Oh my God, I shot a *DUDE*.

[e.rose]

I never use flickr for resizing fullsized photos - I do that myself because pretty much any automated service is going to get it wrong (there is no perfect amount to add some photos need more and some need less). I tend to upload at 1000pixels on the longest side at most and that is one I've resized myself so I know it looks right. Flickr and the others are generally ok resizing from there to make a few smaller versions.

I just got so sick of having to resize 50,000 times for different mediums, especially since FB kept changing their standards.

But I finally just said "eff it" and export everything at the same size I export for FB and I'm done with it.

Also this guy is way too serious; he needs more smile

I tried. Believe me. There are shots of him smiling, he just didn't like any of them, haha.

He just had a baby yesterday, and I KNOW he is ELATED. He's been talking about this kid forever. It's his first boy out of 4 children, and he has been posting up and down about this kid every minute of the day. Yet in every single photo, he's got his serious face on. :lmao:

Apparently ya'll don't like looking at photos of dudes nearly as much as the girls I post. :lmao:

short of the sun spots, I really cant find any raving flaws standing out. My first reaction is I thought they were snapshot plain material when I glanced through. I just looked through again, and they are actually pretty good though. Im not jumping and clapping my hands in excitement but not avoiding looking from the pain either. Just good and decent photos. I like the first three bw, I actually kind of like 7 and 10 too. All really. The background on 5,6 might be a acquired taste, im not a fan. The road in ten adds some interest for me over the nothing in 9.
11 I guess is okay, not really into the farm hick look with the silos and putting his head right between I thought was a little odd.

The stuff on the wall in 4 is distracting to a extent. But that may be example of what he does and your intended purpose it appears so.


As I already stated I like the bw, I would consider moving things around for a change if redone. The windows and placement in the frame something could probably be made better there.

Thanks for the critique!

I have a few questions:

"Short of the sunspots, I really cant find any raving flaws standing out" -- What do you mean? Are you talking about the flare in #8?

"I thought they were snapshot plain material when I glanced through. I just looked through again, and they are actually pretty good though. Im not jumping and clapping my hands in excitement but not avoiding looking from the pain either." -- Yeah, haha. They're not GROUNDBREAKING or anything, I'll give you that. It's a pretty "safe" set. He wanted pretty standard stuff. (I realize this was not a question. I'm just responding as I read through again )

"11 I guess is okay, not really into the farm hick look with the silos and putting his head right between I thought was a little odd." -- His album is called "Tennessee", so I thought the farm hick vibe was appropriate. Is it just his placement in the frame that you don't like or just the overall hick vibe?

"I would consider moving things around for a change if redone." -- You mean physically move stuff? Or move stuff in Photoshop?

 

[e.rose]

Okay Rose, I'm disappointed. VERY disappointed. When I open one of your threads I expect certain things and dudes in baseball caps are not them!

:lmao:

Technically, the images look great, they're very much 'you', but... HOW are these going to be used to publicize a music producer? My thought was that they looked like a high-school senior shoot.

He's not a producer (unless you're using that as a general term), he's a singer/songwriter, (amongst a million other things, as I mentioned, haha).

He's using these on his site, and on the album.

If he was a producer, I probably would have done the cliché "Stick him in a recording studio, light him, shoot, be done". :lmao:

 

[bribrius]

Okay Rose, I'm disappointed. VERY disappointed. When I open one of your threads I expect certain things and dudes in baseball caps are not them!



Technically, the images look great, they're very much 'you', but... HOW are these going to be used to publicize a music producer? My thought was that they looked like a high-school senior shoot.

musician/speaker/writer/preacher


maybe that is how these need to be critiqued. what photo would go what category and the strength of the photo. I see a few here that would match up. I avoided that as it was such a broad area it would be easier if she posted by category and intended use too.

 

[e.rose]

Okay Rose, I'm disappointed. VERY disappointed. When I open one of your threads I expect certain things and dudes in baseball caps are not them!



