With our phones and tablets and everything at my house, I think I now have 13 devices that I can take pictures of my family with. Why would I go ANYWHERE?

Yay!!!
Tired of having to get all dressed up before Christmas for the missus when I could be playing disc golf, damnit.

I have a friend who worked for WalMart doing that a decade ago. I think it killed whatever faith in humanity he had. People would actually beat their kids in front of him.

No_Good_Name: I has a bit of sad. I worked the sears studio 25 years ago. I did some good shots. Even had one on the wall for a bit.

I'm sure they'll have them back again.  This is just because CPI finally went under.

Shadowknight: Dubya's_Coke_Dealer: With our phones and tablets and everything at my house, I think I now have 13 devices that I can take pictures of my family with. Why would I go ANYWHERE?

You are not a photographer, that's why.

/that site gives me so much enjoyment

As evidenced by the large number of big-box photography studios that are going out of business - it seems as though people *are* photographers.

The abundance of cheap, high quality digital cameras and photo-editing software brings amateurs on a level more than adequate for the group family photos, school dances, and senior photos.  No, I don't expect to see their work on the cover of magazines, but let's face it; now is a bad time to be a photographer.

M-G: I'm sure they'll have them back again.  This is just because CPI finally went under.

Right, but they went under because no one would buy them for even a dollar.  The business plan for such places is broken, probably irretrievably.  People who want professional photographs will hire real photographers who charge for time, not the 16-year olds CPI hired to take stock photos in front of stock screens.  With that many single-person operations out there who have access to professional-quality cameras, retouching equipment and even printers for the five people who still want hard copies of their pictures, there is a negative economy of scale to having a national operation.

But you can still get a nice head from the nice booking officer at the jail on Friday night, right?

Dubya's_Coke_Dealer: With our phones and tablets and everything at my house, I think I now have 13 devices that I can take pictures of my family with. Why would I go ANYWHERE?

Portrait style quality is something that average people can't achieve. That said, if you are going for the family portrait, you are better of splurging and paying for quality that comes from having someone paid above minimum wage

Shadowknight: Dubya's_Coke_Dealer: With our phones and tablets and everything at my house, I think I now have 13 devices that I can take pictures of my family with. Why would I go ANYWHERE?

You are not a photographer, that's why.

/that site gives me so much enjoyment

Awesome, thx!

Dubya's_Coke_Dealer: With our phones and tablets and everything at my house, I think I now have 13 devices that I can take pictures of my family with. Why would I go ANYWHERE?

Because you have no idea what you're doing? Snapshots of your kids in their underwear isn't a family photo.

Shadowknight: Dubya's_Coke_Dealer: With our phones and tablets and everything at my house, I think I now have 13 devices that I can take pictures of my family with. Why would I go ANYWHERE?

You are not a photographer, that's why.

/that site gives me so much enjoyment

Thanks a lot... "Stop and Smell the Roses" on page 2 was NOT what I needed right now.

You suck. Your parents suck. Any siblings you have suck. Your grandparents suck. Your cousins suck. Any children you have suck Your pets suck.

There, now I feel better about seeing that picture...   ;-)

No_Good_Name: I has a bit of sad. I worked the sears studio 25 years ago. I did some good shots. Even had one on the wall for a bit.

Sears studio wasn't too bad... It sucked when you had to go spend hours there, but the pictures were rather decent. WalMart, on the other hand, I would have NEVER tried.

Fark_Guy_Rob: Shadowknight: Dubya's_Coke_Dealer: With our phones and tablets and everything at my house, I think I now have 13 devices that I can take pictures of my family with. Why would I go ANYWHERE?

You are not a photographer, that's why.

/that site gives me so much enjoyment

As evidenced by the large number of big-box photography studios that are going out of business - it seems as though people *are* photographers.

The abundance of cheap, high quality digital cameras and photo-editing software brings amateurs on a level more than adequate for the group family photos, school dances, and senior photos.  No, I don't expect to see their work on the cover of magazines, but let's face it; now is a bad time to be a photographer.

Pretty much the way I see it too.. Last time I went to Target to get family photos for Christmas a few years ago, the "package deal" for 10 sheets of pictures was close to $100 (almost $10 a sheet), and that didn't even include the digital source media; if we wanted reprints, we had to go through them to get them.

Well screw that. Bought a 10Megapixel camera shortly thereafter and started making our own, and we have a plethora of places to print various things such as 4x6, 5x7, 8x10, even Christmas cards (usually a Walgreens) very cheaply, or places online (like Vistaprint) to make our own calendars & photo books.

As far as I'm concerned, these photography places priced themselves out of the market.

Shadowknight: Mikey1969: Dubya's_Coke_Dealer: With our phones and tablets and everything at my house, I think I now have 13 devices that I can take pictures of my family with. Why would I go ANYWHERE?

Because you have no idea what you're doing? Snapshots of your kids in their underwear isn't a family photo.

Ah, I remember family photos at Uncle Rick's like that.  He always insisted we be in our underwear, and not tell our parents...  Wait, I think I'm remembering something...

And I bet he wasn't even the kind of uncle that was directly related to either of your parents, right? Always had fun tickle-fights with those kinds of uncles.

