http://youarenotaphotographer.com/

This site does a few things

  1. Reminds me that there are really mean people out there willing to spend money to spread their negative opinions. 
  2. Reveals the fact that EVERYONE thinks they are a photographer.  Some even believe they’re worthy of having money spent on them… and aren’t. 
  3. Reminds me that if I don’t pay attention to what I post, I might end up being a case in point. 

On that last point.  When I goon a photo shoot, no less than 99% of  the images on the card are amazing immediate works of art that need no post-processing.  If you can’t shoot with that level of perfection, YOU ARE NOT A PHOTOGRAPHER.

yeah right!

Without a studio environment, expensive glass, an angel on your shoulder and a pocketful of Irish gold most images will NOT come out of the camera as a ready made Rembrandt masterpiece.  I would estimate that if I shot a full day wedding.  I’d have taken approximately 600 exposures which would get trimmed down to about 300 images.  Of those 300, maybe 30 needed no post-processing before I’d ship them out.  (And I’d still be tempted to just find out if I could improve them.. )

It’s obvious that some “fauxtographers” don’t execute that level of scrutiny… and it shows in their work.  I aspire to never post a picture that could find it’s way onto a mean site like the one above.  As a matter of fact, I’m beginning to get to the point where I don’t even want to post pictures that are great, but not amazing.  Great pictures make customers happy.  But they don’t impress anyone but the client.  Amazing photographs, like the ones I aspire to create,  make everyone stop and stare.  Amazing pictures get you lost in a feeling, or take you to a place and immerses you in it.  It takes time to take your eyes off of them, and when you do, you wish you would look back. 

That is where I want to be.  That is my goal.