Appalling attitude of a Professional Photographer at NUS Commencement 2010.


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Aimevous

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Mar 5, 2009
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I would just like to highlight a situation I encountered today.

If you have friends in NUS, you would know that this week is the Commencement Ceremony and will last till next tuesday if I'm not mistaken.

So I was there today helping my friends take some casual shots - the usual group shots and throwing mortarboard shots.

Then there was this photography company who had a booth there and was sort of the official photographers of the ceremony. They were shooting there and after shooting they will hand you a ticket where you can go to their booth to buy the photos. I had a pleasant experience with their photographers yesterday, but today I met one whose attitude kinda pissed me off. I shan't name the company but their company color is orange and they are the only company stationed in the ceremony.

So one of the photographers gathered my friends to a location just outside of the hall and started shooting them, so after he finished his shots and left, I just casually told my friends that my shots are for free, and started shooting.

After shooting he came up to me privately and without even looking at any of my shots, he just said, "Your flash is too weak, your shots surely too dark" and walked off into the crowd before I had time to respond to him. I was like WTF was that supposed to mean?

He was probably using a 5DMkII, but I'm not sure because I'm neither a Canon or Nikon user, but having expensive equipment doesnt give him the right to criticise people like that. And for the record, my shots were well exposed. And my equipment isn't that lousy to begin with. Maybe he was just prejudiced against non-canon/nikon DSLRs.

Maybe he was peeved that I was "stealing" his business, but WTF these people graduating are my closest friends!

Too bad I didn't get that guy's name, the other photographers were pretty friendly.

If you are that photographer, please wake up your idea and demonstrate some professionalism. I don't ever believe in such criticism. Even I, as a hobbyist (I wont call myself a photographer), will never shoot people down like this no matter what camera they are using. If you want to criticise, please exercise constructive criticism, FOOL.
 

He spoke to you privately? Sounds to me like he was trying to give you a tip. If he was trying to put you down he would have said it so everybody could hear. You sure you are not being over-sensitive?
 

I don't see any problems here either. May be you over-react ?
 

why not follow his advise for the next shoot and see any difference compared to your old settings.

if really better, congratulations...you got coached by a pro for free.
 

in what way was his comments unconstructive? care to elaborate?
 

The pg probably wanted to remind you the difference between his pro work and your amateur work I guess...if you are using inbuilt flash, I guess he might mean that his ext flash is much powerful than yours...don't think too much..who knows he also started a thread and say that some amateurs try to shoot him down with his amateurism?

Everyone has ego...don't need to have hard feelings....:)
 

Oops think i might have mentioned some stuffs inaccurately earlier in my haste.

Firstly i admit i cant remember his exact words. Those probably werent what he said. Got short term memory here. But the thing that got me was the tone used. As a hobbyist photographer i got criticised by a number of my friends before and i personally believe constructive criticism is the way to learn. But what i clearly remember was that he offered nothing constructive but words along the lines that my flash was too weak or lousy and my pictures are no good or too dark. There was also a hint of hostility in his words.

Or it might be like what u guys said, that im over sensitive?

But i dont think it made sense to criticise my flash when he himself had no flash. It was 12pm and there was the harsh midday sun with little cloud cover. It didnt make sense not to use flash, especially when the graduates were wearing the mortarboards which is the square hat thing. Without flash, u are almost guarranteed a black face for everyone or overexposed backgrounds. In fact i had a high powered minolta 5600hsd flash with a hugeass bouncecard.

But anyway i dont think i really care now, i just hope it wont happen to me again becuz i will be heading over there a few more times this week to shoot for my friends..

If anyone of u has any experiences feel free to share! =)
 

since he talk to you in private, shows that he's giving you advice without making you look mar-lu.

advice already given, you want to learn, that's good,
don't want to learn, that's fine.
 

like what catchlights said above...its all up to you.

Thanks to tips a very old sports photographer gave me, my photos ended up on >>>newspaper sports section<<<.

I expect more to follow. :thumbsup:
 

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I think you are being oversensitive. Whether he is trying to remind you who is the official photographer or he is genuinely giving you tips, I think you should enjoy your graduation and leave the photo taking to the pro. You can always take the candid shots later.
 

i dont see problem here, he is kind enough to give u advice privately. nice chap.

i once shot my friend's rom (still newbie back than), during group shot, a lady photog walk over to give me some advice, which i gladly take heed and thank her.
 

why not follow his advise for the next shoot and see any difference compared to your old settings.

if really better, congratulations...you got coached by a pro for free.

eh he didn't share anything. Just said my flash was too weak. My flash is actually the 2nd strongest flash in the Sony/Minolta stable...

in what way was his comments unconstructive? care to elaborate?

Erm he just said a single sentence (which i cant exactly rmbr) that implied my flash gun was too weak and something about my photo will not look good or too dark.. something along the lines. He didn't even know what settings I set.

