why are photo j's like texasruss seem to be such righteous arse hats some people use PS like YOU use WIDE angle lens. i'd love to see your photos so us FM snap shot artists can aspire to reach photographic heights as yours. or is your work a joke?
texasruss wrote:
For Jimmy above, I'm not certain you are the most qualified person to judge the pics. I'm the PARENT of a senior, and as the person actually PAYING for the photos and contracting with a photographer, I think maybe I can weigh in as well.
I shoot editorial sports about 99% of the time. The other 1% is photographing my 4 kids. As a photographer I detest photoshoped images. Yes, I'm biased since I cannot alter the integrity of the image for an editorial source so I shoot with an eye towards the final product. Thus, when I shoot images of my kids I compose and shoot what I want to see, not a starting point to edit from.
I tend to agree with prof_fate in that most of those images are not ones that I would buy. I'm honestly not sure what the 'foreground kid' and the 'non head shot' are supposed to be saying. It almost looks like they were included by mistake.
The other images kind of look like an ad for a book called 'fun with tilt shift lenses'. I think TS lenses are like fisheyes...use them once and it's awesome, use them more than that and well...it's just overused.
Also, I'm not a fan of the washed out look. On one pic, yea looks cool...on ALL the others...not good.
I don't frequent FM like I used to. I do like to check stuff out on occasion, but so much of what I read is just a love fest. If you peruse the 'critiques' it seems that everyone is afraid to say what they really feel. Thus, you are left with the majority of the comments telling the photographer that they are the world's next big thing. This just isn't the case. Honestly, it's just a joke.
Frankly, if you put yourself out there you need to be ready for the cold hard facts that maybe your stuff isn't that good. If this is your style, and people will actually buy the stuff...congrats. However, simply dismissing someone that disagrees with you is not the best way to improve your abilities....Show more →
Ahh yes the truth comes out. I agree with you 100%. Some posters stroke each others egos in a clique based ego-atta boy king dome. Results like these experiments are easy to achieve by most yearbook class students and they are achieved. Traditional ways are by far much more difficult to master. Most soccer mom scrapbookers with rebels came produce these. Get an SLR and a website then snap away. Label them STYLE and you are good to go. Now thats the joke. And as far as sales..Wal Mart has the highest sales of any bike retailer in the world. Coupled with their sub quality product they do well to say the least. Now we are getting honest with some facts eh!!! Hail to the young people who tote their cameras and books to Pratt Institute, RIT, Brooks Instute and others to study the art,photography, lighting and graphic arts. These people pay the price. Down the road their highways will widen and they will pull ahead of the others. Your lame duck approach insults many especially them. Garbage in..Garbage out. as they say. My next shoot i will prepare by calling the client and finding out what enegy drink they consume. I'll crush some of those cans with my feet; photograph them in the sand and present them to him or her and label them MY STYLE. Here's your portrait. I am now THE MASTER... move over everybody the world of tradional ways has ended..All that has been taught can be discarded by the CHIMP MASTER J's...... ROCK ON DUDES...Bruce
brucem48 wrote:
Ahh yes the truth comes out. I agree with you 100%. Some posters stroke each others egos in a clique based ego-atta boy king dome. Results like these experiments are easy to achieve by most yearbook class students and they are achieved. Traditional ways are by far much more difficult to master. Most soccer mom scrapbookers with rebels came produce these. Get an SLR and a website then snap away. Label them STYLE and you are good to go. Now thats the joke. And as far as sales..Wal Mart has the highest sales of any bike retailer in the world. Coupled with their sub quality product they do well to say the least. Now we are getting honest with some facts eh!!! Hail to the young people who tote their cameras and books to Pratt Institute, RIT, Brooks Instute and others to study the art,photography, lighting and graphic arts. These people pay the price. Down the road their highways will widen and they will pull ahead of the others. Your lame duck approach insults many especially them. Garbage in..Garbage out. as they say. My next shoot i will prepare by calling the client and finding out what enegy drink they consume. I'll crush some of those cans with my feet; photograph them in the sand and present them to him or her and label them MY STYLE. Here's your portrait. I am now THE MASTER... move over everybody the world of tradional ways has ended..All that has been taught can be discarded by the CHIMP MASTER J's...... ROCK ON DUDES...Bruce...Show more →
It's posts like this that make me happy that FM has an "ignore" feature.
