What do you do?

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Alladin121

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Name
Louise
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I was just wondering what you all do if/when you get a crisis of confidence in your ability no matter how far along in the learning process you are?

I love portraiture, i have a real passion for it, and have been told that people like my pictures and i thought i was getting better.....then i took some of a friend and her fiance and although i was pleased with the images, she wasnt keen on them and only wanted me to use a handful for portfolio, so ive had a crisis of confidence and havent got the inspiration to use my camera since!

What do you all do if this happens? I know this sounds silly but it really hit me! lol
 
Don't fret too much about it. fretting generally makes you feel worse and then it's just a landslide into photographic depression...

I shoot 1000s of images a month for my magazine editors and they generally all seem to have no clue whatsoever about image selection, which frustrates me no end because I've tried my backside off to give them something different. they generally go with the 'safe shot' instead of the crazy strobist effort of the fisheye shot.

Whoever the client is, be it friend, colleague or paying customer, it's a pain when they don't like what you do but just think to the shots people have loved and take solace in it being just one of those things. :)
 
Try taking some different styles of photos - landscape or whatever - then come back to portraits with a fresh enthusiasm.
 
You need to just push through this one and get the other side of this block. There could be all manner of reasons that your friend doesn't like some of the shots and I'll wager it's more about how she views herself than how you've shot her.

If you shoot portraits there are going to be times where the client doesn't like all the images as much as you do. There will also be times clients just adore shots you don't like that much.

There is no reason not to discuss this with your friend with the view to re-shoot in a style/manner she prefers.
 
Ha if someone even mildly likes my photos it's a bonus. If she only liked a few it could have maybe been a cost issue rather than your quality of work? Not everyone has the same tastes, you will have to get used to that regardless.

When I think my photos are crap I go take another card full till I get one or two I like and as i'm only togging for myself I don't really care what other people think. Well that is a lie as we all would like some praise from our peers for our photo's I guess. Keep clicking away to get your confidence back :)

Post a couple of the offending photo's here so we can have a look at them.

Good luck Louise
 
Are they the ones that come up first on your flikr? If so I suspect as others said it's more about how she perceives herself than anything to do with your photography...you have some terrific portraits in there.

I do however totally understand what you're saying as I occasionally get the same feeling and sometimes a shoot just doesn't go as well as you'd hoped. Be brave and get your camera out again as soon as humanly possible!
 
I think the problem lies with that yoiu are not togging for yourself, you are togging for eveyone else, :shrug: well that is what I feel so I have got to tell my self it is what I like and so long as it is sharp etc sod everyone else, you learn alot from critisism, and you have just got to be brave and push the boundaries a bit more.

I am going through a really bad patch at the mo with my togging and all I see is negative results, so it may help to send some piccys to others to peruse and get honest opinion before ipenly putting them n the forum.

I certainly have given up posting lots of piccys as when I look at them and look at others there is A huge DIFFERENCE.

Mine are crap :lol:
 
post them here, we'll say if they are good or not :D

Customers are odd. What you like they might not, and what you think is horrid they may love :D

I shot a friends wedding and there is a small group shot at the night do that is slightly out of focus and I was about ready to bin it when the bride saw it and demanded I keep it. She loved it as did all them in it. I would of been very happy to delete forever.
 
i know exactly how you feel mate, i recently shot a friends christening, i mainly agreed to do it for expierence as im still very new to photography

i knew it was going to be a challenge and was pleased with some of my shots but overall my friend and his mrs really didnt seem impressed

i was really disshartened by this for a week or two and the camera started gatering dust untill i realised they were just expecting magic and your not going to get magic from in-experience and i soon started shooting again and still get results that IM pleased with and thats all that matters

i wont be doing anything like that again soon lol

photography is something i do because i enjoy it and i do it for ME not other people

some people are just too critical and expect the world

hope you get your mojo back
 
Another thing as well is that some people really don't like photos of themselves, it could be the best photo in the world and it won't make a difference.

With one wedding I did the B&G looked through them all and I walked away thinking that they didn't like any of them, my wife said not to worry because she was the sort to express herself. My photos take up 80% of her wedding album so she must of liked them.
 
Hey everyone thank you so much for your stories and comments, really has lifted my spirits and your all right i need to take pictures for my own enjoyment and tell everyone politely to take a hike for now!! lol
As requested hes a few of the images i took on the day....i didnt put them on flickr or my blog as she wasnt that happy with them so here goes....

1.


2.


3.


4.


Would love to know what you think.... :| There are others where they are cuddling and kissing but these are some of my favourites.
 
Nice photos, and the only thing that is needed would of been some fill light.

With the bright back ground the camera has exposed for that leaving the foreground darker, a flash would of helped.

Composition and poses look fine to me :)

I'd put it down to her and her self image, I'm the same, hate photos of myself.
 
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Hey thank you for your reply, your right about fill flash, i was quite nervous about doing the pics as his mum is a photographer so was stressing, but lesson learnt for next time :D again thank you for your comment :)
 
If you shoot in raw mode you can add fill light when processing the raw file with adobe camera raw.
 
Buck up chuck. :):)

I think we all feel the way you were feeling earlier.

