Photography "Critique"

[Kauz]

all i gots to say is...it's your work. You had something in your head and you threw it down. Not everyone's gonna like it. If you're satisfied and the person you tooks pics for is happy...then it's ALL GOOD.

 

[benzor]

well you have to understand, HDR (overdone and non) is considered sort of a joke in the photography community. obviously, some people think it looks interesting, and some photographers are famous for their exclusive HDR work... but in my opinion, and in many die-hard photographer's opinions, HDR serves little to no artistic value whatsoever. sure it's an easy way to make a bland picture look bad ass, but at the same time, it ends up looking like a screenshot from a next-gen video game.

 

[InfraRed]

the final product of hdr photos all depends on the photographer. personally, i think those are over done, but i won't discredit you and say they look horrible, because they don't. i thoroughly enjoy most all of the work you post :thumbup:

 

[2003turbocobra]

Really dont know what the debate about HDR is. If i wanted look at a plain looking picture of the car id do better and open the gargage door and look at in real sight. You put tonys pictures he took of my car against those posted in the automotive pictures sight i think they look much better...call me onesided if you will as the cobra owner, oh well.
once again thank you tony for the great pictures, the ones last night are as equally as nice. karl

p.s. think tonys gti would own me in the curves...lets hope for long straitaways..lol

 

[danger dan]

hah, oh thats your stang? sweeet ride dude.

as far as hdr's go, and what the costumer wanted, they look great, might be a little overdone, but thats the look you were going for.

in that hardcore photography community, they are just too picky, i was looking at some threads of pictures the majority of them actually liked and i saw very little in them. being a non photographer (for the most part) your pictures appeal to me more. and who are you trying to appeal these pictures to? well, the general public usually...

 

[Dr. Infernogh]

fake.

 

[o2dazone]

well you have to understand, HDR (overdone and non) is considered sort of a joke in the photography community. obviously, some people think it looks interesting, and some photographers are famous for their exclusive HDR work... but in my opinion, and in many die-hard photographer's opinions, HDR serves little to no artistic value whatsoever. sure it's an easy way to make a bland picture look bad ass, but at the same time, it ends up looking like a screenshot from a next-gen video game.

Yeah they used to say digital photography was a joke too. All these "real photographers" who discredit new techniques (HDR is still very NEW to most phographers) are just too curmudgeon / jealous / intimidated that they've invested 20+ years into photography and can be trumped in some fields of photography by someone with a cracked piece of software and a dslr.

People can call it a cheap Photoshop technique all they want, but the real truth of it is, is that when any technique, even as "over used" on whatever forums people may frequent, hits the photography field, it's under deep scrutiny that it's not real photography, blah blah blah. The result of a picture isn't real in the sense of how photographs have been captured for the last 40 years, but neither has color correction, or faux vignetting, or desaturing/saturating images. Hell, let's discredit raws as well, I mean...if you didn't take the picture EXACTLY how it looked like through your lens at that very moment, then I'll be damned if you can change the temperature of it and call it real photography.

A lot of people need to give the whole professional photography stint a rest. For the majority no one cares how much money you've invested in lenses, or what kind of brand you stick to, or if you use a cheap Walmart tripod or a Manfrotto. I think people need to be careful shunning techniques so quick, they just sound like the old guy who couldn't keep up.

Oh and if you look back at when raw photography started to pick up, or photo editing in general, it was looked at under a microscope and hissed at. It doesn't matter. A lot of photographers I know getting paid to shoot use any technique they can to get the best available photograph possible. This isn't just car photography either, we have two BIG wedding photographers here in Las Vegas, and they both have an extension knowledge in post production. Guess what, they're getting paid $10,000 to shoot weddings. I guess they can't be all that bad...



Edit: with that being said, I personally don't care too much for overly cooked HDR's. But that's not to say all hdr's are good or bad, or only subtle hdr's are good. I think they all have their place. I think in any post technique moderation is key.

 

[RSC17]

all i have to say is i went roaming around that car photography forum you posted on and they are some arrogant bastards on there. pardon my french. i think your photos are badass and that's that.