Ahh yes the truth comes out. I agree with you 100%. Some posters stroke each others egos in a clique based ego-atta boy king dome. Results like these experiments are easy to achieve by most yearbook class students and they are achieved. Traditional ways are by far much more difficult to master. Most soccer mom scrapbookers with rebels came produce these. Get an SLR and a website then snap away. Label them STYLE and you are good to go. Now thats the joke. And as far as sales..Wal Mart has the highest sales of any bike retailer in the world. Coupled with their sub quality product they do well to say the least. Now we are getting honest with some facts eh!!! Hail to the young people who tote their cameras and books to Pratt Institute, RIT, Brooks Instute and others to study the art,photography, lighting and graphic arts. These people pay the price. Down the road their highways will widen and they will pull ahead of the others. Your lame duck approach insults many especially them. Garbage in..Garbage out. as they say. My next shoot i will prepare by calling the client and finding out what enegy drink they consume. I'll crush some of those cans with my feet; photograph them in the sand and present them to him or her and label them MY STYLE. Here's your portrait. I am now THE MASTER... move over everybody the world of tradional ways has ended..All that has been taught can be discarded by the CHIMP MASTER J's...... ROCK ON DUDES...Bruce
barP wrote:
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.
You need to learn what a critique it. "I love it! What style dude, it rocks!" is not a critique. You can call it praise, sucking up, ignorance, winning friends whatever, but it's not a critique. I told him to learn posing, to put the subject of the portrait in focus...if that's not the kind of advice that would help him then I guess all those other photogs that came before than know posing have just been wasting their time doing it, teaching it, writing books about it.
Tact? I'm a damned stranger on the internet 2500+ miles from Serge. I'm not his market demographic nor his competition, so why should I care how tactful I need to be? Am I afraid of hurting his feelings? Or should I be super nice warm and fuzzy so he'll say nice pointless things about my images? I'm civil and I think rather restrained - considering the person whose images I critiqued stated this about my images "They suck like a dirty whore" . What a great critique that is, huh? Certainly points out things I need to do to improve, huh?
One can flop about aimlessly and make it up as they go along and perhaps hit it lucky, or they can learn from those that went before and build on that. I choose the latter. I suggest he does the same. OH, My, what a heretic I am! Damned, I didn't lay down at his feet and worship his great talent that overshadows all others to ever hold a camera! Quick, get the tar and feathers and set me afire lest I bruise an ego.
If I'm gonna take advice from a teenager I think this one would be the guy Joey L and his website http://www.joeyl.com/
I doubt there's anyone on FM that is worthy to charge his battieries.
Sure, I'll spare you my opinion so you can go on taking 'snapshots' with your d-rebel and you can call them art after you manipulate them. What a clown. Even though I have never seen your work I'm sure it's the best I would ever see anywhere and you are a master.
There. Now I fit in with the rest of you on FM. Again. What a joke.
You might want to do some checking before you post I've never even owned a rebel.
texasruss wrote:
The other images kind of look like an ad for a book called 'fun with tilt shift lenses'. I think TS lenses are like fisheyes...use them once and it's awesome, use them more than that and well...it's just overused.
Apparently this tilt-shift-type style is somewhat popular right now judging by similarly-styled photos from another photographer
atbawrps wrote:
I think what most people here, that "don't get" Sergio's work, are forgetting is that the pictures you are referring to are part of a COLLECTION of work. They are 1 or 2 or 3 parts of a larger, more comprehensive session. I wouldn't say those images necessarily speak to me individually, but as part of a collection, each shot has their place and they work very well.
texasruss wrote:
For Jimmy above, I'm not certain you are the most qualified person to judge the pics. I'm the PARENT of a senior, and as the person actually PAYING for the photos and contracting with a photographer, I think maybe I can weigh in as well.
I shoot editorial sports about 99% of the time. The other 1% is photographing my 4 kids. As a photographer I detest photoshoped images. Yes, I'm biased since I cannot alter the integrity of the image for an editorial source so I shoot with an eye towards the final product. Thus, when I shoot images of my kids I compose and shoot what I want to see, not a starting point to edit from.
I tend to agree with prof_fate in that most of those images are not ones that I would buy. I'm honestly not sure what the 'foreground kid' and the 'non head shot' are supposed to be saying. It almost looks like they were included by mistake.
The other images kind of look like an ad for a book called 'fun with tilt shift lenses'. I think TS lenses are like fisheyes...use them once and it's awesome, use them more than that and well...it's just overused.
Also, I'm not a fan of the washed out look. On one pic, yea looks cool...on ALL the others...not good.
