Am I pro material? C&C feedback

delete, delete

How embarrassing That came across real wrong.

Link removed, thread dead

Thank for previous feedback.

A pro at doing what? Illustrative, commercial, portrait, landscape, what? You also need to learn the business side of being a photographer - being a professional photographer probably is 80% business, 20% shooting.

I realize this sounds like a dream job, where you get paid to take photos - and to be honest, your work at the moment is... well, snapshot quality at best. Improve your flash use, learn how to use it off camera and bounce it, learn more about post work, and the business side of the job before you consider a career as a pro.

+1

I don't see any commercial value in those images

+1

I don't see any commercial value in those images

Thanks for the feedback. Let me re-emphasize, these are green box snapshots. I've been doing that for a long time and recently people are coming to me requesting my services for pay. What I'm really asking is whether the professional photography community would see potential in my GWC snapshots.

Zansho wrote in post #7823796
A pro at doing what? Illustrative, commercial, portrait, landscape, what?

Commercial, portrait and documentary.

Re: 80% business, 20% shooting
Technically, I'm a published proprofessional photographer; primarily because I'm professionally minded and a GWC that has some gear my non photo career affords me. In other words, I've got the 80% in the bag. The artistic eye is what I'm seeking feedback on. Technique is a work in progress, and I'm debating how vigorously to pursue it.

Thanks

I may be being dumb here but what is GWC?

I'm afraid I have to echo the others' sentiments here that the examples you posted were average.

as far as an "artistic" perspective, i'd work on the composition. like others have stated, these seem more like everyday snapshots than photos worth any value. there are distractions in the backgrounds along with objects being cut off, etc. also, lighting was direct, the lobsters were oof, as were the teddy bears, the last one has no point of interest, etc. little things like that can go a long way if done right!

A long reply from me and for that I am sorry, but in a nutshell it is the advice that was offered to me when I got my first DSLR..

I think GWC is Guy With Camera, proberly refering to an average Joe that owns a camera and shoots with it in fully automatic. I am proberly wrong but that's how I understood it...

Have you got any links to the photos that you had published, for me personally (And I'm no pro) but the pictures you linked to are at best fun family shots and I have to agree with the others that there is very little if any commercial value in them. I assume you have more pictures as your gear list states you have a 5D and the EXIF on the pictures says Rebel.

Right for some advice that I have found works for me....

Have a trawl through the various forums on here that you have interest in, for example People and Pets sections and look at the quality of the captures on there, you will learn a lot about composition and how things like depth of field can tranform a average snapshot into a winner,

I have only shot one session where I was being paid and I can tell you that those who say taking the pictures is only 20% of the business are not wrong. For example I shot someones pet dog for them (with a camera) and when discussing their requirements and what they were looking for I honestly came away thinking "How am I going to capture what they are looking for", because it's not all about taking a technically correct exposure of their pet but capturing the personality. You have to try and make a photgraphic record of how they see their best friend and it's not easy.

Along with that you have to make money, there is no point snapping away for 4 hours and 4 days processing them for $20, so you need to know how much to charge to make any profit, you need to be able to produce high quality prints for the client, have contracts so both parties have some form of security that states who retains the right to the images and what they can be used for etc.

On the surface it looks like you take some pictures, print them off and sell them but honestly the reality is a minefield..

With that being said, someone else pointed out in a thread the other day that pictures only need to be as good as the bad taste of the client so I guess anything is possible.

Get out of the green box, using it is letting your camera decide how the finished pictures look. Try the other modes like AV, TV and Manual which will show you how adjusting shutter speed, Aperture and ISO can have effects on how the finished pictures look, Understanding Exposure by Brian Peterson is an excellent book which takes you through the process of creative photography and will give you a better knowlege of what the difference is between a snap shot and a saleable image.

You will enter a stage where I am at the moment which is 'The more I learn the less I know' stage, this is where your not really happy with anything you shoot as when you look at the images on the computer your harsh on yourself 'I should of used a slower shutter speed', 'I should of tried for more depth of field' etc. But by sticking with it through this stage you should end up with a good idea of how to capture what you or a client would like to see from a particular capture and having the technical skill to pull it off.

But the most important advice anyone on here will give you is, SHOOT, SHOOT and SHOOT, you will soon see a marked improvement..

Sorry if this isn't the sort of advice you were looking for I figured that it would be more informative than simply saying I don't see anything worth selling. If it's not what your looking for just ignore me and I will crawl back under my rock...

Please keep posting your images though and show us how you develop, it's an interesting journey that you will never stop learning from....

No, you're not there yet.

No, you're not there yet.

Though... if people want to pay for it, that's their choice.

Is this a joke?

If you are not joking, no you are not near pro material. You have much to work on, and you should start by looking at pro's pictures/portfolios and compare them to yours.

Good luck on your learning journey!

Chase the dream not the money...

IMO no where near close, my wife takes better shots with her S3IS.... but we all know quality doesn't matter it's all about how you market yourself. There are some truly awful "pro" photographers out there that make an excellent living selling themselves.

Being completely honest - I'd work on things a bit more before marketing yourself as a professional. Those photos have nothing exceptional about them in my opinion.

Just constructive criticism. Keep practicing though. Shoot - Shoot - Shoot and find your niche.