 

[ReflexMkV]

Yeah they used to say digital photography was a joke too. All these "real photographers" who discredit new techniques (HDR is still very NEW to most phographers) are just too curmudgeon / jealous / intimidated that they've invested 20+ years into photography and can be trumped in some fields of photography by someone with a cracked piece of software and a dslr.

People can call it a cheap Photoshop technique all they want, but the real truth of it is, is that when any technique, even as "over used" on whatever forums people may frequent, hits the photography field, it's under deep scrutiny that it's not real photography, blah blah blah. The result of a picture isn't real in the sense of how photographs have been captured for the last 40 years, but neither has color correction, or faux vignetting, or desaturing/saturating images. Hell, let's discredit raws as well, I mean...if you didn't take the picture EXACTLY how it looked like through your lens at that very moment, then I'll be damned if you can change the temperature of it and call it real photography.

A lot of people need to give the whole professional photography stint a rest. For the majority no one cares how much money you've invested in lenses, or what kind of brand you stick to, or if you use a cheap Walmart tripod or a Manfrotto. I think people need to be careful shunning techniques so quick, they just sound like the old guy who couldn't keep up.

Oh and if you look back at when raw photography started to pick up, or photo editing in general, it was looked at under a microscope and hissed at. It doesn't matter. A lot of photographers I know getting paid to shoot use any technique they can to get the best available photograph possible. This isn't just car photography either, we have two BIG wedding photographers here in Las Vegas, and they both have an extension knowledge in post production. Guess what, they're getting paid $10,000 to shoot weddings. I guess they can't be all that bad...



Edit: with that being said, I personally don't care too much for overly cooked HDR's. But that's not to say all hdr's are good or bad, or only subtle hdr's are good. I think they all have their place. I think in any post technique moderation is key.

Post processing is part of the game, and always has been. Of course like you said there are people out there who frown upon it, there always will be. Does that mean there opinions are worthless? I don't think so. Lines can be drawn from there to just about any activity under the sun. New School .vs Old School the never ending battle. LOL The saga continues!

I think what is important here is to take constructive criticism with out getting all defensive and ultimately insulting someone and then running away. Don't say something like.... "I welcome any feedback" and then get upset when the feedback isn't to your liking.

If you read the comments those guys made they are all very good points. You don't see any :barf: or shit like that. Take it with stride and leave the sharp tongue at the door. If we all agreed on everything the world would be very boring.

 

[GTI2007]

Moved.

 

[Wild Hare]

I'm mighty impressed by what you all can do. The photos looks stunning in my unprofessional opinion.

 

[tibbar_wv]

your pictures are well done and thanks for the link to that site..i looked around and learned some valuable info from it..

 

[ONGIE]

I take pics for clients of all sorts of shit...and customer satisfaction is paramount..if the client likes it and pays for it....Job Done..the rest can GTFO.

 

[tinto]

I think what is important here is to take constructive criticism with out getting all defensive and ultimately insulting someone and then running away. Don't say something like.... "I welcome any feedback" and then get upset when the feedback isn't to your liking.

That is solid advice.
Try to take ego out of it (or just swallow it down), and you'll get much more out of the feedback/critique.

And although i find it fascinating, this pretty much sums up HDR for me:
http://community.automotivephoto.net/forums/showpost.php?p=13457&postcount=10

Your responses on the photo forum remind me of the person who joined this forum with a purple (or close enough) Golf on 20" chrome wheels, then got a little upset when people didn't like it... lashing out at those with the more 'traditional' approach to their cars.

Specialised forums will give specialised responses, but you may not like it!

 

[iBoost]

I personally think as a photographer's point of view the pictures are great to me. I'm a very open minded photographer and that is a key to creativeness. I think alot of photographer's go by some ridiculous old fashion norms and expect everyone to follow "rules" of photography. There are no rules! You go shoot and try to pull out your very best every time. Design your pictures how you like them, go extreme if you have to because it's your style that will set you apart. Some might like it, some might not. Keep up the great work!