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ATD

macrumors 6502a
Sep 25, 2005
745
0
You formed your opinion when you saw the photos, whether you want to share your thoughts or not. Normally I wouldn't say anything, but she made a site to promote her photography and business of selling photos to people, and when you make your work public, and you're advertising your work, then the public should be allowed to criticise.

If she didn't sell herself as a "Special Occasion" photographer, or make a site to show and promote her photography, then you're all correct.....it would be in poor taste to criticise. Since this is the case, I don't mind criticising this "professional" at all. And yes, that's what she is. She's charging money for her photography, so yes, she's a "pro", regardless of how you choose to look at it.

PS: She's advertising her services on craigslist. Advertising + charging money = "professional" to me.


My work is pubic, I get emails and comments on about my work all the time. Most are good and some are quite critical. The point is they are directed to me. As much as I didn't like a few things that have come my way I have to respect that they told it to directly to me and I had the opportunity to respond instead of going to some distant forum to rip it apart.

I had my portfolio dismantled once and posted on other forum. All the comments were good but still a small part of me felt slightly violated. If this has happened to you might feel differently about it.
 

Abstract

macrumors Penryn
Dec 27, 2002
24,837
850
Location Location Location
My work is pubic, I get emails and comments on about my work all the time. Most are good and some are quite critical. The point is they are directed to me. As much as I didn't like a few things that have come my way I have to respect that they told it to directly to me and I had the opportunity to respond instead of going to some distant forum to rip it apart.

I had my portfolio dismantled once and posted on other forum. All the comments were good but still a small part of me felt slightly violated. If this has happened to you might feel differently about it.


Ok everyone, new rule: Nobody is allowed to criticise another person's work unless the creator is in the same room as you.

If you're a boss, you can't talk about someone elses poor quality of work unless they're in the same room as you.

No criticisms about Pirates of the Caribbean 3....not unless Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley, Chow Yun Fat, the directors and writers, and everyone else involved with the movie is at your house.


Some professional might feel "violated".
 

wookyhoo

macrumors member
Oct 28, 2006
70
1
Devon, England
An interesting thing to note.

I won't say anything about her photography, but she is an English teacher and has this on her contact page:

"It was only recently
when people began asking me if they
could hire me for their special
occasion."

/me is still waiting for the sentence to end
 

John T

macrumors 68020
Mar 18, 2006
2,114
6
UK.
Still, her photographs make a change from the overprocessed shots of birds, flowers, clouds and animals that seem to be so popular with the so-called, self-professed experts! ;)
 

liketom

macrumors 601
Apr 8, 2004
4,190
66
Lincoln,UK
in wonder if she would take a job snapping Apple products in Lifts (elevators)?

maybe your all being bad - maybe these people in the shots do have red eyes ? my rabbit does :rolleyes:
 

Turkish

macrumors 6502
Jan 12, 2007
358
0

puckhead193

macrumors G3
May 25, 2004
9,570
852
NY
maybe she is new that this. Or maybe she needs glasses but my pet peeve is when people say i'm a good photographer bla bla and show you a nice picture. Then you ask them what an f stop or aperature is and they have no clue what is it or how to use it. And to take that awesome sunset picture all they did was a push a button on a P&S camera :eek: :mad:
 

kalisphoenix

macrumors 65816
Jul 26, 2005
1,231
1
Of all the things you can give someone, false hope is probably the worst.








Edit: Except a sucking chest wound, perhaps.
 

dogbait

macrumors regular
Feb 4, 2005
136
11
London, England
Reading this thread has been like watching a car accident and not in a good way. However in as much as Stephanie has a right to post her photographs on the internet (be they good or bad) we also have the right to speak of them as we wish no?

It is the perogative of those who scathingly criticize to lose as much dignity as they like: So let's try and be constructive in our comments, that way if Stephanie ever happens to stumble on this thread, she might learn something. And in being less derogatory we might learn something too.
 

epicwelshman

macrumors 6502a
Apr 6, 2006
810
0
Nassau, Bahamas
Reading this thread has been like watching a car accident and not in a good way. However in as much as Stephanie has a right to post her photographs on the internet (be they good or bad) we also have the right to speak of them as we wish no?

It is the perogative of those who scathingly criticize to lose as much dignity as they like: So let's try and be constructive in our comments, that way if Stephanie ever happens to stumble on this thread, she might learn something. And in being less derogatory we might learn something too.

Amen.
 

Error Type -43

macrumors member
Sep 16, 2003
77
0
Why are some of you trying to defend her work by assuming she is a newcomer when there is this blurb on her website?

To keep me occupied, my parents got me a camera at a very young age. I used to surprise people as they entered a room with my quick flash. I liked catching people in their natural state. I have always been the photographer, the historian, I always had a camera with me when I was with my friends and family.

Unless she's 10 years old she is obviously far from foreign to the camera.
 

dornoforpyros

macrumors 68040
Oct 19, 2004
3,070
4
Calgary, AB
I actually don't mind some of her shots, however I suspect her equipment sucks.

But haven't you guys ever heard of folk art?

If this woman's friends/family/community are happy enough with her work to hire her then who are we to judge? Is calling herself a photographer any more self indulgent then the many of us (myself included) who run photoblogs just for the hell of it?

Would I hire this woman or buy stock photos from her? No, but I can see why others might.

This is no different than the 15 year old kid doing web sites for his dad's friends, it doesn't take any serious business away from the more established pros and it lets them do something they enjoy.
 

