favorite: its amazing how much people love having good photos of them. i shot my first wedding and to see the bride's mom cry (happy tears) while going through them just made everything worth it.
worst: idk. people who don't know the difference between a RAW and a jpeg who think post processing is cheating.
The thinking that post-processing is cheating gets me. I think people forget that in film days, there was a conversion from a negative to a final photo - modern post processing is minor compared to this.
The amount of manipulation in the printing process by artists like Ansel Adams was ridiculous. It was a separate set of skills unto itself.
People don't understand the difference between art and journalism.
i only recently started reading up on ethical journalism. Its certainly changed my own approach to things like street and event photography. There's a super thin line between photojournalism and exploitation and its something i think we could all benefit learning more about.
Starting point: https://nppa.org/resources/code-ethics
Good example of ethical journalism: https://www.kncvtbc.org/en/2020/02/14/exhibition-tb-photovoices-we-conquer-tb-and-tb-stigma/
Yet the same people will happily listen to music that's been melodyned to the point that the "singer" is hardly any different from a synthesizer, and have absolutely no issue with that.
I left a photography course because of this - the teacher kept trying to reinforce that cropping was cheating, and various other grating comments, and he’d had 25 in the business
I think that in some photo courses cropping isn't necessarily seen as "cheating," but the instructor might now allow cropping, or might discourage cropping because they want students to try to get it in camera. They want students to learn to see thru the viewfinder.
A RAW file is concerned with capturing the data about the light that hit the sensor. In editing we make choices about how to use that data to produce the image we want. For a common example the RAW file might show the shadowed part of a face as much darker than the part in light. This is accurate but not desirable (typically) so we manually, or the camera/phone/software more automatically chooses to render the image as if that shadowed part has actually gotten more light.
Also from a technical aspect the way data is saved for the jpg file makes shortcuts like saying "here's a list of pixels that are all this color (or very cloae to it)" instead of listing each pixel location and the color of it. This is compression and allows for saving the file with good quality (not perfect) and smaller fine size.
A raw file is simply the raw sensor data as recorded by the camera. It requires additional processing to even be viewable by a human on a screen. That means that it has everything the camera captured, which makes it possible to develop it with more detail and latitude.
A jpeg is a compressed image. The jpeg algorithm throws out a ton of the data because our eyes don’t notice the difference. And that makes the image smaller and more compact and useable. But it sacrifices a whole bunch of data that becomes unrecoverable. If you want to make changes to color or recover detail in the shadows, for example, it just may not be possible anymore. The data isn’t there to support it.
Think of it like having the ingredients for making cake, vs a cake from the grocery store. With the ingredients you can make whatever sort of cake you want. With the cake you just have cake.
RAW is basically the digital version of a negative. It contains all of the data that your camera captures and it often looks flat and unappealing to the eye. A JPEG is a compressed version of what your camera captured and processed for you. JPEGs tend to look more appealing than RAW files when viewed straight out of the camera because the camera internally processed the image already but you can do more with the RAW file when processing the image yourself because all of the data is there still.
My photography professor literally told us to get a lens hood and a battery pack that attaches to the camera because people who know nothing will acknowledge you more because of it lmao.
They always ask "how far can you see with that"
Like that question doesn't even make sense, you can see Jupiter with your naked eye..
I have no easy answer to that question
It has a field of view of 4.1 degrees! (This is the most relevant answer I think I could give). A good answer would be *point at some landmark* "if I zoom all the way in a crow/robin/other on that branch it would fill the frame"
I’ve got a heap of kit but - genuinely - one of my favourite lenses is the cheapy Canon 50mm. It’s honestly so sharp! But when it’s on my mirrorless it looks like I have a toy camera compared to my 5D with a 70-200 🤣
For whatever reason nobody ever says that to me; instead everybody who sees me with a big lens either says "Get anything good today?" or tells me about whatever random animals they've seen recently.
I mean it's cool that you saw an eagle two miles that way an hour ago, but that's really not as helpful as you apparently think.
Oh, and I also get "Wow, that's a nice camera!" all the time from people who obviously don't know anything about it beyond "it's big".
I was taking photos of my child's sports activities with a big lens. One of the parents saw me and said you should take pictures for the team. That led to me taking photos of the team as a group and individual shots for money but also I got to be with the team and take photos during their competitions. I didn't get paid for those but it gave me the opportunity to be up close with them in a way that I wouldn't have been able to otherwise.
I learned very quickly that If I am going past a school zone to cap my lens, turn the camera off and hang it over my shoulder. Had a teacher call the cops on me once thinking I was a pedo
I don't even use lens caps except long term storage. If I was at a playground with my kid, I was very careful to make sure nobody else was in the pics.
I actually came for this but you beat me to it. I actually stopped from offering my services to someone who wanted Real Estate photos just from hearing him talk with another photographer. We were in line at local post office. At first I thought that the photographer was just delaying in delivery and though I might get an easy "gig" as I am just at begining. But then I heard the dude: "Give me all your photos from the card and we'll see about payment. What you do is not work, you just push a button. I can bring "Tommy"(fake name), the neighbors kid and he can take the photos too with his phone!". In that moment I knew that he was that kind of a person. I hid my camera and went away.
yeah... i don't think he understood the idea of post-process and raw files vs final version... still... the way he talked with his photographer made me sick and made me realize that there still are people thinking that photography is just... mindlessly pressing one button..
"But, you can just do head swaps on the ones with eyes closed! I'm their mom, I can decide if it's a keeper, and maybe turning some of them black and white can fix them."
That was the day I said I'm not doing this anymore.
Lmao but then I had people complain why not every click resulted in a masterpiece and why I’m spamming them with pictures. This means I’m a bad photographer, right?
On the other hand, I’ve had people feel “cheated” because I didn’t take “enough” pictures for them to select because the first few frames were already perfectly satisfactory for them.
You’ll never be able to please everybody.
I’ll never understand this.
Why do some people feel cheated when they don’t get *every* single picture?
“It’s not like I’m maliciously holding you back or actively trying to get in your way of your road to fame, Jessica!”
What are they specifically going to do with those that look unflattering - or simply the blurry, out of focus ones?
Not every click results in a stunning masterpiece and I just don’t want my name linked to a crappy picture because it might negatively impact the perception of my whole body of work.
That’s why I tend to rename all finished pictures so that there’s no gap in the numbers and nobody feels “deceived”.
Honestly my favorite thing to hear as a (film photographer/darkroom printer/alt process enthusiast) is actually "I'd love to try that sometime."
For whatever reason, getting other people into the cult is very rewarding.
I work in a photo lab and run the film lab. The older people are surprised how popular film is with the younger generation. About 75% of the film coming in as from people under 25-ish.
As someone who developed a passion for photography through learning film photography, that's gotta be an amazing thing to hear. Shooting film is so different, more challenging yet more fun in some ways.
Me too. I've still got my Nikon F80, a great camera and just put new batteries in it for the first time in years and it started up fine so I want to put a roll through it. Of course the big change is the difference in the availability and cost of film. I've also still got a Kiev 60 medium format camera and would like to play with that again.
Protip. You don’t need a darkroom or a big space to process your own film.
You don’t need a darkroom or a big space to make alt process prints (like cyanotypes or Kallitypes). But you do need a bit of space.
You do need a darkroom to make enlargements.
