A wedding shot

[Snakeguy101]

I attended a families wedding and was asked to bring the camera as an unofficial photographer. I took a few good shots but was mostly there to enjoy the wedding. Here is my favorite one from the event and I would like you input on it. Let me know what you think. Thanks!

 

[tirediron]

Moving to the People Gallery per new Beginner's Forum guidelines.

 

[Snakeguy101]

new guidlines? Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Majeed Badizadegan]

The distortion is pretty distracting to me... Have you tried to correct it already? I assume you have.

 

[Snakeguy101]

I have not. I did not notice it too much either.

 

[tirediron]

To be honest, it seems rather more a shot of the couple in front of you rather than the bride & groom. The focus is clearly on them rather than the bride and groom; I think if you'd moved just a bit further to your left and checked your focusing you'd have gotten a much stronger shot.

 

[Snakeguy101]

I was trying to focus on the mother and father (couple in the foreground) of the bride. I thought it was sweet to see the father of the bride comforting his wif as she exchanged vows. I thought it would be a different perspective than what the hired photographer would get.

 

[tirediron]

Okay, I understand now; that puts it into a different perspective.

 

[Mygixxer]

Story helps put it in perspective but if the story was never told, one would possibly wonder why the focus was on the guests in front of you. nobody knows who the relation between the two. Aside from that, the image does seem distorted. The bride and from don't appear out of the focal like a secondary point but more of an accidental blurry background. I don't know, just doesn't work for me. Sorry

 

[Majeed Badizadegan]

Story helps put it in perspective but if the story was never told, one would possibly wonder why the focus was on the guests in front of you. nobody knows who the relation between the two. Aside from that, the image does seem distorted. The bride and from don't appear out of the focal like a secondary point but more of an accidental blurry background. I don't know, just doesn't work for me. Sorry

For what it's worth, I interpreted the image this way. Traditional wedding seating would have the mother and father of the bride or groom in those seats.

 

[Granddad]

Me too, my first thought was that that has to be the mother and father of the bride. It's a good concept and worth working on.

A closer crop (eliminating the spare nose to the right of the father) and a warming of the tones would help:

IF you could have posed it I think it would have been good if you'd shot between them with them exchanging a look and the bride and groom blurred between them ... but I understand that is hind sight and in these situations you take what you can get. Maybe an idea to try next time you shoot at a wedding??

 

[oldmacman]

I agree on the distortion. It was the first thing I noticed as well. I like the crop, it helps the situation. I know you were behind, but I'd like the image better if I could see more of their faces. Not something you can control, I know.

 

[mcap1972]

You should have gone with higher aperature like f8 to increase the depth of field.

 

[LuckySe7en]

I understand what you're going for here but I would have shown the bride and groom more and less of the parents. The groom is cut off. And maybe it's just me but the backs of peoples heads are not great photo subjects. Had you shown their faces looking at the bride and groom, it would have been a much better shot

 

[Robin Usagani]

You should have gone with higher aperature like f8 to increase the depth of field.

I bet cha with f/8, the B&G are still blurry. I think otherwise, I would want more blur because the distorted look of the bridesmaids doesnt look good to me. I rather see blurred image of them.