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Archive 2014 · Critique - Joshua Grasso

  
 
joshua grasso
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Critique - Joshua Grasso



Launching a new site soon so no worries on anything design related. My biggest frustration currently are finding consistency with my editing. Still havnt found a style Ive committed to or being able to do it well. Shooting wise I suppose that's similar. Im just trying new things and trying to improve posing and lighting each shoot.

Thanks!

http://joshuagrasso.com/



Aug 29, 2014 at 11:53 AM
tele_pathic
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Critique - Joshua Grasso


Alright, so part of me likes the playful tone of your text, but part of me really, really don't like it!

I like most of the images though, and I found the site to be easy to navigate.



Aug 29, 2014 at 01:02 PM
joshua grasso
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Critique - Joshua Grasso


Yes I overdid the playfulness.. Im going to keep it light and fun in the reboot but tone it down
thanks!



Aug 29, 2014 at 01:42 PM
Brian Virts
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Critique - Joshua Grasso


I'm not a big fan of sites that immediately present many different styles of photography. Are you a wedding photographer? I do it all too, but I'm selling my wedding photography right up front, the other business just seems to come, with just the little bit I do blog here and there. Your portfolio was very random, it didn't engage me at all, lot's of dudes, where are the pretty brides that I want to to connect with? I suggest trimming it down to the best of the best, which was hidden in there. Show the brand and style, show the pinnacle of what you do in that port. I hope this was not too critical and maybe helpful.


Aug 29, 2014 at 01:47 PM
joshua grasso
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Critique - Joshua Grasso


Brian Virts wrote:
Show the brand and style, show the pinnacle of what you do in that port. I hope this was not too critical and maybe helpful.


very helpful thanks



Aug 29, 2014 at 04:09 PM
rondphoto
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Critique - Joshua Grasso


Everyone has a different opinion on logos and branding. I think it's important and often overlooked. In your case, it's easy to overlook the logo because it blends in so easily with the menu bar. The first thing my eyes went to was the slider of the pics, which is great...but it took me a minute to figure out what site I was on.

If it was my layout, I'd take out the last 3 options...for galleries, recent work and facebook like boxes.

I clicked the options for wedding photography, family and seniors...and I got stuff that was "about me" related and I really wanted to see work. I don't think potential clients are going to visit sites and say "I want to see work...let me look for the gallery or portfolio link." I think if you advertise something as being wedding photography....then show the wedding photography there....if that makes sense.



Aug 29, 2014 at 04:15 PM
truehuss
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Critique - Joshua Grasso


Hey Joshua,

So 1st thing I see when I enter the site is similar to what ron is saying in that the logo isn't prominent. Not a major deal but its what I saw also. It does look like you do a lot of 'stuff' photography wise and that may turn off, IMO , a higher budget client..and isn't that who we all want? lol. Once again just my opinion.

As far as the photography goes, I think your work is good. Posing and portraits (mainly the brides as the groom stuffs look tuff) looks to be what you may want to start working on. For example, I took a look at the "Nikki ad Blake" post and her portraits (The window shot and then the "at the camera" shot ) were lacking. The overall set was good so it looks like you have that down just get the portraits right and you can officially become dangerous! lol . I did also see some inconsistencies in the processing but you've already identified that as something you want to work on.

I also wanted to check out an e-session to see what you do there and this is my opinion: less is more. You have images where they are the same comp just a vertical here and wider here...but they're in the same position. You may black and white it but its still the same. Seems indecisive. Just pick the best one and move on. I know its hard but I think in the end it will make your set stronger.

The last thing, and this is just my personal taste. The pictures seem smallish because you have that sidebar and to me, we're photographers. Its about the images not about "Categories/recent posts/ or the Archives.

Just my thoughts. Thanks for putting yourself out there. I know its not easy.

Miguel



Aug 29, 2014 at 05:50 PM
dhp_sf
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Critique - Joshua Grasso


I haven't read what others have posted so I apologize if I repeat any of it. I also only looked at your most recent wedding so if it's not indicative of what you usually produce I guess you can filter what doesn't necessarily apply.

1) Exposure: many images look pretty over exposed. The skin tones don't quite look right as a result...just overly bright.

2) Composition: there are several images that include elements that are really distracting where you had control over what you're showing. For example your dress shot--the important thing here is the dress, but I see the corner of a dresser with something on top of it wrapped in plastic, a door frame, a doorknob, and then another frame of an image of something that we can't see so i can assume that whatever is in that frame is unimportant. So why show all that? Don't try to get all fancy with composition unless it's directing us to what you want us to see OR it has an added layer of importance. Another example is the shot of her looking at herself in the mirror and we can see a reflection of her looking at herself--there's all those wires, tissue box, and other random stuff on the counter behind her at the bottom of the frame, a bunch of blue stuff to the right, and a partial reflection of her. A much tighter crop may have worked better here to get rid of the other stuff.

3) Foreground elements: This is a personal pet peeve of mine, so take that into consideration... In many of the shots where you are "shooting through" something it is highly distracting rather than enhancing. This is generally because the foreground element is so dominating in terms of color or shape or whatever that it completely takes over the image. One extreme example is the ceremony shot where the top half of the frame is leaves. Bright green leaves. Another example is the first dance shot through the window panes. I can see that you're trying to frame the subject, but the priority on this image seems more about framing through the door than what you're actually capturing which includes the top of a bald dude's head closest to the camera who is apparently looking away from the dance; a disinterested looking groomsman on the left; a woman looking down at her phone on the right and the speaker growing out of the bride's head. It's good to experiment but you should be your own worst critic when this stuff doesn't really go as planned.

4) Formals: If you're going to show group formals, don't show ones where you have people's faces hidden behind other people's heads. Also, don't set up group shots where people's faces are hidden behind other people's heads... And whenever possible, try to shoot formals with as long a lens as possible because the lens distortion of wide angles does really weird things to the size/proportion of the people in the photo (the people in the front look huge compared to those in the back row).

All righty..so that was the bad stuff I found. The good stuff is you seem pretty keyed in on expression. Many of the photos feature people smiling, being happy, laughing, or otherwise expressing some emotion. That's fantastic and is something you'll always want to keep doing while thinking about all the other stuff. And you got some fun dance shots too. So you've managed to capture some of the feelings of the event. I also love that you're focusing your post on the people of the event and the majority of the shots are centered around that.

I'd just focus more on fundamental stuff like composition and exposure. If it's bright, embrace the brightness. If it's dark, embrace that too. Pay attention to the entire frame--what's entering it, or getting cut off, or superfluous stuff that you just don't need in there. If you're going to shoot through things, I'd encourage you to try to do it if it enhances the image in some way (blocking more visually distracting stuff, framing the subject, drawing some connection between elements in the photo).

If you're having problems "finding a style" then you're kind of thinking about it the wrong way. Focus on the content. Study light and play around with how you're using it. Look at your own images and decide what you like and what you don't like about it (you can do that with others' work as well, but make sure you ask yourself why you like something and hope that the answer isn't just "because it looks cool"). "Style" isn't about taking random techniques and tricks like shooting through stuff and reflection shots and trying to do that every chance you get. Your style should evolve organically from how YOU see the world and how YOU want to show it. And that just takes time.

Anyway, hope that is helpful in some way.



Aug 29, 2014 at 11:35 PM





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