Forums > Critique > Critique you I shall! conditions apply!!!

Photographer

camilo

Posts: 794

Miami, Florida, US

So I have a really long critique thing that may come to an end, this is the new one... I just finished my website, so I need some feedback... Just let me know what you think, and I shall critique all your work!
you must check it out!
www.camilothephotographer.com

Jul 22 14 02:05 pm Link

Model

Zaryana Milan

Posts: 278

Moscow, Moscow, Russia

I think the different style of browsing photos is not great, I first thought about a loading problem.

I prefer the kind of browsing like the Portrait page, it is long to load, but the result is great...

It is my own opinion,

By the way, I love your work...

Jul 22 14 02:12 pm Link

Photographer

camilo

Posts: 794

Miami, Florida, US

Zaryana Milan wrote:
I think the different style of browsing photos is not great, I first thought about a loading problem.

I prefer the kind of browsing like the Portrait page, it is long to load, but the result is great...

It is my own opinion,

By the way, I love your work...

Thank you so much! I had not even noticed that!
You are beautiful, and have some very nice shots, however it is very very repetitive, 3 or 4 images that look exactly the same. I understand you may like all of them, but it does not serve any purpose to have them all up. You are lacking a little versatility.

Jul 22 14 02:23 pm Link

Model

Zaryana Milan

Posts: 278

Moscow, Moscow, Russia

cmonmor wrote:

Thank you so much! I had not even noticed that!
You are beautiful, and have some very nice shots, however it is very very repetitive, 3 or 4 images that look exactly the same. I understand you may like all of them, but it does not serve any purpose to have them all up. You are lacking a little versatility.

Thank you very much, and I like this critic.
In September will be some new photo shooting, and I will try to follow your advices...

Jul 22 14 02:29 pm Link

Photographer

Nor-Cal Photography

Posts: 3720

Walnut Creek, California, US

Generally I like it.  It is compact and gets right to the point.

Negatives: It took a while to figure out how to browse through the Photography section. The only other negative is that in the photo showing the photographer there is a dog that is in somewhat discomfort; hence, I would suggest a different image.

But just one worthless opinion.   smile

Jul 22 14 04:58 pm Link

Photographer

RDS Images

Posts: 3

Seattle, Washington, US

I like the general layout & feel of the site but it was a bit confusing to know what to do to view images. Also, once you reach the images you have to scroll to view the image. I would suggest autosizing or standardizing the size so you don't have to scroll to see the complete image.
The quality & images are spectacular - the site has a great feel to it.
Small complaints but I think it would improve ease of viewing.
Geoff

Jul 22 14 05:18 pm Link

Photographer

Jorge Kreimer

Posts: 3716

San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico

I would cut down on the images. You have some very good photos, but there some that are not quite as good. I would weed these out. Harder to do than to say: I always have trouble editing down my website.

Jul 22 14 05:22 pm Link

Photographer

Rik Williams

Posts: 4005

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

I'm with Jorge, you do have a lot of images to go through and with some being much better than others it's difficult to remain focused for when a good one does appear.

Personally I'd cull at least 50% of the really big folders and maybe it's just me, but some of your work could use some straightening up. To my eye a few of them look like they're leaning off to one side.

All the best.

Jul 22 14 05:51 pm Link

Photographer

Random Image

Posts: 335

Pocatello, Idaho, US

I know it may not be what you want to hear, but I wouldnt use a nude as the cover for your nude folder.  I always try and figure that the splash page has to be work safe, as people may view it at work etc.

And as the others have said, you have WAY too many photos.  Your a chef, not a buffet cook, so narrow it down to the best of the best. 

And there is a lot of intermingling with your catagories.  Again, trim them down and lead with the best.

Jul 22 14 06:03 pm Link

Photographer

Joseph William

Posts: 2039

Chicago, Illinois, US

Random Image wrote:
I know it may not be what you want to hear, but I wouldnt use a nude as the cover for your nude folder.  I always try and figure that the splash page has to be work safe, as people may view it at work etc.

And as the others have said, you have WAY too many photos.  Your a chef, not a buffet cook, so narrow it down to the best of the best. 

And there is a lot of intermingling with your catagories.  Again, trim them down and lead with the best.

As said above the different methods of image browsing is annoying and confusing. And you could lose 50% of your images

Jul 22 14 08:08 pm Link

Photographer

camilo

Posts: 794

Miami, Florida, US

Nor-Cal Photography wrote:
Generally I like it.  It is compact and gets right to the point.

Negatives: It took a while to figure out how to browse through the Photography section. The only other negative is that in the photo showing the photographer there is a dog that is in somewhat discomfort; hence, I would suggest a different image.

But just one worthless opinion.   smile

POints well taken! Thank you!
As for your port. I think it is great, however I'd like to see you step outside a little more, try something more than studio. You do have a few shots outside, but a little more versatility would be great.

