When your friends show you photos...

[BeccaJ]

... Do you have to fight the urge to C&C them?

I did this morning. I had to fight it hard.

My friend/co-worker sent me the link to her engagement pictures. She and a few other co-workers and I are all getting married soon, and we share our pics and flowers and all kinds of other stuff we find... so she sent me her pics to get my opinion on them. *Note: I met her after she already had a photog for her wedding and I've only recently ventured into weddings, so therefore I am not her photographer*

Anyway - i wont post the photography company, but they are well known around here, and on the knot.com, and are on some venues preferred vendor list. I guess they are well known cause of their prices, which have recently gone up tho... But i imagine they've been in business for quite a few years. Which i guess is fine if you're not looking for anything special, no real editing, and the same ol' same ol'...

While im not the greatest out there by FAR, I know it takes experience and practice and passion and knowledge... Passion I have. Practice is whenever I can get it. And the knowledge and experience come with practice and years... While im not the greatest out there...i feel like i could've done a much better job than what she got. The light is scattered (pictures under trees and other weird shaped items), the editing is inconsistent (some are warm, some are cold, none have great contrast and are quite bland in colors, tattoo removed in some pics and not in others), and the poses were very unflattering for her and very..."generic," for lack of other creative words.

I started to type a reply...and had to delete it and start over when i realized i wasn't on TPF posting a critique. So I proceeded to tell her I thought she looked more comfortable in one outfit over the other, and it showed in the pictures, mentioned the posing when she mentioned herself looking "fat," mentioned the tattoo, told her I'd pick out my favorites if she wanted me to (she later said she only really liked like 10 out of the 80/90 that were there), and told her hair and makeup looked beautiful (which it sooo did!). *whew*



Tell me you have similar experiences and im not crazy?!

[Rson]

Yes I have become a snob when it comes to pictures......especially people that use selective coloring. GOD IT BOTHERS ME. Especially when it is soooo harsh and they don't crank down the color or feather the edges. As a caveat, I am equally harsh on myself.

Also, there is another site that has more of the "Mommy crowd with DSLR's" starting businesses which is great but they don't do any of the work to learn the trade, camera, composition rules, or anything else for that matter. Then they post their recent work and NO ONE gives any honest evaluation. The other mommy's post up saying nice things because they don't know the difference. Exactly how do they expect to learn when the people who are giving feedback suck just as much?

I am not Ansel Adams by any stretch, but I am doing my best to sit back and listen, learn, and master my camera and techniques.

[SaSha]

Rebecca,
I have seen both good and bad photos from family, friends and co-workers.
Yes it is hard to not critique their photos. Though when you see the good side it does make you want to shoot that well.

[HotHolly]

Yes. If they are asking how the photog did, I tell them. If I am supposed to be looking at stuff in the photos, then I answer that. Its OK to be a snob, it means you dont suck quite as much as you used to. I look at my old fav photos of my in my prephotog years and well, they wont win anything for technical merit. They totally suck! Being able to tell where the shooters skill level is means your getting better and learning. Nothings wrong with that.

[123canon]

i critique every photo i see! that being said it is never with my outside voice! i am usually harder on my own work than others. i always try to remember when friends and family show me photos it is the subject, not the tech. details that i am supposed to see and i try to remember that MY favorite photos usually turn out to be the crappiest technically. oh well....

[Howard Barlow]

Whenever anyone asks me, "What do you think about..." whatever it may be, photos, cooking, anything, I always respond with, "Do you want me to be truthful, or make you feel good?"

[Angelo]

Originally Posted by Howard Barlow

Whenever anyone asks me, "What do you think about..." whatever it may be, photos, cooking, anything, I always respond with, "Do you want me to be truthful, or make you feel good?"

Howard, you're one of a kind.... LOL
Great approach though. That makes them laugh and really listen and appreciate the critique.

[groovyone]

Some of my friends won't show me their photos, and I don't even critique them! They are afraid I will or something. If they do I get the, "Well, they aren't as good as your but..." I just like to look at photos, good or bad:

like Polaroids

[Jessica Merritt]

OMG...I have to button my lips on a regular basis.

[Howard Barlow]

Originally Posted by Angelo

Howard, you're one of a kind.... LOL

Let's all count that as a blessing.

[studiocygnet]

Originally Posted by BeccaJ

She and a few other co-workers and I are all getting married soon,

That group wedding thing doesn't really sound legal to me

Actually, on your question, I think you did just right. I usually fudge around and try to find a few nice things to say, and if they push for a criticism, I'll find a couple things I would have done differently, but I try to be tactful, and not really use terms like better or worse - just different.

[Collins]

I pretty much follow my same MO on forums. I don't critique unless asked.

[kamari]

Tuesday I indirectly told a project engineer I work with that her photos were crap...kinda embarrassed me for a min, until I realized I held power that she'd like to learn (and she holds a position that I'd like to have). I asked where she got the digital photo frame she had & she went on & on about her son and his soccer playing. She showed me photo after photo that she thought were just the greatest b/c he's in the air and his hair's standing straight up. I just smiled at the photos that were taken from 100 yards away with a 200mm lens, handheld, with slow shutter speed.

I'm usually quick on my feet but I wasn't this time. I said "when I got my camera I used to think the photos I took were awesome, until I started trading pics with photographers & it shattered my world." She turned around and said "oh, so these must probably be trash to you." I tried to skirt around the indirect statement that I realized i'd just made, but she was cool about it, admitting she never switches out of auto mode on her 40d.

[Michelle Allmon]

Yes, I am a total snob but I bite my tongue. No one wants to hear that their wedding photographer is eh- since there is nothing they can do about it at that point.

[johnastovall]

They all learned a long time ago not to...