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Does anybody look at photographers portfolios?
This subject lifted from my other subject asking models for their fave photographer ports. No one answered! I want to know about other photographers ports...believe it or not, I think that photographers often have more exciting portfolios than models. In fact, many photographers I speak with say models, "always pick the wrong pictures" because they are only looking to see how good they look, as opposed to looking at lighting, overall composition, etc. However, everyone is talking about favorite models. I know all you photogs hate each other (lol). but, I want to see what ports other people like. Aug 02 05 06:12 pm Link I never really found any reason to look at other photographers' portfolios. If I had that much time to kill, I'd clip my toenails. Aug 02 05 06:16 pm Link As a model I always look at photographers portfolios. here are my faves that Iam just dying to work with: Scottford Afashionphotography Ash-LV Rick Dones Sean McCarthy softlite Dynamo art Cantu and thats all I can really think of, well anyone who is part of my friend list, I admire their work... XOXOXOXOX angela Aug 02 05 06:21 pm Link I often look at other photographers' portfolios, usually to see other photos of models with whom I have/want to work. Or to see whether she/he has work to back up the statements he/she makes in the fora. Aug 02 05 06:22 pm Link Posted by Lapis: photographers work with far more models than the amount of models who work with photographers( I think that came out right), so of course most photographers are going to have a more varied portfolio. Photographers do not hate eachother unless they are the posturing inflated ego types who do not understand there is room for everyone. I myself do not look at many photographers portfolios. I try to not do things which might influence myself away from my own style. Aug 02 05 06:27 pm Link Posted by Brian Diaz: True that! now go take some more photo's. lol Aug 02 05 06:28 pm Link i don't go out of my way looking at others shooters work but sometimes something catches my eye and i just have to stop and admire the view... so here's some that have blown my mind recently: and yes i do hate all the photographers mentioned ;-) fotorat 7367 oded 5003 angel 1167 nicovision 19713 fototattoo 19293 sivad 14436 davide 855 Aug 02 05 06:30 pm Link I spend some time looking at other photographer portfolios. It's a great way to see how others catch different emotions, styles, and because I can't think of a good enough word for it otherwise, hutzpah. Photographers are able to catch a certain something, and it may give me an idea, or I could learn a different way to try something. Some that I review are Model Mayhem Members 23373, 18442, 828, 3329, 9330, 7244, 491, 1290, 3780 and finally 903. While I don't spend hours a day looking at them, I certainly try and hit them up at least once a week. I know that there are very talented photographers out there, and this is a good way to see what's going on. Aug 02 05 06:30 pm Link I go out of my way to look at the work of others... I guess it's just a habit from spending so much time in museums and stuff.. I think in a field as technical as photography study of your craft is integral... I would like to think that I have a fairly observant eye.. But I've found that actually studying photography and learning from those that have a firm handle on it helps me immensely.. I've been drawing and painting for at least 25+ years.. But I still make it a point to go to artshows, museums, seminars, and I buy art books and magazines every month.... You can never learn enough... Also by taking an active interst in the work of others - you are furthering the cause of photography from within.. After all - who do you want to define photography? A non photographer such as myself - a hobbyist? Or those that live it... The Photographers... You're never so good that you don't have time to learn form some one else... Aug 02 05 06:38 pm Link Posted by Lapis: Posted by Brian Diaz: True that! now go take some more photo's. lol Is that a critique? ;-) Aug 02 05 06:47 pm Link this is a great question. i often look around here and @ omp @ other shooters' work. i often get inspired to try new things as a result. the thing that gets me is when i visit a model i've shot's port just to look at the number of hits on a particular image (that i shot) and they leave these great comments on her port like "great capture" or "incredibly executed and wonderful light". WTF? the model didn't shoot the fucking shot! granted, the model has LOTS to do with the overall look of a shot, but damn, if i set it up, lit it up and posed her, right down to the expression on her face- i want the credit too - at least when it's really due...... it would be much easier to see other ppl's work on this site if they had a newly uploaded image section where you could browse around. The only way you get any notice here is if you're into the bullshit shout box and self promote pretending to be chatting it up with a bunch of pre-teen acting ppl. don't get me wrong, i've been to the shout box a few times and had great convs w/ ppl, but most of the time it turns into an ego war and the trash talk begins. then, as now, i'm out.............. Aug 02 05 06:53 pm Link 23473 is the one port lately that I can not take my eyes off! Aug 02 05 06:57 pm Link Deacon, you didn't tell us who you LIKED. Aug 02 05 