Jul 22 14 11:37 pm Link

Photographer

camilo

Posts: 794

Miami, Florida, US

Rough Diamond Studios wrote:
I like the general layout & feel of the site but it was a bit confusing to know what to do to view images. Also, once you reach the images you have to scroll to view the image. I would suggest autosizing or standardizing the size so you don't have to scroll to see the complete image.
The quality & images are spectacular - the site has a great feel to it.
Small complaints but I think it would improve ease of viewing.
Geoff

You are right. I've been trying to figure out how to resize just on the website, without having to resize the images themselves...
As for your port, I think you have a little bit of the same issue I have. It is sometimes hard to step away from what works for us, so we end up with a lot of images that look the same. Same framing, same light, etc, just a different face. What I'm trying to say is that your port is very extensive, but you could show exactly what you are with 1/3 of the images you have up, and it would be nice to see you try different things and step out of your comfort zone.

Jul 22 14 11:40 pm Link

Photographer

camilo

Posts: 794

Miami, Florida, US

Jorge Kreimer wrote:
I would cut down on the images. You have some very good photos, but there some that are not quite as good. I would weed these out. Harder to do than to say: I always have trouble editing down my website.

I know!!! Its impossible to cut down, because even though I know sometimes an image is not all that great, I am somehow sentimentally attached to them, and just want to put everything up.
I have seen your work many times, and I absolutely adore it! you are one of those people, that although you create a lot of your images the exact same way, every one of them is actually different. the only advice I can suggest is the same you gave me... cut down a few, but unlike me, they are all solid as hell, but you can still show your mad mad skill with a few less... But you are one of the people on here that I want to be like when I grow up.

Jul 22 14 11:43 pm Link

Photographer

camilo

Posts: 794

Miami, Florida, US

Rik Williams wrote:
I'm with Jorge, you do have a lot of images to go through and with some being much better than others it's difficult to remain focused for when a good one does appear.

Personally I'd cull at least 50% of the really big folders and maybe it's just me, but some of your work could use some straightening up. To my eye a few of them look like they're leaning off to one side.

All the best.

Absolutely everything I said about Jorge applies to you... I fucking love your work!
As for straightening them out, they are always a little crocked, and it comes from being lazy and not kneeling down, and shooting sideways... At this point, I've jsut come to accept it as part of my photos.

Jul 22 14 11:45 pm Link

Photographer

camilo

Posts: 794

Miami, Florida, US

Random Image wrote:
I know it may not be what you want to hear, but I wouldnt use a nude as the cover for your nude folder.  I always try and figure that the splash page has to be work safe, as people may view it at work etc.

And as the others have said, you have WAY too many photos.  Your a chef, not a buffet cook, so narrow it down to the best of the best. 

And there is a lot of intermingling with your catagories.  Again, trim them down and lead with the best.

the nude cover advice is great! Thank you! As for editing, I have a long journey ahead of me trying to do that... FML, that will be HARD!
As for your work, you have the skills, however I would like to see you step out of the box a little more, be a little more adventurous with your photos and find a style of your own per say.

Jul 22 14 11:48 pm Link

Photographer

camilo

Posts: 794

Miami, Florida, US

Joseph William  wrote:

As said above the different methods of image browsing is annoying and confusing. And you could lose 50% of your images

Thank you!
You ahve amazing models! and really like your lighting, my only complaint would be with your swimwear folder, although all the images are great, they are way too repetitive.

Jul 22 14 11:51 pm Link

Photographer

kschruder

Posts: 85

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

I think you've heard this critique from others, but if you're looking to get work in a certain field I would focus your website towards that. The travel and documentary sections feel a bit out of place when everything else is focused on photographing women.

If you just want a general website to show off your work that's fine, but if you want to get hired as a photographer I'd say you should specialize.

You could consider culling down your main site to your best 20 or so shots, and then also have a blog link where you can post all your other stuff if people are interested. That could be more freewheeling, so you could post documentary, travel, whatever.

Jul 23 14 07:22 am Link

Model

Azlyn

Posts: 35

Spartanburg, South Carolina, US

I love that it's clean and simple. Not very many complaints here. Mainly, the home screen layout should allow the viewer to see all available galleries. I didn't realize there was a swimwear gallery at first.
That said, I agree with what others that have stated about weeding out photos. Some are just plain cool, while others are quite outstanding and awe-inspiring.
Put your best foot forward. wink
However, I disagree that you should pick a single focus and stick with it...I like the versitility of your work. Maybe you could be a little less specific with your folders? Possibly a "NSFW" folder lumping lingerie/implied/nude, then another for travel/documentary/journalism?
Just ideas. smile
Overall, very nice.

