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 p.22 #2 · 2009 FIRST SENIOR // BRIAN | |
prof_fate wrote:
I am not familiar with your work so I can't say this is trademark or not. As senior portraits go these are not very good. Nice images, great for a model, etc, but not what sells to seniors. They are, more or less, at their physical prime but yet very self concsious and unsure of themselves. Most are still very much under their parent's shadow/protection/support (kids in many ways, not yet adults).
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Overal you need to learn posing, composition, direction of your subject and get the hell out of photoshop. Make good solid images and then perhaps spice a few up with actions. PS effects do not make up for undsound fundamentals.
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i think you should all be ashamed of yourselves for calling that person a bum. i think "economically challenged" would be more appropriate.
anyhow...17 pages in...i'm definitely going to comment after making that kind of investment.
i started reading because i'm familiar with serge's work. his website is featured in the gallery on pro photo's site as an advertisement for their blogging theme. it's a pretty strong endorsement of serge's talent, in my opinion. his work has flair, and i wish i had half his creative vision.
with regard to the images he posted...there's lots of assumptions being made about how he sells, but the reality is that not all seniors are buying wallets or 8x10's to hang over the fireplace. lots of them want facebook images, or pics for their own websites. the family might even want an album (gasp!), in which case a series of photos with plenty of fun, creative images presents a great opportunity for an upsell. i think he did fine, but i would also encourage him not to worry much about what i think.
now, with regard to pro fate's response...
as a photo critique, it really is not very good. some good points, nice business insights, etc. but not what's going to help a budding young photographer develop technique.
overall, you need to learn tact and develop some people skills. get back to the fundamentals of winning friends and influencing people, and get the hell out of the business of trying to make frank assesments as a seasoned veteran, which seems to be how you see yourself.
see what i did there? i constructed my own critique of your critique using the same kinds of phrases you did, and i can't blame serge a bit for being a bit tweaked. not only did you presume to tell him how to run his business, but you were also arrogant enough to tell him - an 18 year old - how his demographic thinks. personally, i thought his response was measured and mature. i doubt i would have been as patient with someone who so blatantly treats their own opinion as gospel.
i also couldn't help notice that as soon as he stood up to you, your own responses got considerably more tactful. i have my own opinions about what that says regarding your motivations. regardless, i respect what you've done with your business and of course some of what you say is true, but you take an extreme position and the fact is this thread got to 17 pages because of the nature of your critique. there's a differenc between being straightforward - which some might call harsh - and just acting like a prick. my background is corporate, and if you worked for me and handled either an internal or external customer like you handled serge, we'd be discussing your future with the company.
just so i don't get called for not offering an alternative, here's what i might have said:
image 6 (first one of second pair) - nice natural pose that works well as part of a complete set and good job of backlighting. he looks like a tough customer, so hopefully you got more smiles out of him, later! quality of pp is very good regardless of whether one prefers the specific style. if there were a technical nit to pick, it would probably only be with the large bright chunk in the upper left. i personally find it distracting, but i also doubt many clients would have a huge issue with it. overall, if this image is hitting the mark with your clients, then keep doing what you're doing!
the moral - if you don't want to get called out, don't be a nanny-nanny-know-it-all, because you might just get owned, and you did.
wp.
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