Been a while but a few digital previews from a recent wedding...

[SquarePeg]

Room for one more Asshat as I am (as usual) going to disagree. I edited each of these except #2 which is close enough for government work, for midtone correction and to highlight the stars of the show: the bride and groom. The lights are too light, highlights are blown throughout. By shooting in the forest, which is a nice place to shoot, he made a cardinal mistake in exposing for the whole scene and not for the couple only. Expose for the highlights using a spot meter and everything else will work out. In my edits, I isolated the couple, dumped the BG down one full stop then adjusted the midtones on those two which pushed them into the foreground and left everything else as a frame. Wedding shots are all about the B&G not anything and everything else.

Tirediron said he quit doing weddings because these were so good, I quit doing weddings, portraits and other stuff that paid bigger bucks than just gallery sales partly because of shots like these (though mostly because I am not overly fond of people that talk back ). It's a good start, but there is lots more to learn.

Based on the photos that the OP shares here and on Instagram, his portfolio, I would assume that couples hire him because of the way he incorporates the environment into his photos. It's a co-star. If anyone doesn't want that look, they would choose someone else.

 

[bulldurham]

I have no clue as to what is a selectively blown highlight and how it can possibly be good. It is why we have histograms. Blown highlights and clogged blacks are due to a lack of exposure control. I have no idea how much he gets paid for a wedding, but had that been my daughter's, I would have asked for my money back. So, I am a purist. Shoot me.

 

[Vtec44]

Room for one more Asshat as I am (as usual) going to disagree. I edited each of these except #2 which is close enough for government work, for midtone correction and to highlight the stars of the show: the bride and groom. The lights are too light, highlights are blown throughout. By shooting in the forest, which is a nice place to shoot, he made a cardinal mistake in exposing for the whole scene and not for the couple only. Expose for the highlights using a spot meter and everything else will work out. In my edits, I isolated the couple, dumped the BG down one full stop then adjusted the midtones on those two which pushed them into the foreground and left everything else as a frame. Wedding shots are all about the B&G not anything and everything else.

Tirediron said he quit doing weddings because these were so good, I quit doing weddings, portraits and other stuff that paid bigger bucks than just gallery sales partly because of shots like these (though mostly because I am not overly fond of people that talk back ). It's a good start, but there is lots more to learn.

Spot metering is the only metering mode I use for both analog and digital. Lol. I'm known for pushing bright skin tone to almost blown out. These are edited for printing on my calibrated monitor so they should be just right on prints. They're edited this way from very flat RAW files.

When you're talking about editing, it's all personal preference. As long as you're consistent with your style and the clients are aware of it then you should be good. There are PLENTY of wedding photographers for people to hire if they don't like my work.

If I shot your daughter's wedding then she must have liked my style to hire me and she would be the person who signed the contract. Plus, the probability if you being able to afford my services is slim so the chances of asking for your money back is none. well you still can try...

Ive had plenty of former wedding photographers who hate my work because they feel they can do much better, and I have ccurrent wedding photographers who paid my asking price for my services. To each their own I guess.

 

[Braineack]

Spot metering is the only metering mode I use for both analog and film.

yeah, but next time you need to spot meter the sun and everything else will work out.

 

[Vtec44]

yeah, but next time you need to spot meter the sun and everything else will work out.

now you tell me?

 

[Christie Photo]

Plus, the probability if you being able to afford my services is slim...

Ooops. I can tell you're pretty far down the road. Your work is wonderful and you should be getting paid for it. But I would think by now we don't always know what someone can or can't afford. And it's not relevant in this discussion anyway.

Nice stuff!
-Pete

 

[Vtec44]

Plus, the probability if you being able to afford my services is slim...

Ooops. I can tell you're pretty far down the road. Your work is wonderful and you should be getting paid for it. But I would think by now we don't always know what someone can or can't afford. And it's not relevant in this discussion anyway.

Nice stuff!
-Pete

I know. I'm just being an asshole . I only bring it up because someone mentioned they'd ask for their money back. In my profession, it's not about if people can afford you or not. If they love your work they will find a way to pay for it. Obviously @bulldurham isn't going to find a way to pay for it or want to pay for it. LOL

 

[bulldurham]

If I shot your daughter's wedding then she must have liked my style to hire me and she would be the person who signed the contract. Plus, the probability if you being able to afford my services is slim so the chances of asking for your money back is none. well you still can try...

LOLOLOL...that's a rather arrogant statement but I won't go to name calling but if you want to compare Dunn & Bradstreet numbers, we can really get into a pissing contest. I critiqued your work. I understand there are some people who don't know squat about photography that will buy that style...their loss IMO. If you had told Ansel Adams that it was okay to have blown highlights, he would have either laughed himself into apoplexy, or thrown up. I did one workshop with him and two with Al Weber (his main printer) and two with David Vestal who knew more about photography than anyone alive when I knew him. It wasn't accepted then, and it is not acceptable now.