The pg probably wanted to remind you the difference between his pro work and your amateur work I guess...if you are using inbuilt flash, I guess he might mean that his ext flash is much powerful than yours...don't think too much..who knows he also started a thread and say that some amateurs try to shoot him down with his amateurism?

Everyone has ego...don't need to have hard feelings....:)

Erm as I mentioned in my previous post, he had no flash gun. I had a minolta 5600 hs(d).

since he talk to you in private, shows that he's giving you advice without making you look mar-lu.

advice already given, you want to learn, that's good,
don't want to learn, that's fine.

sorry i might have misused the word private. He did walk up to me briefly but he spoke loud enough such that at least 2-3 of my friends that were walking with me can hear it. It's kinda private yet not exactly.

Perhaps I am already sounding like I'm whining.. not sure how can I correct that but I would like to say that I'm not trying to whine but sharing my experience and curious about how people feel.

Btw, He didn't teach anything at all. After criticism, he walked off into the crowd. I didn't even see his face.

Thanks for all your comments anyway.
:dunno:
 

.Btw, He didn't teach anything at all. After criticism, he walked off into the crowd. I didn't even see his face.

but he has a job to do, he cant stay around to guide u in photog ABC right?

not sure but my guess is the environment is loud and noisy?
 

I think you are being oversensitive. Whether he is trying to remind you who is the official photographer or he is genuinely giving you tips, I think you should enjoy your graduation and leave the photo taking to the pro. You can always take the candid shots later.

It wasn't as if I elbowed him out.. He had already left and walked at least 5m away when I called out to my friends again for a few more shots.

And I wasn't graduating today, so today I was just there to say hi to my friends and help them take some shots.

I seriously dont see how is "your flash is too weak, your shots will be too dark" from someone who didn't even use a flash is helpful. And for the record, my shot was nicely exposed, imo.

After reading this thread I am wondering whose attitude is more appallling :think:

I suppose everyone is entitled to their own opinions. =)

I understand that there has been many "whiny" posts over the years. I seek to differentiate myself from them from the facts I have stated. However, if you wish to group me with them even after examining what I've said, I guess it is pointless to convince you further, but I'd still respect your opinion.
 

ok, lets don't debate where is speak in private or speak out loud,

But i dont think it made sense to criticise my flash when he himself had no flash. It was 12pm and there was the harsh midday sun with little cloud cover. It didnt make sense not to use flash, especially when the graduates were wearing the mortarboards which is the square hat thing. Without flash, u are almost guarranteed a black face for everyone or overexposed backgrounds. In fact i had a high powered minolta 5600hsd flash with a hugeass bouncecard.
no flash will not guaranteed black faced. all I need to do is ask candidates throw the mortarboards into the air and look at the mortarboards, and I can shoot in burst.

you want to use bounce card with highspeed sync, what is your chance of getting the shot?

But anyway i dont think i really care now, i just hope it wont happen to me again becuz i will be heading over there a few more times this week to shoot for my friends..

If anyone of u has any experiences feel free to share! =)
sometime people don't want to take my advice, that's fine, I have nothing to lose.
 

but he has a job to do, he cant stay around to guide u in photog ABC right?

not sure but my guess is the environment is loud and noisy?

btw there were a couple of different "official" photographers. There were the ones that take your pictures for free to post on the NUS website and magazine and this guy is from the one that after you take your picture, u have to take a ticket and go to their booth to purchase the photo.

Frankly, if he said something like "maybe you can try to increase ur flash by one stop" or "use a direct flash instead of a bounce card", I would have been happy and probably shook his hand and thanked him. I was just amused to receive an "advice" about my "weak flash" giving "dark" images from someone who didn't even have a flash gun!

The environment wasn't that noisy. probably sounds just like orchard road on a saturday afternoon.
 

ok, lets don't debate where is speak in private or speak out loud,

no flash will not guaranteed black faced. all I need to do is ask candidates throw the mortarboards into the air and look at the mortarboards, and I can shoot in burst.

you want to use bounce card with highspeed sync, what is your chance of getting the shot?

sometime people don't want to take my advice, that's fine, I have nothing to lose.

so u the man in question ah:bsmilie::bsmilie:
 

ok, lets don't debate where is speak in private or speak out loud,

no flash will not guaranteed black faced. all I need to do is ask candidates throw the mortarboards into the air and look at the mortarboards, and I can shoot in burst.

you want to use bounce card with highspeed sync, what is your chance of getting the shot?

sometime people don't want to take my advice, that's fine, I have nothing to lose.

Hi,

I understand that no flash doesn't guarantee black face. But he did shoot a few shots with the students WITH the mortarboards, which made me question his credibility from the start.

I shot at about 1/125s which isn't exactly HSS. It was fast enough to ensure the face wasn't blurred from the slight movements, but slow enough to produce blurred motion effects from the moving mortarboards.

I'm sorry, but with all due respect, what advice did you dispense?

Thanks for your reply.
 

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