult way to go about learning lighting, and a bit backwards, but I understand the financial end of things when you’re first getting started, and although it is more difficult, time consuming, and a bit limited,  it’s not impossible to go about it this way.

If you are serious about taking this on, you’re going to have to learn to say “no”.  This  is exactly how new togs get caught up in the faux trap.  All new togs have people requesting and willing to pay for their photography regardless of quality.  It’s up to you to make sure you are capable and competent FIRST so you have the best chance possible to succeed in this industry.

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Brown eyed,

I don’t think you are in any position to teach someone.  You know minimal yourself.  You also  are in business before you are able to achieve consistent professional results, and products.  I know it’s frustrating when you are trying your hardest to learn and you see someone be so flippant, but the only difference between you and the woman you are so angry with, is that you knowingly are charging as a pro while learning the basics it takes to shoot professionally, and she already thinks she’s a pro and isn’t trying to learn.

Both of you are making mistakes… Let it go

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Every lens has a sweet spot.  Sweet spots are never found wide open.

Example: my fastest lens ( not lowest, like PP refers to it) is a 50mm 1.4. The sweet spot is at 2.8  any wider and it just isn’t going to be tack sharp.

There is a lot more to depth of field than aperture.  Time to google and brush up on some basics.  Good luck

oh and camera clickers exercise is a good one, be sure to give it a try.

also you can find your lens sweet spot by shooting in AV setting up a tripod to eliminate factors such as camera shake. And shooting an object  at all stops and comparing.

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And life skills,

glad I helped.  I hope this improves your business

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Samantha, no she shouldn’t give those images away.  By offering low res, the client is able to share in every kind of way they want, and by her offering prints they are assured to receive only the best quality, true colors, photographs the way they were meant to be seen, that are on paper and products meant to last a lifetime.  Not just printed off at walmart. She understands this value, and how important it is for a photographer to finish their work.  She understands what is involved with making a good print, and how difficult it is to achieve.  Why would you ever want a client to have to take on that task?!  It’s just not good service to do so.

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