Pro or Amateur?

tmjjk · May 21, 2012

Looking to go pro... need some advice.... please critique

mwcfarms · May 21, 2012

I think you lost some detail in the hat. At least 75% of it. I would try and bring some of those back. I suck at B&W conversions myself so thats the only thing I noticed. That and I would change the composition.

HughGuessWho · May 21, 2012

I have a front row seat for this show.

cgipson1 · May 21, 2012

based on the framing, lighting, and the somewhat muddy looking B&W conversion, I would say amateur!

Focus and DOF are ok.. even good.

The bright highlights on the subjects left cheek / face are too much.. as is the blown out area in the background. The blacks lack detail. Need to even out the lighting quite a bit.

Black and white conversion needs work also... IMO.. although I am on a laptop right now, not my calibrated monitor.

Framing.. most pros shoot portrait type shots vertically for a reason... and seldom chop off parts of the head, or other body parts.

mjhoward · May 21, 2012

Looks better than 90% of what I see on here. If it were my kid, I'd be happy to frame it up and display it in my home. With that said, I probably would have cropped or shot in portrait instead. Theres a lot of dead space particularly to the left.

BlueMeanieTSi · May 21, 2012

You lose his nose in the photo.

tmjjk · May 21, 2012

Thank you for the constructive criticism... I am looking to get better and improve as much as possible. I come here to get true honest input on how to get better. I am not going to argue back with anyones opinion... That's what I came here for. So I will not be putting on any kind of show for anyones entertainment, sorry to disappoint. I know I need to get better... I have no "brag images".. only "what can I do better images"... thanks for those helping me become better! I will be better... I have only been trying this for about two months now... and I learn something every single day

and today I am sure I will learn quite a few things... its not easy to put myself out there..

mwcfarms · May 21, 2012

cgipson1 said:
based on the framing, lighting, and the somewhat muddy looking B&W conversion, I would say amateur!

Focus and DOF are ok.. even good.

The bright highlights on the subjects left cheek / face are too much.. as is the blown out area in the background. The blacks lack detail. Need to even out the lighting quite a bit.
Black and white conversion needs work also... IMO..

O although I am on a laptop right now, not my calibrated monitor.

Framing.. most pros shoot portrait type shots vertically for a reason... and seldom chop off parts of the head, or other body parts.

Im going to say that for the most part I agree with everything but the horizontal vs portrait framing rule can be broken and successfully. I quite often will shoot something horizontally leaving dead space left or right and that while yes I agree portrait framing is desirable for a lot of reasons I wouldnt be afraid to shoot both aspects because sometimes I like horizontal better.

o hey tyler · May 21, 2012

tmjjk said:
Thank you for the constructive criticism... I am looking to get better and improve as much as possible. I come here to get true honest input on how to get better. I am not going to argue back with anyones opinion... That's what I came here for. So I will not be putting on any kind of show for anyones entertainment, sorry to disappoint. I know I need to get better... I have no "brag images".. only "what can I do better images"... thanks for those helping me become better! I will be better... I have only been trying this for about two months now... and I learn something every single day and today I am sure I will learn quite a few things... its not easy to put myself out there..

If you've only been at it for two months, you've got a long upward slope before you shoot on a professional level. I'm not trying to discourage you, but it's very odd to expect to become a pro photographer over the course of a few months.

gsgary · May 21, 2012

That is black and white and not much in between

Robin Usagani · May 21, 2012

for this pose and orientation, I think the subject is too centered. It needs to be a little to the right.

Josh66 · May 21, 2012

Are you asking us if we think you are ready to "go pro" based on this one picture, or if we think it was taken by a pro or not, or ... what?

Don't really understand the title...

Trever1t · May 21, 2012

o hey tyler said:
tmjjk said:

Thank you for the constructive criticism... I am looking to get better and improve as much as possible. I come here to get true honest input on how to get better. I am not going to argue back with anyones opinion... That's what I came here for. So I will not be putting on any kind of show for anyones entertainment, sorry to disappoint. I know I need to get better... I have no "brag images".. only "what can I do better images"... thanks for those helping me become better! I will be better... I have only been trying this for about two months now... and I learn something every single day and today I am sure I will learn quite a few things... its not easy to put myself out there..

Click to expand...

If you've only been at it for two months, you've got a long upward slope before you shoot on a professional level. I'm not trying to discourage you, but it's very odd to expect to become a pro photographer over the course of a few months.

This.

What about your experience tells you you need to be considering going "pro"?

I hate these kind of threads. Do you read the forum at all? Don't you see what happens when a member posts "I just got a camera and I want to go pro now" threads?

Here's my take...if you have to ask---->> you are far from ready!

2WheelPhoto · May 21, 2012

BestBuy/Amazon makes everyone a pro.

They should start selling medical supplies and spacecraft tools too

Tkaczuk · May 21, 2012

The only way to say your a Professional is if you are making 75% of your living off of photography. You can start a business shooting weddings and not be a professional. I would say one photo says nothing about your skill. All that really matters if others not just a few a LOT of people are going to hire you/buy you work. Most of these guy on the forum 90% don't make any kinda living off of photography which is better for them. Its extremely hard to make a living off of photographing people. I think its something like 25 professional jobs for photographers open in the U.S. every year. That's excluding Photojournalist which doesn't make money on just photo's. Everything to be made is in the private sector.