Jul 23 14 08:50 am Link

Photographer

RDS Images

Posts: 3

Seattle, Washington, US

Thanks for the comments - I agree wholeheartedly...lately been trying to get outside and use natural light instead of the standard setup in studio.
Hard to go away from what works and push that learning curve to a steeper incline...but we have to to get better.
Good luck to you!
Geoff

Jul 23 14 08:51 am Link

Photographer

camilo

Posts: 794

Miami, Florida, US

kschruder wrote:
I think you've heard this critique from others, but if you're looking to get work in a certain field I would focus your website towards that. The travel and documentary sections feel a bit out of place when everything else is focused on photographing women.

If you just want a general website to show off your work that's fine, but if you want to get hired as a photographer I'd say you should specialize.

You could consider culling down your main site to your best 20 or so shots, and then also have a blog link where you can post all your other stuff if people are interested. That could be more freewheeling, so you could post documentary, travel, whatever.

Thank you! That blog link makes sense...
You have some great images, the girl on the bridge has a very real feel to it, and that is what does it for me in pics, however you have other pictures that are good, but a little dull, I would cut down on those.

Jul 23 14 12:20 pm Link

Photographer

camilo

Posts: 794

Miami, Florida, US

Azlyn wrote:
I love that it's clean and simple. Not very many complaints here. Mainly, the home screen layout should allow the viewer to see all available galleries. I didn't realize there was a swimwear gallery at first.
That said, I agree with what others that have stated about weeding out photos. Some are just plain cool, while others are quite outstanding and awe-inspiring.
Put your best foot forward. wink
However, I disagree that you should pick a single focus and stick with it...I like the versitility of your work. Maybe you could be a little less specific with your folders? Possibly a "NSFW" folder lumping lingerie/implied/nude, then another for travel/documentary/journalism?
Just ideas. smile
Overall, very nice.

thank you!
I have to say I am in love with your eyes! They are awesome, and you have a very unique look, (which by the way I've tried to get around here, and haven't really been able to), That being said,  I think you need to find photographers with a little more .... je ne sais quoi , and experience... You also need to get rid of the pic at the bottom.

Jul 23 14 12:25 pm Link

Model

cnicole

Posts: 60

Laurel, Maryland, US

I like the layout of your site. However, I think that photos you have up are very nice but like others have stated, maybe you should take a few down in order to narrow down your numbers. I liked the versatility and that you had different categories of photos. It helps to showcase your work better.

Jul 23 14 12:26 pm Link

Model

Victoria Ellis

Posts: 129

San Diego, California, US

It's a good website and was easy to navigate on my smartphone.

You have a nice style and a lot of versatility. I like how each model shines doing their own thing while overall it has a good flow.

Jul 23 14 12:51 pm Link

Photographer

Paul Tirado Photography

Posts: 4363

New York, New York, US

The way I like to think about web sites is that if a client wanted to see your work and possibly hire you, how hard or easy do you make.

So the good is that you have nice pictures in an easy to see format in categories. Not sure how it looks in other platforms.

The bad is if they like your work and want to hire you, all they have is an embedded email form.....no phone number....no direct email.  They did a survey of art directors of magazines and what they liked and didn't when they were looking at web sites of photographers.  Close to the top of the list of hates was embedded email forms. Many stated that even if they liked your work they would just skip to the next photographer instead of filling it out.

Jul 23 14 01:55 pm Link

Model

J Jessica

Posts: 2431

Coconut Creek, Florida, US

I think you should have text categories on the top going horizontally such as "fashion", "commercial", "contact me", "blog", etc. and in the center of the web page should be a marquee or slideshow of 8 of your examples.

EDIT:

I don't mind scrolling to see the photos... Much. But those arrows at the side imply that you can not just scroll, but flip through the photos with the click of such an arrow. It [the arrow] just brings me back to the main page and I have to start all over again. sad

Jul 23 14 03:34 pm Link

Photographer

camilo

Posts: 794

Miami, Florida, US

cnicole wrote:
I like the layout of your site. However, I think that photos you have up are very nice but like others have stated, maybe you should take a few down in order to narrow down your numbers. I liked the versatility and that you had different categories of photos. It helps to showcase your work better.

You are just starting, so not much to say, only advice is try to work on attitude, not just copy exagerated poses.

Jul 23 14 04:44 pm Link

Photographer

PhotoSeven

Posts: 1194

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US

I like the page, but as others have said, maybe cut back on the number of images.

(The work looks great)

Now with that being said, you need cut lines for the documentary images or group them under different subheadings. Kinda hard to follow the picture story.

Jul 23 14 04:58 pm Link

Photographer

WisconsinArt

Posts: 612

Nashotah, Wisconsin, US

I wouldn't use the word "Nudies." Sounds like you're trying to appeal to 17 year olds.

"Fine Art Nudes, "Fine Art," "Artistic Nudes," something like that.