Technically, the images look great, they're very much 'you', but... HOW are these going to be used to publicize a music producer? My thought was that they looked like a high-school senior shoot.

musician/speaker/writer/preacher


maybe that is how these need to be critiqued. what photo would go what category and the strength of the photo. I see a few here that would match up. I avoided that as it was such a broad area it would be easier if she posted by category and intended use too.

Dude, honestly... I don't even know.

Our consultation was a weird one. He wanted me to cover so many broad areas with one shoot and didn't want anything too formal. There wasn't a clear vision coming from him, and I tried to pull it out the best I could while talking back and forth, but he was consistently very vague.

The write/speaker/preacher/thinker/whathaveyou was the intention of the coffeehouse shots (the black and white ones), with a little bit of crossover with the shots against the vinyl wall.

The rest were more for his album.

I *asked* him if he wanted some standard head shots more dressed up, against a sweep, but he declined that.

I'm still scratching my head trying to figure it out. :lmao:

 

[tirediron]

Okay Rose, I'm disappointed. VERY disappointed. When I open one of your threads I expect certain things and dudes in baseball caps are not them!

:lmao:

Technically, the images look great, they're very much 'you', but... HOW are these going to be used to publicize a music producer? My thought was that they looked like a high-school senior shoot.

He's not a producer (unless you're using that as a general term), he's a singer/songwriter, (amongst a million other things, as I mentioned, haha).

He's using these on his site, and on the album.

If he was a producer, I probably would have done the cliché "Stick him in a recording studio, light him, shoot, be done". :lmao:

My mistake - you wrote "preacher", I read, "producer". :er:

Still... there's nothing that really says any of that to me; granted what I know about the music industry could be written on the head of a pin and still leave room for five dancing angels and the Lord's Prayer, but... I just don't see any connection.

 

[tirediron]

Okay Rose, I'm disappointed. VERY disappointed. When I open one of your threads I expect certain things and dudes in baseball caps are not them!



Technically, the images look great, they're very much 'you', but... HOW are these going to be used to publicize a music producer? My thought was that they looked like a high-school senior shoot.

musician/speaker/writer/preacher


maybe that is how these need to be critiqued. what photo would go what category and the strength of the photo. I see a few here that would match up. I avoided that as it was such a broad area it would be easier if she posted by category and intended use too.

Dude, honestly... I don't even know.

Our consultation was a weird one. He wanted me to cover so many broad areas with one shoot and didn't want anything too formal. There wasn't a clear vision coming from him, and I tried to pull it out the best I could while talking back and forth, but he was consistently very vague.

The write/speaker/preacher/thinker/whathaveyou was the intention of the coffeehouse shots (the black and white ones), with a little bit of crossover with the shots against the vinyl wall.

The rest were more for his album.

I *asked* him if he wanted some standard head shots more dressed up, against a sweep, but he declined that.

I'm still scratching my head trying to figure it out. :lmao:

Well, it sounds like you did your best to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

 

[bribrius]

Okay Rose, I'm disappointed. VERY disappointed. When I open one of your threads I expect certain things and dudes in baseball caps are not them!



Technically, the images look great, they're very much 'you', but... HOW are these going to be used to publicize a music producer? My thought was that they looked like a high-school senior shoot.

musician/speaker/writer/preacher


maybe that is how these need to be critiqued. what photo would go what category and the strength of the photo. I see a few here that would match up. I avoided that as it was such a broad area it would be easier if she posted by category and intended use too.

Dude, honestly... I don't even know.

Our consultation was a weird one. He wanted me to cover so many broad areas with one shoot and didn't want anything too formal. There wasn't a clear vision coming from him, and I tried to pull it out the best I could while talking back and forth, but he was consistently very vague.

The write/speaker/preacher/thinker/whathaveyou was the intention of the coffeehouse shots (the black and white ones), with a little bit of crossover with the shots against the vinyl wall.

The rest were more for his album.

I *asked* him if he wanted some standard head shots more dressed up, against a sweep, but he declined that.

