My very first wedding C&C welcome

natural.disaster · Jul 18, 2010

This was my first time shooting a wedding, or anything important for that matter. Ive just been basically shooting for family and friends for fun here and there. No real shoot sessions as of yet. I am very much a beginner. I did not want to do this wedding, as i was afraid i would totally screw up, but the bride and groom insisted. There was no charge of course.
I was using the Nikon D5000.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Geaux · Jul 18, 2010

I think you did good for your first time, but in the first shot ... the salt/pepper shakers ruins it for me.

Robin Usagani · Jul 18, 2010

I felt like most of these shots should have been done without flash.

misstwinklytoes · Jul 18, 2010

I have to agree about the salt and pepper shakers.

#2 looks good, but #3 looks kind of dark.

I really like #4.

#5 you can't tell what the veil is hanging on.

c.cloudwalker · Jul 18, 2010

They all seem a bit dark to me but that is the least of your problems. Those are some of the easy shots in a wedding... Where's the rest?

natural.disaster · Jul 18, 2010

There are a few more here http://www.flickr.com/photos/21143231@N05/'
I havent put all of them on the net yet because there were a lot of children (in the more formal shots) and i do not have permission from their parents. As soon as i do, ill post more. There are also some that the bride and groom have not seen yet, so i didnt want to upload them until they have seen all of them.
Flash was used in every picture. I had very very limited space. The room where the girls were dressing had 12 sets of bunk beds in it with just a small area down the middle for walking and dressing. No blank walls at all! It was also raining almost all day. The church was also very small with no balcony or anywhere to get up high or far back enough to get full shots of the guest. Allso one of their family was doing a video so i tried not to be walking around in it the entire time. The outside had only one place where the bride wouldnt get rained on or wet grass all over her dress and that was on the church steps. So my biggest issue was not having anywhere i thought was "best" for formal shots. Everywhere i looked there were plugins, wires, books, peoples feet, heads, rain, construction buildings, etc. That was definately a challenge. The veil is hanging on the end of one of the bunkbeds.
It was definately a learning experience. I noticed a lot of things about the pics that i would try to change if i could re-do them..Of course i cant, but thats what learning is about.

natural.disaster · Jul 18, 2010

One more thing...In my last post, i wasnt trying to make excuses lol. Just trying to give you an idea of how things were set up. I would have liked to have done a lot of other poses in different places but weather and space didnt allow for it.
Its definately something i would like to do again though. It was a lot of fun and great pratice.

astroskeptic · Jul 18, 2010

Congrats on your first shoot. My first is in august (a freebee for family) so I'm very interested in the experiences and results of other first wedding shoots. It sounds like you had a very challenging situation to deal with.

#1 can be improved with cropping and some brightness scaling. I'd post an edit but this system won't let me post attachments. Besides the shakers, the clutter in the background is distracting.

#2 doesn't seem composed right but I'm not sure what to suggest. The flowers are very soft.

#4 and #5 are nicely composed but a little underexposed for the subjects (but I like the background exposure - I'd recommend a little selective brightening with these).

natural.disaster · Jul 19, 2010

Thanks!
#5 was edited...I blacked out the right side to cover the busy background. Bunk beds, underclothes etc.

Im making notes from comments left. I have been ask to be the second photographer at a wedding next month (for free) and sole photographer for one in March next year (they are insisting on paying). I want to learn as much as i can! Weddings are tough.......getting the shots the bride and groom want while everyone is running around doing their own thing, getting everyone to cooperate, time restrictions, limited space, etc etc.
I downloaded free trial of lightroom...as soon as i figure out how to use it, ill play around with them more.

I felt like most of these shots should have been done without flash.

When i first read that, i thought it said they were not done with flash. (sorry) I agree the flash didnt do justice for some of the shots..however, with the lighting and camera i was using..i had no choice. I tried no flash, upping the ISO, etc but they were very dark, and with no tripod i was afraid of slower shutter speed, and of them being to grainy to work with so i chose to use the flash and hope for the best.

shutterbugsdesign · Jul 19, 2010

nice shot on the details for #2 and #4
#3 and #5 not so much coz of the flash.
btw, what lens did you use? is this the kit?

natural.disaster · Jul 19, 2010

3 & 5 were with 18-55
1,2,4 were with 55-200

gsgary · Jul 19, 2010

This was a wedding ? didn't the bride and groom want to be in the shots ?

natural.disaster · Jul 19, 2010

I explained that earlier....

natural.disaster said:
There are a few more here http://www.flickr.com/photos/21143231@N05/'
I havent put all of them on the net yet because there were a lot of children (in the more formal shots) and i do not have permission from their parents. As soon as i do, ill post more. There are also some that the bride and groom have not seen yet, so i didnt want to upload them until they have seen all of them.
Flash was used in every picture. I had very very limited space. The room where the girls were dressing had 12 sets of bunk beds in it with just a small area down the middle for walking and dressing. No blank walls at all! It was also raining almost all day. The church was also very small with no balcony or anywhere to get up high or far back enough to get full shots of the guest. Allso one of their family was doing a video so i tried not to be walking around in it the entire time. The outside had only one place where the bride wouldnt get rained on or wet grass all over her dress and that was on the church steps. So my biggest issue was not having anywhere i thought was "best" for formal shots. Everywhere i looked there were plugins, wires, books, peoples feet, heads, rain, construction buildings, etc. That was definately a challenge. The veil is hanging on the end of one of the bunkbeds.
It was definately a learning experience. I noticed a lot of things about the pics that i would try to change if i could re-do them..Of course i cant, but thats what learning is about.

misstwinklytoes · Jul 19, 2010

That link didn't work.

misstwinklytoes · Jul 19, 2010

It's the apostrophe at the end.

I like zzzzzzzz on Flickr - Photo Sharing!, but her dress train should have been laid out.

Might have also put her back to the column instead of her facing it.

I also like Image 37 a lot.

Image 34 and 35 look very cliche and like everyone was just... struggling to make the picture work. The background is also distracting because it isn't centered.

I really like Image 24. What would happen if you put just a tad of the color back in the roses and band on her dress?

I like this one too. Dsc_7182 on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

I also like Image 43.

Good shots! Keep on keepin' on!