New freelancing, suggestions please

[IByte]

A lot, actually. How do you expect to get clients if you don't have a portfolio together? That's one of the basics, ain't it? Am I not allowed to ask questions, Steve? Are you one of the Avengers jumping to rescue this new freelancer? Which one do you want to be? Iron Man? He seems pretty B.A. Don't go for the guy with the bow, though. Too mundane.

Steve, you are new to the forum, so I don't expect you to be up to speed. Literally at least one or two people a week will start a thread here saying "HELP I HAVE CLIENTS AND I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO THIS REALLY SIMPLE THING!!!" If you have clients, and you don't know how to accomplish something with relatively pedestrian photographic techniques, then you shouldn't be trying to service clients needs.

Granted, everyone has to start somewhere, but tackling a paid job by the seat of your pants isn't the way to learn, or to establish a reliable client base. I'm not trying to bring the OP down, or discourage them from taking photos. But I may suggest that they be realistic. I WANT the OP to pursue photography, I just don't want them to get ahead of themselves and potentially be involved in a lawsuit (or several.) Heck, i didn't even ask him a baited question. I legitimately wanted to know how many images they had in their portfolio. Truth be told, when the OP said that they had 200 images that they show to clients, that is FAR too many IMHO. But the only way that they'd receive criticism to allow them to whittle down the selection is by receiving critique from an unbiased 3rd party (like a forum).

If you don't like what I have to say, please, I urge you to put me on your "Ignore List." My feelings will not be hurt at all. As a matter of fact, I won't even know! It's entirely up to you, Steve.

The OP should read the thread about "I'm going to start an online Photoshop business, but I don't know Photoshop and I use the Gimp" thread. I bet they would go WTF? OP, welcome and thanks for being mature about the smart a$$ comments . Better here than the harsh reality in the real world. Stick around and pick up some good advice.....beer and shot who's with me?


Edit: my fault Tyler I highlighted the wrong quote, the booze makes me do it ><!

 

[camerateur]

The OP should read the thread about "I'm going to start an online Photoshop business, but I don't know Photoshop and I use the Gimp" thread. I bet they would go WTF? OP, welcome and thanks for being mature about the smart a$$ comments . Better here than the harsh reality in the real world. Stick around and pick up some good advice.....beer and shot who's with me?

Edit: my fault Tyler I highlighted the wrong quote, the booze makes me do it ><!

hahaha I read that one yesterday (I think it was yesterday, the days have been running together.
possibly due to alcohol, but maybe just due to jet lag..idk!!)

OP, I also have to commend you for the mature comments.
I think this forum can be pretty great, but its too often that I think:

:: sighhhh:: not this again, too many attacks, too little advice.
(not against me necessarily but against all TPF users.)

although the knowledge here can be so helpful and invaluable
I hope the unhelpful become few and far apart!!! we all love photography lets learn and enjoy >.<

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

...and so it goes.

 

[o hey tyler]

Ok so here I go - Please be kind, constructive criticism welcome. I've taken bits from across my work. Please let it be clear I am a beginner ... I enjoy the artistic side of photography and lifestyle photography, especially of children... I love photographing children.

View attachment 8588View attachment 8589View attachment 8590View attachment 8591View attachment 8592

I will be gentle. I promise...

1. Sorry, this one just doesn't work. Selective coloring works well under very few circumstances. This unfortunately is not one of them. The moment you captured is cute, but it's also somewhat harmed by the usage of popup flash. If you're working with just the onboard flash on your camera, you can always try deploying it (so that it's up, and not resting in the body) and use a rubber band in conjunction with a white business card to direct the flash upwards. It also diffuses it through the business card. One thing to bear in mind is that you'll need to use a focal length of roughly 50mm or longer so that you don't see the shadow from the business card. I used that trick quite a lot prior to getting a speedlight. You should not include this photo in a portfolio IMO.

2. This is a nice capture. I like the fact that you feel right in the moment with the child. The exposure seems good, but I am not a fan of the instagrammish boarder around it.

3. This one appears to be out of focus. To me, that's normally right when I trash a photo. The supporting pink elements around the child are a nice touch, but not enough to make the photo usable with the focus as off as it is.