Fark_Guy_Rob: Shadowknight: Dubya's_Coke_Dealer: With our phones and tablets and everything at my house, I think I now have 13 devices that I can take pictures of my family with. Why would I go ANYWHERE?

You are not a photographer, that's why.

/that site gives me so much enjoyment

As evidenced by the large number of big-box photography studios that are going out of business - it seems as though people *are* photographers.

The abundance of cheap, high quality digital cameras and photo-editing software brings amateurs on a level more than adequate for the group family photos, school dances, and senior photos.  No, I don't expect to see their work on the cover of magazines, but let's face it; now is a bad time to be a photographer.

Cheap cameras are all that you need to become a photographer? Oh yeah, cheap editing software too, supposedly.

Trust us, that doesn't make you a photographer. I went to the Air Force base once, it didn't make me an F-18 pilot.

My cousin is a "facebook photographer" and charges $400-500 per session for baby pics. She's only doing 2 sessions per week (saturday and sunday) and her clients are mad because she's taking 3 months off for her pregnancy. Rich people with money to burn will pay a ton of money for pictures that look artistic.

A good traditional family photo prob NSFW

Link

Mikey1969: Dubya's_Coke_Dealer: With our phones and tablets and everything at my house, I think I now have 13 devices that I can take pictures of my family with. Why would I go ANYWHERE?

Because you have no idea what you're doing? Snapshots of your kids you in your in their underwear isn't a family photo.

FTFY

mjjt: A good traditional family photo prob NSFW

Link

To be honest, that photo would be less disturbing if they were actually nude.

End of an era.  So many things the next generation won't know when we're rambling during their monthly visit to the retirement home.  Dial tones, busy signals, payphones, film, long distance...a lot of those are phone-centric for some reason.

jtown: [encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com image 269x187]

End of an era.  So many things the next generation won't know when we're rambling during their monthly visit to the retirement home.  Dial tones, busy signals, payphones, film, long distance...a lot of those are phone-centric for some reason.

The sound of a scratching record, the crackle over the speakers when the needle is first dropped, rewinding, actually dialling a phone instead of pressing buttons...gawd, I'm old.

/oh, scrambled porn
//kids today and their high-speed Internet don't know how good they've got it
///"How do you tell your husband's into Internet porn?  He makes you lie naked on the bed then takes 15 minutes to pull the sheet off you"

This thread is useless without some awfully embarrassing family portraits.So, share 'em, dawgs!

When I was between jobs a couple of years back I sold pictures for Kmart, but the in store studio was owned by another company called Olan Mills.  Perhaps these stores are just stitching over.

Mikey1969: Fark_Guy_Rob: Shadowknight: Dubya's_Coke_Dealer: With our phones and tablets and everything at my house, I think I now have 13 devices that I can take pictures of my family with. Why would I go ANYWHERE?

You are not a photographer, that's why.

/that site gives me so much enjoyment

As evidenced by the large number of big-box photography studios that are going out of business - it seems as though people *are* photographers.

The abundance of cheap, high quality digital cameras and photo-editing software brings amateurs on a level more than adequate for the group family photos, school dances, and senior photos.  No, I don't expect to see their work on the cover of magazines, but let's face it; now is a bad time to be a photographer.

Cheap cameras are all that you need to become a photographer? Oh yeah, cheap editing software too, supposedly.

Trust us, that doesn't make you a photographer. I went to the Air Force base once, it didn't make me an F-18 pilot.

You have to keep in mind that that's exactly what most of these 'studios' were. Photography equipment most people wouldn't buy, handed to some people who knew jack about photography. You were never going to get good pictures at Walmart. So when anyone can take a crappy picture, businesses that made their dime on taking crappy photos close up.

Mikey1969: Shadowknight: Dubya's_Coke_Dealer: With our phones and tablets and everything at my house, I think I now have 13 devices that I can take pictures of my family with. Why would I go ANYWHERE?

You are not a photographer, that's why.

/that site gives me so much enjoyment

Thanks a lot... "Stop and Smell the Roses" on page 2 was NOT what I needed right now.

You suck. Your parents suck. Any siblings you have suck. Your grandparents suck. Your cousins suck. Any children you have suck Your pets suck.

There, now I feel better about seeing that picture...   ;-)

I just HAD to go look.

"It won't be that bad," I said to myself.

*click page 2*

*scroll* BLEEEEEECCCCHHHH!

aevorea: Mikey1969: Shadowknight: Dubya's_Coke_Dealer: With our phones and tablets and everything at my house, I think I now have 13 devices that I can take pictures of my family with. Why would I go ANYWHERE?

You are not a photographer, that's why.

/that site gives me so much enjoyment

Thanks a lot... "Stop and Smell the Roses" on page 2 was NOT what I needed right now.

You suck. Your parents suck. Any siblings you have suck. Your grandparents suck. Your cousins suck. Any children you have suck Your pets suck.

There, now I feel better about seeing that picture...   ;-)

I just HAD to go look.

"It won't be that bad," I said to myself.

*click page 2*

*scroll* BLEEEEEECCCCHHHH!

