Bad Professional Photos

[TheNevadanStig]

Just wondering how many hobbyists/enthusiasts get irked when they see bad professional photos?
Case in point, on Monday I was meandering through my local Petsmart. At the end of the isle with the birds, by where they house the birds for sale, they had their big display with a large picture of the finch. I started looking at it, and realized it was terrible. The pose wasn't good, the composition sucked, and the focus point was the frontmost portion of the chest, which might be fine, except for the shallow depth of field used leaving the birds face, feet, and wings out of focus.
Then I really started to think about it. I mean, I would have deleted the pic. Me, with my little D3200, cheap Sigma lens, actually out in the wild, wouldn't have even tried sharing it here. But most likely, you had some "pro", with untold thousands in gear, probably in a controlled studio, and this was the shot chosen to represent a huge corporation for use in countless stores? And how many hands did this bad shot pass through? The photographer may have passed in on to another editor (or edited it themselves), then it probably went to another comittee who approved it, then on to the advo design team who still used it, etc, and no one noticed?
And it doesn't end there. Pamphlets. Fliers. Magazines. And don't even get me started on the local news agencies.

 

[IronMaskDuval]

i don't get irked. i think it's funny that they do it knowing it's bad....if they don't know it's bad,....

 

[JacaRanda]

Does not bother me at all especially since I don't know the story behind it.

I may think, 'hmmm, I could do better' and that thought may last a few seconds. Then I continue shopping for mealworms and cat food.

 

[sm4him]

Just wondering how many hobbyists/enthusiasts get irked when they see bad professional photos?
Case in point, on Monday I was meandering through my local Petsmart. At the end of the isle with the birds, by where they house the birds for sale, they had their big display with a large picture of the finch. I started looking at it, and realized it was terrible. The pose wasn't good, the composition sucked, and the focus point was the frontmost portion of the chest, which might be fine, except for the shallow depth of field used leaving the birds face, feet, and wings out of focus.
Then I really started to think about it. I mean, I would have deleted the pic. Me, with my little D3200, cheap Sigma lens, actually out in the wild, wouldn't have even tried sharing it here. But most likely, you had some "pro", with untold thousands in gear, probably in a controlled studio, and this was the shot chosen to represent a huge corporation for use in countless stores? And how many hands did this bad shot pass through? The photographer may have passed in on to another editor (or edited it themselves), then it probably went to another comittee who approved it, then on to the advo design team who still used it, etc, and no one noticed?
And it doesn't end there. Pamphlets. Fliers. Magazines. And don't even get me started on the local news agencies.

On the other hand, for all you know, PetSmart just hopped on Facebook, or flickr, found a finch photo, and used it. It happens. All. The. Time. these days. You can only get sued if you get caught, and what's the chance that someone is going to see that and realize it's THEIR cr*ppy photo of a finch?

 

[runnah]

I give people the benefit of the doubt. More often than not there are elements outside of people's control. For example sometimes when i take landscapes I do my damnest to get the best spot possible short of using a helicopter. Always someone will say "oh if you move here or there it would be better" and its like duh! I would if I could!!

 

[radiorickm]

Well, now here is an interesting retort.... I think that Horrible Professional Photos are the best thing that ever came along for me; especially the LOCAL area photographers.

One of the hardest things that I have to over come, is accepting my own pictures as good. I see an interesting site, and take the picture. When I look at it, to me it is just a goofy picture (of whatever). Now I look at other (local) photographers pictures of the same sight, and I realize that mine are as good as, or usually better than theirs. Comparing a picture taken in Hawaii to a picture taken out here in the desert southwest just doesn't work. Being able to see other pictures of the same thing, just taken by other photographers has given me the ability to directly compare my take on things with theirs on an equal field.

I really love to look at take outs, and SOOC images from pro's, and I have learned that I am actually on track.

 

[mmaria]

I had three wake up calls related to this subject and since then I don't have any feelings towards the bad professional photos.

The first call was when a person who works in an organisation chose to use "that" photo instead of mine, because "the professional" took that photo, and I'm not professional. He therefore knows what is he doing and has a greater photographs then me.
It was a waterfall photo. The composition was basically the same because the spot isn't that much approachable and it doesn't allow you lots of creativity. We shot it in a different time of the day meaning that I was paying attention to the light and he shot it in the middle of the sunny day. His photo had a massive oof ball of green leaves in the foreground, lots of overexposed areas and he didn't process it in any way except over-sharpening.
But to the guy, the most important thing was that "the professional" took that photo.