4. The colors in this photograph are nice, but it could benefit from focusing on just the purple flowers. The whites appear to be blown, which draws quite a bit of attention to the eye. You could try a square format crop to see how it looks without the orange hue from the sun behind the trees, and the white band.

5. Not a bad photo at all. Quite the quirky combination of colors and such as the lines lead you down the beach. I don't think the crop proportions work for it, as I usually crop to a printable ratio. It is a nice area, and if you can go back there I am sure a lot of other photographic opportunities will present themselves.

Keep shooting.

 

[fokker]

I'm hoping to enjoy this site, some members have been absolutely wonderfully insightful and helpful. I'm hoping to learn ALOT here??

Lesson 1: 'A lot.' Alot is not part of the english language.

Sorry, just being a smartass. Welcome to TPF, where people are routinely dicks to amateurs with aspirations. Don't worry, if you enjoy it enough you'll get there eventually.

 

[JSER]

you say

"Hi. I'm new to all of this. I take a pretty good photo"

I wish you luck, many who take excellent photographs and are not "new" find it hard.

Perhaps you should post some here to be seen first

 

[smurf4t]

Ok so here I go - Please be kind, constructive criticism welcome. I've taken bits from across my work. Please let it be clear I am a beginner ... I enjoy the artistic side of photography and lifestyle photography, especially of children... I love photographing children.

View attachment 8588View attachment 8589View attachment 8590View attachment 8591View attachment 8592

Image 1 - probably a bit old school - I know and a bit over done - I did like it at the time, this was taken with my kit lens that came with the canon 500d - 18-55mm IS lens
Image 2 - this is one of my fav's as its a bit artsy fartsy - I call it the time warp - I always feel like he's walking through some kind of time warp tunnel - silly i know - It was taken with my phone! (cringe)
Image 3 - I actually purposely blurred the back ground - as I know the subject was a bit blurred ( they do move really fast ) so I was hoping an over blurred back ground would make her look more in focus - I can see now that didnt work... will re-edit and have another play with it - this was taken with my 50mm f/1.8
Image 4 - I wanted to make the focus on the purple flowers in the centre - but I see now maybe I should of had a subject of some sort in the middle. But I do still like this image - I like the colours and the fact that it is a bit off focus... just me I suppose.
Image 5 - this was taken in South end on Sea in the UK... Again just taken with canon 18-55mm IS lens - I do realize I need to start cropping to fit a photo properly but sometimes I feel if I dont the image looses its focus or doesn't look as good ? How do I get around that and do I need to? ( I know each image is unique in its problems - but are there any general suggestions - I realize photoshop is an invaluable tool in some of these cases ?)

 

[smurf4t]

you say

"Hi. I'm new to all of this. I take a pretty good photo"

I wish you luck, many who take excellent photographs and are not "new" find it hard.

Perhaps you should post some here to be seen first

I have posted a few a few threads back... page 4 I think

 

[smurf4t]

A lot, actually. How do you expect to get clients if you don't have a portfolio together? That's one of the basics, ain't it? Am I not allowed to ask questions, Steve? Are you one of the Avengers jumping to rescue this new freelancer? Which one do you want to be? Iron Man? He seems pretty B.A. Don't go for the guy with the bow, though. Too mundane.

Steve, you are new to the forum, so I don't expect you to be up to speed. Literally at least one or two people a week will start a thread here saying "HELP I HAVE CLIENTS AND I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DO THIS REALLY SIMPLE THING!!!" If you have clients, and you don't know how to accomplish something with relatively pedestrian photographic techniques, then you shouldn't be trying to service clients needs.

Granted, everyone has to start somewhere, but tackling a paid job by the seat of your pants isn't the way to learn, or to establish a reliable client base. I'm not trying to bring the OP down, or discourage them from taking photos. But I may suggest that they be realistic. I WANT the OP to pursue photography, I just don't want them to get ahead of themselves and potentially be involved in a lawsuit (or several.) Heck, i didn't even ask him a baited question. I legitimately wanted to know how many images they had in their portfolio. Truth be told, when the OP said that they had 200 images that they show to clients, that is FAR too many IMHO. But the only way that they'd receive criticism to allow them to whittle down the selection is by receiving critique from an unbiased 3rd party (like a forum).

