sara...winter wonderland part 4 (senior)

The last of the girls I was able to shoot with the frozen fog.

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We've established common opinion is that they suck. No need to perpetuate the failure.

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Her face has far too much skin smoothing applied. It's created an odd color and contrast appearance. She looks unnatural. Her face looks flat because you've taken out detail that gives texture and dimension to her face.

Yup. ^ I was thinking the same exact thing. And if you are going to add a watermark, you should make it compliment the colors already in the shot.. So maybe do a light blue and a white..

Actually, I saw the sooc shots and there is little skin smoothing here. The watermark is not just to prevent theft of images, which is rampant lately, but to provide brand recognition. This is sevillafox's business and the same as any larger company would put their brand in front of you EVERY chance they got, so do many portrait photographers do what they're able to create brand recognition. There is plenty of reading out there if either of you are interested.

I am new here...and just learning...but, she appears very uneasy through her expression

Yeah. Wow. Harsh.

First off, the skin smoothing on these was almost nonexistent. Bright light + bright snow = very even texture.

Second off, the watermark is my LOGO!! It's called branding.

Thomas....she may appear so....but I can assure you that she wasn't. She's my husband's cousin and she and I know each other well. That's just her smile.

And, well, it was butt ass cold out there!

I understood that it is your logo, and it will still be the same logo, even if the text is a different color. I just think it could be more harmonious with the colors in the photo.
You really shouldn't freak out when someone gives you critiques. Wouldn't you rather have people give you advice on what appears unattractive to that particular person (especially when two people both agree) or have people comment on your threads saying, "OMGZ!?!? UR FOTOS R SOOOOO GUD! I LUV THEM!" No one ever got better through comments like that... You really shouldn't get hostile when people offer there honest opinion.

If you can't handle negative feedback, post a disclaimer in the original post saying "No body post in this thread who has constructive feedback that might hurt my feelings."

Thanks for your comments Jack. Considering your body of work and your whopping three months of experience, I do need to take it with a grain of salt.

I most certainly can handle negative feedback and with far more grace that you have shown in your threads.

However, I do take issue with you critiquing the watermark that is specifically set out to perpetuate my branding. The colors I have chosen are very memorable and I do not wish to change them.

Please bear in mind as well that I am in BUSINESS!!! Perhaps you may think my skin retouching is over the top but I can assure you that the clients that pay me to take their photos do not think so. And, again, the skin smoothing in almost all of my shots is minimal at best.

Thank you for your opinions.

At times the point of the water mark is to ruin the image. Again it goes back to stealing the image. If the client was to find her images here, without the watermark, she would have no reason to pay for "web copies" for her Facebook or My Space. But if she has to crop off half the image to get rid of the watermark the picture is no longer useful. So they dont take it. And if they take it anyway they have to leave the watermark to keep it a whole image. And then that watermark turnes into advertising.

What does my experience have to do with the validity of my opinion? And my "inexperienced" opinion happens to be the same as another working professional.

Touche. I was a dick in that one thread.

Fine... I've seen it done both ways. All you had to say was no thank you.

And I applaud you for that. So many people do not realize how much a person's skin adds to their overall character. And I only thought that it was a bit over the top in this set of photos.


To make myself perfectly clear, I completely respect your work. Your photos ARE beautiful. I did not mean to suggest in any way that your photos are no good, because they are; very much so, in fact. I'm sorry about my previous post. That was also over the top. Tiffany you truly are talented and I was only giving feedback that, in my opinion, could help these particular photos improve. I am sorry for the hostile posts and wish for no hard feelings.

Ciao.

Ok, Jack. Sorry if I came across bitchy. It's been a long day. No excuse to take it out on you.

It just struck a sore spot for some reason.

I will concede that it is heavier than I like on the first image because I was not a good girl and left my vagabond and bee at home. I needed some ocf. Editing killed it and required smoothing.

I know exactly where you are coming from ahahaha. And yeah I now how those sore spots get, especially when we're tired.
I'm glad that we can move beyond this.

in business or not, photogs do't care if your clients like it. You are posting these for the photographers and they WILL find what not to like.

here's some "loving" )

My guess is that you crop your images so much they lose their quality. Or you apply Portraiture and don't mask it, because your models hair and eyes are blurry. That's lame. For a pro - unforgivable.
Fox, these are simple portraits and they are obviously processed, but what I don't like the most is the DMV style crops. Just... not enough air. A pretty gal, and all Im seeing are merely snappy snaps with a longer lens. Fox, I know you can do it - make it more fun, employ your surroundings and you will be able to produce works of art that will be hanging on your senior's wall until they become really senior citizens. Again, business or or (I frankly don't care of you make millions doing what you do, since it has no effect on the quality) I think it is time to step it up a notch. You are a great photographer and seemingly a very fun person, so take all this with a grain of salt.