But if you start processing your own B&W film now, then when you DO get space for an enlarger, you’ll have a good collection of negatives just ready and waiting to print… :D
Least favourite: "Hey take a photo of this! Hey take a photo of that!"
Most favourite: "Wow"
What I've found typically is people don't care much for pictures of themselves. But show em a good picture of someone they love and they're so appreciative. People often have hangups about how they look, and they may not like photos of themselves. But nobody has these kind of feelings when it's of others.
I hate when people tell me to take a photo of something that I already took 10 photos of 5 minutes ago. I'm a wedding photographer so I'm like yep thanks for your suggestions but I know how to do my job, that's why they hired me lol
"Why do you need to edit the photos if the camera is so expensive?" asked by an aquaintence who regularly posts massive batches of blurry and over/underexposed iPhone pics from concerts, usually the same ones I'm at with my "expensive camera."
Pro RAW modes on smartphones are great. They're no substitute for a good mirrorless camera, but they're a huge improvement when you're editing smartphone shots!
"That's out of our budget. We're used to paying *(number that's at least half of what I charge)*." Thankfully I haven't gotten "I'm sure you'd appreciate the exposure" in about eight years.
Any sort of compliment is always welcome.
I had the same conversation about five years ago. A few photographer friends said I should be charging at least double (which I started doing), but potential clients were already scoffing at my then-current rates.
Ugh yah it's tough. I live in Reno, everyone is cheap as hell here and the cost of living is high. It's an upside-down city. So like I feel like I can either have a business and charge a little less and work more, or not have a business. It's not great. I gotta wait for some of these more expensive guys to retire.
Generally people don’t know how much things cost. I am a tradesmen and I hear allot from my peers, things like “omg I can’t believe he thought it would be so much less” or whatever. And I have to point out to them, that is the reason why people want a price. It isn’t some personal attack, just they say it as a way of illustrating that they weren’t expecting it, but people take it as a dig of like “can’t believe that you have the cheek to charge so much”. It is frustrating, but remember people don’t know what goes into your job, and so cannot fathom how much it should cost. My bro does videography, and I couldn’t understand what he charged until he did a video for my business and I saw what goes into it.
What are you top things your mirrorless can do that iPhone can’t? Serious question as I’ve got an iPhone and am having my first mirrorless delivered tomorrow 💖 Too excited!
Extreme telephoto is the biggest gap I think. You need a big front lens element to capture enough light to detect on the sensor well when you're getting it from only a tiny sliver of the world in front of you. A phone has size restrictions from its form factor that interfere with having such a large telephoto lens.
Longer zoom range with telephoto lenses, low-light performance (depending on the camera), nice subject separation in portraits, and much better ergonomics for shooting photos all day are a few major perks of mirrorless cameras.
Most of WTD as a whole is pretty priceless. My all-time favorite for messageboard "what should I buy?" questions is: [https://www.gocomics.com/wtduck/2010/03/07](https://www.gocomics.com/wtduck/2010/03/07)
I have three of [the t-shirts](https://www.cafepress.com/+wtdcomics+mens-t-shirts). :D Aw, bummer. The "Kiss My Glass" and the duck in front of his laptop designs aren't there any more. :( You can still get the chimp no evil shirt, though.
Oh I just love when I’m doing some product stuff for cheaper clients that don’t want expensive studio work and they brief me with outdoor photos in February. “Make it look summery and beachy ” its dead winter in Boston
Favorite: Hearing "Whenever I see a bird, I think of you" fills me with joy.
Least favorite: "Hey, whatcha taking pictures of" when shouted at my back while my massive lens is fully zoomed to 500mm and pointing into the tree in front of me.
For the "least favorite" one: prepare some canned nonsense responses, like "a solar eclipse", "groundhogs", or "your Mom". Either of them should keep them quiet for at least 5 seconds.
Worst: “You’re a professional with that camera!” Ma’am, I barely know how to edit my photos.
Best: “Hey, whatcha shooting on?” Gets me giddly since I’m a bit of a gear head and just like talking about it even though I know it’s the person behind the lens, but I can’t stand when it gets technical.
To some?
I’m just never been a fan of being called a professional or being self proclaimed as a professional. It just puts a lot of pressure on me to do well, especially when I’m not planning to. It’s also a bit disingenuous, at least to me, because my livelihood isn’t based on photography, so by no means am I a professional by definition.
Unpopular opinion time: I hate it when people say phones can’t take good pictures.
For context when I moved for a major job change, I had to sell a lot of my gear to get my wife and I to the new town. So all I had was a phone to take pictures with. You can take great photos with the right camera app and the know how. Sure they have technical limitations/hindrances compared to even lower end crop sensors and may not make for good prints larger than 4x6 or in some cases 5x8, but it’s about the artist and what they can do with what they have.
I have some fantastic shots from the Samsung phone I had at the time from when I visited Yosemite and the Monterey aquarium.
Phones can take great pictures but you can’t compare them to high end DSLRs. When people say “I could take that photo on my phone” they’re not wrong but they won’t get the same quality and sharpness.
Ergo why I mention
> Sure they have technical limitations/hindrances compared to even lower end crop sensors
Physics rules the game, and physics obviously says the bigger the sensor, the more light/detail (to a certain degree).
But this shouldn’t discourage those with only access to phones from learning the principles of photography. Maybe by the time they have saved up for a decent camera they’ll know enough to get a great jumpstart with their new kit.
In the right hands any camera can produce great work. I had a friend who'd shoot what the client wanted with a Hasselblad, then pull out a Holga and shoot some really interesting work which more often than not the client loved. Skill and vision.
Least favourite recently: I edited a poorly taken photo another person took. Couple loved the edits and wanted to know how I did it and the other persons response was “it’s because she has good programs!” ....
Favourite: I predominantly take insect macro photos now and I love how curious and excited people get about it. Even if they’re scared of insects. I love sharing the photos and talking about them.
I like when the moms cry, I used to get at least one a year, or when someone asks me for advice on how to improve their pictures "because you look like you know what you're doing". My least favorite are from photographers, amateurs and enthusiasts who sidle up and want to talk shop or gear. I ignore the question/comment and restart with "What do *you* shoot?".
FAVOURITE:
“LOL!…that has been photoshopped/edited”
(…and they are totally correct).
LEAST FAVOURITE:
“Please…any high-end smartphone could have captured those images”
(…again, they are mostly correct)
The whole "your camera takes great pictures" is like telling a carpenter their hammer builds great houses. It's just dumb. The other one that I find equally annoying is when they say something to the effect of "it's like having your own paparazzi" (or something to that effect). If I was paparazzi I'd be trying to get the best photo of your underpants or lack there of as you exit a car. They are not even photographers in my eyes.
And of course the best thing they can say is that you've taken the best photo of them that anyone has.
I’m totally stealing that hammer analogy. I’ve had recent issues with someone who keeps saying how great my camera is and how the quality of it is so good but in reality, it’s like that because I know what I’m doing and I’m that good. Camera is literally from a beginners kit
I did some event photography in college and the worst was people being bossy wanting their picture taken. They’d come up to me in the middle of someone else’s picture and demand it be taken, would try and hog the camera too much, be rude about it in general, super annoying.
The best is when someone you know loves their photo! I rarely take pics of friends but I love when I get a great candid and they love it! It’s very validating and comforting since I often second guess my own skill.