I don't frequent FM like I used to. I do like to check stuff out on occasion, but so much of what I read is just a love fest. If you peruse the 'critiques' it seems that everyone is afraid to say what they really feel. Thus, you are left with the majority of the comments telling the photographer that they are the world's next big thing. This just isn't the case. Honestly, it's just a joke.
Frankly, if you put yourself out there you need to be ready for the cold hard facts that maybe your stuff isn't that good. If this is your style, and people will actually buy the stuff...congrats. However, simply dismissing someone that disagrees with you is not the best way to improve your abilities....Show more →
I paid for my senior portraits, I went through Sergio and paid almost 2 times my highest rate for seniors. I've shot roughly thirty to forty seniors over the last year and I would comfortably say about one third of them paid for my services out of their own pocket. The other 2/3 had their parents pay.
Also, my friends like my portraits, my family likes them and I like them, Sergio provides his clients with what they want. End of story.
at 22 years of age, and not far out of school I can say that I actually like the pictures. Yes they may not follow all the "rules" but that's what makes them unique and interesting. Isn't that what art is supposed to be about?
I have never done senior photos and have an appointment to do some next weekend, so I specifically wanted to view your photos.
First off, thank you for sharing.
I like that they aren't all just head and shoulder posed shots. I personally don't like the angle in the 2nd photo. (This is the second time today that I've said that ). My critique of them is that the ones in color seem "foggy" to me. Was this effect intended?
jimmyhickey wrote:
I paid for my senior portraits, I went through Sergio and paid almost 2 times my highest rate for seniors. I've shot roughly thirty to forty seniors over the last year and I would comfortably say about one third of them paid for my services out of their own pocket. The other 2/3 had their parents pay.
Around here 90% or better are paid for by the parents - unless you take in the ones that have no money or taste and have their friends/little sister take their photo.
People spend money on what they value, plain and simple. Be that a fancy car or fancy house or big TV or coffee or shoes or purses. If they value photography they will spend money on it - big money.
Now perhaps you are very good or are truly offering an alternative to what the big studios offer. I can't say. But I can say based on my area, my business, my life experience and those of my friends when a senior 'chooses' to pay for pictures it's because mom and dad won't. Not "can't" - won't.
There is a major difference.
I know parents that will pay for tattoos, electric guitar, cars and insurance - and others that can but won't. "You want that tattoo - then YOU pay for it!"
I suspect that you get so many self-pay kids is because their parents won't pay for your images. Just a guess on my part, but an educated experienced one. I'm sure you'll feel very differently about my POV on this subject.
jimmyhickey wrote:
Also, my friends like my portraits, my family likes them and I like them, Sergio provides his clients with what they want. End of story.
OF COURSE THEY DO YOU IDIOT! Unless you're taking pics of dismembered rabbits or something mom, your family and friends will OF COURSE say they like your work. DUH! As for clients - if they've seen what you shoot (or serge or me or any photog) and you give them that they will like it. DUH! If you or serge handed over my shots to your clients, or I handed your shots to my client they'd be pissed and rightly so.
So to say your family or clients like your shots is totally pointless and has absolutely nothing to do with whether your shots or good or not.
Michelle S. wrote:
I have never done senior photos and have an appointment to do some next weekend, so I specifically wanted to view your photos.
First off, thank you for sharing.
I like that they aren't all just head and shoulder posed shots. I personally don't like the angle in the 2nd photo. (This is the second time today that I've said that ). My critique of them is that the ones in color seem "foggy" to me. Was this effect intended?
Key to success: Give the client what they want. Since you've not done senior pics you've got nothing to show them as to what your style is. So I'd strongly suggest you tell them top bring some magazines or weblinks to stuff they like so you get a feel for what they want.
If they want my style and you give them serge's stuff or vice versa they'll be polite and tell everyone they know how much the didn't like the photos. Whether the photos were good or not has nothing to do with it.
I really hope FM reads this debacle of a thread and starts issuing some bans.
From the FM rules sticky:
Be courteous, and polite. Do not use profanity, viciously bash others, be rude, hateful, threatening, abusive, invasive, or otherwise violate any laws. By participating in this forum, you agree to any possible future rules amended, implicit, or implied.
some people use PS like YOU use WIDE angle lens. i'd love to see your photos so us FM snap shot artists can aspire to reach photographic heights as yours. or is your work a joke?
I've never even owned a rebel. 
). My critique of them is that the ones in color seem "foggy" to me. Was this effect intended?