E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

If you are a frequent or occasional user of the Professional and Advanced Portraiture Section, please be advised of the following changes to the rules and policies governing this specialized section. If any of you are interested in the finer points of portrait photography, you are invited to subscribe to the section.

The section was originally established to promote fine portraiture whereby advanced workers and professionals could share ideas and methods and help, teach and encourage others to improve their portrait work, receive constructive critiques, avail themselves of tips and pointers and hone their skills. All members are invited to subscribe and participate!

The rule changes are being enacted, augmented, and more carefully enforced due to some issues that have arisen. There have been posts that are not in the realm of PORTRAITURE but more in the are of fashion photography, family snapshots, and frankly speaking- some pretty strange stuff! Although the section is certainly not restricted to traditional "bread and butter" portraiture, and theatrical portraiture, abstract work, portraits made of modeling portfolios and "head-shots", and non-traditional portraiture styles are all encompassed, certain images may be MOVED to other section or deleted.

CRITIQUING: Hereafter any an all images posted in the Professional and Advanced Portraiture Section will be subject to critique. It is not mandatory and will not always occur, however, any participant or any of the managers are allowed to critique or edit any image for the purpose of teaching or illustrating points. This is to encourage a WORKSHOP ENVIRONMENT where all can participate and share their opinions. IF YOU DO NOT WANT CRITIQUES OR EDITS, PLEASE DO NOT POST IN THE PROFESSIONAL AND ADVANCED PORTRAITURE SECTION. There are many other sections where your photography can be displayed where critiques are not permitted without permission.

All posts should be accompanied by a brief technical summary- equipment, lens focal length, exposure, lighting approach, and a title. motivation or usage of the image.

Question and answers are invited and encouraged- it's best to accompany questions, especially those concerning troubleshooting with an IMAGE that illustrated the problem, question or issue.

PLEASE! NO "attagirl or attaboy" critiques- if you like an image explain why! "Cute kid or lovely model, etc.", is not a valid critique- here's why; Usually, in PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHY, unlike fashion and commercial photography, the photographer does not always get to chose their "models"- our subjects get to choose their photographer! The most important skill a portrait photographer can have is to FINDING THE BEAUTY AND CHARACTER IN EVERY SUBJECT.

All critiques should be constructive and include positive and negative points and remedies where applicable. A poster can offer feedback to critiques but prolonged and protracted arguments and personal attacks will be immediately deleted without notice. Folks that insist on carrying on personal attacks, prolonged arguments, adding to these occurrences (adding fuel to the fire) will be banned from the section.

Images that are presently posted in the section will not be deleted or moved, however, any and all of the text containing personal attacks, goading, and unnecessarily protracted vitriolic content will be immediately deleted.

You needn't be a PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER to fully participate in the section but "PROFESSIONAL", decorous and friendly conduct is appreciated, encourage and moderated.

If there are any questions or concerns, please post them in the Profession and Advanced Portrait Section or send me a PM.

Ed.

Toby

This should help reduce the useless comments as well as remove the snarky comments that add no value. Hope it works

John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN

I visit this section in an effort to “learn” and and look for an OP’s reasoning. The technical stuff like settings and equipment is less important to me unless such information is at the inner crux of what makes a shot work. The need for improved rules hopefully will help the value of this forum.

E.L.. Shapiro Loc: Ottawa, Ontario Canada

I don't believe I am asking too much or anything outrageous. I simply want to keep the posts and images more on-topic and theme. I don't require in-depth technical information- just the basics so anyone reading on can at, least, learn something about the technique or lack thereof that produced the results. On numerous occasions, all over this forum, folks ask technical questions and troubleshooting advice WITHOUT an image to illustrate their question, show any defect or issue that usually can be easily solved if only there was a picture!

Editing: I am not talking about one-upmanship or reproducing copyrighted materials for illegitimate reasons. In my job, I do lots of training and teaching. In a classroom environment, I can use some cardboard cutouts to illustrate cropping, point out various applications and principles by pointing out areas on a print or projected image with a pointer or laser pointer and sketch out diagrams on a blackboard. I have used opaque and overhead projectors to make "corrections". In a live demonstration with a subject or model, I can work with folks, make the minor and incremental movement to a light or the subject, etc. So...online, a rough edit or overlay is a handy tool for illustration- it's not intended for finished work- just illustration. Anyone who wishes to edit an image can do so in a workshop kind of environment.


Personal attacks and nasty commentary: There is absolutely no good reason for that kind of behavior or commentary, let alone carrying it on throughout a lengthy thread. When I took my aptitude test upon enlisting in the army- I scored badly in two areas- being a kindergarten teacher or a policeman. I like sports but I don't want to be the referee! So...nasty stuff just gets kicked out!

Please critique with "professionalism"! Point out what you like and what you would like to see improved.


Portrait photography is a PEOPLE thing. I have trained many portrait photographers for my own business and others. The first attribute I look for in a potential portraitist is empathy and kindness. It's no job for egotists, prima donnas, or folks with a mean-spirited personality. You are dealing with people all day long- the year in and year out! You are dealing in vanity, a person's self-image, emotions, family dynamics, self-consciousness, ego-trippers, babies, kids, pets, shy folks and aggressive business people and everything in between. Kindness and patience are your most valuable assets. Artistic talent is important, technical savvy is required, and good tools are essential but without the right mindset, all is for naught. Your attitude is reflected in the faces and expressions of your subjects just as much as the light that is striking them!

The success of this section will be fueled by y'all. The more folks who come with questions and answers and post their work and ideas, the better. This is not my section, in reality, it's yours. I am not going to sit there and pontificate- I'm just the
housekeeper and will try to keep things running smoothly, offer some critiques and tutorials and all the rest is up to those who participate.