Edit to add: The photo ended up printed in about 2.5x2~ meters

The second call was actually a few days ago. Before I started to work on this job, my municipality went trough a tourism development project. The project was about half of a million $ worth. Among else, they hired a professional photographer and payed him a lot. Few days ago, I saw the catalog and I was shocked. People praise his photos but I couldn't find any I liked. I didn't say anything of course...

The situation like these can't be fixed and they simply are not worthy to spend my or yours energy on them.

 

[ronlane]

I had three wake up calls related to this subject and since then I don't have any feelings towards the bad professional photos.

The first call was when a person who works in an organisation chose to use "that" photo instead of mine, because "the professional" took that photo, and I'm not professional. He therefore knows what is he doing and has a greater photographs then me.
It was a waterfall photo. The composition was basically the same because the spot isn't that much approachable and it doesn't allow you lots of creativity. We shot it in a different time of the day meaning that I was paying attention to the light and he shot it in the middle of the sunny day. His photo had a massive oof ball of green leaves in the foreground, lots of overexposed areas and he didn't process it in any way except over-sharpening.
But to the guy, the most important thing was that "the professional" took that photo.

The second call was actually a few days ago. Before I started to work on this job, my municipality went trough a tourism development project. The project was about half of a million $ worth. Among else, they hired a professional photographer and payed him a lot. Few days ago, I saw the catalog and I was shocked. People praise his photos but I couldn't find any I liked. I didn't say anything of course...

The situation like these can't be fixed and they simply are not worthy to spend my or yours energy on them.

The bad part is that you can't say anything, because if you do, it just comes off as whining because they didn't choose you and your work. It bites.

 

[runnah]

I had three wake up calls related to this subject and since then I don't have any feelings towards the bad professional photos.

The first call was when a person who works in an organisation chose to use "that" photo instead of mine, because "the professional" took that photo, and I'm not professional. He therefore knows what is he doing and has a greater photographs then me.
It was a waterfall photo. The composition was basically the same because the spot isn't that much approachable and it doesn't allow you lots of creativity. We shot it in a different time of the day meaning that I was paying attention to the light and he shot it in the middle of the sunny day. His photo had a massive oof ball of green leaves in the foreground, lots of overexposed areas and he didn't process it in any way except over-sharpening.
But to the guy, the most important thing was that "the professional" took that photo.

The second call was actually a few days ago. Before I started to work on this job, my municipality went trough a tourism development project. The project was about half of a million $ worth. Among else, they hired a professional photographer and payed him a lot. Few days ago, I saw the catalog and I was shocked. People praise his photos but I couldn't find any I liked. I didn't say anything of course...

The situation like these can't be fixed and they simply are not worthy to spend my or yours energy on them.

What was the third?

 

[mmaria]

The bad part is that you can't say anything, because if you do, it just comes off as whining because they didn't choose you and your work. It bites.

yes exactly...

What was the third?

oh... I forgot to write about the third... sorry :blushing:

well, the third was...
Remember when I told you about that restaurant-should I or shouldn't do and get paid for the work... well. I was speaking with the guy who runs the place. We were in the middle of the talk about that and the guy was telling how much he appreciate photography because he knows a professional photographer-fly fisher that comes here every year and fly fish with him. The last year the photographer took some photos of him and made a book. I was so excited to see it, especially if he'll come, then I'll be able to talk with him and learn something... The guy was explaining me how much equipment the photographer has and how many times would he press the shutter when shooting a posed scene and so on... At the end, he went and got me the book to see.
There were about 30 photographs there, all in bw. I would say that only two of them were ok. He put some thought in the scene, and bw was suitable choice. The guy was explaining to me what was happening when he shot this one and that one... and I was so disappointed...

I didn't show him or say what I think... If he is happy, and he is, then if I say something, nothing good will come out of that.

 

[Designer]

Oh, yes, I am shocked that someone who is a professional photographer would produce a photograph in which all the subjects looked as if they had very bad sunburns. The print was a gift to me from my son, so I didn't say anything.

The same thing happens in architectural design. I once worked for a man who got a brief to remodel a retail shop building. According to the brief, the owner wanted a certain look, but my boss had other plans. He essentially gave the owner nearly the complete opposite of what was asked for, and ignored the client's wishes.

 

[AlanKlein]

Ever have a dentist mess up your teeth? Every have your car fixed by a pro?

What's surprising about the OP, is that the ad agency or people who put together the product let it go through like that and not demand better work. I'd fire them first.

 

[webestang64]

I work in a lab.......I see MANY bad "Pro" photos..........:roll:

 

[Scatterbrained]

Maybe it was just a cheap stock photo?

 

[Derrel]

Maybe it was just a cheap stock photo?

THIS x 1000... ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^