06:57 pm Link i look, some times i leave coments, some times the coments i get from photographers don't make sence haha. like wow you're a sexy model... Um i'm a photographer lol... But It's good to look to see who's not worth model friends working with when they ask me about local people etc. gotta know whats out there to give advise Aug 02 05 06:58 pm Link Deacon Blues you wrote: The only way you get any notice here is if you're into the bullshit shout box and self promote pretending to be chatting it up with a bunch of pre-teen acting ppl. don't get me wrong, i've been to the shout box a few times and had great convs w/ ppl, but most of the time it turns into an ego war and the trash talk begins. then, as now, i'm out.............. I feel a bit better that instead of me writing that you did! And you are absolutely right. Many years ago photographers were very secretive on how they achieved their results so most of the time when you wanted to ask an older photographer how he had......you would get stared down. I have never forgotten this so I make it a habit to teach at a local school, every once in a while to "dowload" some of my stuff into my student's curious and not so curious minds. But the photographers at MM are even less curious. I have posted several photos in the Photography Talk section and explaining how I made them be like that. The latest one I posted yesterday called A Portrait Can be Glamourous got next to no interest. My suspicion is that many photographers here are set in their method of taking pictures so they are here to troll in the models. From my vantage point in Vancouver I am never going to get any models (and I am not here in MM for that). I can get them no problem without MM. I have not been on the shout box which seems much like what I experience as a boarding school student in Austin in the late 50s. Women would call the public phone on our floors and we would talk to them for hours. This was pioneering phone sex. The Shout Box reminds me of it. Aug 02 05 07:08 pm Link I always look at photographers port, it helps me to see what kind of work they like to shoot, and what type of models they tend to go for. Aug 02 05 07:16 pm Link If I were lucky enough to get some model to actually show up to a shoot I would probably have a lot more pics in my portfolio! Aug 02 05 07:17 pm Link Posted by Deacon Blues: i agree with you! since i haven't shot many mm models (only one that i know of) i rarely run into someone praising my skills on someone else's page. but it makes me nuts when people primarily comment on the photographer's talent on a model's page as if it were the model's camerawork. if a photo gets me that way i usually seek out the photographer on the site and give them props on their page or a private note--and vice versa. Aug 02 05 07:44 pm Link I check out other Photographers work to see the quality that is out there and to deconstruct the image and see how they use light. In doing that I push myself to learn and to up my quality. I did it with magazine ads and editorials in so it was natural to do it on the web as well. I learn allot about light by seeing how others use it. Then I practice and come up with my own formula in the studio. I also see what other people are doing and try not to follow in that path. I try and stay away from similar backdrops and settings that I see many other photographers usingas well. An example is the corrigated metal at home depot that many people use as a backdrop. I was going to buy some at the begining of the year but never got around to it. I am glad as I see many people with that backdrop. Aug 02 05 07:51 pm Link Posted by snegron: theres lots of great models in your area..i know i used to live in cape coral 9 months ago...need some names..let me know.. Aug 02 05 07:53 pm Link Posted by Doug Swinskey: Posted by snegron: theres lots of great models in your area..i know i used to live in cape coral 9 months ago...need some names..let me know.. Thanks Doug! That would be great. So far I have had nothing but no shows and frustration. Aug 02 05 08:06 pm Link I agree with those who said that they DO look at other photographer's portfolios. It's very important to keep up with new trends and styles. Want it or not we're definitely ruled by society's groups likes or dislikes and we have to keep in touch with all the work that's being done. Personally I try not to "borrow" techniques etc., altough none of us can deny sometimes we do, and I don't think is bad to do it as long as it's not blatantly COPIED. Anyway one of the reasons I see at others portfolios is to avoid doing the same things. Sometimes something comes up to my mind and weeks later see it in another portfolio, none of both copied it's just that, as social beings we're exposed to similar things and it's easy to arrive to similar conclusions. Take a look at people that say that don't see other artists' portfolios, and the consequences of it are clearly exposed on THEIR portfolios. Still haven't met one artist who denies the importance of exposing yourself to art to create art. Stating the contrary would be a purely ego issue. Hope there would be a way of eliminating the tits and ass cravers from the industry -and this page-. Aug 02 05 08:13 pm Link i find looking at others images--whether they are a photographer, sculptor or a painter--helps to feed that creative thing in my body. often i'll see something that has elements i like which i want to build on. sometimes it's a