If you don't like what I have to say, please, I urge you to put me on your "Ignore List." My feelings will not be hurt at all. As a matter of fact, I won't even know! It's entirely up to you, Steve.

The OP should read the thread about "I'm going to start an online Photoshop business, but I don't know Photoshop and I use the Gimp" thread. I bet they would go WTF? OP, welcome and thanks for being mature about the smart a$$ comments . Better here than the harsh reality in the real world. Stick around and pick up some good advice.....beer and shot who's with me?


Edit: my fault Tyler I highlighted the wrong quote, the booze makes me do it ><!

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...

 

[smurf4t]

Ok so here I go - Please be kind, constructive criticism welcome. I've taken bits from across my work. Please let it be clear I am a beginner ... I enjoy the artistic side of photography and lifestyle photography, especially of children... I love photographing children.

View attachment 8588View attachment 8589View attachment 8590View attachment 8591View attachment 8592

I will be gentle. I promise...

1. Sorry, this one just doesn't work. Selective coloring works well under very few circumstances. This unfortunately is not one of them. The moment you captured is cute, but it's also somewhat harmed by the usage of popup flash. If you're working with just the onboard flash on your camera, you can always try deploying it (so that it's up, and not resting in the body) and use a rubber band in conjunction with a white business card to direct the flash upwards. It also diffuses it through the business card. One thing to bear in mind is that you'll need to use a focal length of roughly 50mm or longer so that you don't see the shadow from the business card. I used that trick quite a lot prior to getting a speedlight. You should not include this photo in a portfolio IMO.

2. This is a nice capture. I like the fact that you feel right in the moment with the child. The exposure seems good, but I am not a fan of the instagrammish boarder around it.

3. This one appears to be out of focus. To me, that's normally right when I trash a photo. The supporting pink elements around the child are a nice touch, but not enough to make the photo usable with the focus as off as it is.

4. The colors in this photograph are nice, but it could benefit from focusing on just the purple flowers. The whites appear to be blown, which draws quite a bit of attention to the eye. You could try a square format crop to see how it looks without the orange hue from the sun behind the trees, and the white band.

5. Not a bad photo at all. Quite the quirky combination of colors and such as the lines lead you down the beach. I don't think the crop proportions work for it, as I usually crop to a printable ratio. It is a nice area, and if you can go back there I am sure a lot of other photographic opportunities will present themselves.

Keep shooting.

Thank you so much - especially for being kind ... I've posted a general thought process in the thread on my thoughts on each ... really appreciated what you had to say and I have taken it all on board - I love it when people make me think !

 

[smurf4t]

I like the shot of the boy in the tunnel. The one of the little girl is out of focus, same with the flowers. I'm not a big fan of spot colouring, but you did a nice job on it. You do need to keep at it, work on the focus, it will come with time.

Thank you so much for checking them out... You comments are great...

 

[smurf4t]

Ok 3 more ... I'm sticking my neck out and being cheeky I know ... but I'm finding this feed back wonderfully insightful and so appreciate everyones opinion even if its not wonderful - but it will help me become a better photographer... thanks for looking and commenting...
all taken with my favourite 50mm f1.8mm canon lens and canon500d.

 

[IByte]

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...

Here is the link to the thread. This what the seasoned people deem a pet peeve. http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...ry/283795-creating-new-photoshop-service.html

 

[imagemaker46]

View attachment 8613View attachment 8614View attachment 8615

Ok 3 more ... I'm sticking my neck out and being cheeky I know ... but I'm finding this feed back wonderfully insightful and so appreciate everyones opinion even if its not wonderful - but it will help me become a better photographer... thanks for looking and commenting...
all taken with my favourite 50mm f1.8mm canon lens and canon500d.

These all look like they are out of focus.

 

[o hey tyler]

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...

Here is the link to the thread. This what the seasoned people deem a pet peeve.

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