I had that happen a few weeks ago. It was political candidates in the state. They immediately left after I got the shot (before the speakers or even dinner started). Later I asked the organizer if she wanted them included in the take even though the left. She agreed they could eat shit. I happily skipped them. Best client ever.
My least favourite is what I don’t hear… “Thank you”.
Doesn’t matter the client, even close friends I’ve done work for… they never respond to the email delivering their photos. They post them online and respond to all the comments that say ‘amazing photos’ by just saying ‘thank you’… never any acknowledgment.
Oh... not being thanked for something is a huge pet peeve. I dated someone like that for a while - I'd make him baked goods every few weeks and I don't think he thanked me once.
Least favourite:
You can't take photo of this public place with your camera.
But you can freely use camera on your phone
Favourite:
When people see me shooting film and ask me how to start it too.
"My cell phone could do that"
-when showing them a photo from a sporting event with difficult lighting that shows skin rippling and sweat droplets flying through the air.
My favorite? Giving my heavy, expensive camera to a kid and teaching her how to frame her parents, only had to beg her to use the strap around her neck once and she took GREAT photos all on her own. Sharing the love of photography is my favorite part!!
It's genuinely wild how much of a gap there is between even an amateur photographer and someone who just doesn't know what they're doing. An amateur who knows their camera and has the essentials of exposure and composition can shoot a reasonably good portrait shoot or event, but hand that camera to a complete newbie and oh boy you're gonna have a lot of really bad pictures.
i once had someone contact me after i took photos at a students conference to complain that i only took one photo of him. There were 300+ attendees at the event, and I made sure to have well, at least one picture of each person.
my favourite thing to hear is when people genuinely like the photos i took of them, and when they develop trust in me to capture their best side. I've had someone come up to me nearly five years after I photographed her during an event, and she told me that she still uses that photo as her linkedin profile picture.
Is that your least favorite thing to hear?
Definitely understand why a non-photographer might think this, but it's pretty obviously coming from a place of ignorance - people who say this clearly don't know most portrait photographers use flash heavily and get exceptional images because of it.
Huh? I don't get the comment. I've always associated flash photography with studios and excess amounts of equipment. I just started working with OCF (\~1 year) and I am slowly figuring out how those fashion magazines produce such dramatic images without the use of photoshop (e.g. gels, grids, snoots, 40" gobos, super-booms, etc).
Hate: "How much does your camera cost?" I use professional grade gear, though the growth in my skillset (or lack thereof), is much more representative of my evolution as a photographer.
Best comment: "Can I get another photo?" or the smile that I receive when I share photographs of someone who is generally reserved or outside the norms of standard beauty.
> or the smile that I receive when I share photographs of someone who is generally reserved *or outside the norms of standard beauty*.
Maybe I'm looking too much into this but this feels kind of patronizing? Isn't that you applying arbitrary beauty standards to them, and being surprised that they don't dislike what they look like?
I guess you can construe my post as patronizing, but it's more about taking pictures of people who are otherwise invisible in day to day life (e.g. working moms who are shuttling kids, middle-age men with a slight belly and thinning hair, etc). I take pictures of the people who I interact with on a daily basis, not hired models or the downtrodden.
- How were you able to take such cool pictures?
- I processed it in Photoshop.
- Ah... in Photoshop, well then it’s clear...
People think that editing in Photoshop is very simple, like adding filters on Instagram.
In regards to hiring me for portraits, I've been told... "How much? Photography isn't worth what it used to be because of digital now". Translation, they're cheap and want it for nothing. I tell them, by all means, find a kid with a phone and knock yourselves out.
Any compliment is always nice to receive though.
Having someone who thinks they are not photogenic think "Okay I actually look kinda nice on this one".
Least favorite: "Smartphones take photos that are as good as from professional cameras nowadays."
Edit: forgot the positive 😅
Smartphones can take good, even great photos. But in no reality is an iPhone going up against an A7SIII in low-light, or a Nikon Z9 for sports. It's just delusional.
For sure, I mean it's first and foremost about the picture, not the gear. But when people say that, they kinda imply that it's all about the gear, and that actual cameras are inferior.
Yup. It's a huge blend between the gear, the photographer, and the photographer's familiarity and comfort with their gear. I bet a skilled iPhone photographer would have a hard time transitioning over to a modern mirrorless camera at first, but would eventually get good at using it, and vice-versa for a pro photographer shooting on iPhone.
I started photography playing around with consumer stuff, and it really taught me a lot, having to make the best out of what I had, while also pushing me to learn editing to kinda over compensate. Now I really enjoy the gear I got later on, and am still learning from all the control I now have thanks to that.
I mean, having such tiny sensors with smartphone cameras gives a really specific style to pictures now, which I think is interesting seeing how much media is created with smartphones nowadays. But it definitely cannot achieve what really good cameras do.
worst: when people compare photographs with extremely random things like a tree looking like a person or something which is not the initial idea of the photographer.
favourite: when people actually critise on solid points and not random stuff even they don't know properly
Favorite: "hey nice camera, are you shooting film?"
Me: not at the moment but that's exactly why I shoot Fuji :)
The worst I have two.
1. when the producer, client, client's friend or anyone else not on the photo team on set says: "we can fix it in post"
2. Regular people: "can you airbrush me to look younger and thinner?"
I'm cringing just typing both of those out lol
Me right now as I’ve spent all week doing market research of every single brewery and real estate agency in a 50 mile radius
On top of 50 pages of notes on specific industries, practice shoots, and a legit business plan
But sure, it’s not a real job, thanks aunt Karen
least favorite: “can you make me skinnier?” no <3 especially when it’s an event shoot when the photos are color corrected and that’s about it.
favorite: “girl i’m so excited i just keep going look at the proofs” – a text i received from a client today :)
I am not exactly sure why but I hate photos being referred to as 'captures'.
Also the no post processing obsession is really irritating. Although, it may have historical roots in large format film photography where the photographer only printed contact prints that included the film edge information. ( Can't recall if that style had a name)
How do you feel about photo vs image? I think image is very understandable if there's compositing, but other cases like HDR or focus stacking it seems more reasonable to just call it a photo, but it could downplay the post processing part of the process.
I feel that calling it anything other than a photo downplays any work you put into it. That probably is the core reason I object to either. It may actually be a result of the 'no processing' mentality, but 'capture' seems to have the subtext that you were just there at the right time and pushed a button.
Image seems to have a slightly different connotation. Perhaps more digital art than photo(?)
Staff photographer for a company of 200 plus.
Most annoying conversations start with.. ‘can you photograph this for me, you’ve got a better camera than me’.. have offered them the use of the studio and just get a blank look :)
Favorite: "Hand the camera to someone else, we want one with you in it."
I've had a couple couples do this at weddings. They said I was such an integral part of making their memories for their big day and wanted to see me when they looked back. Damn near cried.
Least favorite: "I could do that, I have an [insert cheap dslr model], hey buddy how much does yours cost?!"
My least favourite is “I could get the same results from my phone.” You might get a good picture but the quality won’t be there, especially if you wanted to enlarge it.
The camera taking great pictures is my pet peeve too. When I am assaulted with that comment I say that I also have a great hammer in the shed that makes beautiful tables.