That was EXACTLY what my wife said... Absolutely horrid, and it's pretty much that weird little turd-shaped bundle of roses on her ass that freak me out the most.

Mikey1969: Fark_Guy_Rob: Shadowknight: Dubya's_Coke_Dealer: With our phones and tablets and everything at my house, I think I now have 13 devices that I can take pictures of my family with. Why would I go ANYWHERE?

You are not a photographer, that's why.

/that site gives me so much enjoyment

As evidenced by the large number of big-box photography studios that are going out of business - it seems as though people *are* photographers.

The abundance of cheap, high quality digital cameras and photo-editing software brings amateurs on a level more than adequate for the group family photos, school dances, and senior photos.  No, I don't expect to see their work on the cover of magazines, but let's face it; now is a bad time to be a photographer.

Cheap cameras are all that you need to become a photographer? Oh yeah, cheap editing software too, supposedly.

Trust us, that doesn't make you a photographer. I went to the Air Force base once, it didn't make me an F-18 pilot.

That's not what he said. He said it's adequate ("more than adequate") for what's required of what the vast majority of people in this country want from a photo shoot. The "real" photographers still want to charge $500-1000 for a shoot. Let those that can afford it pay it. The rest of us drop that on a camera that can take 75,000 pictures before it needs maintenance, and we have all of the photos we could ever want. 5000 pics on xmas? Yes, dear.

I find that booking a babysitter with her own DSLR yields about the same quality as Olan Mills or PictureMe, plus you can leave the kids with her for four hours and go enjoy dinner and a movie. Forty bucks total and she gives you the pictures on digital media in exchange for including the shots in her 'portfolio' for 'art school,' whatever that may be, and if you let her bring her laptop, she'll do artsy shiat with PhotoFiltre that makes the kids' grandma happy after they go to sleep.

Any high-school guidance counselor can point you towards several suitable prospects. They even come with grades and first-aid classes lately.

Shadowknight: Dubya's_Coke_Dealer: With our phones and tablets and everything at my house, I think I now have 13 devices that I can take pictures of my family with. Why would I go ANYWHERE?

You are not a photographer, that's why.

/that site gives me so much enjoyment

Thanks! I've been collecting "Time Wasters" for my summer job. Comments are a bit too pretentious and technical though.

the_innkeeper: That's not what he said. He said it's adequate ("more than adequate") for what's required of what the vast majority of people in this country want from a photo shoot. The "real" photographers still want to charge $500-1000 for a shoot. Let those that can afford it pay it. The rest of us drop that on a camera that can take 75,000 pictures before it needs maintenance, and we have all of the photos we could ever want. 5000 pics on xmas? Yes, dear.

Well, for starters, if you're getting charged $500-$1,000 bucks by a photographer, you suck at shopping around. Either that, or you actually know what you want and are willing to pay for it. OR you're just making shiat up because you want to sit at the big kid's table. Which is it? The world may never know. You can get a photographer that will sit with you for 2 hours, go to your location of choice and shoot what you want, for about $200. Obviously, the cost goes up depending on how far the location is away, but that price will include touchup in Photoshop, a few 'effects' pics, and a full CD of print quality high res photos.

Second, you don't hire a photographer to come to your house and shoot your kids opening their Xmas presents. People have owned cameras to do that for more than half a century, that has nothing to do with the discussion of professional photographers and photo studios. I can guarantee you, though, that unless you actually know what you're doing, you aren't going to have 'family pictures' quality material to work with, which is what TFA was about. You're going to have 5,000 sub-par pics of random crap, and you might eventually pick out one or two that turn out OK to put on the yearly holiday card.

The problem is that people somehow think they have a skill that they don't have. I see it all of the time. Most people with the $199 digital cameras suck, their equipment sucks, their retouching ability sucks, and their attitudes suck.

That's OK though, I don't know you guys, so I don't have to feel responsible when your self portraits turn up on 'Embarrassing Family Photos' websites. I just have to click and laugh, maybe bookmark a few to share with everyone else.

Shadowknight: The worst part of that for me is two fold.  First, if you can look away from the stack of roses in her ass (it's hard, I know) and look at her face, she is a very pretty girl.  In a decent (and clothed) pose, she would look very good in a portrait.  Secondly, it's actually well lit and shot.  So, though there is no talent in terms of framing and angle, there is a technical proficiency at the very least.  The photographer knows how to aim a light, anyway.

Yeah, the roses are distracting. By arranging them the way the photog did, you can't help but think of them as a rose-colored turd. The pose itself is bad, too. I agree. Yeah, she'sa rather large woman, ut that doesn't mean that you can't take a good picture of her, even a sexy one. This just isn't the way to do it. In some ways, it's not as bad as most on that site, seeing as they didn't 'shop the Hell out of it, but in other ways it's worse, since this person apparently has some idea of what they're doing.

Also, it saddens me how many of those pics are apparently portfolio pics for different photographers. There really ARE a lot of people out there who think that all photography is is pointing a camera and clicking, aren't there? Lately, everyone thinks that they're an "expert".

The Downfall: Yeah it's THEIR attitudes that suck.

Yeah, you're keeping up rather well. Good for you.