A & M - Adriana and Matthew's Wedding

Braineack

Been spending a lot of time on here!
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Shot my first wedding and finally moved my favorite images to a sharable place.

Such a huge learning experience, and I totally see why some people do not want to do them. It's a lot to handle, and you have to be capable to handle, meet, and overcome so many different photographic challenges.

Of course it did not go smoothly. :p

Copying and pasting from the coffee house here:

They said they were going to get ready at the venue, I was hoping to arrive and get good getting ready shots, and the details like the jewelry, dress, etc. But they showed up late, already dressed (except the bride), already in makeup, and then forgot the rings so I couldn't even shoot those. Her room was a dark little room with no windows, so nothing special I could do there, and I wasn't quite comfortable enough right then to make stuff happen. The guys were clueless on how to dress so I had to spend a lot of time just pinning flowers and tying a few of their ties. Again, wish I could have done more there.

Then they sprung the portraits session on me to be taken over at a local pond, not the venue. My assistant was stuck in traffic and I felt a bit overwhelmed so didn't get out any lighting, I really wish I had at least a speedlight on the camera for some fill -- and on the bridge I could have really used at least my shoot through umbrella which was in the car. She showed up maybe half way through.

This was a pretty low-budget wedding, and one comment I had from another photographer which really made me feel good was "you'd never know from the pictures". There were no DJ lights or any real decorations or cool details to get cool shot with. They actually cut the lights above the dance floor so it was pretty much just pitch black besides my flashes, which made it nearly impossible for my D610 to gain focus -- then I just would spray and pray most the time shooting with the camera well above my head.

One thing I think I realized is that I was trying to wait for moments, much like wildlife photography, when I should have injected myself a bit more and created shots -- at the reception I really felt like I was only taking dance shots, when I could have stolen the bride and groom for a few minutes and done a bit more outside on the golf course grounds, or get a few better shots with guests on the dance floor that had a little setup.

I felt comfortable with the bridge alone cause I'm used to single person portraits, the biggest issue I had with the groups was posing them. I tried to make sure the compositions made sense, and no one was lost. I had to get most of the guys to remove their cell phones from pockets and how to stand, but I still missed a few.

I'm personally pleased with the images, but I know I can do better next time in many regards. And I know they're getting good shots and so far they'd expressed nothing but gratitude for the pictures.


DSC_9722
by Braineack, on Flickr


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by Braineack, on Flickr


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by Braineack, on Flickr


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by Braineack, on Flickr


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by Braineack, on Flickr


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by Braineack, on Flickr


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by Braineack, on Flickr


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by Braineack, on Flickr


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by Braineack, on Flickr


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by Braineack, on Flickr


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by Braineack, on Flickr


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by Braineack, on Flickr


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by Braineack, on Flickr


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by Braineack, on Flickr


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by Braineack, on Flickr


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by Braineack, on Flickr


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by Braineack, on Flickr


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full flickr album can be found here: A + M Adriana & Matthew
 
Professional quality for sure!

Congratulations on your new career!
 
Well done ... as it was your first wedding ... Very Well Done. Many of these are a bit too contrasty and overly sharp for my tastes. But, you did a fine job of not blowing out the highlights, maintaining detail in all the zones. Your selection for B&W conversion is excellent. #3, #4 and #8 are awesome!
 
Great set; solid work. I've seen a lot of "professionals" turn in work that didn't match that. I especially like your posing/composition in 1087 & 1123.
 
Great set; solid work. I've seen a lot of "professionals" turn in work that didn't match that. I especially like your posing/composition in 1087 & 1123.

hearding cattle: 5 minutes.
taking picture: 1/160sec.

This one took a bit of effort getting it right, moving everyone around, making sure everyone's heights made sense, alternating the groomsmen and bridesmaids. I didn't realize how off to the side I shot it until I looked later -- wish it was a little more head on, but it's still one of my favorites.
 
here's the conditions I was working in:

22219619_10214119178270520_3978626021856758875_o.jpg
 
Great set; solid work. I've seen a lot of "professionals" turn in work that didn't match that. I especially like your posing/composition in 1087 & 1123.

Exactly....I looked at a bunch of the other wedding images on Flickr, and you were very consistent in exposure/processing on them, and I thought you made a number of pretty good creative and technical choices/decisions, especially considering the tricky lighting conditions.
 
Well done! A beautiful set. I am sure the bride and groom are very pleased with!

I truly enjoyed looking through the Flickr album. I don't think I have ever viewed a wedding series as a whole, and found it quite enlightening!
 

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