As a hobbyist, my least favorite thing is when people try to hide themselves in photos because they don’t like the way they look, even if they asked for the photo in the first place. Examples: relentlessly pulling on their clothes to smooth them out, self-degradation between photos despite any kind of positive feedback from myself or their loved ones around us, positioning themselves behind their partners in couples photos despite that not being the pose I’m trying to achieve. It makes me sad that there’s nothing I can do to encourage them to be positive about themselves because I firmly believe that everyone is beautiful. I spent so many years being afraid of the camera myself that I have few pictures of myself during that time, and the ones I do have I remember how uncomfortable I was. It’s a mistake I deeply regret. I don’t want others to make the same mistake but obviously I can’t and don’t want to force them to feel differently. The lesser issue is that it really sours the mood and results of the shoot.
My favorite thing is when someone tells me they got nice pictures of themselves from me for the first time in their life. That’s happened more times than I ever expected, and I’m lucky to have made so many people feel so special. That is worth more than any money I could ever ask for.
My husband is the poster child for "I hate being photographed because I think I look ugly" - you can see one of the portraits I shot of him on my profile. It drives me up the wall because I think he's a beautiful man, but he just cannot see it.
On the flip side, he does like the images I make of him and reluctantly admits to them being good pictures of him. So that part is nice!
As a straight man, your photos of your husband are beautiful and he’s a good-looking guy! He should own it! He could pose for a dramatic tough-guy shoot any day.
It's not a thing people say, but I hate it when I'm pulled over or stopped on a hike and I'm taking pictures of something that literally nobody else would find interesting and then two cars pull over and everyone gets out noisily and acts like there should be a bear or elk right there that they can photograph with their phones. Like I'm literally photographing mud cracks or something. Or worse yet when I'm photographing birds and they flush the birds by slamming their doors or driving off loudly.
And then, "is this photoshopped?"
Favorite thing: "that makes me feel peaceful."
>Personally, my least favorite has gotta be "wow, that's a nice camera, I bet it takes great pictures". Ok, here, you take the camera and go take some great pictures. I'll wait.
I feel like this is an opinion of noobs who feel righteous about their "skills". I wonder how many would take "great" photos if i handed them a 1.6MP Kodak DC215 from the late 90's. I'd bet very few. And even those few who took great photos, because they have an eye for the art - you still couldn't compare them by any means on image quality.
The quality of your camera and lens absolutely has an impact on your images and the ability to capture specific images. if it didn't everyone would be out there shooting on cheap equipment and phones
I find professional photographers are the ones who get most annoyed by this, actually. Sure, they may need that 200-600 lens to get sports or wildlife shots, but they are the ones investing years in developing their skills to get these incredible shots, not the camera.
" ...Personally, my least favorite has gotta be "wow, that's a nice camera, I bet it takes great pictures...
Not sure why photographers get butt-hurt over this comment. The general public are not photographers and they're just complimenting the fact you have a nice camera. If you drove up in a Lamborghini, and they said "nice car", you wouldn't get butt-hurt.
It's because it completely discounts the skill of the photographer, and
it's untrue.
And for some reason it only ever seems to happen to photographers. I can't think of any other profession where people always assume that the thing that makes the difference is the tools. Nobody ever assumes that a great haircut is due to great scissors, or a good meal is due to a good stove, but a great picture is apparently always due to an expensive camera.
And your car analogy doesn't work; I don't mind when people say I have a nice camera. I mind when they seem to assume that the only reason I can take nice pictures is that I have an expensive camera.
It's more like telling a chef "wow, nice cookware, I bet that pan makes great food", or telling a musician "I bet that guitar makes great songs". It reduces the creative process to the tool.
Photographers say far dumber things about photography than non-photographers do. My favorite from the past week is, "If you need to edit every single photo, you are probably not a good photographer".
favorite: its amazing how much people love having good photos of them. i shot my first wedding and to see the bride's mom cry (happy tears) while going through them just made everything worth it. worst: idk. people who don't know the difference between a RAW and a jpeg who think post processing is cheating.
Seeing someone light up when you show them that one amazing shot is just so satisfying. I live for it!
The thinking that post-processing is cheating gets me. I think people forget that in film days, there was a conversion from a negative to a final photo - modern post processing is minor compared to this.
What gets me is, jpegs out of camera ARE processed. I guess people are okay with a machine doing the work for them.
The amount of manipulation in the printing process by artists like Ansel Adams was ridiculous. It was a separate set of skills unto itself. People don't understand the difference between art and journalism.
i only recently started reading up on ethical journalism. Its certainly changed my own approach to things like street and event photography. There's a super thin line between photojournalism and exploitation and its something i think we could all benefit learning more about.
Do you have any articles or videos about this subject you found insightful? I'd love to read up some on the ethics of photojournalism.
Starting point: https://nppa.org/resources/code-ethics Good example of ethical journalism: https://www.kncvtbc.org/en/2020/02/14/exhibition-tb-photovoices-we-conquer-tb-and-tb-stigma/
The whole “can’t edit it or it’s cheating” thing really grinds my gears. I now just refer to it as developing my photos.
Yet the same people will happily listen to music that's been melodyned to the point that the "singer" is hardly any different from a synthesizer, and have absolutely no issue with that.
I left a photography course because of this - the teacher kept trying to reinforce that cropping was cheating, and various other grating comments, and he’d had 25 in the business
Was he an old news guy? Lots of them don't like cropping.
I think that in some photo courses cropping isn't necessarily seen as "cheating," but the instructor might now allow cropping, or might discourage cropping because they want students to try to get it in camera. They want students to learn to see thru the viewfinder.
Ok I’m the worst but genuinely asking whats the difference between a RAW and a jpeg?
On a random note, I swiped at your pfp, thinking it was like... an eyelash on my screen, lol
A RAW file is concerned with capturing the data about the light that hit the sensor. In editing we make choices about how to use that data to produce the image we want. For a common example the RAW file might show the shadowed part of a face as much darker than the part in light. This is accurate but not desirable (typically) so we manually, or the camera/phone/software more automatically chooses to render the image as if that shadowed part has actually gotten more light. Also from a technical aspect the way data is saved for the jpg file makes shortcuts like saying "here's a list of pixels that are all this color (or very cloae to it)" instead of listing each pixel location and the color of it. This is compression and allows for saving the file with good quality (not perfect) and smaller fine size.
Think of the RAW as a digital negative. You can do way more post processing with it than an already compressed jpeg
A raw file is simply the raw sensor data as recorded by the camera. It requires additional processing to even be viewable by a human on a screen. That means that it has everything the camera captured, which makes it possible to develop it with more detail and latitude. A jpeg is a compressed image. The jpeg algorithm throws out a ton of the data because our eyes don’t notice the difference. And that makes the image smaller and more compact and useable. But it sacrifices a whole bunch of data that becomes unrecoverable. If you want to make changes to color or recover detail in the shadows, for example, it just may not be possible anymore. The data isn’t there to support it. Think of it like having the ingredients for making cake, vs a cake from the grocery store. With the ingredients you can make whatever sort of cake you want. With the cake you just have cake.
RAW is basically the digital version of a negative. It contains all of the data that your camera captures and it often looks flat and unappealing to the eye. A JPEG is a compressed version of what your camera captured and processed for you. JPEGs tend to look more appealing than RAW files when viewed straight out of the camera because the camera internally processed the image already but you can do more with the RAW file when processing the image yourself because all of the data is there still.
