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Any of you doods have a Twitter account?


Mark L

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Actually, facebook can be pretty useful, imo. I got quite a lot of work from that after I set up a FB account.

 

 

I really love the interaction I have between other photographers from all around the world. Far from a waste of time, I've gotten work, interacted with photographers from over 35 countries, learned a lot, and had a lot of fun. In addition to that, I get to keep up with friends who are far away. I absolutely love Facebook.

 

Again, I'll say this about Facebook:

- You get what you put into it.

- If all your newsfeed is basically people telling what they had for lunch, playing stupid games, or other mundane things, that says far more about your choice of friends than it does about Facebook.

- If you are concerned about data mining, don't put any data worth mining.

- Some of the pages or groups are really worth exploring, as the interaction is absolutely valuable. I'm interacting with professional photographers, astrophotographers, astronomers, night sky photographers, long exposure experts, recording engineers, mastering engineers, creative professional musicians, and so forth. What's not to like?

 

The other social media whatever you call it that I get a lot out of (despite really not putting very much time into it) is LinkedIn. I've met a lot of great photographers, gotten fantastic tips, and met people from there when going on trips. I absolutely love it.

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I have accounts. They mostly robo-tweet when I have new blog articles or add music to different sites.

 

Heaven knows, I don't read other people's tweets.

 

I've tried. It's insipid. The content is typically incredibly lame unless it's just straight promo, news feed type stuff -- the province, after all, of robots. Better the straight promo. Because the people who actually post 'personal status updates' REALLY seem lame. (That's what Facebook's for and it's enormously more flexible. It may be lame, but at least it's got kitty videos and all your old real world pals.)

 

 

The only people I have ever run into who seem to think that Twitter is valuable are journalists and pundits. Those fools think we're actually interested in the minute to minute drivel they dribble out. What losers.

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To UstadKhnali: I'm a pro photographer that has never owned a camera and I don't even know much about the one I use. Matter of fact photography isn't even a hobby or something I'm too interested in and I'm one of the best at what I do......weird but true.

 

 

Well, cool!!!!! What sort of camera do you use? I'd love to see your work!!! PM me if you wish to share!

 

We have some recording engineers who don't own the studio they work at but are very talented at what they do. So anything is possible. If your work involves $40,000 Hasselblads or specialized cameras used for scientific purposes such as astrophotography, there's a good chance you may not own the camera.

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People why I'm not more active with social. AFAIC, HC is the ultimate social media
:)

BBs are certainly the oldest form of online social media, predating the World Wide Web (as opposed to the Internet) by a decade or so. I started online in '87, using dial up BBs, both national, like Compuserve, as well as local like all the local area user groups that used to pop up for various softwares and topics.

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BBs are certainly the oldest form of online social media, predating the World Wide Web (as opposed to the Internet) by a decade or so. I started online in '87, using dial up BBs, both national, like Compuserve, as well as local like all the local area user groups that used to pop up for various softwares and topics.

 

 

What do AFAIC and BB stand for?

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"Bulletin Boards" and I'm pretty sure the other one is "As far as I'm concerned".

 

Bulletin boards were quite popular. I believe newsgroups (usenet) sprung out of bulletin boards. Then forums seemed to be the next logical progression, including forums (groups, pages, etc.) on Facebook or LinkedIn or other places.

 

I used to post on rec.audio.pro, a newsgroup, quite regularly, and met a lot of friends through there, gained a lot of knowledge, and had a lot of fun. I believe many people now access newsgroups through Google.

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Well, cool!!!!! What sort of camera do you use? I'd love to see your work!!! PM me if you wish to share!


We have some recording engineers who don't own the studio they work at but are very talented at what they do. So anything is possible. If your work involves $40,000 Hasselblads or specialized cameras used for scientific purposes such as astrophotography, there's a good chance you may not own the camera.

 

 

Actually I'm a poser literally, I am a Church photographer and I do portraits of families on location at Churches all over NC and some of VA. So the camera's settings are all pre set and tethered to a lap top which has a program made just for this purpose. The skill sets used by a really great portrait photographer are lighting position and intensity (to create shading and contour) superior posing, and the ability to get natural smiles and expressions from all age groups. It's all about experience and it's about filling up your bag of tricks with knowledge. Example, if you have a heavy set woman with a rounded face you can use butterfly lighting, which is the use of one intense light from high up right in the middle next to the camera which gives the side of her cheeks and chin shade instead of the light normally produced from a traditional main/fill lighting configuration. When they look at the pics the can't believe how wonderful they look, as no one has ever lighted them correctly before in their entire lives and all the sudden they have these high cheek bones they never knew they had, they look and feel beautiful and you have a new best friend. To be truly good you have to understand body types, facial stuctures, complection/skin tone, how light effects the subjects clothing etc. the list is endless. After a while you just get so good at it you know exactly how to pose and light each person based on their own unique individual qualities and you also know how to down play the things you know by experience that they won't want to emphasized in a photograph.