I'm still scratching my head trying to figure it out. :lmao:

im going to make a suggestion here (keep in mind I don't know squat) but the writer thinker whatever here may not have a clue what he wants or is doing. which is where you come in, tell him to shut up and give lead as that is kind of what he hired you for. Put it too him as "im am part of your marketing program let me do my job"

 

[e.rose]

Okay Rose, I'm disappointed. VERY disappointed. When I open one of your threads I expect certain things and dudes in baseball caps are not them!

:lmao:

Technically, the images look great, they're very much 'you', but... HOW are these going to be used to publicize a music producer? My thought was that they looked like a high-school senior shoot.

He's not a producer (unless you're using that as a general term), he's a singer/songwriter, (amongst a million other things, as I mentioned, haha).

He's using these on his site, and on the album.

If he was a producer, I probably would have done the cliché "Stick him in a recording studio, light him, shoot, be done". :lmao:

My mistake - you wrote "preacher", I read, "producer". :er:

Still... there's nothing that really says any of that to me; granted what I know about the music industry could be written on the head of a pin and still leave room for five dancing angels and the Lord's Prayer, but... I just don't see any connection.

I wanted to just do more formal head shots for that, but like I said. He wasn't down with the formal. :lmao:

::shrugs::

 

[robbins.photo]

Ok, well could just be me but my guess is if the guy is a singer/songwriter "douchy" is probably what he was shooting for in the first place.. lol.

 

[tirediron]

:lmao:





He's not a producer (unless you're using that as a general term), he's a singer/songwriter, (amongst a million other things, as I mentioned, haha).

He's using these on his site, and on the album.

If he was a producer, I probably would have done the cliché "Stick him in a recording studio, light him, shoot, be done". :lmao:

My mistake - you wrote "preacher", I read, "producer". :er:

Still... there's nothing that really says any of that to me; granted what I know about the music industry could be written on the head of a pin and still leave room for five dancing angels and the Lord's Prayer, but... I just don't see any connection.

I wanted to just do more formal head shots for that, but like I said. He wasn't down with the formal. :lmao:

::shrugs::

I think bribrius is right; this looks to me like an occasion where you needed to take the lead a little more. I get the same sort of thing doing business portraits for new real-estate agents and such quite often. They know they want photos, but they don't know what they want. I think this might have been one of those situations where you do what the client wants and then say, "Okay, I think we've nailed that, I've got an idea I'd like to try before we wrap up..." and then coerce him into shooting how you think it should be done; I'm willing to bet at the end of the day he would have gone with your ideas.

 

[e.rose]

musician/speaker/writer/preacher


maybe that is how these need to be critiqued. what photo would go what category and the strength of the photo. I see a few here that would match up. I avoided that as it was such a broad area it would be easier if she posted by category and intended use too.

Dude, honestly... I don't even know.

Our consultation was a weird one. He wanted me to cover so many broad areas with one shoot and didn't want anything too formal. There wasn't a clear vision coming from him, and I tried to pull it out the best I could while talking back and forth, but he was consistently very vague.

The write/speaker/preacher/thinker/whathaveyou was the intention of the coffeehouse shots (the black and white ones), with a little bit of crossover with the shots against the vinyl wall.

The rest were more for his album.

I *asked* him if he wanted some standard head shots more dressed up, against a sweep, but he declined that.

I'm still scratching my head trying to figure it out. :lmao:

im going to make a suggestion here (keep in mind I don't know squat) but the writer thinker whatever here may not have a clue what he wants or is doing. which is where you come in, tell him to shut up and give lead as that is kind of what he hired you for. Put it too him as "im am part of your marketing program let me do my job"

My mistake - you wrote "preacher", I read, "producer". :er:

Still... there's nothing that really says any of that to me; granted what I know about the music industry could be written on the head of a pin and still leave room for five dancing angels and the Lord's Prayer, but... I just don't see any connection.

