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Am I just another GWC?
I have seen many posts referring to these GWC's (Guys With Cameras) that aren't "real" photographers. This makes me instantly reflect on my own work, am I just a GWC or do I have something going? I have been shooting for six months now but have never actually been paid a single dime to date for anything. Is my stuff just still to cookie cutter, to Sr Portrait? I know what everyone refers to when they speak of these GWC's and I personally don't think my stuff looks like that but I would have to assume that they don't either. I don't get huge raving reviews about my stuff so I already know I have to greatly kick it up a notch but no kidding right, I had never touched a camera till October 2004, I would hope I have a lot of room for improvement  I am not asking this as an ego boost, not my style, I honestly want to get slammed into the floor with exactly what am I? Do I have potential? Do I need better models? Do I need to go to school? Do I just need more time and experimentation? Should I just sell my camera on eBay now and save myself years of effort? If all I am shooting is Sr Portraits than I am not doing it right and I want to hear why. I have asked a few different people for critiques, now I open myself to the entire community, let me have it folks. Thanks in advance... Apr 25 05 05:40 pm Link I always thought GWC was Geezer with a Camera. I'm an Old Geezer and I have a camera ... I looked at your pix. It looks like your off to a decent start. People generally like to make up terms that divide the world into "them" and "us". I don't shoot "professionally" - that is, I don't shoot because I need money. I even hire models now and then. Basically, I fit all the parameters of what "they" call a GWC ... except one or two. First, if I wanted to "pay for a peek" I wouldn't bother beating around the bush (chuckle) ... I'd hire someone in the "peek" business. It's probably be WAY cheaper than buying all this damned hardware. Second, I'm happily married and, by golly, my wife won't let me date. Of course, us Geezers with Cameras can take light hearted shots at self absorbed professionals, too.  The Professional gets paid. Maybe there's more to being Professional than that? Keep up the good work. The only thing you need is the same thing we all need ... shooting more. We all have room for improvement. Apr 25 05 05:57 pm Link I don't think you are. I like your stuff, and would definately shoot with you (if you were closer!). To me, a GWC is one who's basically just taking pictures to meet girls and try to get them naked. When I look at your stuff, I don't see boobs 'n butts- not that it would automatically constitute GSC syndrome- but interesting images with varying angles. Apr 25 05 06:15 pm Link Posted by Jeri: I agree with Jeri. Looking at your portfolio, you don't seem to be a GWC. You have some good images there for someone who has just started out. Keep trying. Apr 25 05 06:21 pm Link Damn, I hate to do this, but I would have to say, assign yourself homework. Let me just say, I hated to do homework when I was in school. Though I am loathe to admit it, it helps to tune your skills. Pick idiot projects to force yourself to look at objects (and people are just complex objects) in different ways. Do a project where you have to frame everything to look clean and not too distorted, but the camera must be kept withing 1 foot of the ground. Go out and do some street shooting looking for someone caught up in their daily routine. Try to frame them so you know what they're doing, and can kind of tell that they're on autopilot. I don't know, idiot stuff like that. It will make you look at people differently. Apr 25 05 06:32 pm Link I would say that considering you've only been shooting for under a year, that you've started off pretty good. The biggest things i feel you need to work on is lighting, a lot of the pictures in your portfolio are not lit well at all, so maybe a class on composition and lighting would help that. Another thing is getting better models, and putting them in better settings. Besides that, as long as you have a strong motivation to learn and experiement im sure that within a few years time, you will be doing great, because most of what is lacking in your portfolio besides the lighting and composition that i mentioned earlier, is just going to take experience to learn. Hope that helps. Apr 25 05 06:53 pm Link You make the girls eyes twinkle-now to just figure out why! Apr 25 05 06:59 pm Link Based on what I've seen, I wouldn't call you a GWC. I'd tend to reserve that term for the guys who constantly frequent the glamour photography workshops. They have lots of money for equipment and workshops, but little vision. I will say, however, that your work looks pretty cliche' and that you need to develop some kind of personal artistic vision. Try immersing yourself in non-visual things that create images in your mind -- music and poetry. One suggestion I would make for technical improvement is that you look at art history books and visit museums