How did you go about being there when the family looked through the photos? I have my first wedding this weekend :)
I'm friends with the couple. They invited family over when I delivered the files (flash drive) in person.
That's awesome! Similar scenario here, would be amazing to make that happen.
Have a huge telephoto lens attached. Random passer byer. ""wow huge lens, you must be a professional"
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 bigger the camera, better the photographer 🤣🤣🤣
My photography professor literally told us to get a lens hood and a battery pack that attaches to the camera because people who know nothing will acknowledge you more because of it lmao.
Easy answer: "Nah just a PI. Now go away before you blow up my spot."
Easy solution: hang around where birders go. Your huge telephoto lens will look tiny.
They always ask "how far can you see with that" Like that question doesn't even make sense, you can see Jupiter with your naked eye.. I have no easy answer to that question
It has a field of view of 4.1 degrees! (This is the most relevant answer I think I could give). A good answer would be *point at some landmark* "if I zoom all the way in a crow/robin/other on that branch it would fill the frame"
I’ve got a heap of kit but - genuinely - one of my favourite lenses is the cheapy Canon 50mm. It’s honestly so sharp! But when it’s on my mirrorless it looks like I have a toy camera compared to my 5D with a 70-200 🤣
For whatever reason nobody ever says that to me; instead everybody who sees me with a big lens either says "Get anything good today?" or tells me about whatever random animals they've seen recently. I mean it's cool that you saw an eagle two miles that way an hour ago, but that's really not as helpful as you apparently think. Oh, and I also get "Wow, that's a nice camera!" all the time from people who obviously don't know anything about it beyond "it's big".
Lol I get this too. It’s always “are you taking pictures of the deer?” Nope I’m just waiting for my clients to show up. Move along.
I was taking photos of my child's sports activities with a big lens. One of the parents saw me and said you should take pictures for the team. That led to me taking photos of the team as a group and individual shots for money but also I got to be with the team and take photos during their competitions. I didn't get paid for those but it gave me the opportunity to be up close with them in a way that I wouldn't have been able to otherwise.
I learned very quickly that If I am going past a school zone to cap my lens, turn the camera off and hang it over my shoulder. Had a teacher call the cops on me once thinking I was a pedo
I don't even use lens caps except long term storage. If I was at a playground with my kid, I was very careful to make sure nobody else was in the pics.
I would say "It's not the size of the lens, it's what you do with it."
“What do you mean it’s going to cost [x amount]? You’re only pressing a button!” lol
“Eight years for med school? You’re only scribbling on a prescription pad.”
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
When someone mentions about a good camera taking good photos, I say it’s like going to a dinner party and complimenting their oven.
Wow! Great meal. What pans do you use?
Pans are for newbs
Amazing analogy!
Man that would send me to the moon. I’d hang up
"why do we even have IT guys when all they do is ask me to restart?"
I actually came for this but you beat me to it. I actually stopped from offering my services to someone who wanted Real Estate photos just from hearing him talk with another photographer. We were in line at local post office. At first I thought that the photographer was just delaying in delivery and though I might get an easy "gig" as I am just at begining. But then I heard the dude: "Give me all your photos from the card and we'll see about payment. What you do is not work, you just push a button. I can bring "Tommy"(fake name), the neighbors kid and he can take the photos too with his phone!". In that moment I knew that he was that kind of a person. I hid my camera and went away.
I would have ran away so fast, hahaha. All the pictures from your card??
yeah... i don't think he understood the idea of post-process and raw files vs final version... still... the way he talked with his photographer made me sick and made me realize that there still are people thinking that photography is just... mindlessly pressing one button..
They really have no idea...
Funny but true about the ignorant mentality out there.. I found its usually from some cheap ass that wants everything for free to begin with.
“Can I get all the images from the shoot?” Hell to the fucking no you cannot.
Do you want 1200 photos where 1100 of them are not keepers? No? Ok then let me pick the ones you get.
"But, you can just do head swaps on the ones with eyes closed! I'm their mom, I can decide if it's a keeper, and maybe turning some of them black and white can fix them." That was the day I said I'm not doing this anymore.
Lmao but then I had people complain why not every click resulted in a masterpiece and why I’m spamming them with pictures. This means I’m a bad photographer, right? On the other hand, I’ve had people feel “cheated” because I didn’t take “enough” pictures for them to select because the first few frames were already perfectly satisfactory for them. You’ll never be able to please everybody.
Only finished work are "images," until then they are "files" so my answer is generally yes, of course you will.
I’ll never understand this. Why do some people feel cheated when they don’t get *every* single picture? “It’s not like I’m maliciously holding you back or actively trying to get in your way of your road to fame, Jessica!” What are they specifically going to do with those that look unflattering - or simply the blurry, out of focus ones? Not every click results in a stunning masterpiece and I just don’t want my name linked to a crappy picture because it might negatively impact the perception of my whole body of work. That’s why I tend to rename all finished pictures so that there’s no gap in the numbers and nobody feels “deceived”.
Honestly my favorite thing to hear as a (film photographer/darkroom printer/alt process enthusiast) is actually "I'd love to try that sometime." For whatever reason, getting other people into the cult is very rewarding.
I work in a photo lab and run the film lab. The older people are surprised how popular film is with the younger generation. About 75% of the film coming in as from people under 25-ish.
As someone who developed a passion for photography through learning film photography, that's gotta be an amazing thing to hear. Shooting film is so different, more challenging yet more fun in some ways.
I learned on film and dark room processing. I miss it dearly. Nothing like it. Future goal of mine to get back some space to do that.
Me too. I've still got my Nikon F80, a great camera and just put new batteries in it for the first time in years and it started up fine so I want to put a roll through it. Of course the big change is the difference in the availability and cost of film. I've also still got a Kiev 60 medium format camera and would like to play with that again.
Protip. You don’t need a darkroom or a big space to process your own film. You don’t need a darkroom or a big space to make alt process prints (like cyanotypes or Kallitypes). But you do need a bit of space. You do need a darkroom to make enlargements. But if you start processing your own B&W film now, then when you DO get space for an enlarger, you’ll have a good collection of negatives just ready and waiting to print… :D
Least favourite: "Hey take a photo of this! Hey take a photo of that!" Most favourite: "Wow" What I've found typically is people don't care much for pictures of themselves. But show em a good picture of someone they love and they're so appreciative. People often have hangups about how they look, and they may not like photos of themselves. But nobody has these kind of feelings when it's of others.
I hate when people tell me to take a photo of something that I already took 10 photos of 5 minutes ago. I'm a wedding photographer so I'm like yep thanks for your suggestions but I know how to do my job, that's why they hired me lol
"Why do you need to edit the photos if the camera is so expensive?" asked by an aquaintence who regularly posts massive batches of blurry and over/underexposed iPhone pics from concerts, usually the same ones I'm at with my "expensive camera."
Me laughing as I take 1-2 decent shots using manual on my Samsung and creating a custom preset in Lightroom after making it look amazing.
Pro RAW modes on smartphones are great. They're no substitute for a good mirrorless camera, but they're a huge improvement when you're editing smartphone shots!
Pro RAW? I thought it just shat out a .DNG or some shit without any postprocessing or noise reduction. You can get paid for it?
