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10/05/2005 09:25:54 PM · #1
Man, I totally just got shit on. Really. So I was at work during my break from class today, printing up some photos that I thought would look good for displays for photo printing station that opens next Sunday. I brought some my photos I thought they'd like, and made the prints (large format). Now, just a little back info. My store is assigned a market that we cater to best, so they're what we think of first, before anything, and our market is women with kids. So I brought flowers, landscapes, and what not. So I printed a couple up, my supervisor loved them, and went to show some of the managers. He came back with some pretty disheartening comments. Here are the comments he gave me from them:


It's a crappy image, and you can't tell it's a flower. And once you know it's a flower, you have to really look at it to figure it out. OK! Yeah? True? Crappy image?


An okay image, but you need to add an effect, like watercoloring in photoshop. Ugh, make it look like a watercolor picture?


Again, a decent photograph, but you need to add an effect to make it pop and look great. Man, no way.

The only one they liked was this one:


And at that point I decided not to show them anything else. I printed some more up, and they're probably not going to like them once they see them, and I'll get to keep them. So yeah. Are they right? Are they crappy photos? Would they look better with a watercolor effect? Am I just being an prick? Should I really be offended they want me to make my work look like shit to use it?

Because at this point I'm going to tell them they can't use any of my stuff if they want to mess it up and make it look bad so it fits their needs, whatever they are.

Message edited by author 2005-10-05 21:37:48.
10/05/2005 09:27:00 PM · #2
Maybe I should have put this in the Rant section. Sorry, I just needed to vent. And sorry for the cuss words.
10/05/2005 09:35:24 PM · #3
Originally posted by movieman:

Maybe I should have put this in the Rant section. Sorry, I just needed to vent. And sorry for the cuss words.

Well, you can always EDIT your post and make it a little less coarse. The language doesn't compell me to want to empathize or comment - and I'm a former Sailor! :)
10/05/2005 09:38:20 PM · #4
some people have bad taste - or different views than yours - thats life.

if you're selling stuff, you have to cater to what they want. if you're not selling stuff, f*ck their opinion.
10/05/2005 09:42:06 PM · #5
Originally posted by saintaugust:

some people have bad taste - or different views than yours - thats life.

if you're selling stuff, you have to cater to what they want. if you're not selling stuff, f*ck their opinion.


Yeah, totally, I can accept opinions like that, but when you want to add effects like that in order to sell a service, that's just crazy. Does the general population want to see a regualr photograph, or a cheesy photoshopped photograph?

And yeah, I'm not selling anything, and was trying to do them a favor. I was actually asked to print up display photos. I thought it would be nice to get some of my work just put out there. But not if they want to mess it up like that.
10/05/2005 09:49:11 PM · #6
Ahhh, ok - now I can comment. :) I do understand how you feel. Personally I think they were being a bit harsh and insensitive and unappreciative. The images look pretty good on the computer anyway. IMO they're not the best in your portfolio here, but not the worst and are better than many I have seen in retail stores. This one mighta been a good choice:


...but then, like others have said, he may just have lousy taste. It would be like any one individual on this site's opinion. Don't sweat it or take it personally, but it would be worth seeing if you can find some others of yours he likes - just to get your shots out there.

Good luck.
10/05/2005 09:58:54 PM · #7
I love theese photos, specially the top one, it is an awsome macro rose photo. You should be very proud of it! The third down is also very good, with the sun bursting through the skies, and the simplicity of the subject makes it great en enjoyable. I think the second one needs to be printied on large paper (A3!) for the audience to enjoy the a greatness that lies in the subject, the blues in the sky is unice and the sunset-rouge on the kliffs and houses brings warmth in an otherwise very cool picture and equialises it. I like the fourth one least of the bunch! I find the flower to be too overexposed, one can't really see the texture of the white petals and for me, the beauty of macro photographing is to capture the texture of the small things that the eye doesent enjoy unaided!

