First time shooting a wedding

[AlleyCat]

My friend got married last month and she asked me to be a second photographer since that guy she hired couldn't get there before 11AM and she wanted lots of photos to be taken. I don't have a dSLR so she handed me a Canon, but ON the day of her wedding. I never used a Canon before and had since held a real dSLR for like two times, max. I like photography and I don't mind learning new stuff, but it's kinda impossible to get used to a totally new model in life few minutes.

Well, anyways, I came at 9AM and she handed me the camera and so I played with it for a while. The main guy was kinda rude and annoying, didn't give me much room to take photos of the newly wed so most of the shots I have is from the time when he wasn't there yet.

The shots looked OK on the screen but then I took them home and I think I found probably 30 photos from the whole bunch that were usable. The rest looked catastrophic! Some were too bright and some were too dark. I got really mad at times cuz I didn't know how to adjust the speed & shutter properly, the camera just kept doing what it wanted!

Anyways, here are some of the photos that turned out quite well - to me, at least. Please don't mind the ugly signature, I was trying out new brushes, haha!

Hope you guys like it!!

 

[suki]

Some are a bit soft but over all I think these look good given the situation you were thrown into! 1,2 & 4 are my favorites.

 

[CoRNDoG R6]

For improvising right on the spot with an unknown camera...i think you did great! Just like suki said, some of those shots came out a bit blurry, but overall, nice job!

 

[JimPowellPhotography]

The guy who shot my sister's wedding didn't have anything half as good as these, and he was supposedly a pro. Nice work!



www.jimpowellphoto.com

 

[willli]

Very nice just a little suggestion watch the highlights to avoid loosing details check the one that she is looking the mirror is a little bit overexpose on her face and on the dress beside that very nice job

 

[bhphotography]

I'd say you did very well. Not sure why the principal photographer wouldn't show till 11....

 

[Dao]

I'd say you did very well. Not sure why the principal photographer wouldn't show till 11....

Maybe the principal photographer did not make enough money on Wedding photography business so he need to flip some burgers in the morning. (j/k)

 

[Photo Lady]

i like them alot.. wished you had photographed my wedding..lol

 

[cliffy13]

I know I will get slagged off for this but I am afaraid to my mind this set is symptomatic of wedding shots that get posted on forums,the wedding is a day full of happiness when 2 people in love dedicate their lives to each other and yet so many wedding shots today are about how technically clever the photographer is.Where are the shots of the HAPPY couple

 

[fiveoboy01]

None of these shots do a single thing for me. Practice some more. Almost all of them are soft, some have white balance issues, composition isn't interesting. Keep trying.

 

[IgsEMT]

for whats its worth, it isn't that bad

 

[Dominantly]

Soft, blown, limbs cutoff, white balance is off, maybe 1 photo that's usable.

Just being honest, and I do realize you said it was your first day with the camera.

I also am intrigued by your decision to watermark the images.

 

[Josh66]

I think after the WB issues have been corrected (which is as simple as a few clicks), these are not bad for your first time.

The last 2 are really the only ones that I don't like at all...just not very interesting to me.

I think you did very well for only handling an SLR for an hour or two. I'm not saying it's time to go pro, but with a little practice and guidance - who knows what you might do...
Not knowing how to change settings, and having nobody to ask would be very frustrating...


And BTW... The watermark looks fine to me... I would maybe just make it more opaque.
I don't watermark any of my pictures (and I don't shoot weddings), but as far as watermarks go - I have seen much worse. I like your placement of it too - not too distracting.

 

[GeneralBenson]

i like them alot.. wished you had photographed my wedding..lol

And here's the problem with the state of the industry, and the mindset of phtographers and clients. Some of the detail shots are nice, but not spectacular, the shot with people in them have a myriad of problems. And to the OP, I think for using a camera that you're unfamiliar with, and being relatively inexperienced, I think you did well. And I also don't think you're trying to misrepresent yourself, so none of this is really directed at you.

But here's the problem, You took some decent shots. It'd be easy to do this twice more and have 12 reasonable shots for a wedding portfolio, then make a website. But, you don't hire a wedding photographer to take a few good shots. Any good wedding photographer should end up with 100-300 shots that are much, much, much better than those. I think that no one should hire a weding photographer without seeing 2 or 3 complete weddings that are recent. Too many people are being fooled by photographers that will get a few lucky greats, and a bunch of mediocre stuff, because all they see if the 12 good images in a portfolio, not knowing that it's the only 12 good images they have.

 

[AlleyCat]

Thank you guys for all the opinion and critiques. Pheww..I´ll need to develop thick skin for this, haha!! No, seriously, at least I get to hear what´s bad on these pics. Compliments dont hurt but too much is not a good thing either.

I see lots of you mentioned that they are a bit soft, would u mind being more exact? What do u mean by soft and how would they look like if they were not soft? (whats the opposite of soft here, thats what I mean)

As about the WB issue, yup thats the one thing Ive noticed about them too. There are few reasons: I have no idea how to set a right WB on a DSLR - having held them only 3x in my life - and I couldnt find out when I shot the wedding either. My friend couldnt help, cuz beside having a dSLR and using automatic mode se has no idea what the buttons there are for. couldnt correct it in Photoshop either cuz I dont know how :-(

As for why there isnt the happy couple on the :hug:hotos, that is because The groom wasnt there till 11AM (when the official photographer arrived) and because the main guy wouldnt let me shoot behind his back when he took pictures of the two. Said it distracted him. So all pictures that I have w the couple in it were either their backs or their left/right side, or where they look pissed/bored/tired. Seriously, if you had been there u would understand why it was impossible to take decent shots ofthe two. Busy bride and groom, annoying photo guy, and when youre not an official photographer theres little chance the family will let u have a few minutes to tak pictures of the two cuz they already hired someone to do that. And I would probably have ruined the pics for them so guess its ok.

And about the signature, I was just playing with photoshop to find out how it would look like if I was a real photographer, having a company and so on..haha, very embarrassing :-D But hey I just couldnt help it )) I mean, how many of you didnt dream of becoming a real photographer when you first started and were a complete newbie?? Im not saying I will become a top notch, world renown photographer, I just have my daydream moments of having my own business logo printed on pictures that I took. Theres nothing wrong with that, is there? (I know it doesnt look good but Theyre the only resized pix I have, was too lazy to re-resize original and upload )

anyways, I just caught the photography bug few months ago - fashion photography, that is, not wedding, and I want to try what Im capable of. Its a hobby, but I cant help hoping it will become a business. And I wont believe anyone who says he has never dreamt of his hobby becoming a business, even if he just took up the hobby a day before. I understand if people dont like my photos and I can fake critiques. What I am hoping not to receive here is discouragement. I believe that nobody started out as a master and it takes time to improve. Therefore I hope that when you say you dont like the photos, please tell me why and how you wouldt have taken it and wht would you have done differently. Just so I can learn and improve, instead of saying things that encourage me to think its a no go and quit while theres time.

Thank you and keep on giving helpful suggestions!!