New freelancing, suggestions please

[IByte]

Hey, IByte... You drinking at 7:00AM? I don't see a link.

Lol a bit hungover but I still have the link. Sorry OP here is the link take two .
http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...ry/283795-creating-new-photoshop-service.html

 

[KmH]

Hi would you mind telling me the op's handle as I am battling to find the thread. I still dont have a handle on this forum...

You are the OP. It's right there next to your screen name [OP] above your avatar.

Original Poster

 

[DiskoJoe]

Hi. I'm new to all of this. I take a pretty good photo and am relatively good at photoshop...

By whose definition? If it's a friend, relative, or family member, ignore it. Have you actually received accolades for your work from someone who doesn't know you, but does have photographic knowledge?

I smell BS. Let see some pics from the professional.

 

[Steve5D]

If the Op was to post the 5 images considered the best in the collection then perhaps it will prove us all wrong, in which case I'm sure that most of us will apologize for our lack of respectful and kind comments. The Op will get honest and sincere comments regarding the images, they will be based on amateur and professional opinions.

It's entirely possible to be critical while, at the same time, being respectful.

Doesn't look like too many people here are burdened with that ability, however...

 

[tirediron]

Let's see if I can provide some critique which meets with Steve5D's approval.

1. It's a rather tight crop especially on the should of the young child. Always try and avoid cropping little bits of body parts off if at all possible. If you need to crop a person, do it boldly and never at/through joints or along a joint's lateral axis. Only one of the two subjects is looking at or toward the camera. Always try and attract the attention of all subjects, and unless there is a reason for them to look away, have them look toward the camera. Lastly the exposure, while adequate leaves the subjects looking rather flashed. A decent size soft-box or similar diffuser would have helped.

2. Again, a tight crop, the child is missing the back of her head. I like the idea here, sort of a whimsical shot, but I would like to see more of her face. Had you moved slightly further right, and included all of her head, I think this would have worked much better. We don't really care so much about the flowers. A few of them would have been sufficient.

3. The first thing that strikes me is that the child's face is soft. It looks like your point of focus was on his right (image left) sleeve, but on this less than stellar work monitor, I can't be sure. The subject is too close to the background as evidenced by the shadow behind him, and I find the crop through the white undershirt awkward. Opening up slightly, or cropping to a bust-shot would have been better IMO. More light was needed on the face as it is difficult to distinguish between iris and pupil.

Overall, these aren't a bad set of images, but they all have issues ranging from moderate to severe, and indicate to me that you understand the basics, but are not yet skilled enough to nail the 'Ah-ha' shot on a regular basis. I would suggest studying lighting, and concentrating on your focus, DoF, and composition. I always recommend compose the image and then open up slightly. Most people, especially newer photogrpahers have a tendancy to crop too tightly. You can always take some off in post, but adding it back can be a challenge. In summary: You're on your way, but I wouldn't pay for these.

Just my $00.02 worth - your mileage may vary.

~John

 

[imagemaker46]

Steve5D you seem to a nice guy, playing the knight in shining armour, what's your opinion on the Op's images that have been posted? You've pretty much bashed everyone else for expressing comments. Just wondering.

 

[smurf4t]

Let's see if I can provide some critique which meets with Steve5D's approval.

1. It's a rather tight crop especially on the should of the young child. Always try and avoid cropping little bits of body parts off if at all possible. If you need to crop a person, do it boldly and never at/through joints or along a joint's lateral axis. Only one of the two subjects is looking at or toward the camera. Always try and attract the attention of all subjects, and unless there is a reason for them to look away, have them look toward the camera. Lastly the exposure, while adequate leaves the subjects looking rather flashed. A decent size soft-box or similar diffuser would have helped.

2. Again, a tight crop, the child is missing the back of her head. I like the idea here, sort of a whimsical shot, but I would like to see more of her face. Had you moved slightly further right, and included all of her head, I think this would have worked much better. We don't really care so much about the flowers. A few of them would have been sufficient.

3. The first thing that strikes me is that the child's face is soft. It looks like your point of focus was on his right (image left) sleeve, but on this less than stellar work monitor, I can't be sure. The subject is too close to the background as evidenced by the shadow behind him, and I find the crop through the white undershirt awkward. Opening up slightly, or cropping to a bust-shot would have been better IMO. More light was needed on the face as it is difficult to distinguish between iris and pupil.

Overall, these aren't a bad set of images, but they all have issues ranging from moderate to severe, and indicate to me that you understand the basics, but are not yet skilled enough to nail the 'Ah-ha' shot on a regular basis. I would suggest studying lighting, and concentrating on your focus, DoF, and composition. I always recommend compose the image and then open up slightly. Most people, especially newer photogrpahers have a tendancy to crop too tightly. You can always take some off in post, but adding it back can be a challenge. In summary: You're on your way, but I wouldn't pay for these.

Just my $00.02 worth - your mileage may vary.

~John

Thanks John

Much appreciated. I especially like what you said about cropping to tightly... Makes a lot of sense ... I have one real problem I am battling to get around and that is when photographing children - they move so dam fast... hence I am battling to get a crisp image... any suggestions...

 

[tirediron]

...I have one real problem I am battling to get around and that is when photographing children - they move so dam fast... hence I am battling to get a crisp image... any suggestions...

Just the obvious one - practice! Some of the skills that separate the "men from the boys" photographically speaking are things like using both eyes; that is, keeping one eye on the scene through the viewfinder, and the other looking around the camera at the 'big picture'. Learn to anticipate, learn to track and learn to pan. There are members here who are FAR more skilled at children's portraiture than am I, and who can doubtless give you more pointed advice, but at the end of the day, it really is all about practice.

 

[HughGuessWho]

Let's see if I can provide some critique which meets with Steve5D's approval.

