New at attempting portraits...

There are no rules in Photography, people will buy your work if they like it, I spent 27 years in the Commercial field, and I was often amazed at which images the client chose, very often it was a result of just "playing" around with the lights or the focus, sort of "thinking outside the box" photography.
Your images have an element of art in them, the more you shoot the better you will get.

Good luck:thumbsup:

Cherry I can see the creative vision you have and the potential for some imaginative portraits. Where I think the technique comes in is that you can better interpret your vision as your skills improve. It's like that in art - the more I've learned techniques and kept practicing the better the quality of my work in art/crafts - I can see it in something I made a long time ago compared to something I made recently. You have some cool ideas and I can see where you're going with them. As you said you're learning about how to use your camera and the more you take pictures the better your photos will get. I think that helps to express your creativity the best you can.

David I guess things are open to interpretation, what started w/Matthew's valid critique seemed to develop into something coming out of frustration I thought as much as anything. I can see where it could be frustrating when things from the internet get posted that aren't necessarily the most accurate information. And when there are photographer's videos etc. getting posted, which gives them basically free advertising when they don't seem to be a paid sponsor - although I think the intention is for it to be sharing information with forum users. Of course we all have different opinions on what tips and techniques are helpful to us depending on what we want to accomplish w/our photos.

I've gotten frustrated myself at times on here when people sometimes want suggestions etc. but other times they seem to just want someone to pat them on the back or give them a thumbs up. That can be great when your friends support you but if people want to improve their photos that won't help as much as some constructive comments.

Very good imagery..just have to tighten up focus and small things. Keep on truckin.

Now if I were an arrogant git (I might be arrogant, but I don't think I'm a git...) I'd pick on the technique used. There's certainly a lot of "technical" problems with these images.

HOWEVER: I think the techniques used suits the subject matter a LOT. Which means the photos are a success.

A true pro will know how to bend the rules to suit whatever they're shooting. Seems to me you do this natually.

It's like when I was young, people would say about my paintings "nice composition" I didn't even know what composition meant! I just knew how I wanted it to look. I didn't follow some rules someone invented or anything, I just did it.

Some people are born with it, some follow the "pro skill set" whatever the heck that is. The end results are what counts I'm sure we all agree on that.

Well done. I especially like the last one and the 2nd last one. The slight movement blur on the eyes is really interesting.

icepics wrote: Cherry I can see the creative vision you have and the potential for some imaginative portraits. Where I think the technique comes in is that you can better interpret your vision as your skills improve. It's like that in art - the more I've learned techniques and kept practicing the better the quality of my work in art/crafts - I can see it in something I made a long time ago compared to something I made recently. You have some cool ideas and I can see where you're going with them. As you said you're learning about how to use your camera and the more you take pictures the better your photos will get. I think that helps to express your creativity the best you can.

David I guess things are open to interpretation, what started w/Matthew's valid critique seemed to develop into something coming out of frustration I thought as much as anything. I can see where it could be frustrating when things from the internet get posted that aren't necessarily the most accurate information. And when there are photographer's videos etc. getting posted, which gives them basically free advertising when they don't seem to be a paid sponsor - although I think the intention is for it to be sharing information with forum users. Of course we all have different opinions on what tips and techniques are helpful to us depending on what we want to accomplish w/our photos.

I've gotten frustrated myself at times on here when people sometimes want suggestions etc. but other times they seem to just want someone to pat them on the back or give them a thumbs up. That can be great when your friends support you but if people want to improve their photos that won't help as much as some constructive comments.

Matthew has many valid critiques its just the way he gets them across that sucks..

Adrian well said you hit the nail right on the head

Matthew has many valid critiques its just the way he gets them across that sucks..

Adrian well said you hit the nail right on the head [/b][/color][/quote]


I agree with this. His initial comment I completely understood and appreciated. Then when I came back I saw putting someone down in a negative way and I don't think that helps anyone. Where he was offering to teach me techniques, I could teach him the The Communication Theory.

CherryPop1974 wrote: Matthew has many valid critiques its just the way he gets them across that sucks..

Adrian well said you hit the nail right on the head [/b][/color]

I agree with this. His initial comment I completely understood and appreciated. Then when I came back I saw putting someone down in a negative way and I don't think that helps anyone. Where he was offering to teach me techniques, I could teach him the The Communication Theory.[/quote]

Have you done anymore work since the thread? we're very interested to see your progression.

Scotty wrote:

CherryPop1974 wrote: Matthew has many valid critiques its just the way he gets them across that sucks..

Adrian well said you hit the nail right on the head [/b][/color]

I agree with this. His initial comment I completely understood and appreciated. Then when I came back I saw putting someone down in a negative way and I don't think that helps anyone. Where he was offering to teach me techniques, I could teach him the The Communication Theory.

Have you done anymore work since the thread? we're very interested to see your progression.[/quote]

No, I had knee surgery on Friday so it'll be awhile before I can do any new work.

Hope your recovery from your knee surgery is going well. I got to thinking that comments on here made related to a critique may have come across differently than intended. On message boards particularly sometimes something can sound more harsh in writing than if it had been said in person. What has been frustrating on here is when people are posting their photos and then don't seem to want to hear suggestions if they're told their work needs improvement. It's unfortunate that your post happened to bring out some comments that may have come out of frustration but weren't really related to your post. Seems like people can see what you're going for in your photos as you have a distinctive style. Hope you get back to taking pictures again soon.