Jul 23 14 09:08 pm Link

Photographer

Erased acct

Posts: 4

Albany, California, US

OK.... personally my feelings about the site was that the immediate images on the front page sections wernt your best....  their were better images inside the sections.....  That said,  it wasnt IMMEDIATLY obvious that these were sections to clik through.  Some good work in the images but I felt less might be more.....  ie to many images in each section whereas if their were just the cream of the crop in each you would present a cleaner site showcasing your BEST.  The embeded form has also been mentioned,  im not a big fan either but I guess it keeps robots skimming your phone and email address.  The last thing was the photo of the dogs on the contact page.....  just looked a bit unprofessional when the rest of the site seemed a slicker image.  All in some good images good luck to all who sail in her.

Over to you ;-)

Red

Jul 24 14 09:27 am Link

Photographer

camilo

Posts: 794

Miami, Florida, US

Tori Alice wrote:
It's a good website and was easy to navigate on my smartphone.

You have a nice style and a lot of versatility. I like how each model shines doing their own thing while overall it has a good flow.

Tori,
You have a tendency to pose in what looks like very uncomfortable poses, making it look a little awkward. The pics where you are naturally smiling and not fake smiling, you look beautiful! I would try and find a great photographer that can help you take your modeling to the next step.

Jul 24 14 10:39 am Link

Photographer

camilo

Posts: 794

Miami, Florida, US

Paul Tirado Photography wrote:
The way I like to think about web sites is that if a client wanted to see your work and possibly hire you, how hard or easy do you make.

So the good is that you have nice pictures in an easy to see format in categories. Not sure how it looks in other platforms.

The bad is if they like your work and want to hire you, all they have is an embedded email form.....no phone number....no direct email.  They did a survey of art directors of magazines and what they liked and didn't when they were looking at web sites of photographers.  Close to the top of the list of hates was embedded email forms. Many stated that even if they liked your work they would just skip to the next photographer instead of filling it out.

Thank you Paul, that is actually a really good pointer.
I only have one complaint about your work, and it is that I am mad mine is not like yours... It is amazing dude!!! Like holly mother of baby Jesus and all saints. And I want to marry every one of your models (ok, maybe not placido Domingo).

Jul 24 14 10:43 am Link

Photographer

camilo

Posts: 794

Miami, Florida, US

J Jessica wrote:
I think you should have text categories on the top going horizontally such as "fashion", "commercial", "contact me", "blog", etc. and in the center of the web page should be a marquee or slideshow of 8 of your examples.

EDIT:

I don't mind scrolling to see the photos... Much. But those arrows at the side imply that you can not just scroll, but flip through the photos with the click of such an arrow. It [the arrow] just brings me back to the main page and I have to start all over again. sad

Jessica,
I am in love with the first picture second row, that is the shit! You look amazing, and the photographer also did a great job.
  On my web, you are right, even as I was setting it up it would get me mixed up. I'm not particularly the most computer savy, so I'm still trying to figure that one out.

Jul 24 14 10:46 am Link

Photographer

camilo

Posts: 794

Miami, Florida, US

PhotoSeven wrote:
I like the page, but as others have said, maybe cut back on the number of images.

(The work looks great)

Now with that being said, you need cut lines for the documentary images or group them under different subheadings. Kinda hard to follow the picture story.

Thank you!
You have some very good images, but some just don't do it for me. Edit a little down a little and when not using lights you have the same focus issue as me, try opening your lens up a little bit. There is really no good reason to shoot f1.4 or 1.8 or even 2 on a sunny sunny day, you will really get the same effect if you use 2.8, and it will be way more forgiving on the focus.

Jul 24 14 10:50 am Link

Photographer

camilo

Posts: 794

Miami, Florida, US

WisconsinArt wrote:
I wouldn't use the word "Nudies." Sounds like you're trying to appeal to 17 year olds.

"Fine Art Nudes, "Fine Art," "Artistic Nudes," something like that.

I try to keep it playful, but you may be right, however no "artistic nudes" that is a different conversation alltogether, but I hate the term.

You port is very interesting... I'm still trying to process it, and make up my mind if I like it, or not. Like it seems like it is a lot of the humor at a tricks store, and a little cheesy, which I think is on purpose, and it could either be absolutely genius, or  horribly dumb... It made me smile none the less...

Jul 24 14 10:55 am Link

Photographer

SEAK Photography

Posts: 54

Abbeville, Alabama, US

I checked out your website and found it easy to navigate and filled with really fine images. I did find myself wishing that your folder labels were at the top of each folder's image rather than the bottom, so I would know what that image represented as I was scrolling down it. I also saw a little bit of redundancy with at least one model in the same typical-looking motel room in several shots. Great work, though. I like the simplicity of the interface.

Jul 29 14 01:30 am Link