work with great elements but i feel it was poorly executed or simply missed the mark. i'll use that as a jumping off point. by the time my photo is real, it usually has very little resemblance to the thing which inspired me. Aug 02 05 08:26 pm Link Posted by Gabriel Rodz: Sorry...I'm afraid I'm here to stay. Aug 03 05 01:03 pm Link I try to look at as many portfolios as I can...There is always something new and interesting to see. I view the internet the way many photographers and models view magazines -- as a source of information and inspiration. Aug 03 05 01:05 pm Link I dare say that photogs who claim not to check other photogs portfolios are liars. It's like saying that one doesn't masturbate. Observing other photogs work is the way to improve your own and avoid being repetitive. Everybody wants to know how others are doing, what they do, how they do it but the reason some pretend not to is to look like real pros who have best techniques and ideas of their own without influence of others. Aug 03 05 01:21 pm Link Posted by Belair: Wow! That's kind of sad... Aug 03 05 01:27 pm Link I always look at photographers portfolio's. As a model thats how I choose whom I want to contact to do a shoot with. I dont just pick some photographer who I'm not the least bit interested in. Aug 03 05 01:28 pm Link I do all the time. I love photography and truely admire great photographs. You can get some great ideas to play with from looking at other works. Aug 03 05 01:33 pm Link Before ModelMayhem i never looked to much at other photographers work!! But Modelmayhem has changed everything for me.. Now i have photographer friends and i do look at other work.. Aug 03 05 01:33 pm Link Andy Mcfarland #8676. The bastard is living my life... lol. Aug 03 05 01:42 pm Link YES I look at others work - phrases that come to mind are "Stepping out of your comfort zone", "Why re-invent the wheel?", definition of insanity is "doin the same things over and over and expecting different results". I guess I have always been a professional student and well as a pro. Look at MANY, digest it into your own style.....  Aug 03 05 04:35 pm Link A pertinent quote from Stephen King's On Writing: If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: Read a lot and write a lot. There's no way around these two things that I'm aware of, no shortcut. I think it's safe to say that the same applies to photography. Aug 03 05 04:49 pm Link There are several reasons to look at other photographers portfolios. First, if I am going to shoot with a model, I often like to look at various photographers portfolios that she has in her port. If the photographer has better work of the model or their work is in general better than that of the model I am going to shoot with, that tells me something. If there is a consistency of what I see among multiple photographers shooting the same model, that tells me a lot. In todays world, there are multiple ways of having a style including those who create the image in the view finder versus those who create it in the computer. Both take talent and there just different forms of artistry and blends of the two. No matter what you do to achieve it, a good image is simply that. What's good to me does not have to be good to you. In part, it's a question of use of the image or who it is being created for. In commercial use, you satisfy the client which may include alternate ideas/images to their original request. If shooting for yourself and a model, both need to like the imagery but also it needs to serve a purpose which includes creating imagery that you enjoy and don't care what anyone else thinks. The photographers I enjoy most are not represented here and represent a variety of work from fashion to product work. For creativity at MM, I certainly enjoy Mike Rosen's work. Mike Aug 03 05 06:16 pm Link I study photography - all aspects, all styles - one of the ways to study it is to mentally deconstruct the photos of other photographers - lighting, pose, use of the model's attributes to their best advantage, etc. Then again, I end up with long toenails.....(reference to earlier comment in the thread.) Aug 03 05 06:26 pm Link Posted by MarkMarek: ...Sounds like a personal confession...NOT every one is like you :p some of us don't have the need to. Aug 03 05 06:53 pm Link Posted by Belair: Except mine that is LOL hee heee Aug 03 05 08:01 pm Link Posted by Belair: Thaaaaaat's funny. Aug 03 05 08:02 pm Link Uh, hello? I think I resemble that remark just a bit....it hurts, hon. Posted by Deacon Blues: Aug 03 05 08:07 pm Link Seriously though, I usually look through the photographer's ports and not the models. I like to see the different technique's used and the ideas. It's like looking at art. It inspires me as a model/actress/photographer to try to do better. I normally don't comment on the photos, but that doesn't mean I didn't care to, but just that my lap top is slow as dirt and it's a pain in the hoohah to flip through the different screens. However, I will leave a TAG..... Some of my favorites are: Israel Colon (not on here) Jerry Avenaim Mike D (rocks) Xtreme Artist (oh my gawd) Doug Swinskey J1S Eric Foltz the list is too long..... it's starting to sound like an acceptance speech for an Academy Award. I just wanted y'all photo people to know that I respect. Now, how come no one's been to my photo port on here yet? Huh? Oh yeah, it's not near as interesting.....LOL Posted by Deacon Blues: Aug 03 05 08:12 pm Link |
