[MiG Eater]

Here is a couple from my first proper wedding job, what do you reckon? Got another booking already for next June.













All comments welcomed!

Nick

[dogdots]

I don't think the bride is going to like the second picture. I like how you did the last one.

[Steve]

The first shot looks slightly flat and would have probably been better if some/more? fill in flash was used. It could also be the processing but itis slightly soft as well.

The second shot has the bride with confetti as eyebrows and her eyes closed. Very unfortunate timing that can’t be attributed as your fault, chopping the feet off definitely is though. Since you probably had the camera on multi shot for that event (you did didn’t you?) then a different one from that sequence should be much better. If you missed that trick it’s a good one to remember for your next wedding

The third one is also very flat and again seems soft focus wise. A much smaller depth of field would have helped emphasise the point of focus on the rig and hands. As it is now there is too much distraction visible in the back of the shot. I would re-process this shot and apply a vignette around the edge to alleviate this issue somewhat.

Fourth shot is much better, a semi candid that’s caught the moment well. Again the focus is looking slightly soft on the bride though but its probably due to the way it has been processed to be uploaded here?

The fifth shot is fine and works well. Again the focus appears soft but I am attributing that to the processing you’ve done for showing them here.

The last shot would have been better if you had moved the shoe/flowers away from the wall in the background, having that join running all the way through the shot ruins the photo for me.

Pretty critical comments there from me, especially in the photo sharing section but since you are doing wedding photography, all of the points I have raised are ‘basics’ and should be learned and remembered for future shoots. I hope you take them in the spirit that they have been given and that they help you.

[Rob Barron]

A good first attempt here Nick, I am sure there are plenty in the collection to please the bride and groom :o)

A few thoughts that might help:

It is rare that a people shot looking upwards looks flattering. If you'll excuse the pun, it literally gets right up their noses, not the most attractive part of a face!

The conversion to mono of the three men could definitely be done to produce greater separation between their dark suits and the foliage. If you use the channel mixer to do this, remember that the more you push the green channel up, the lighter the greens will become. Given that the suits appear to be either charcoal grey or black, they would stand out better if the green channel was set quite high, set red to zero and have a smaller positive value for the blue. I would suggest around 90% green / 10% blue / 0% red. If there is some grey in the suit, the blue channel will allow you to adjust it's tone quite nicely. An approximate aim of 100% total is usual though you can go a touch above that if you need to. Just watch for any burnt out areas that could appear elsewhere.

The hands is a nice idea but I'd tell the bride to keep her other hand out of the picture completely, likewise the groom. That keeps all the focus on the ring hands.

The flowers are ok, not sure about having selective colour for just one rose, looks a bit unbalanced to me. As already mentioned, I'd have pulled them further forward to avoid the wall line but also I would have moved the show out to a 45 degree angle. I can't be sure what 'filler' has been used in this little bunch, almost looks like grasses of some kind (I am no botanist so can't give you technical data here!) but that mnakes it hard to get much contrast in the mono. The most common filler used, especially with red roses, is gypsophylia (probably spelt wrong!) which is small white flowers that punctuate the reds. I only mention that because that type of posy would be a much better candidate for a mono as the white's breaks up the picture better. I know you can't change the posy but you can use that sort of thinking when trying to decide whether or not to go for a mono or partial mono conversion. For a wedding bouquet or posy, they have usually been carefully assembled for their colours so I would stick to making the best of a colour version.

No 3 is an example of why candid's are difficult. If that was a posed shot, there are so many things you would do to make it better: adjust the angle of the bride so you could see more of her face, move the veil slightly for the same reason, tell the bridesmaid to stop holidng her dress, etc. I would definitely crop this or apply the vignette as mentioned to keep all the attention on the two ladies. Don't forget you can pose a candid! I know that is almost a contradiction in terms but just get them to stand in the positions you want, tell them to relax and not hold onto dresses and things and then just to chat to each other and smile a lot! You can go away and do the rest :o)

Enough said about the confetti shot but I wholeheartedly agree with Steve's comment about using multi-shot mode so that you get one with the confetti in good places, eyes open and so forth.

Anyone who has done a professional wedding shoot will know how hard it is to get a great set of shots of the day so all of the above must NOT be taken as criticism as they are not intended that way. They are simply pointers that might be worth considering for the next time so I hope you find them useful.

Cheers,
Rob

[MiG Eater]

Really appreciate all comments (I did have a strop earlier, but looking again it's all practice for the next one!).

I didn't use multi-frame mode to shoot the confetti...do you reckon I should next time?

I'm glad I put them on here...just shows that it really isn't as easy as you think!