Why I don’t like your shots
Note: I am going to school to get a grade 12 university credit. I need this for college, so I thought I’d start blogging to get back into academic writing, as opposed to creative writing. Any feedback is appreciated.
There are a lot of photographers who post shots online and ask me for feedback. Some of them are amazing. The most are, unfortunately, subpar. I understand that everyone starts somewhere. I do not claim to have all the answers, I only know what I feel ruins a photograph.
5 — The focus is on breasts (or other non face body parts)
When you’re shooting wide (say, 3f or under), whatever you’re focusing your camera on is crisp. Everything behind it begins to blur, and the blur gets stronger the farther the focus is from the background. Background blur can be an amazing tool to use. It can make a model stand out from a crowd. It draws your viewer to what you want them to see. “Hey!” Someone here is now thinking. “Let’s have a model lying down. I’ll focus on her breast and have her face blur away.” Or worse, they focus on the genitals and the rest of the model blurs away. Please, do not do this unless you are absolutely sure it’s in good taste. Even then, delete it. Delete it right now. It’s been done a million times. It will add nothing new to your portfolio. It will not flatter the model.
4 — Distracting backgrounds
Alright, I’m sometimes guilty of this one, but I do try to watch out for it. As a photographer it is your job to worry about everything in the photograph, not just your subject. Unless it adds to the shot then take it out. If you’re trying to show a series on drug awareness and someone is shooting up in a dirty house with laundry tossed everywhere and dishes piled up in the sink, then there is no reason to have it in the shot. A dirty house might tell a story about someone who shrugs off all responsibility in an attempt to chase the dragon (more on story telling later). When you’re doing street portraits it could be as simple as moving to your left to avoid having a garbage can in the background. It might be a matter of having your model sit on the ground to avoid a distracting poster/sign above their head. Get creative.
3 — A beautiful woman does not equal a stunning model
I have learned this one the hard way. Being a model does not equate to good looks. I am not the only person to offend this sin, as I shall call it. How many times on Instagram does a girl post a selfie and someone replies, “Oh you should totally be a model!”, Or a photographer comments, “Have you ever thought of being a model?” Again, I was guilty of this when I was trying to built my portfolio. I am sure many photographers make this mistake.
If you are still in this phase, that’s OK. The problem should be obvious: the ability to take a selfie does not encapsulate the skills necessary to being a model. Modelling means being able to emote well. A good model can mimic any emotion you ask: fear, surprise, pain (for a horror photo, perhaps?), joy, boredom, happiness, and sadness. Emotions aside, a good model can estimate what you are seeing through your view finder. A good model knows what works on camera and what does not. A good model will try not to hide her hands behind her torso, she will know the attraction to triangles (more on this another day). These are just a few skills that come with experience-experience that taking a selfie does not build.
(I hear It is common for women to take fifty photos and pick the perfect selfie, much like a photographer may take fifty photos to pick the best portrait. Do men do this as well? I have no idea. If any men have experience doing this, let me know!)
2 — It does not tell a story
When I see a photograph the first things I ask myself are, “why does this photo exist? What is it telling me? What does the photographer want me to take away from this? What do I take away from this that the photographer did not intend?”
A picture can have many purposes. A headshot for a CEO will have a different purpose than a family portrait session. A CEO will have a short biography, or a statement about his company’s ethics. A family laying in a grass field is nice, it shows the family dressed well and smiling. This is not a genuine moment. The viewer knows this. Is that what the client wants? Well, sometimes.
Let’s move that same family to a swing: we’ll have mommy and daddy pushing the child on a swing. The child is in the air, happy to be pushed and the father is happy to be playing with their child. Everyone is happy. This is an authentic moment.
Let’s move that same family to a field and have the three in a row. The parents will be on either side while the child is in the centre. A mother will take one hand and the father will take the other hand. The father might look down and see their child. That is another happy moment. Can you picture it in your head? Where is the family going? Are they hiking? Are they heading home after a fun day at the park? Whatever the case, those picture-esque moments will a story and leave you in awe. I tell people I am a story teller first and a photographer second.
Ask yourself. What is this image saying? Is it just a hot man with a jacket over his left shoulder? Is it just a girl standing against a wall looking cute? If it is, that’s fine. Chances are that I won’t remember your photo in a week, or even a day. It didn’t touch my heart. Find ways to give purpose to your image. For instance, maybe the girl is waiting at a cafe to get the latte she ordered. Maybe the man is reading a book on a beautiful afternoon. It doesn’t have to be much more than that.
1 — “But that’s my style!”
Don’t do this. Do not break rules 5–2 (and those on my next article as well) and say “but that’s my style!” when I tell you to not do it unless you want me to think bad photography is just your style. I wish I understood the psychology of why people do this. Perhaps they take it as an attack on their personal identity. Perhaps they feel that because art is subjective, they can disregard any advice they want.
Until this past April I kept shots in my portfolio that were ever so slightly out of focus. Other photographers called me out for it. I disregarded their advice, telling myself it’s good enough. One day I woke up and asked myself why am I accepting subpar shots? Why am I defending this bad practise? Enough is enough. I removed everything from my portfolio that was out of focus and I haven’t looked back. All in all, this decision has made me a better photographer.