 

[SquarePeg]

If I shot your daughter's wedding then she must have liked my style to hire me and she would be the person who signed the contract. Plus, the probability if you being able to afford my services is slim so the chances of asking for your money back is none. well you still can try...

Let's keep it about the photos please and not have personal attacks.

 

[Vtec44]

LOLOLOL...that's a rather arrogant statement but I won't go to name calling but if you want to compare Dunn & Bradstreet numbers, we can really get into a pissing contest. I critiqued your work. I understand there are some people who don't know squat about photography that will buy that style...their loss IMO. If you had told Ansel Adams that it was okay to have blown highlights, he would have either laughed himself into apoplexy, or thrown up. I did one workshop with him and two with Al Weber (his main printer) and two with David Vestal who knew more about photography than anyone alive when I knew him. It wasn't accepted then, and it is not acceptable now.

I'm cool to compare numbers if you're up for it. LOL. Yeah I can be arrogant if I'm grumpy. Generalizing that people don't know crap about photography because they prefer a certain style is about on par with my arrogance. You're right there with me. Lol. I feel like we should be best friends.

You should read my opinion in the other thread about what is a good photo. I feel like it addressed this very discussion. You sound like a typical single dimension photographer and there's nothing wrong with that. I can bring my off camera flash to balance out the lighting or lower the highlights and bring out the shadows, but that's now how I shoot and that not THE only way to shoot. To each their own but there are many ways to skin a cat. An artist should always have an open mind. Photography is part technical and part art.

The last time I checked Ansel wasn't a wedding photographer. Am I wrong? His Zone System, though. But that's another drama on this forum that I don't want to bring back. LOL

 

[Destin]

If I shot your daughter's wedding then she must have liked my style to hire me and she would be the person who signed the contract. Plus, the probability if you being able to afford my services is slim so the chances of asking for your money back is none. well you still can try...

LOLOLOL...that's a rather arrogant statement but I won't go to name calling but if you want to compare Dunn & Bradstreet numbers, we can really get into a pissing contest. I critiqued your work. I understand there are some people who don't know squat about photography that will buy that style...their loss IMO. If you had told Ansel Adams that it was okay to have blown highlights, he would have either laughed himself into apoplexy, or thrown up. I did one workshop with him and two with Al Weber (his main printer) and two with David Vestal who knew more about photography than anyone alive when I knew him. It wasn't accepted then, and it is not acceptable now.

You’re missing the part where photography is art, and therefore subjective. There is no right or wrong.

I don’t really think that someone grabbing handfuls or paint and randomly throwing it at a wall is art, and yet people will pay tens of thousands of dollars for paintings that are exactly that.

Intentionally blown highlights can add to a mood, and it seems that many knowledgeable people here like the photos shared in this thread. There are very few hard and fast rules in photography.

Ansel Adams was a visionary of his time, but he isn’t the end all be all source of photography. Other people can have different opinions without being wrong.

In the first photo the OP shared there was almost no way to avoid blowing those highlights short of choosing a new composition. Exposing for that highlight would have made the entire rest of the image black.

 

[Vtec44]

Let's keep it about the photos please and not have personal attacks.

I totally agree. I don't mind unsolicited critiques at all and I love a discussion even when we don't agree. But, I draw the line when people throw snarky remarks at my work as if their opinion is the only right opinion. I'm the nicest person and the biggest asshole.

 

[Braineack]

didn't we just have a thread where we concluded people know jack-diddly-squat about what a "good" photo is?

 

[bulldurham]

First off, I never made a snarky remark about your work; I made an honest and thoughtful critique. I didn't ask you to like it or even accept it, only voiced an educated opinion. Nor, did I say my opinion was the only right one, I merely used examples of work from quite notable photographers..and Adams did shoot some rather striking portraits as did Al Weber and David Vestal. I am finished with this dialogue.

 

[Vtec44]

1.

First off, I never made a snarky remark about your work; .

2.

I have no idea how much he gets paid for a wedding, but had that been my daughter's, I would have asked for my money back.

From one professional photographer to another:

1. I will never start out trying to belittle others, trying is the operative word. Your critique was based on a lot of assumptions and snarky. I'm totally cool with that, but expect me to be snarky back. No biggie, I can dish out as much as I can take. I'm the harshest critic of my own work. You have NO idea LOL.

2. Really? From one professional photographer, to another, that is unprofessional conduct. I didn't pick up a camera yesterday, or 5 years, 10 years, 15 years ago. I'm not a great photographer, or an amazing photographer, But I know my work, the caliber, and limitations of my work. If you hire me, I shoot consistently as my portfolio, and you REALLY want your money back and not just saying it to try to belittle another professional online to make yourself look better. You probably did not do your home work in searching for the right photographer for your daughter's wedding.

And to be honest I don't care what Ansel Adams thinks about blown highlights. I'm the photographer of this work, I will decide when to blow out the hightlights and when not to. Subjective opinions are just that regardless of which famous name you want to drop.