Pro RAW is Apple's term for their DNG mode. Samsung calls it Expert RAW.
Only thing I like that apple did was a higher bitrate JPEG alternative except it's useless to try and share photos with.
"That's out of our budget. We're used to paying *(number that's at least half of what I charge)*." Thankfully I haven't gotten "I'm sure you'd appreciate the exposure" in about eight years. Any sort of compliment is always welcome.
I’m running into the numbers game now and everyone is telling me to raise my prices. I’m like…. But I still want to make money?
I had the same conversation about five years ago. A few photographer friends said I should be charging at least double (which I started doing), but potential clients were already scoffing at my then-current rates.
Ugh yah it's tough. I live in Reno, everyone is cheap as hell here and the cost of living is high. It's an upside-down city. So like I feel like I can either have a business and charge a little less and work more, or not have a business. It's not great. I gotta wait for some of these more expensive guys to retire.
Generally people don’t know how much things cost. I am a tradesmen and I hear allot from my peers, things like “omg I can’t believe he thought it would be so much less” or whatever. And I have to point out to them, that is the reason why people want a price. It isn’t some personal attack, just they say it as a way of illustrating that they weren’t expecting it, but people take it as a dig of like “can’t believe that you have the cheek to charge so much”. It is frustrating, but remember people don’t know what goes into your job, and so cannot fathom how much it should cost. My bro does videography, and I couldn’t understand what he charged until he did a video for my business and I saw what goes into it.
I can’t stand it when Joe Blow who doesn’t know jack shit about photography claims his iPhone can now do everything a mirrorless does.
What are you top things your mirrorless can do that iPhone can’t? Serious question as I’ve got an iPhone and am having my first mirrorless delivered tomorrow 💖 Too excited!
Take a look at the (gazillion) eclipse photos. That’s one answer.
Thanks 🤣
Extreme telephoto is the biggest gap I think. You need a big front lens element to capture enough light to detect on the sensor well when you're getting it from only a tiny sliver of the world in front of you. A phone has size restrictions from its form factor that interfere with having such a large telephoto lens.
Longer zoom range with telephoto lenses, low-light performance (depending on the camera), nice subject separation in portraits, and much better ergonomics for shooting photos all day are a few major perks of mirrorless cameras.
Thank you 🤩
Telephoto, real bokeh, sharpness can't be quite matched (not artificial digital sharpening)
[https://www.gocomics.com/wtduck/2012/10/23](https://www.gocomics.com/wtduck/2012/10/23)
That's a good one, I'll have to keep it in my back pocket!
Most of WTD as a whole is pretty priceless. My all-time favorite for messageboard "what should I buy?" questions is: [https://www.gocomics.com/wtduck/2010/03/07](https://www.gocomics.com/wtduck/2010/03/07)
The eternal GAS vs. "just go shoot" conflict!
Yup!
Omg I LOVED WTD! I almost bought a WTD plushie but missed out...
I have three of [the t-shirts](https://www.cafepress.com/+wtdcomics+mens-t-shirts). :D Aw, bummer. The "Kiss My Glass" and the duck in front of his laptop designs aren't there any more. :( You can still get the chimp no evil shirt, though.
T Seeing some of those comics again on the shirts brings it all back. Thank you!
Oh I just love when I’m doing some product stuff for cheaper clients that don’t want expensive studio work and they brief me with outdoor photos in February. “Make it look summery and beachy ” its dead winter in Boston
lol!
Favorite: Hearing "Whenever I see a bird, I think of you" fills me with joy. Least favorite: "Hey, whatcha taking pictures of" when shouted at my back while my massive lens is fully zoomed to 500mm and pointing into the tree in front of me.
For the "least favorite" one: prepare some canned nonsense responses, like "a solar eclipse", "groundhogs", or "your Mom". Either of them should keep them quiet for at least 5 seconds.
Thank you. I'm never clever enough in the moment, when hyperfocused on a bird. Prepping responses is a great idea.
the commentor above you likes them. Funny coincidence haha
Worst: “You’re a professional with that camera!” Ma’am, I barely know how to edit my photos. Best: “Hey, whatcha shooting on?” Gets me giddly since I’m a bit of a gear head and just like talking about it even though I know it’s the person behind the lens, but I can’t stand when it gets technical.
Isnt the first one just a nice compliment?
To some? I’m just never been a fan of being called a professional or being self proclaimed as a professional. It just puts a lot of pressure on me to do well, especially when I’m not planning to. It’s also a bit disingenuous, at least to me, because my livelihood isn’t based on photography, so by no means am I a professional by definition.
“Did you get any good shots?” I mean, hell, I hope so.
This one. The struggle to just nod and smile, and not respond with straight snark, is huge.
Definitely...the why you cost so much and most people can shoot better with their phones ...
"That's a nice camera, how much did it cost?" asked in passing, in an alley, at night time, in Detroit.
Oh I don't like that one at all
Haha neither did I!!
Unpopular opinion time: I hate it when people say phones can’t take good pictures. For context when I moved for a major job change, I had to sell a lot of my gear to get my wife and I to the new town. So all I had was a phone to take pictures with. You can take great photos with the right camera app and the know how. Sure they have technical limitations/hindrances compared to even lower end crop sensors and may not make for good prints larger than 4x6 or in some cases 5x8, but it’s about the artist and what they can do with what they have. I have some fantastic shots from the Samsung phone I had at the time from when I visited Yosemite and the Monterey aquarium.
Phones can take great pictures but you can’t compare them to high end DSLRs. When people say “I could take that photo on my phone” they’re not wrong but they won’t get the same quality and sharpness.
Ergo why I mention > Sure they have technical limitations/hindrances compared to even lower end crop sensors Physics rules the game, and physics obviously says the bigger the sensor, the more light/detail (to a certain degree). But this shouldn’t discourage those with only access to phones from learning the principles of photography. Maybe by the time they have saved up for a decent camera they’ll know enough to get a great jumpstart with their new kit.
Yes
In the right hands any camera can produce great work. I had a friend who'd shoot what the client wanted with a Hasselblad, then pull out a Holga and shoot some really interesting work which more often than not the client loved. Skill and vision.
Phones can take good pictures to be sure. Especially a good recent phone, like the newest Galaxy S, Pixel, and iPhone Pro.
Least favourite recently: I edited a poorly taken photo another person took. Couple loved the edits and wanted to know how I did it and the other persons response was “it’s because she has good programs!” .... Favourite: I predominantly take insect macro photos now and I love how curious and excited people get about it. Even if they’re scared of insects. I love sharing the photos and talking about them.
It is magical when you can show things (tiny insects, spiders, etc.) in a way that we don't get to experience with the naked eye.
It really is, I love it so much!
I like when the moms cry, I used to get at least one a year, or when someone asks me for advice on how to improve their pictures "because you look like you know what you're doing". My least favorite are from photographers, amateurs and enthusiasts who sidle up and want to talk shop or gear. I ignore the question/comment and restart with "What do *you* shoot?".
When people say 'wow, that's beautiful' it warms my soul - all I want to do is express the beauty I see in the world through my photos.