and study the lighting and composition of portrait paintings, especially of the old masters. I know this must all sound very corny by today's standards because it falls under the heading of self discipline. Apr 25 05 07:16 pm Link Thank you everyone, that is exactly what I am looking for. Please keep it coming, so far I know that I need to learn to make light my friend. I will start working on that and post new images as I go to see if I am getting it "right". I am noticing that I tend to, what I call "washout" my images, they don't travel from the deepest of black to the brightest of white, they seem to all sit in the midtones. Is this a fair assesment or am I still missing the depth that I need to get in my images? I still have not worked with a "real/paid" model so I am not sure what difference one could give me. I look forward to my first opportunity though. Apr 25 05 07:23 pm Link "I am noticing that I tend to, what I call "washout" my images, they don't travel from the deepest of black to the brightest of white, they seem to all sit in the midtones." This is not a description of a "washed out" image it describes a "muddy" image, one that lacks contrast, very often the result of underexposure. Apr 25 05 07:33 pm Link So I need to work on proper exposure then. I have been told to under expose my images on purpose because I work trickly in digital. I was told to do this because the digital sensors could not capture proper highlights and they would "blow out" at exact exposure. I guess I just need to play with this personally and find the exact spot that my 20D performs at. Is this a more accurate statement? Apr 25 05 07:39 pm Link You have a few images that have potential and would look great if they were edited correctly. With more practice, you will get better. Apr 25 05 07:40 pm Link Posted by Daniel Hice: Ya know, I'm not sure if you can impress models, guys with the "cool photographer" vests, or even the ones in black turtlenecks sipping Martinis. Sure- there may be some technical issue with a pic or two that you or I or any new photographer may miss on. Apr 25 05 07:42 pm Link Posted by Daniel Hice: I've only been shooting digital since the end of 2002 and have been 100% digital for about a year, now, after more that 30 years in photography. I have a lot to learn. Dealing with Photoshop is like pursuing a doctoral degree. In a way, you're lucky that you don't have so much film stuff to unlearn. Still, a lot of the basic principles apply. I shoot with a 10D. The most important thing I'm learning about exposure is how to read a histogram and how to expose to create a good one. Digital is, pretty much, like slide film. You have to expose for the highlights and avoid blowing them out. It would appear that you're over compensating and underexposing. The basic "rule" is that your histogram should look like a bell curve, but don't take that as an absolute. For starters, take a shot like the one that you use as your avatar, bracket the exposures and compare the histograms. Apr 25 05 08:04 pm Link I always thought a GWC was a guy with a camera with no other intention than trying to get dirty pictures of girls. Apr 25 05 08:07 pm Link Yeppers, a 'GWC' is simply a guy that calls himself a 'photographer' in an attempt to get 'em naked and/or attempting to meet models to score a date. A wider definition of a 'GWC' also includes the people that run out and buy a camera and instantly claims professional status, while their portfolio (if they have a portfolio) displays photos that can be ranked 'amateur' quality at best. Students and amateurs are not considered a 'GWC' if they're being upfront an honest. Student or amateur status is not considered a bad thing... as most people have seen many photos that come from Students and amateurs that exceed the quality and creativity of most professionals. Apr 25 05 11:05 pm Link Your work looks pretty good for a guy who has been doing it for 6 months. Don't sell your camera. You seem to have passion. Willing to learn and take criticism. I have been making a living as a full time photographer for over 30 years and I am still learning. The most important thing is to learn lighting. Control it and you will improve greatly. It took me about three years to cross over from a mediocre photographer to a talented one so I have been told. With digital cameras you can see results instantly and make adjustments. Study the pros and how they use lights. Sometimes you only need one and other times you could use up to 10. But the one thing that you have to be able to do is make the subject feel comfortable. You look like you can do that. The rest will fall into place so keep tripping the light fantastic. Wes Apr 25 05 11:34 pm Link Daniel, I think it's alright to reflect on yourself and your work, but if you're happy with who you are and you know you're not using your craft to "pick up chicks" you have nothing to worry about. You're off to a great start BTW. Apr 26 05 07:49 am Link Good Advice. Shooting digital is more like shooting chrome. You want to underexpose. Posted by Daniel Hice: Apr 26 05 