Portrait Photography and Other Things

I have revamped my second blog to be more of a homepage for my photography gallery and to include portrait photography. I have taken pictures of my kids for forever!! Most people who see my pictures will just ooh and aah over them and make comments like I should be doing this for a living. These pictures include everything from my Tree Series to my 'portrait' of my children. I love to take all kinds of pictures and I don't believe every 'portrait' shot should be posed. Some of my favorite images of my children are shots I took when they "weren't ready" as they put it. Catching the person in real life is as important as having them sitting in a stiff pose that feels wierd (but for some reason makes a great picture). Don't get me wrong, I feel that regular portrait photography has it's place as well, but I also feel that seeing people in a natural setting has it's advantges as well. You can truly capture the essense of a person by shooting them interacting with the world and the people around them.

Now, hard as it may be to believe, I am not the only person who feels this way. It has become a trend in protrait photography of late to take what is called Photojournalism Portraits. Which is pretty much what I just described. So, if you are looking for some great portraits of you, your kids, your whole family, then send me an e-mail and we'll work something out. You can click on over to my Photography Blog and take a look at some images of my own kids and my Art Prints that are available for purchase. Keep in mind that if you do not live in Texas, I will probably not be able to travel to take your pictures. For that matter, if you do not live in or near Central Texas, your chances are pretty slim as well. So, with that in mind, if you are still interested then you can e-mail me with details of the location you would like to have your photo session and I'll see what I can work out.

Now for the 'Other Things' my title implied. Above you will see four images that I have available for purchase in my gallery. I recently joined a group on LinkedIn where you can post your site with images for people to take a look at and give their feedback. I thought it was great so of course I listed my Gallery page for review. I have so far gotten only one response back on this feedback request and I was mildly disappointed with the comment. I feel that every artist has a particular style that can be attributed to them or that can be attributed to the artists they admire the most. What one person likes another won't, what one person will buy to hang in their home another will look at and wonder what drugs they were on when they bought that. That's just the way it goes. Different people have different tastes, right? So, would you ask Van Gough to make his brush strokes a little less visible? Would you ask Monet to make his landscapes a little sharper in clarity? Would you ask Ansel Adams to take more color photographs? (Granted you can't ask any of them to do any such thing as they are all perished now.) I am not trying to label myself with such great artists as those mentioned above, but it goes without saying that each one had a very distinct style that they used for their art. A lot of people can look a painting that was done by Van Gough and they know he did it by it's style, and it it's not one of his, then it was created in likeness to his work. Since Ansel Adams is my favorite photographer I can see a black and white image hanging on a wall somewhere and depending on the composition have some idea if it was one of his works.

Get to the point already!! Right? The comment that I was given is that my images tend to be "way over-saturated and way over-processed" and that I should "put up some regular images to appeal to more people". (Those may not be exact quotes since I didn't actually go look at the comment before posting here.) I felt that the comment was given in a helpful manner, and that the person was not trying to bash my work, just give their opinion, so I'm not taking any hard feelings from this. However, I can't help but wonder why someone, a fellow artist and photographer, would suggest I change my style to suit the masses. I'm not incapable of creating a standard image that has not been saturated to draw out color or processes to create a piece of art. I just like the bright colors and the interesting look of the stuff I do create. Other people like it too! At least they tell me they do, and they talk about which images they would like to have of their own, so I assume they aren't just lying to me. I wanted to post this here, to see what some other people think about the subject and perhaps to get some additional constructive critisism about my art. So tell me in truth...are my images too colorful and too processed? Would I do better to offer a plain jane photograph for the masses? Or should I stay true to my personal 'style' and create art that is appealing in my own eyes? If history is anything to look at, I won't get rich off my work until I'm dead anyway, and then everyone will be trying to copy my style too!!