What do you think?

My son is an amateur photographer like many of us but I'm trying to convince him to take it up professionally. He took these shots last summer and I'd placed a couple of them on an earlier thread, but would like to revive them again now for your opinions.

Please take a look and give me your honest opinions please, critical or otherwise. These photo's were the first he took in raw mode.

 

They're better than mine, yes they are good pic's

 

He has undoubtedly got a very good eye for subject and composition and these are paramount in creating good images.

 

They are great sheal,i still have his other photos bookmarked x

 

Well Sheal how can we critique friends honestly and not fall out

I am in no "REAL" position to critique, though offer an opinion

He has a good eye, for "that particular" kind of photography, and average Joe
will say WOW
Professional they are not, and to turn PRO would need lots more of different
styles/types
Products, Weddings, Still life
Then he has to be aware of the market that he would sell to, Who would buy What?
In House, that guy in the warehouse takes brilliant pictures, why buy one off Jack the Togs

Launch a new product, Taking correct pictures of a product is a very disciplined skill and camera equipment

Companies are looking for MBPS, PSS, with full time degree's rather than a good Tog and to command the wage he would have to have taken a UNI DEGREE

Weddings are open on price, they are a total Tog's nightmare, and require a special type of person along with "LOTS OF INSURANCE"
If the pix are not suitable, then the whole day has to be re-staged, the entire troops days off arranged and paid for, accomodation, full re-shoot, re-hiring of suits, kilts dresses, and compensation

Unless he is serious and wants to go down that road and get a degree, I would let him
enjoy his HOBBY

Jack McHammocklashing ("You will never make money playing a guitar John"
John Lennons Aunt Mimi) :-)

 

Hi Sheal,

I would not encourage him to go pro, not because he is not capable of it but because I personally think it would be better for him to "naturally" drift into being a pro himself.

What he needs to do is get his work "out there", get it seen by people and perhaps do some minor commissions for people that you know Sheal. For example do a pet portrait for that nice couple 4 doors up your street or a portrait of Aunt Mimi. Next he could try submitting "Weather Pictures" to local news networks such as Look North or Look North west (whatever you get on your island). Or photo's of local events that he submits to your local rag...the TT would be a good place to start! Photo's from the TT could be submitted to national magazines too.

Also investigate stock photography, companies use such sites to source photographs for thier advertising needs and although in general it pays very little it does put your sons name before someone who would not normally know it.

Another option is to get lets say 5 or more framed prints hung on a wall in a local cafe, pub, restaurant etc, on a sale or return basis, if you make a sale the establishment get a cut, but more importantly your sons name is read by many people who do not buy, his name gets known. You could rotate and change the photos in the frames every 3 months or so to keep things fresh and interesting. It's your sons own exhibition and the establishment get their wals decorated and a public draw for them..."Lets go to Joe's Cafe, and see what photo's are on the wall this month"

The Photo's

First thing is have your son learn how to use "Save as" when he saves the photo after processing. This saves the photos exif file, all the information about the photograph is stored within the exif file, and his name should be added to that so people know who owns the photo. I read a survey once that revealed 9 out of 10 photo thefts occur where there are no copyright or exif attached to the photo the main excuse being "I did not know who owned it to send royalties too"

Being honest

I like your sons photo's, they show a lot of promise but they are all overexposed which is a big no no, it's always better to underexpose if anything as this information can be recovered in post processing, burnt out or overexposed areas can not be...its a minor thing but companies wanting to buy and use your sons images would reject for that. There are a few other minor technical details that could be changed to improve the shots and I would recommend that your son joins a small dedicated photography forum, on these sites he would soon learn these little extras which would raise his photography standard from very good to excellent. And he can pick the brains of other togs too.

I do hope this helps Sheal, encourage his hobby and the low level sales I mentioned above first and let that develop (pun most definately intended!).

Steve...

 

Thank you everyone for your comments they are appreciated. Now I'd better set some things straight. Perhaps I didn't give you the full info.

Jack,

We won't fall out, I've asked for the criticism and have taken on board all that's been said. My son has taken many photo's of all types and does have an eye for most subjects, but I've not bothered to post them on GC, unfortunately I haven't that many to hand. They are all stored by him.

He is serious about his photography and would probably put himself through a course, a degree is out of the question now, having a wife and home to support. I think Woo is right in saying that he doesn't need a degree but a natural talent is a good place to start.

Of course this is all at the thinking stage at the moment, but I don't think he will want to get into wedding photography, something a little more diverse will be more his line.

 

Woo,

Yes, it is something he longs to do and has dreamed of, but obviously he has to do a lot of research first and find the right people to help him regarding improving his present ability. Your suggestions are much appreciated and I will pass those onto him.

 

Steve,

Yes, you are right in getting some of his work 'out there'. He know's he has to improve on what he is producing and experience along with a photography course etc. will hopefully put him in the right direction.

Something I failed to mention......TT pictures are out of the question, he now lives in Columbus, Ohio which is where the above photo's were taken. But no doubt he will find subjects of a similar nature where he is living. I will put all your ideas to him, thank you.

Regarding the 'Save As' info etc, he is more than likely already aware of this but as it is just a hobby at the moment he hasn't taken it any further. He has been a keen amateur photographer for at least ten years and does a lot of reading on the subject regarding improvement.

The shots above were taken purely with camera adjustment only, which is why you are saying they need improvement, I accept that. I'm not such a good photographer and am still pretty much a beginner, so could you explain to me please about the shots being over exposed, how can you tell with a night shot? Now I'm about to learn something!

My son belongs to a 'dedicated' forum and is learning from it.

Once again thank you for taking the time to help it's much appreciated.

 

Great pics Sheal - good luck to your son and his future, hope his dreams come true - you sound a very proud Mum.

 

Thank you Grannie Annie. Yes, I am a proud mum. When we see our children achieving their dreams there is no better 'high'. My youngest daughter achieved hers last year. You may remember she lives in Canada now and has become a driving instructor there, something she wanted to do here for many years.

 

My son is 50 this year and my daughter 46 -but I still get that same buzz I got when they were younger - I suppose that is what it is about being a Mum, we never stop believing in them.

 

I would disagree with that!

Its fairly easy to tell and check for overexposure, look at the brightest light source in the photo and look for detail, if it's devoid of detail and it's just bright white, it's overexposed. So for lights at night or the sun in the daytime you look for this bright or "Blown" area.

In general terms it does not make such a huge difference, you have taken a photo of the garden on a sunny day and the sun is blown (overexposed). Who cares? The problems come about in post processing as mostly any needed photo edits will make this blown area worse, there are methods to get around this but again, in general its better to expose correctly or to just underexpose ('togs call underexposing "Expose to the right" <--Google that for some great info!)

With your sons shots he was shooting at night and this is the realm of long exposures and the danger here is exposing for too long. Look at the city scape above, and to the top of the tower where the individual lights at the top have merged into one, this shows it's overexposed and although its a great photo, it would not be saleable to a company wanting to use it for their ad campaign as they would certainly want to post process it to suit their needs, no reason why it could not hang "as is" on someones wall though.

Hope this helps!

Steve...

 

Thanks Steve, it all makes sense now.