1 wedding photo - C&C please

[LCARSx32]

I begged them to hire a photographer. I told them I didn't have the equipment nor the experience to do wedding photography. There's no way I would charge (or even volunteer, for that matter) to take wedding photos with the lenses I have. Hell, I haven't even done regular portraits (other than my own). But they barely had the money to rent the hall, let alone pay someone to take pictures, so I agreed. It was that or hand out disposable cameras and hope for the best.

I have a flash... but I don't know how to use it properly. I've played with bouncing the light off of the walls and whatnot. I don't think it's the devil. But I know what pictures with flash can look like if done wrong. I'd only had the flash for a few days before the wedding. And I don't have any off-camera lighting. I'm a college student with no job. I don't have money. I had to make my own remote and those are only $15.

I know my pictures don't rise to the level of wedding photographer. I was just trying to do my best for my aunt.

 

[misstwinklytoes]

I handed out disposable cameras at my wedding and got some very nice pictures!

 

[misstwinklytoes]

Oh, and I am sure your aunt will be happy with what she has! You have good ideas here and I'm sure it is better than what she would have gotten with guests taking disposable pictures and she knows it! Might could work with it a bit in PP to see if you could lighten in it up some.

 

[Geaux]

I handed out disposable cameras at my wedding and got some very nice pictures!

I would be afraid to do that with my friends, I'd have 20 cameras full of butts in the bathroom LOL

Excellent idea though!


You should have at least used the on camera flash for fill or something, that cake cutting picture is so dark

 

[MohaimenK]

Lcars, forgot to ask, do you use flash for weddings?

 

[misstwinklytoes]

LOL! We had about 15 cameras and we got about 50 good pics... Not very good odds there, but at least we had something.

 

[LCARSx32]

Is this any better? I know how everyone feels about taking a sub-par image and trying to "fix" it in photoshop, but as I have no chance to re-shoot, I have no choice. I brightened it as best I could. Unfortunately, I discovered the benefits of shooting in RAW a week or so after I shot these, so I'm pretty limited :/

I wonder if this might be a good candidate for b&w?

Thanks for the comments everyone.

 

[Derrel]

I like the last two, brightened, edited shots more so than the first cake cutting shot. This last pair of shots looks acceptable for candid, catch as catch can type of shots. I'd try and use selective color, to remove some of the green hues in the shadows, however. It would have been nicer to have shot this with a killer-good Metz flash unit, but...that wasn't the case.

 

[LCARSx32]

Oh, I've been meaning to ask: The flash I bought is a Nissin 360TW. It's not a TTL flash but it does swivel and have different intensity settings. Do you think it's worth working with? Or did I waste $30?

 

[Derrel]

Oh, I've been meaning to ask: The flash I bought is a Nissin 360TW. It's not a TTL flash but it does swivel and have different intensity settings. Do you think it's worth working with? Or did I waste $30?

I just did a quick internet lookup on that flash...found a strobist group discussion of it,and this dPreview post describing its features.

Nissin 360 TW: Fujifilm Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

It has 3 auto f/stops to choose from, does bounce and swivel , AND HAS A SECONDARY FLASH tube, which is a neat feature that not too many flahes have, but which two I have owned have had....I kind of like having that small,secondary flash that points straight ahead, for both eye catchlights and for under-chin shadow lightening when doing bounce flash. For $30, it looks like one heck of a good value to me. Especially since with a d-slr, you can review a shot to immediately see how the flash exposure turned out.

 

[LCARSx32]

I'm glad you said that! I have a nasty habit of buying things I *think* are good, until I find out they have a "known issue". Like my Sigma EF 75-300 f/4 lens that I have to use with the aperture wide open.:er:

I think I'm going to like the flash once I get used to using it. I need to find someone willing to go with me on some portrait tests.

Thanks again, Darrel.

 

[Ron Evers]

When I opened this thread & saw the pic I said to myself "WHAT". After reading the responses I suppose there was some merit in the shot.