Needing advice from experienced photographers..

[Ottor]

How can I become a better photographer? I’ve posted a number of pictures and have rec’d some honest reviews that are less than stellar… Most of them have to do with composition. I think I have a pretty good idea of the theory of exposure and how to implement a fairly good looking photograph, but they seem to be less than average in the setup of the picture.. If you want to look at my website, and see the kind of pictures that I like to take, I’d appreciate some feedback. I don’t post anything here just ‘because’, but I really try and learn from the comments I receive. I’m relatively new, just getting my first DSLR last November. I’ve attempted to read as much as I can about the subject, and have invested in a number of books that have actually helped, but nothing is better in learning than a good honest opinion from someone who knows more than I do !! If you feel like venturing over to R Otto Photography, and give some advice – and you see a pattern, or a specific area that I can improve on, I’d appreciate it..

BTW, I just have to say ……… I think this is an awesome hobby/profession!! I’m having a ball either way..

Thanks,

[RexK_Cozumel]

Hello and welcome to DPS. As far as you pictures go.. I went to your site looked at 2 images and stopped because there is a big X and COPYRIGHT stamped across your images which is very distracting. While I understand that you are trying to deter people from stealing your image. Do you have to do it in a way that it detracts from the image itself?

To be honest with you other than making the image look bad it does not really stop someone from stealing it. If they care enough they could just photoshop out the stamp. The only real way to keep people from taking the image is to not post it online at all.

Now as far as some books to help you out....

Digital Photography Master Class by Tom Ang
The Photographer's Eye by Mike Freeman
Learning to see Creatively by Byran Peterson
The Moment it Clicks by Joe McNally

And the best piece of advice I can give is to practice a lot. It used to be said back in the film days that your first 10,000 shots are your worst. Translate that into the digital world and I would say that your first 100,000 shots are going to be your worst.

[fletch]

Get rid of the copyright distraction and then try posting in the critique section here. Its really helpfull and you will learn more than you though possible. You can continue to host the pictures on your own servers and just embed them into your posts here so there isn't really anything to worry about.

[Bluenoser]

Just one comment - Nothing is better in learning than experience. Opinions and advise are great tools, but you learn a lot more by doing than by reading/listening.

[flavio]

Dear Otto,

I wrote you a long and detailed message but this site decided to time me out, and the message got lost in cybespace while trying to login back.
I am so frustrated and angry that I cannot and will not rewrite all I had for you.
I'm not a pro, and I'd like to let you know my thoughts, peer-to-peer because we are probably at simmilar crossroads. I expect you'll do the same for me and for others like us, eventually.
The bottom line is that I visited your web site which is clean, easy to surf and very rich in material. I did not enjoy the fact the the picture were crossed and had a copywright sing on them. I got the impression that you have mastered your camera and achieved technical proficiency in a wide variety of ambient conditions. The vast majority of your pictures are good, really good or excellent. You also have postprocessing skills above the basics. Nevertheless your pictures lack a sparck. For me, they have a strong deja-vu feeling. It is like I have seen them before or somewhere else. I think you have read too much and have taken all that info too seriously. All that baggage is getting on your way. You have to undergo some process of un-education. Release yourself of the inhibitions imposed on you by the literature and be free, original and creative. I've seen that you can do that. For example: the series of hummers is splendid.
I know you are having fun with this photo-business, so get rid of your schematic ties and GO FOR IT. It does not mean that you have to"break all the rules" as you've done once before. LOL. You have already assimilated the concepts, now is time for you to express yourself. The only advice I can give is not really original: Keep shooting. Eventually you will find what you are looking for. Once you do you will be able to produce mouth dropping images. I'm sure!

I hope to see more of your work in this forum and I promise to keep giving you my honest (though, not always useful) opinion.


All best.

[Ottor]

I really appreciate the feedback on the Website - I've thought for quite a while that I should remove them, but I had a couple of people that were printing from the website some photographs that I took at an event - for them to purchase... However, I've removed the watermarks, and youre right ... it looks so much cleaner !! After all, I'm not a highly paid professional, and if someone wants to steal an image of mine, I should probably take it as a compliment ..

You're probably right about 'thinking too much' when I take a shot ... I've read a lot, and "Digital Photography Master Class by Tom Ang" IS one that I purchased, and is probably my favorite.. Perhaps I should just go with what I know, and shoot another 100,000 pictures ... "My Gem will come" ....

Glad you liked the website - never done one before and it's neat to be able to share with other friends and family in a format like that ....

thanks,

[RexK_Cozumel]

If people are stealing the images for print then resize them to a size suitable only for web viewing from now on.

You should not take it as a compliment when someone steals your image. It is a big deal not only to you but also to all photographers since it devalues the art. If people steal an image and get away with it they will continue to do that and others will also think that it is ok to steal images. Very not cool. If I were you and I knew the person that stole the images I would sue the pants off them.

[Jim Poor]

Agreed. At least send them a bill for the normal cost plus some.

I didn't see the watermarks you had before, but there are ways to watermark without being overly distracting.

Even with a web-sized image I can turn out some pretty nice prints, so I choose to watermark and overlay for my proofs.

Originally Posted by RexK_Cozumel

If people are stealing the images for print then resize them to a size suitable only for web viewing from now on.

You should not take it as a compliment when someone steals your image. It is a big deal not only to you but also to all photographers since it devalues the art. If people steal an image and get away with it they will continue to do that and others will also think that it is ok to steal images. Very not cool. If I were you and I knew the person that stole the images I would sue the pants off them.

[navcom]

Originally Posted by RexK_Cozumel

If people are stealing the images for print then resize them to a size suitable only for web viewing from now on.

You should not take it as a compliment when someone steals your image. It is a big deal not only to you but also to all photographers since it devalues the art. If people steal an image and get away with it they will continue to do that and others will also think that it is ok to steal images. Very not cool. If I were you and I knew the person that stole the images I would sue the pants off them.

This is the best option...resize the images for good web viewing but poor printing. I think a size no bigger than 600 pixels does well. About the most you are going to get is a 4x6...and even this size will still be slightly poor quality when printed. An 8x10 will be totally pixalized.

And Rex is exactly right...it's not a compliment....it's a crime. If someone stole your invention by selling something you owned a patent on, you would consider it a crime, not a compliment. When someone steals your images, they are stealing something you created.

The problem nowdays is that images are so easily created and shared that the vast majority of the public do not consider taking your images as a crime any longer. It's just like the music industry and MP3 files. Since "everyone is doing it", it somehow makes it less of a "sin" in most people's minds. Many don't even think twice about it until you point it out to them and then they understand....and this is what we need to do...educate clients during the transaction process so they know up front.

[Ottor]

I probably misspoke, as - of course you guys are correct.... It does bother me, but I never thought of resizing the images before uploading.. A mistake that was probably the result of never doing this stuff before.. I have a program that will resize in batches, and will work on that...

I've removed all the watermarks with the exception of the Soccer pictures .... that's where the 'offense' happened, and the public probably dzn't have any interest in that folder anyway.. I'll remove it in that folder also as soon as I get them resized.. As far as sueing her, - well, she's an officer of the Soccer club and I think I need to pick my battles... I really do want to do this for them again next year ... When I learned of what happened, I Emailed her and reminded her that I was doing this as a 'business', and offered to provide her some shots at my cost, ... never heard from her again. Just thought I'd prevent it from happening again, but - resizing will solve the problem...

Damn ... ya' learn a lot here...

Thanks !

r