I'm not sure you should make those (#stupid#) managers bother you, aren't the just buisnessmen with no sense for photograpy? Often managers have "strange" artistic opinions on advertisments and presentations. My best friend is a graphical designer and my boyfriend is a webdesigner and I find that theire "manager clients" are usually the hardest to please because there opinions don't match the eyes and the years of studies my friends have gone through and theires alike!
10/06/2005 12:56:37 AM · #8
Originally posted by kpriest:

Ahhh, ok - now I can comment. :) I do understand how you feel. Personally I think they were being a bit harsh and insensitive and unappreciative. The images look pretty good on the computer anyway. IMO they're not the best in your portfolio here, but not the worst and are better than many I have seen in retail stores. This one mighta been a good choice:


...but then, like others have said, he may just have lousy taste. It would be like any one individual on this site's opinion. Don't sweat it or take it personally, but it would be worth seeing if you can find some others of yours he likes - just to get your shots out there.

Good luck.


The thing is, they want photos to impress women, with kids for the most part. So they wanted photos of things women like, and photos of kids (which I don't have any) so I went with some landscapes, and flowers and stuff. So I don't think that photograph works, although like 99% of people who have seen my work think that's the best.

I wasn't so much angry that they didn't like my work. I can handle that, it's just that they wanted to change it. And the fact they can't see a flower in that first one baffles me.

And we have a really awesome printer, so they pretty much look exactly like you see, except for the houses on the coast, which I printed out at like at 20 x 30 and looked better because you could actually see all the houses. But anyway, thanks very much for the comment. I am trying to to take it so personally. I'd really like to get my stuff put up there, but I'm not going to add a watercoloring effect to do it. At least right now I don't think I should. I kind of want to keep some sort of integrity. But maybe putting a shot out there like that might be better for me in the long run. Maybe. Thanks again.
10/06/2005 01:02:10 AM · #9
Originally posted by hjordst:

I love theese photos, specially the top one, it is an awsome macro rose photo. You should be very proud of it! The third down is also very good, with the sun bursting through the skies, and the simplicity of the subject makes it great en enjoyable. I think the second one needs to be printied on large paper (A3!) for the audience to enjoy the a greatness that lies in the subject, the blues in the sky is unice and the sunset-rouge on the kliffs and houses brings warmth in an otherwise very cool picture and equialises it. I like the fourth one least of the bunch! I find the flower to be too overexposed, one can't really see the texture of the white petals and for me, the beauty of macro photographing is to capture the texture of the small things that the eye doesent enjoy unaided!

I'm not sure you should make those (#stupid#) managers bother you, aren't the just buisnessmen with no sense for photograpy? Often managers have "strange" artistic opinions on advertisments and presentations. My best friend is a graphical designer and my boyfriend is a webdesigner and I find that theire "manager clients" are usually the hardest to please because there opinions don't match the eyes and the years of studies my friends have gone through and theires alike!


I'm not sure what A3 paper is, but the one with the houses was printed at 20 x 30, so it was huge, and you could see all the houses with great detail. And I find it really funny that you like the last least, and that was the only one they approved of. But I have to agree with you, I like it the least as well.

And yup, they know absolutely nothing about photography. Nothing at all, which I was thinking may make it better because they're more like regular customers who might be coming to get prints done? But really, we're trying to display stuff that appeals to women, and my mom's favorite photo of mine is the very first one, which is why I included it when I printed. She has it printed up in her office (she's a nurse manager) and tells me everytime someone compliments it, which is fairly often, and they mostly women. So I don't know what the managers are really thinking.

I believe that, about the managers being the hardest to please. Stupid managers. Heh.

Thanks for the reply! I really appreciate it.
10/06/2005 01:20:01 AM · #10
Originally posted by movieman:

Does the general population want to see a regualr photograph, or a cheesy photoshopped photograph?

Yes. : )

Maybe, in this market, they want to put up something with painterly effects ... a lot of folks new to digital cameras are also excited by the power of these effects, and naturally want to play around with them at the extremes at first.

Later on, with practice, one learns how to use those tools as subtle enhancements to the image, and not the sunject in itself.

And yeah, that seascape would look fine with a watercolor or oil paint or charcoal or almost any other painterly filter.
A good image can make use of a filter look good, not the other way around.

@ A suggestion: Reduce the basic image to 1/4 the original dimensions.
@ Prepare 16 separate treatments of the image, using any desire combination of tonal and filter effects.
@ Arrange these small images in a 4x4 grid the size of the original image.

Something like this ... this is a series of variations using Curves; the original image is in the upper-left corner, and I think the lower-right corner is my "usual" adjustment for printing:



Message edited by author 2005-10-06 01:20:44.
10/06/2005 04:25:18 AM · #11
That's interesting.

