Is bad photography really that in vogue?

Just got done looking at a friends website and didn't know this person did people photography as a business. I am absolutely reeling at the horrible pictures. I have turned out better with an old 110 film camera. Focus bad! Color wrong! Post work? Doesn't look like it! Body parts, heads, faces completely overexposed and blown out! Composition, what's that?

However, what truly KILLS me is that their are customers praising the work. They think it's great!?! What? Huh? Did I pass out? I thought they commented the photography was great? Woops, here's that woozy feeling again and the floor is approaching rapidly!

And this isn't the first time I've seen this done. It was about two years ago I helped out another person who had no idea how to edit or compose their photos. But again, people were loving these pictures and more people lined up for this person to shoot them.

I don't understand how even the typical sheeple can't look at a photo and see that it's bad. I admit, I can not match colors that go together well, but there are things that are so obvious that even the color matching challenged such as myself can recognize it. But in the consumer world of buying family photos people are blind to even the most obvious of bad photography.

AAAH! I don't understand? Have so many bad cell phone pictures been taken by people that anything coming out of a real camera is considered great even if the operator has no idea how to use such equipment?

Breathing deeply now.

It happens,we have a lady at work that covers weddings and evening get together i cringe if she shows me any results,the best or worse was a picture from an company evening out she had got this lady sharp but not well positioned and smiling.
The first thing was the subject had a front upper tooth missing,next in the condensation on a window behind some one had drawn a penis she hadn't noticed either,with my limited skills i cloned a tooth in and removed the penis,not for the photographer but for the subject who i also knew.
I was going to say you have to laugh but do you ?

mike

Are you sure it wasn't just Instargram?

I see it every day. People have blinders on and only see what they want to see. Picture of a kid....the kid is cute so therefore the photo is cute. There are so many bad photographers out there now and they are charging a lot of money for their services so they must be good....Right? Most though when they do see truly good photos do notice that they really do like them but when pressed they do not know why they like them.

My wife has a pretty good eye for photography and has always shot a lot of photos. We owned a lab for years so she availed herself of the built in service. With digital and a computer she has continued to shoot. She has never been into post processing but kept seeing my photos and started questioning hers so I spent a little time showing her how to use ViewNX2 and then later how to use Photoshop RAW editor and Photoshop. She started getting more of her friends on Facebook talking about how good her photos were and thinking they were my photos.

I am not sure what the answer is for those photographers out there that had $1,000 for a decent little camera and now think they are great photographers. Shutting down Instagram and a few other photo sharing spots might be a good first step.

My daughter kept laughing at me as I kept yelling at the computer, "oh c'mon, you can't really like that severely leaning blown out harsh shadowed picture enough to praise it publicly! Can you?"

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P.B. Floyd said:

Are you sure it wasn't just Instargram?

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I wished it were.

ps. I had to look up Instagram as I didn't know what it was My daughter then laughed at me again.

Moab Man said:

I wished it were.

ps. I had to look up Instagram as I didn't know what it was My daughter then laughed at me again.

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We all laugh at you but that is a different story.

Every time I think about bad photographers I think about the "Pro" shooting my son's wedding who was pointing the flash straight up and me calling her on it and she told me that all "Pros" used bounce light. It was an outside wedding and the only thing to bounce off of was the sky. She shot the rest of the wedding that way.

Did you get the model of that omnipotent flash? I want one!

We had a pro covering a dinner dance with two flash guns taped together,he said it would reach twice as far,and ime not joking.

Moab Man said:

I wished it were.

ps. I had to look up Instagram as I didn't know what it was My daughter then laughed at me again.

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Damn, sorry you had to find out about Instargram. It makes everyone with a cell phone think they are a photographer now, albeit one using a Kodak 110 from 1972

I'm thinking it might be good for real photogs tho, because it's very simple to show them what an actual pro-pic might look like. Personally, I just say, "look at this horse"

I think they were shooting a D40 and if I am not mistaken they were using a SB28

Moab Man said:

I have turned out better with an old 110 film camera.

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Not so difficult, if you have one of these…

Wow this thread is inspirational. I was considering … now I am converted.
My wedding photography shop opens its doors tomorrow. All non refundable deposits welcome.
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The problem is, this industry has no standard of quality and therefore no accountability.

Photography is difficult to nail down because while there are certain technical merits, it's still mostly art. Someone looking to hire a photographer is hiring them for their interpretation of a subject, and nothing more. If this were sculpture, or watercolor painting, we'd have the same results. Some artwork is going to be utter crap, but the general public often can't distinguish the difference.

You can't just open up an office and call yourself a doctor. You wouldn't take your car to a shop that wasn't ASE Certified...or if you do, at least you know what you're risking. Personally, I've had luck in contacting people who have had bad photo shoots and asking for a re-shoot, even if it's free. They get better pictures, and you can be damn sure they'll spread the word. This is the most effective way to combat wanna-bes without confronting them directly or talking trash about the competition.

The one thing that really gets me is people selling DSLR photographic equipment on auction websites at this end of the world and the photos of the item{s) are so bad it is almost impossible to judge the condition of the items they are selling...

nzswift said:

The one thing that really gets me is people selling DSLR photographic equipment on auction websites at this end of the world and the photos of the item{s) are so bad it is almost impossible to judge the condition of the items they are selling...

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This side of the planet too. And here they ask more for 2nd hand than you can buy new. Do they really think people don't do at least some basic research before dropping a couple of hundred bucks?

Social media has made the digital image so pervasive, and so filter friendly, that we've become accustom to enjoying a mediocre image because we know it's not a photographer taking it but a friend or loved one who happened to get a cool app for their smartphone. So when we see something a single step above the mediocre and someone has tagged the word "professional" on it, the average "we" doesn't think about it because we aren't quite sure if it's supposed to be that close to mediocre as a style statement. As with anything, an educated consumer will always win out, but if you want to pay Walmart prices for everything then expect Walmart quality.

As for comments on websites, there's more than enough friends to go around who are willing to say great things on a site to help a business. If you're not willing to ask for references and just take the internet word of mouth then again, you get what you pay for. The true professional will always win out, but the road is a little more uphill, both for the business owner and the customer.

What really got me into getting a better camera and shooting was the postcards I was seeing around the stores on my route. The lady that took the pictures was also printing them out on plain cards and not photo cards. Hey were dull and boring. I went out and started shooting similar pictures and asking around to people what they think. Eventually I had 6 scenes done and the rest is history.
On another note, I have a friend that shoots weddings. I have seen some of her work. Not too impressed. I myself over the last few years have tried to improve my shots, and I have. Her shots have not improved. But yet charges 1500 for a wedding.

Everyone with a phone nowadays is a "photographer" ... heaven help us if they start selling an "app" for flying a jumbo jet !!!!!!
cheers

Kitsch photography is nothing new, it's just more prevalent now.

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