07:52 am Link Just remember to concentrate on your personal artistic vision and on learning composition and lighting. Master the fudamentals, the discipline of photography. Don't make the mistake of getting caught up in all of the bells and whistles, flash and trash. Use Photoshop sparingly and remember that it's not about the equipment. Never before in the history of the medium have so many bad pictures been created with such fantastic equipment. The best of luck to you. Apr 26 05 08:02 am Link Posted by Joe Kozlowski: I think that would make you technically an "OGWC." "GWC" must be the young guy... Apr 26 05 09:38 am Link Posted by Reese, VA . MUA: Posted by Joe Kozlowski: I think that would make you technically an "OGWC." "GWC" must be the young guy... Now you've got me wondering about the concept of "Young Geezer". Apr 26 05 09:56 am Link Thanks again for all the advise both here and in messages. Please keep it coming if you can think of any more items I need to look at. Apr 26 05 03:28 pm Link Ok I just posted 6 new images I took today with Jennifer. See what you all think, did I do better with my lighting or am I still missing the boat? I focused directly on lighting today so I hope I have stepped it up a notch. Bring it on May 07 05 09:07 pm Link In another life, I was a filmmaker. One of my actors, a man about 20 years my senior, once asked me, "Eric, I want you to give me your honest opinion of my abilities. Do you think I can make it as an actor or not? Because if I don't have a shot, I might as well give it up." I got mad at him. How dare he put THAT on my shoulders. This was HIS dream. Who am I to make it or break it for him? I told him, "Don't ask me that. You can't make or break your decisions on following your dreams based on your performance in my movie. It's ONE movie. So it doesn't matter WHAT I think. I could tell you that you are fantastic and talented and have a huge future ahead of you. So you'll work towards being an actor. But your impressive performance might have been a fluke. You may never do that well again. Or, I could say you sucked and were terrible and awful. And you'll give up acting. But if you had kept on going, every movie you do after this would have tapped into a hidden talent and been amazing. Follow what YOUR heart tells you. If your heart tells you that you suck, then you probably do. If your heart tells you that you can make it but it will take a LOT of work, then you can." As for your lighting - looks cool. Keep it up. You know why? Want to know the secret to good photography? Learn lighting. Learn it better than anyone. Learn to see it, to manipulate it, to understand how it flows, to predict where it will fall, and how it will change. Do that, and you will automatically be 500 light years ahead of everyone else. May 07 05 10:02 pm Link Hey Daniel, I would agree with what others have already said - you're off to a good start. Everything in life is a progression and I have to tell you, that when you constantly reevaluate your skill every 12 months and make goals for the next year, then you're definitely on the road to somewhere better. I'm always reevaluating my work, my skill and especially, my direction. Once in awhile, I'll have my "crazed artist" moment and feel like throwing cow dung at my portfolio, because I'm feeling dissatisfaction with my work. It's a constant battle sometimes, but ultimately, it's the time to chill and reflect and come back out swinging harder each time. May 07 05 10:16 pm Link Howdy Folks ! Excellent response Eric !.. Photography is all about lighting ... most photogs have comp down fairly well .. but where they totally lag behind is lighting... how man times do you se a great comp .. but lighting just blows the big one.. buy the best lighting eqpt you can and dont worry about if you have a 10D or a 20D or a 30D or whatever D-of-the-month Canon comes out with....you dont need 20 lenses and 8 camera bodies.. invest in the best lighting eqpt.. you wil never regret it..light that model like she has never been lit before and your pics will ROCK ! Happy Holidays.. Mikey May 08 05 01:50 am Link When i plugged in my white lighting strob setup I said wonder how this is gonna work? Dude!This Rocks!!- how did i ever live without this!!..i guess i wasnt! (:-- May 08 05 02:00 am Link Posted by Aperture Photographics: How true this is. After a while you don't even notice. It becomes so clinical. Kind of like being an OBGYN. You're not even phased. I love telling models when they get upset at the lack of "reaction" on my part that I've seen it hundreds of times before, and while it's still always nice Im "WORKING HERE." LOL May 08 05 03:07 am Link I checked out your port. i think you have an eye, but you're just not capturing what (i think) you're hoping to capture. The missing element? Effective use of light and lighting. The word photography comes from the Greek. It means "painting with light." that's what photography is ALL about: it's all about light and lighting. everything else, e.g. cameras, lenses... all your gear, composition, creativity, sets, props, the