 

Luckily for me the guy that tought me what I know is the best of the best and has done the job for 30 years, he has forgotten more then I'll ever know about how to produce a great portrait. I have seen pictures he's produced that are so poetic and artful that they can bring you to tears he's that good. Old Wilson Wright red neck genius photographer good old boy from VA. On the surface it's not too hard a job but to be really great your attention to detail has to be superior and you have to care enough to make corrections when you see problems. The great ones sweat every single detail seen on film, things like ring and necklace position, not having clasps showing, making sure that if someone has say cufflinks or a class ring or especially a piece of jewlery that is personal to them that they are featured but naturally. The slight adjustment of a hand position or even how the fingers are draped on a shoulder are huge factors and are the difference between a truly polished portrait and something generic and uninspired. There is so much more to it then anyone would ever think and I can't tell you how many people say how silly they feel while taking the pics and then when they see what I've done for them they simply can't believe how great they look. I tell them, listen I take thousands and thousands of portraits each year and I promise them that although posing feels unnatural and silly it has absolutely nothing to do with what the finished product will look like and they NEVER believe me UNTIL they see my work on film. Up until then they just think I'm this weird goofy dude that doesn't have a clue what he's doing, but the truth is far different. I may be having fun with them but at the same time I'm actually utilizing highly developed skills they just can't see, then they see what I was really doing right in front of them on film and they are shocked by my abilities. What someone see's in real time and what they see on film are worlds apart and when you take enough portraits you just know what looks right and what doesn't even if they believe you. People don't understand that I can create shade and light that you can't see in person, you can ony see it on film and that is where the magic happens. But you really have to continue to polish your skills to do great work consitantly.

 

The other big thing is all about how you relate to the people you're taking pictures of, and that is something that can't be tought, you either have the gift of gab or you don't. I use my unique ability to make people laugh and they never know what hit em, before they know it they're holding their sides because they've laughed so hard their belly hurts and they have had more fun they ever imagined possible, sounds like BS but I swear it completely true. They leave shaking their heads wondering how I did it that, how they could that have had that much fun doing something they were dreading more then going to the dentist. Well it's because I'm funny, I love to have fun, I love my job and that rubs off on them, they can't help themselves. I love it when a guy comes in with his wife and is ready to be a sour puss and next thing he knows were talking football and taco's and they are in a whole different frame of mind. Truthfully it's the only true gift I have, getting them to have fun is like breathing to me. Make sure that they understand that they are the only people on earth during our time and they always respond in a positive way, and always be real never fake. It's like a performance and you are on stage and everything you do matters to the finished product. I was born to do it and I love it even though the days can be horribly long. So there it is.

 

Sorry for the long post couldn't help myself.

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Actually I'm a poser literally,

 

:D

 

I am a Church photographer and I do portraits of families on location at Churches all over NC and some of VA. So the camera's settings are all pre set and tethered to a lap top which has a program made just for this purpose. The skill set used by a really good portrait photographer are lighting position and intensity (to create shading and contour) superior posing, and the ability to get natural smiles and expressions from all age groups. It's all about experience and making your bag of tricks bigger and bigger. Example, if you have a heavy set woman with a rounded face you can use butterfly lighting, which is the use of one intense light from high up right in the middle next to the camera which gives the side of her cheeks and chin shade instead of the light normally produced from a traditional main/fill lighting configuration. When they look at the pics the can't believe how wonderful they look, as no one has ever lighted them correctly before in their entire lives and all the sudden they have these high cheek bones they never knew they had and they look and feel beautiful and you have a new best friend. To be truly good you have to understand body types, facial stuctures, how light effects the subject the list is endless. After a while you just get so good at it you just know exactly how to pose and light each person as an unique individual in order to show their personal best qualities and also to down play the things you know by experience that they don't want to emphasized as well.


Luckily for me the guy that tought me what I know is the best of the best and has done the job for 30 years, he has forgotten more then I'll ever know about how to produce a great portrait. On the surface it's not too hard a job
but to be really great your attention to detail has to be superior and you have to care enough to make corrections when you see problems.
The great ones sweat every single detail seen on film, things lilke ring and neclace position, not having clasps showing, making sure that if someone has cufflinks or a class ring that they are featured but naturally. The slight adjustment of a hand position or even how the fingers are being shown.
There is so much more to it then anyone would ever think and I can't tell you how many people say how silly they feel while taking the pics and then when they see what I've done for them they simply can't believe how great they look. I tell them, listen I take thousands and thousands of portraits each year and I promise them that although posing feels unnatural and silly it has absolutely nothing to do with what the finished product will look like and they NEVER belive me UNTIL they see my work on film. What you do and what you see are worlds apart and when you take enough portraits you just know what looks right and what doesn't. But you really have to continue to polish your skills to do great work consitantly.


The other big thing is all about how you relate to the people you're taking pictures of, and that is something that can't be tought, you either have the gift of gab or you don't.
I use my unique ability to make people laugh and they never know what hit em, before they know it they have had more fun they ever imagined and they leave shaking their heads wondering how I did it. Well I did it cause I'm funny, I love to have fun, I love my job and that rubs off, its the only true gift I have, getting them to have fun is like breathing to me.
Make sure that they understand that they are the only people on earth during our time and they always respond in a positive way, and always be real never fake. It's like a performance and you are on stage and everything you do matters to the finished product. I was born to do it and I love it even though the days can be horribly long. So there it is.


Sorry for the long post couldn't help myself.

 

Whaddaya saying? That was a fantastic post!! It could go on longer and I would read every word still!!! Thanks!

 

You did a great job at describing many of the skills involved in portrait photography! That's probably one of the areas in which I have the least amount of experience (well, okay, there's war photojournalism.... :D ), having only done it a few times. Not so easy!

 

Anyway, thanks for that description!!!!!!!

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