1. It's a rather tight crop especially on the should of the young child. Always try and avoid cropping little bits of body parts off if at all possible. If you need to crop a person, do it boldly and never at/through joints or along a joint's lateral axis. Only one of the two subjects is looking at or toward the camera. Always try and attract the attention of all subjects, and unless there is a reason for them to look away, have them look toward the camera. Lastly the exposure, while adequate leaves the subjects looking rather flashed. A decent size soft-box or similar diffuser would have helped.

2. Again, a tight crop, the child is missing the back of her head. I like the idea here, sort of a whimsical shot, but I would like to see more of her face. Had you moved slightly further right, and included all of her head, I think this would have worked much better. We don't really care so much about the flowers. A few of them would have been sufficient.

3. The first thing that strikes me is that the child's face is soft. It looks like your point of focus was on his right (image left) sleeve, but on this less than stellar work monitor, I can't be sure. The subject is too close to the background as evidenced by the shadow behind him, and I find the crop through the white undershirt awkward. Opening up slightly, or cropping to a bust-shot would have been better IMO. More light was needed on the face as it is difficult to distinguish between iris and pupil.

Overall, these aren't a bad set of images, but they all have issues ranging from moderate to severe, and indicate to me that you understand the basics, but are not yet skilled enough to nail the 'Ah-ha' shot on a regular basis. I would suggest studying lighting, and concentrating on your focus, DoF, and composition. I always recommend compose the image and then open up slightly. Most people, especially newer photogrpahers have a tendancy to crop too tightly. You can always take some off in post, but adding it back can be a challenge. In summary: You're on your way, but I wouldn't pay for these.

Just my $00.02 worth - your mileage may vary.

~John

Very nice critique.

 

[Steve5D]

Let's see if I can provide some critique which meets with Steve5D's approval.

Hey, as long as you're respectful, it will.

The guy was just asking for a little guidance, and he got ripped apart.

I maintain that he was ripped apart by those who, despite their best efforts are routinely panned by prospective clients, and they're lashing out because they're pissy about it...

 

[o hey tyler]

Let's see if I can provide some critique which meets with Steve5D's approval.

Hey, as long as you're respectful, it will.

The guy was just asking for a little guidance, and he got ripped apart.

I maintain that he was ripped apart by those who, despite their best efforts are routinely panned by prospective clients, and they're lashing out because they're pissy about it...

Do tell, Steve. How do you feel about her images?

 

[Steve5D]

Steve5D you seem to a nice guy, playing the knight in shining armour, what's your opinion on the Op's images that have been posted? You've pretty much bashed everyone else for expressing comments. Just wondering.

Not a knight in shining armor at all. I didn't bash anyone for expressing comments. I bashed them for expressing stupid, ignorant comments. Suggesting that someone's photos belong in the trash is, I'm sorry, a profoundly stupid comment.

As to my critique of the photos the OP posted here:

I don't like selective coloring so, while it may or may not be a wonderful job of doing it, I don't like it.

I like the shot of the kid in the tube.

The purple flowers? I'd like to see more of the flowers in focus.

The little girl laying in the grass? It's fine. There's nothing about it which grabs me and makes me look at it. It's a perfectly fine photograph, but nothing special.

The beach houses? I'd clone out the people on the shore and saturate it a little bit. I'd also try to do something with the sky.

Aside from my personal criticisms of them, there's no reason to suggest that any of them belong in the trash. Again, that's just an ignorant comment...

 

[tirediron]

Let's see if I can provide some critique ...

...Just my $00.02 worth - your mileage may vary.

~John

Very nice critique.

Thank-you.

 

[o hey tyler]

Steve5D you seem to a nice guy, playing the knight in shining armour, what's your opinion on the Op's images that have been posted? You've pretty much bashed everyone else for expressing comments. Just wondering.

Not a knight in shining armor at all. I didn't bash anyone for expressing comments. I bashed them for expressing stupid, ignorant comments. Suggesting that someone's photos belong in the trash is, I'm sorry, a profoundly stupid comment.

As to my critique of the photos the OP posted here:

I don't like selective coloring so, while it may or may not be a wonderful job of doing it, I don't like it.

I like the shot of the kid in the tube.

The purple flowers? I'd like to see more of the flowers in focus.

The little girl laying in the grass? It's fine. There's nothing about it which grabs me and makes me look at it. It's a perfectly fine photograph, but nothing special.

The beach houses? I'd clone out the people on the shore and saturate it a little bit. I'd also try to do something with the sky.

Aside from my personal criticisms of them, there's no reason to suggest that any of them belong in the trash. Again, that's just an ignorant comment...

Steve, if you don't mind... I'd really appreciate it if you could cite where someone suggested that they trash any one of their photos? You seemed to take great offense, and it could be that I simply missed the post in which it was suggested that someone suggested to the OP that they trash any of their photos.

 

[smurf4t]

Not a knight in shining armor at all. I didn't bash anyone for expressing comments. I bashed them for expressing stupid, ignorant comments. Suggesting that someone's photos belong in the trash is, I'm sorry, a profoundly stupid comment.

As to my critique of the photos the OP posted here:

I don't like selective coloring so, while it may or may not be a wonderful job of doing it, I don't like it.

I like the shot of the kid in the tube.

The purple flowers? I'd like to see more of the flowers in focus.

The little girl laying in the grass? It's fine. There's nothing about it which grabs me and makes me look at it. It's a perfectly fine photograph, but nothing special.

The beach houses? I'd clone out the people on the shore and saturate it a little bit. I'd also try to do something with the sky.

Aside from my personal criticisms of them, there's no reason to suggest that any of them belong in the trash. Again, that's just an ignorant comment...

Thank you for your valuable thoughts.
Also thank you for your support.

I especially like the idea of photoshopping the people out of the beach house photo