New to this forum ... and first time asking for comments ...

[Sue Bruce]

(even typing this message is getting me nervous!)

I have been photographing for many years, and have gotten to a time in my life where I want to make more of it. But (dare I say it) .. I am lacking in confidence because I don't have a mentor and actually have no idea if I am even a good enough photographer!

This is a real passion for me. I go no-where without my camera, and often shoot many hundreds of photos looking for just one. I would LOVE to exhibit a few somewhere, but again, I am not sure how to proceed.

Would appreciate any comments, if any of you are interested in looking at my site : http://suebrucephotography.smugmug.com My favorite photos are all housed in the gallery called "The best of ...".

I am very accepting of constructive criticism and am probably my own worst enemy because I am extremely critical of my own work ... and often dump photos that are not entirely perfect (but it's my eye that's judging ... which is the problem).

So .... here goes ... I am plucking up the courage to show someone else my photos ...

Sue

 

[Ajay]

I'm glad you had the courage show us because I think you are very talented. You have great control over your exposure, focus, and color and interesting compositions. Thanks for sharing and I hope you'll share more!

Welcome to the forum!

 

[Alpha]

The shots are good for what they are. Color, composition, and sharpness are all good. But this is a very stock-photo style. I would expect to see these while browsing through Corbis, but not hanging in a gallery.

 

[Sue Bruce]

How would I get away from the stock photography look? My assumption is that unless you are specifically shooting for stock photography, you are probably looking at wedding or family / personal shots .... is there another direction to head in? Photography for art's sake is very difficult to break into ... so what advice would you give?

 

[Alpha]

Pardon my French, it's 2:00am and I'm a tired vulgarian.

You've made yourself clear right there. Ostensibly you shouldn't be shooting for anything unless you're specifically doing commercial work.

Look, **** stock agencies and clients and galleries. If your heart's in it then this isn't about breaking into anything. Art for art's sake? Bull****. What the **** is art? What does art get in return? You do something for humanity, you do something for yourself, for your neighbor, in the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit, in the name of your ego's principles. But art...art is selfish, art doesn't care that you've done anything in its name, nor does anyone else. You'll find your way when you come to understand why you're mustering the energy in your tired fingers to press that button on the top of your camera body.

Do you get a rise out of shooting a pile of gold coins? If you do, that's great. But I'll tell you one thing; your shots looks the way that they do because the pop-photo super-ego gremlin has invaded your artistic consciousness. I think you'll be closer to figuring out why you're doing what you're doing if you can let your guard down enough to stop caring, if only for a moment, how colorful or sharp or well-composed your shots are. Your work doesn't excite me because it looks like a million photos in a million post-modern advertisements. And it looks that way because you've also looked at millions of them and they're hiding in the shadows in the back of your mind, silently caressing your hand as you click to open the unsharp-mask dialog and sending an orgasmic tingle of technicolor down your spine as you bump the saturation.

But what do I know? I'm a photographer because the Native Americans were right about photographs stealing souls. I am a metaphysical taxidermist.