Jeremy Gray

macrumors regular
Feb 1, 2007
105
0
Maine
Wow, I'd have to say that is some of the worst 'professional' photography I've ever seen. No, no, that really was the worst 'professional' photography I've ever seen. But, on the other hand, she isn't exactly telling everybody that she is the best photographer ever, but just the fact that so many of those shots are blurry and at a ridiculous 45 degree angle just angers me. I feel bad for people that actually gave that woman a dollar to take a picture, let alone twenty or thirty dollars. There is no excuse for displaying out of focus, poorly cropped, and red-eye littered shots in the fashion that she did and slapping a 'pro' tag on them. As a budding photographer, I'm insulted honestly.

"Hey everyone, look at me tilt the camera and manually focus this lens so that I look like I know what I'm doing when I truly don't."

And don't reply to this with, "Blah, blah, why should you critique her when she didn't ask for that blah blah." If it's the internet, it's open to critique. If you don't want criticism, don't put it on the internet. That's all there is to it.
 

eRondeau

macrumors 65816
Mar 3, 2004
1,165
389
Canada's South Coast
Several summers ago two female friends of mine got married on a beach (in Ontario you are free to fall in love with whomever you choose...) I was just a guest, but I took along my old VHS-C "pawn-shop-special" camcorder and my tripod (of course). I set it off to the side and recorded the ceremony. Nothing fancy, but it was my first lesbian wedding and I though it'd be cool to tape. Meanwhile, the "pro" videographer they hired had apparently got some sand in the gears of his $$$ semi-pro JVC digital camcorder. He didn't have a backup. He couldn't tape anything. Not a happy photographer, nor a happy couple, until I told them I had taped it too. Best part -- during the wedding photos, I ran back to my place and dubbed my VHS-C down onto three VHS copies for the brides and their families to take with them that night. (Like I said it was a few years ago, I couldn't burn DVD's then.) My camera mic audio was weak, as the waves tended to drown-out the chaplain, but otherwise it saved the day!
 

WildPalms

macrumors 6502a
Jan 4, 2006
995
2
Honolulu, HI
Wow, I'd have to say that is some of the worst 'professional' photography I've ever seen. No, no, that really was the worst 'professional' photography I've ever seen. But, on the other hand, she isn't exactly telling everybody that she is the best photographer ever, but just the fact that so many of those shots are blurry and at a ridiculous 45 degree angle just angers me. I feel bad for people that actually gave that woman a dollar to take a picture, let alone twenty or thirty dollars. There is no excuse for displaying out of focus, poorly cropped, and red-eye littered shots in the fashion that she did and slapping a 'pro' tag on them. As a budding photographer, I'm insulted honestly.

"Hey everyone, look at me tilt the camera and manually focus this lens so that I look like I know what I'm doing when I truly don't."

And don't reply to this with, "Blah, blah, why should you critique her when she didn't ask for that blah blah." If it's the internet, it's open to critique. If you don't want criticism, don't put it on the internet. That's all there is to it.

I wholeheartedly agree with you. Its a mess of a site. Why on earth would you take a product (her 'photo's) and then botch up the presentation with that website that.... I dont know where to begin. Non complimentary color range for starters? Layout is non existant... I'm being picky but seriously, touting oneself as a professional and presenting way below standard material is just terrible. Why are most of the shots poorly focused?!?!?!?
 

eRondeau

macrumors 65816
Mar 3, 2004
1,165
389
Canada's South Coast
Hmmmm.... I might start my own "Pro Photography" company. Then I could write-off all my hardware, software, camera expenses, trips, and a substantial portion of my mortgage and vehicle expenses. In the old days people used to stick magnetic signs on their cars and drive around town to "prove they were in business". Now all you need is a website. Happens all the time.
 

sjl

macrumors 6502
Sep 15, 2004
441
0
Melbourne, Australia
maybe she is new that this. Or maybe she needs glasses but my pet peeve is when people say i'm a good photographer bla bla and show you a nice picture. Then you ask them what an f stop or aperature is and they have no clue what is it or how to use it. And to take that awesome sunset picture all they did was a push a button on a P&S camera :eek: :mad:

So what? Photography isn't about how you got there, it's about what you managed to take. If somebody takes a nice shot, I'll praise it. Even if the shooter doesn't know what an f stop is, or what the shutter speed is all about, a large chunk of photography is composition.

Having said that, yes, knowing this stuff does help you get better shots. Most of my shots, I take in program mode (one step away from full auto); I'll sometimes drop to aperture priority for particular shots, but that's because I know I want the blur (or some other aspect that controlling the aperture lets me get.) I know the effect; I know how to achieve it; I'll use my tools to that end ... but if I don't need that effect, I'm not going to bother fiddling around with settings if I don't have to.

You can take excellent shots with a point and shoot. You can take crappy shots with a high-end SLR. I don't give a damn what f stop a given shot was taken at, or what ISO, or what shutter speed - it won't help me re-create the shot. If I want to know how a shot came to be, I'll ask questions to that end, rather than getting into irrelevancies.
 

dogbone

macrumors 68020
Just did a quick search of the thread and no ones mentioned David Hamilton yet :eek: his 'erotic' soft focus girls wearing flowing Liberty printed chifon robes in wheat fields is so... how can I put it...tasteful.

<please pass me the 'sick' bag>
 
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