I nearly threw all my equipment in the wheelie bin earlier. Got all set up to do some shots of my daughter and they were all rubbish. We argued and she stormed off. :eek:

Lisa x
 
Have had the same problem recently, I have been doing freelance railway photography for some time now and did not have anything published for months. Then I gave it up as a hobby just got really down and fed up. Thren realised it was the hobby part of it that got me going in the first place. Picked up camera after a few weeks and just took a few pics. Bingo rekindled the hobby and the presswork followed again as I had rediscovered the love for my hobby.
 
As with all creative hobbies, what one person likes another loathes - it's the nature of the beast.

Don't beat yourself up about it and remember that as long as you are proud of your work thy is all that matters, praise from others is merely a bonus (unless they're paying of course!).

Pick up the camera and start taking pics again, the longer you leave it, the greater the crisis becomes.
 
I hope im not twisting the knife but....i can see what she means.....for everyday candid (i know they're posed for) shots they're nice pic's if it was for a portfolio i wouldnt be over the moon....
They seem a bit soft and apart from the B+W one im not a fan......
Having said this it must be difficult to shoot friends and it looks like the location wouldnt have helped metering....maybe i more relaxed shoot would have given your friend the 'shots' she wanted???

Dont be disheartened.....what we do is subjective....people wont always like what we shoot....see it as a challenge, ask her to re-shoot and try again....if your like me you'll be stubborn and want to get the 'right' shot 2nd time (or 3rd)!!

bravo for posting!!
 
ahhh...the dress makes her 'look fat' that's why she doesn't like them.

Mostly, sitters are blissfully ignorant of differential focus, depth of field, white balance etc.
All they 'see' in the photo is how they look, which, since they usually see themselves reversed in the bathroom mirror, is very seldom what they see in a photo of themselves.

Her reaction to these will have been:
#1: I can see my armpits and look like I haven't shaved properly. Plus my arms look fat.
#2: I look fat.
#3: I look really fat.
#4: I look like a fat dwarf, or someone with no legs...who is fat.

Girls do not think like normal people - i.e. men...

You're a girl, you should know this by now...
 
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I don't do portraits so no idea on subtle lighting etc, but apart from the black and white shot the posing looks wrong

First one looks like a passer by has stopped for a butchers and the last appears as though he has been caught short and nipped round the back of the tree

Sorry, but just trying to offer my opinions which are more than likely wrong anyay
 
I think you created a rod for your own back with the choice of location for these images. Shooting in dappled lighting is difficult at the best of times and with these it's clearly bothered your metering. In number two you've managed to keep the hotspots off their faces but otherwise the metering has underexposed them. #3 is just a tighter crop of number 2. The pose of the girl in #1 is quite nice but the fella looks like a bit of a loser in the background. The last one is a bit cheesey and again, she doesn't pop out as the main focal point. But the hotspot on her head does :nono:

The girl wants to shine in her pictures and sadly she doesn't really stand out in these. Use of a reflector could have really put a sparkle in her eye and lit up their faces nicely. Obviously it's quite easy for me to say that sitting here but hopefully you'll be aware of these things next time.

In terms of your confidence, don't let this episode get to you. The girl has had a free (I presume) photo session and has then been heartless enough to say she doesn't like them. That says more about her than you. I'd say from the pose in #1 you have the posing techniques sorted, just work on the lighting and you'll be fine. With a bit more practice you'll be getting some belters then she'll be banging your door down to have more pictures taken :)
 
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Portraits are not really my thing, so therefore am not really qualified to say anything about the poses. The images as presented are very dark and a bit of PP in photoshop could have made a big difference when presented. I have made some alterations to both levels and curves, to bring out the subject. As mentioned better lighting during the shoot would be better than work in PP. I am sure that working with the original files would give better results than those below.

ns1.jpg


ns2.jpg
 
^^ Good work John. Just shows what you can do in PP to save the day.

I bet if you showed her these she'd be a bit happier :)
 
Good job, PP is a marvellous tool

Think I would have cloned the bloke out in the first one though
 
do worry about it too much, we all loose our spark from time to time,

some good images there John. :thumbs:

keep taking pics, even if it's just for fun and don't be too critical about it

:)
 
I stick my disasters through lightroom, then admire the masterpiece!!!
 
I do notice that every shot she is looking at the camera and nearly every shot he's looking at her. I think Arkadys right it'll be her vainness that's causing most of the problems.
 
Arkady said:
ahhh...the dress makes her 'look fat' that's why she doesn't like them.

Mostly, sitters are blissfully ignorant of differential focus, depth of field, white balance etc.
All they 'see' in the photo is how they look, which, since they usually see themselves reversed in the bathroom mirror, is very seldom what they see in a photo of themselves.

Her reaction to these will have been:
#1: I can see my armpits and look like I haven't shaved properly. Plus my arms look fat.
#2: I look fat.
#3: I look really fat.
#4: I look like a fat dwarf, or someone with no legs...who is fat.

Girls do not think like normal people - i.e. men...

You're a girl, you should know this by now...
Click to expand...

You are so right - this is why I stopped doing a 365 of sp's :lol: only for all four answers just add "and old" at the end
 
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