It seems like something they'd definitely dig, so I'll give it a shot. Thanks!
10/13/2005 01:11:00 PM · #12
I personally liked all four of the pictures and I'm a woman and a mom. Also, since I've only been studying photography seriously for around a year and have some knowledge, I sort of qualify for the "general public" too! lol! But.....I know when I look at a photo if I like it or not. Different people have different tastes and just because one or two people don't like your photos, that doesn't mean that they're bad or that a dozen more people won't like them. They may look at them and say, "wow!". As you said, "And yup, they know absolutely nothing about photography. Nothing at all...." That tells you that they can NOT judge them with "photographic authority" so that only leaves you with their "tastes". It's their problem if they have bad tastes...... :)

GeneralE, I like your suggestion as well. Good idea!

Message edited by author 2005-10-13 13:11:57.
10/13/2005 01:38:01 PM · #13
Not a "mom" but definitely a woman who knows lots and lots of moms....

I think the General hit on something with the suggestion that people who are new to digital are enamored by what they can do by way of special effects and so want to see what their photos could turn into.

Sales are all about selling people "image"...we want to believe we'll look as good as the manaquin when we buy the outfit that's hanging on it. Likewise, my sunset photo I took on vacation will look just as professional as yours does when I print it out on the store photo printing machine. My 4-year-old niece with birthday cake smeared on her face will look just like the one in the Betty Crocker ad--awww, isn't she adorable? (not)

The images hanging by a printer in a store need to stop traffic with some amount of "wow" factor, show the capabilities of the printer, and look like something within reach of the hobbiest photographer...something they can imagine taking themselves.

Women who are raising kids and managing a house will relate to photos of: children, young pets, scenics that look like great vacation spots, things the kids they're dragging through the store would like (red fire engines, ponies, parades, clowns, amusement rides...), and anything that screams romance/sex (hunky guy in jeans barbequing the family dinner wearing a sexy apron, for example). Flowers, yeah, ok. but we get a lot of those on greeting cards--my mother, however, loves to take photos of her garden flowers--she likes photos of pretty gardens with rose arbors, front porches with hanging baskets, and "kitchen" pictures (vegetables, cakes, food related to holidays and celebration times).

Hope that helps....no one deserves such off-handed comments like "yuck" or "that's crappy" (hbunch will be right in to disagree with me).
10/13/2005 01:41:45 PM · #14
When I asked the manager of the coffee shop I used for the recent challenge if I could take some photos, he pulled out a pile of enlargements and said one of his other customers was a photographer too, and had given him these. They'd all been filtered to look like paintings, and the guy thought it was really cool.

I think people still have a lot of subconscious respect for painters, and have been conditioned to react positively to things that look like that, even if they've been created artificially. Additionally, since the "Pop-Art" movement we've gotten quite used to images rendered with bizarre color schemes and other effects.

When people can look at pieces just as "art" instead of as a photograph, print, painting, or other specific genre, it becomes possible to enjoy it without worrying if it meets certain specifications. It's only when entered in a technique-specific competition that it becomes necessary to evaluate the piece as an examplar of that method.
10/13/2005 01:49:56 PM · #15
I like the first one and the third the most of the four, but the third could use a tilt fix. The second one is a nice shot, but I think the contrast could be touched a bit. All in all, aside from a few quick edits, they're nice shots.

As far as the guy that said in order for the photographs to be acceptable, you need to add "effects" filters, I think he deserves to have photoshop shoved up his ass. What a dipshit.
10/17/2005 11:26:57 AM · #16
Sorry, I didn't have time to read all the other comments but my thought is this:
Some people think simply ... some people think that Photoshop effects are the new thing that will make people think "Wow!" ... Some people think that spoon-feeding the audience is the way to go. Your managers seem like they should watch soap-operas ... living in a world where everything is obvious.

In my opinion, the discovery of an abstract pattern (the flower) -- becomes a flower and the brain gets happy ... If you write "Rose" ... the brain is uninterested due to its commonality. The beauty of the other scenes is the captured moment ... A water painting isn't beautiful unless it's a water painting.

Perhaps moms and kids have simpler artistic minds, but there is always room for discovery and intrigue --and the appreciation of things the way they are captured right of a camera.
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