models, make-up, styling, etc., ain't gonna do much for you if you don't have a keen understanding of light and lighting and how to make it do your bidding. and it's not always just about seeing the light, tho that's important. you also need to learn how to bend it and modify it and control it and shape it and either make it your slave or--when it's being unruly or has a mind of its own--learn to find the light that's hiding or the light that's less obvious, i.e., the sweetest, USDA Grade "A" photons. and then, if you still need to, you bend, modify, control, shape, and whip that light into place. you never ever let the light be in charge... you're in charge of it! and then you learn photoshop. May 08 05 04:09 am Link Posted by jimmyd: I spent a couple minutes on your main image in photoshop.. May 08 05 05:40 am Link You need to be honest with yourself - because if you are honest with yourself, then you'll know who and what you are, and you won't *CARE* if someone thinks you're a "GWC." So - being honest: I started out as a GWC. Looked at lots and lots of porn and didn't like it. I thought it was too explicit, not elegant enough, and lacked style. So I thought I'd try my hand at it. My first shoots were all about getting the girl down the street to take her shirt off, I'll admit it. Then I discovered "Oh. THAT's not hard." So I started shooting lots and lots of different girls - but always trying to create something I liked. But there is NO doubt that what got me started as a photographer was my desire to look at lots of naked chicks. I also know about topless bars. I learned early on that if what you want to do is look at naked chicks, topless bars are cheaper and easier than becoming a photographer. The cost of my first hasselblad kit would have kept me in lapdances for a while.  I think if a lot of us are honest with ourselves, especially the photographers that do a lot of nudes and glamour, it was the desire to look at our gender of choice that got us into it. The ones that get good are the ones that want to somehow capture and reflect that desire. I don't want to get all "filosophikal and shit" but: 1) liking to look at chicks with their clothes off is what got me started. 2) wanting to communicate the beauty I see to others is what keeps me going. I happen to be egotistical enough to want anything I do to not suck. So I studied hard and learned a hell of a lot about the art of photography in the process. Some of my best work doesn't even have people, let alone naked chicks in it. But it was the desire to be a "GWC" that got me here. I know a few photographers that I see got here and are following the same path I did. Those that want to learn, I help teach. Those that don't are content to just keep snapping bad pictures of naked chicks. I usually point out to them that topless bars are cheaper and serve drinks, too. mjr. May 08 05 08:55 am Link I'm glad some one posted what GWC is. I had no clue but i truely understand the intent of the post for when nothings going right even if everyone tells you that you're "amazing, fantastic" and what not. If your a guy and your getting no where you're still a Guy With Camera, better then GEEK WITH CAMERA thats what i thought it ment for a few moments lol. May 08 05 09:05 am Link EricMuss-Barnes Says: Eric is speaking truth. Big truth. May 08 05 09:10 am Link Powell: If you're a guy and you're not trying you're still a GWC. Anyone who's shooting more than once a month and who is thinking about what they are doing and trying to learn and improve is gonna get through the GWC phase in a year or 2. May 08 05 09:12 am Link Thanks for all the responses! May 08 05 11:03 am Link Posted by Marcus J. Ranum: UM do you know how hard it is to be able to get shoots lined up in some markets? More then once a month would be a dream to most photographers i know (like me) who can't afford studios, don't shoot digital, and who get told by "models" they love your work but expect to be paid and don't understand that just because you're a decent to fanastic photographer doesn't mean you're making any money. May 08 05 11:17 am Link ahh, the "instant" generation! You've been shooting since OCTOBER and you want an evaluation already...I'd say shoot another year AT LEAST and then ask YOURSELF, before asking us: LEARN, THINK, SHOOT, SELF-CRITIQUE...REPEAT UNTIL OLD "Grasshopper, when you snatch the raw image from my hand you may leave" May 08 05 12:16 pm Link I'm just a model - not a photographer that can exactly give you advice - but I think you're doing very well! As a matter of fact, when I was looking through photos for ideas for shoots, I marked many of yours! I think you have some wonderful ideas, angles, curves. Hopefully we'll be able to work together sometime! (boo hoo for liveing so far away!) May 08 05 09:42 pm Link Posted by Marcus J. Ranum: Thanks. I learned a lot from an award-winning cinematographer. He really showed me how to see light and pay attention to it. I still feel I've only scratched the surface. Very, very few people understand light and how it works. May 08 05 10:37 pm Link |