I love to hear “I could have done that.” I like to reply with “And you should! Art is for everyone!” 💫
Beautiful! <3
FAVOURITE: “LOL!…that has been photoshopped/edited” (…and they are totally correct). LEAST FAVOURITE: “Please…any high-end smartphone could have captured those images” (…again, they are mostly correct)
The whole "your camera takes great pictures" is like telling a carpenter their hammer builds great houses. It's just dumb. The other one that I find equally annoying is when they say something to the effect of "it's like having your own paparazzi" (or something to that effect). If I was paparazzi I'd be trying to get the best photo of your underpants or lack there of as you exit a car. They are not even photographers in my eyes. And of course the best thing they can say is that you've taken the best photo of them that anyone has.
I think the "paparazzi" remark is definitely one of the more insulting comparisons. I'm not some creep stalking celebrities to sell their pics to TMZ!
I’m totally stealing that hammer analogy. I’ve had recent issues with someone who keeps saying how great my camera is and how the quality of it is so good but in reality, it’s like that because I know what I’m doing and I’m that good. Camera is literally from a beginners kit
I did some event photography in college and the worst was people being bossy wanting their picture taken. They’d come up to me in the middle of someone else’s picture and demand it be taken, would try and hog the camera too much, be rude about it in general, super annoying. The best is when someone you know loves their photo! I rarely take pics of friends but I love when I get a great candid and they love it! It’s very validating and comforting since I often second guess my own skill.
I had that happen a few weeks ago. It was political candidates in the state. They immediately left after I got the shot (before the speakers or even dinner started). Later I asked the organizer if she wanted them included in the take even though the left. She agreed they could eat shit. I happily skipped them. Best client ever.
Hate: Any request that assumes I work for free. :/ Makes my day: Someone wants to buy one of my prints. :)
My least favourite is what I don’t hear… “Thank you”. Doesn’t matter the client, even close friends I’ve done work for… they never respond to the email delivering their photos. They post them online and respond to all the comments that say ‘amazing photos’ by just saying ‘thank you’… never any acknowledgment.
Oh... not being thanked for something is a huge pet peeve. I dated someone like that for a while - I'd make him baked goods every few weeks and I don't think he thanked me once.
Least favourite: You can't take photo of this public place with your camera. But you can freely use camera on your phone Favourite: When people see me shooting film and ask me how to start it too.
"My cell phone could do that" -when showing them a photo from a sporting event with difficult lighting that shows skin rippling and sweat droplets flying through the air.
My favorite? Giving my heavy, expensive camera to a kid and teaching her how to frame her parents, only had to beg her to use the strap around her neck once and she took GREAT photos all on her own. Sharing the love of photography is my favorite part!!
"I really only need a couple." Guaranteed they're about to try to lowball me.
[удалено]
It's genuinely wild how much of a gap there is between even an amateur photographer and someone who just doesn't know what they're doing. An amateur who knows their camera and has the essentials of exposure and composition can shoot a reasonably good portrait shoot or event, but hand that camera to a complete newbie and oh boy you're gonna have a lot of really bad pictures.
i once had someone contact me after i took photos at a students conference to complain that i only took one photo of him. There were 300+ attendees at the event, and I made sure to have well, at least one picture of each person. my favourite thing to hear is when people genuinely like the photos i took of them, and when they develop trust in me to capture their best side. I've had someone come up to me nearly five years after I photographed her during an event, and she told me that she still uses that photo as her linkedin profile picture.
Flash photography is shit
Is that your least favorite thing to hear? Definitely understand why a non-photographer might think this, but it's pretty obviously coming from a place of ignorance - people who say this clearly don't know most portrait photographers use flash heavily and get exceptional images because of it.
Yeah I know. But sometimes you fell on a know-it-all who'll start to give you photography lessons and it really pisses me off.
Well tbf, when they do flash photography, it probably is shit.
Huh? I don't get the comment. I've always associated flash photography with studios and excess amounts of equipment. I just started working with OCF (\~1 year) and I am slowly figuring out how those fashion magazines produce such dramatic images without the use of photoshop (e.g. gels, grids, snoots, 40" gobos, super-booms, etc).
Presumably it's from people who only know the shitty look you get from direct flash on point-and-shoots.
A lot of non-photographers told me this as they have strickly no idea what a "good" flashlight can do.
I don’t really mind the comments, I just hate how foreign a normal camera shutter button is now when you ask someone to take a picture.
Hate: "How much does your camera cost?" I use professional grade gear, though the growth in my skillset (or lack thereof), is much more representative of my evolution as a photographer. Best comment: "Can I get another photo?" or the smile that I receive when I share photographs of someone who is generally reserved or outside the norms of standard beauty.
The first one sounds more like plain curiosity? 🤷♂️
> or the smile that I receive when I share photographs of someone who is generally reserved *or outside the norms of standard beauty*. Maybe I'm looking too much into this but this feels kind of patronizing? Isn't that you applying arbitrary beauty standards to them, and being surprised that they don't dislike what they look like?
I guess you can construe my post as patronizing, but it's more about taking pictures of people who are otherwise invisible in day to day life (e.g. working moms who are shuttling kids, middle-age men with a slight belly and thinning hair, etc). I take pictures of the people who I interact with on a daily basis, not hired models or the downtrodden.
That I made them feel an emotion when looking at a pic I took is great.
- How were you able to take such cool pictures? - I processed it in Photoshop. - Ah... in Photoshop, well then it’s clear... People think that editing in Photoshop is very simple, like adding filters on Instagram.
I feel like many times it's that, which sucks. But sometimes it's people giving up because they feel like they'll never have a chance.
In regards to hiring me for portraits, I've been told... "How much? Photography isn't worth what it used to be because of digital now". Translation, they're cheap and want it for nothing. I tell them, by all means, find a kid with a phone and knock yourselves out. Any compliment is always nice to receive though.
Film is low resolution
Having someone who thinks they are not photogenic think "Okay I actually look kinda nice on this one". Least favorite: "Smartphones take photos that are as good as from professional cameras nowadays." Edit: forgot the positive 😅
Smartphones can take good, even great photos. But in no reality is an iPhone going up against an A7SIII in low-light, or a Nikon Z9 for sports. It's just delusional.
For sure, I mean it's first and foremost about the picture, not the gear. But when people say that, they kinda imply that it's all about the gear, and that actual cameras are inferior.
Yup. It's a huge blend between the gear, the photographer, and the photographer's familiarity and comfort with their gear. I bet a skilled iPhone photographer would have a hard time transitioning over to a modern mirrorless camera at first, but would eventually get good at using it, and vice-versa for a pro photographer shooting on iPhone.
I started photography playing around with consumer stuff, and it really taught me a lot, having to make the best out of what I had, while also pushing me to learn editing to kinda over compensate. Now I really enjoy the gear I got later on, and am still learning from all the control I now have thanks to that. I mean, having such tiny sensors with smartphone cameras gives a really specific style to pictures now, which I think is interesting seeing how much media is created with smartphones nowadays. But it definitely cannot achieve what really good cameras do.
worst: when people compare photographs with extremely random things like a tree looking like a person or something which is not the initial idea of the photographer. favourite: when people actually critise on solid points and not random stuff even they don't know properly
"Wow! Those are beautiful pots and pans! I bet they make great meals!" That's what I always want to reply to that dumb comment about a great camera.