I wanted to just do more formal head shots for that, but like I said. He wasn't down with the formal. :lmao:

::shrugs::

I think bribrius is right; this looks to me like an occasion where you needed to take the lead a little more. I get the same sort of thing doing business portraits for new real-estate agents and such quite often. They know they want photos, but they don't know what they want. I think this might have been one of those situations where you do what the client wants and then say, "Okay, I think we've nailed that, I've got an idea I'd like to try before we wrap up..." and then coerce him into shooting how you think it should be done; I'm willing to bet at the end of the day he would have gone with your ideas.

Yeah, you're not wrong.

I think I was just struggling because *I* wasn't really sure what we were doing entirely.

It was first approached to me that we were doing shots for an album.

Okay, got that.

And then the more we talked we had "writer/speaker" come into play and his WEBSITE doesn't help make anything clear, because he doesn't separate any of that either. He wants to be this all-encompasing being, rather than... separating his different interests into their own... identity, I suppose.

So it was a little difficult trying to come up with something that covered everything he wanted to cover.

I probably should have pushed harder for some head shots too, but... it is what it is at this point, I guess. Haha.

 

[bribrius]

:lmao:





He's not a producer (unless you're using that as a general term), he's a singer/songwriter, (amongst a million other things, as I mentioned, haha).

He's using these on his site, and on the album.

If he was a producer, I probably would have done the cliché "Stick him in a recording studio, light him, shoot, be done". :lmao:

My mistake - you wrote "preacher", I read, "producer". :er:

Still... there's nothing that really says any of that to me; granted what I know about the music industry could be written on the head of a pin and still leave room for five dancing angels and the Lord's Prayer, but... I just don't see any connection.

I wanted to just do more formal head shots for that, but like I said. He wasn't down with the formal. :lmao:

::shrugs::

I have no idea what you were paid for this, it could not be much.
But if he was willing to pay do to it right I would organize this by what exactly the purpose of the photo was. Redo what I had to. And for you to lead then that also mean YOU need to know about each type of these shoots. So review other work for each described use to understand what is out there for options. just saying "formal head shot" may not be the best approach either. Each category has its own best way to approach and should be organized with somewhat of a plan of attack.
Providing he is willing to pay, and you are willing to do the research organize and lead this. This I at least think could be a excellent experience for a photographer as it isn't as simple as a standard shoot. Also excellent (providing the work excels) for a aspiring photographer to add to their portfolio. High school senior shoot x 10 here in how it would reflect on you.
And you never know, if the douche becomes big (robbins photo lol) it would really reflect on you.

 

[e.rose]

My mistake - you wrote "preacher", I read, "producer". :er:

Still... there's nothing that really says any of that to me; granted what I know about the music industry could be written on the head of a pin and still leave room for five dancing angels and the Lord's Prayer, but... I just don't see any connection.

I wanted to just do more formal head shots for that, but like I said. He wasn't down with the formal. :lmao:

::shrugs::

I have no idea what you were paid for this, it could not be much.
But if he was willing to pay do to it right I would organize this by what exactly the purpose of the photo was. Redo what I had to. And for you to lead then that also mean YOU need to know about each type of these shoots. So review other work for each described use to understand what is out there for options. just saying "formal head shot" may not be the best approach either. Each category has its own best way to approach and should be organized with somewhat of a plan of attack.
Providing he is willing to pay, and you are willing to do the research organize and lead this. This I at least think could be a excellent experience for a photographer as it isn't as simple as a standard shoot. Also excellent (providing the work excels) for a aspiring photographer to add to their portfolio. High school senior shoot x 10 here in how it would reflect on you.
And you never know, if the douche becomes big (robbins photo lol) it would really reflect on you.

It wasn't cheap, but it also wasn't what I'd charge for a session of the magnitude that you're speaking of, so you're right about that.

He had a limited budget.

He started a Kickstarter fund that didn't meet it's goal, and not only had to pay me, but is paying a recording engineer, producer, graphic designer and who knows who else all at the same time, all out of pocket.

If he ever wanted to focus more on any particular area, I'd be more than happy to do so, but that would require additional funds he didn't have.