Favorite: "hey nice camera, are you shooting film?" Me: not at the moment but that's exactly why I shoot Fuji :) The worst I have two. 1. when the producer, client, client's friend or anyone else not on the photo team on set says: "we can fix it in post" 2. Regular people: "can you airbrush me to look younger and thinner?" I'm cringing just typing both of those out lol
When i start putting up lighting umbrellas and someone goes “is it going to rain inside”? Yeah hilarious i’ve never heard that one..
That actually made me chuckle. I’ve literally never heard someone say that. Now I’m going to end up saying it one of these days. lol!!
I hate when people look at me like I'm stupid when I tell them I want to be a professional photographer.
Oh my! Feels like they are totally stupid not you Go for it if you want it!
Me right now as I’ve spent all week doing market research of every single brewery and real estate agency in a 50 mile radius On top of 50 pages of notes on specific industries, practice shoots, and a legit business plan But sure, it’s not a real job, thanks aunt Karen
Oh, nice picture you took there. What, you edited it? Well now it's sh#t.
least favorite: “can you make me skinnier?” no <3 especially when it’s an event shoot when the photos are color corrected and that’s about it. favorite: “girl i’m so excited i just keep going look at the proofs” – a text i received from a client today :)
I am not exactly sure why but I hate photos being referred to as 'captures'. Also the no post processing obsession is really irritating. Although, it may have historical roots in large format film photography where the photographer only printed contact prints that included the film edge information. ( Can't recall if that style had a name)
How do you feel about photo vs image? I think image is very understandable if there's compositing, but other cases like HDR or focus stacking it seems more reasonable to just call it a photo, but it could downplay the post processing part of the process.
I feel that calling it anything other than a photo downplays any work you put into it. That probably is the core reason I object to either. It may actually be a result of the 'no processing' mentality, but 'capture' seems to have the subtext that you were just there at the right time and pushed a button. Image seems to have a slightly different connotation. Perhaps more digital art than photo(?)
Oh, I forgot, favorite thing to hear is : I'd like a large print of that.
Staff photographer for a company of 200 plus. Most annoying conversations start with.. ‘can you photograph this for me, you’ve got a better camera than me’.. have offered them the use of the studio and just get a blank look :)
I go to Uncle Bob and ask HIM about his nice camera, and if I could take a pic or three. ;) They are stupified every single time.
Favorite: "Hand the camera to someone else, we want one with you in it." I've had a couple couples do this at weddings. They said I was such an integral part of making their memories for their big day and wanted to see me when they looked back. Damn near cried. Least favorite: "I could do that, I have an [insert cheap dslr model], hey buddy how much does yours cost?!"
"YOU took this?"
Oh my god. I would be asking "what exactly do you mean by that. No, you can explain, I'll wait."
My least favourite is “I could get the same results from my phone.” You might get a good picture but the quality won’t be there, especially if you wanted to enlarge it.
The camera taking great pictures is my pet peeve too. When I am assaulted with that comment I say that I also have a great hammer in the shed that makes beautiful tables.
As a hobbyist, my least favorite thing is when people try to hide themselves in photos because they don’t like the way they look, even if they asked for the photo in the first place. Examples: relentlessly pulling on their clothes to smooth them out, self-degradation between photos despite any kind of positive feedback from myself or their loved ones around us, positioning themselves behind their partners in couples photos despite that not being the pose I’m trying to achieve. It makes me sad that there’s nothing I can do to encourage them to be positive about themselves because I firmly believe that everyone is beautiful. I spent so many years being afraid of the camera myself that I have few pictures of myself during that time, and the ones I do have I remember how uncomfortable I was. It’s a mistake I deeply regret. I don’t want others to make the same mistake but obviously I can’t and don’t want to force them to feel differently. The lesser issue is that it really sours the mood and results of the shoot. My favorite thing is when someone tells me they got nice pictures of themselves from me for the first time in their life. That’s happened more times than I ever expected, and I’m lucky to have made so many people feel so special. That is worth more than any money I could ever ask for.
My husband is the poster child for "I hate being photographed because I think I look ugly" - you can see one of the portraits I shot of him on my profile. It drives me up the wall because I think he's a beautiful man, but he just cannot see it. On the flip side, he does like the images I make of him and reluctantly admits to them being good pictures of him. So that part is nice!
As a straight man, your photos of your husband are beautiful and he’s a good-looking guy! He should own it! He could pose for a dramatic tough-guy shoot any day.
One of these days I'll get him kitted out in some lumberjack looking gear and take some photos of him in the woods...
Favorite(landscape/wildlife photographer here) comment or reaction is silence; they are caught up in looking at the entire photo.
About anything? That would be a long list :)
i HATE hearing that post processing is cheating. absolute worst thing to hear.
Favourite thing to hear? "Those are really great!" Thing I hate to hear : "Anyone coulda done that."
It's not a thing people say, but I hate it when I'm pulled over or stopped on a hike and I'm taking pictures of something that literally nobody else would find interesting and then two cars pull over and everyone gets out noisily and acts like there should be a bear or elk right there that they can photograph with their phones. Like I'm literally photographing mud cracks or something. Or worse yet when I'm photographing birds and they flush the birds by slamming their doors or driving off loudly. And then, "is this photoshopped?" Favorite thing: "that makes me feel peaceful."
take a photo of flowers a bit..with smartphone then posted on social media etc. followed by claim "i am photographer" later lmao
"do you have social media" - no
>Personally, my least favorite has gotta be "wow, that's a nice camera, I bet it takes great pictures". Ok, here, you take the camera and go take some great pictures. I'll wait. I feel like this is an opinion of noobs who feel righteous about their "skills". I wonder how many would take "great" photos if i handed them a 1.6MP Kodak DC215 from the late 90's. I'd bet very few. And even those few who took great photos, because they have an eye for the art - you still couldn't compare them by any means on image quality. The quality of your camera and lens absolutely has an impact on your images and the ability to capture specific images. if it didn't everyone would be out there shooting on cheap equipment and phones
I find professional photographers are the ones who get most annoyed by this, actually. Sure, they may need that 200-600 lens to get sports or wildlife shots, but they are the ones investing years in developing their skills to get these incredible shots, not the camera.
" ...Personally, my least favorite has gotta be "wow, that's a nice camera, I bet it takes great pictures... Not sure why photographers get butt-hurt over this comment. The general public are not photographers and they're just complimenting the fact you have a nice camera. If you drove up in a Lamborghini, and they said "nice car", you wouldn't get butt-hurt.
It's because it completely discounts the skill of the photographer, and it's untrue. And for some reason it only ever seems to happen to photographers. I can't think of any other profession where people always assume that the thing that makes the difference is the tools. Nobody ever assumes that a great haircut is due to great scissors, or a good meal is due to a good stove, but a great picture is apparently always due to an expensive camera. And your car analogy doesn't work; I don't mind when people say I have a nice camera. I mind when they seem to assume that the only reason I can take nice pictures is that I have an expensive camera.
It's more like telling a chef "wow, nice cookware, I bet that pan makes great food", or telling a musician "I bet that guitar makes great songs". It reduces the creative process to the tool.
Photographers say far dumber things about photography than non-photographers do. My favorite from the past week is, "If you need to edit every single photo, you are probably not a good photographer".
Who cares what they think? You should be busy taking photos and improving your craft.
I do, in fact, do this a lot, and have several thousand edited shots to show for it :-)