First wedding C&C

timlair · Jan 5, 2011

So about a month ago, my boss at my place of work told me he was asked to shoot a wedding. He's been a pro for 20-30 years and has mentored me to where i am now, and told me i could back him up the next wedding he shot. So, i said yes of course.

Saturday, Him, his wife(Who has also been his assistant for 10 or so years), and I shot a winter wedding.

Here are a few of the shots i took, i had no idea it would be so hard. Even being a backup to the backup is difficult. You only get 1 chance at certain shots and its stressful lol.

So anyways, be harsh. I really want technical critique but I'll take any i can get.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

There were a few more I uploaded on my http://www.flickr.com/photos/timlair/ mostly of decorations. Thanks for looking.

7.

swedberg311 · Jan 5, 2011

IMO They all look pretty good aside from some slight OOF issues on a couple and the motion blur in 3.

In 1 & 2 I find the torn paper distracting its all I can look at

and I find it kind of werid that they used her dress as a backdrop in the last one.

Derosa · Jan 5, 2011

I like the "movie set" feel of #3 (you don't see a wedding pic like that every day), however, I wish the best man was in focus. Hand up in #6 is distracting. I like the authenticity of #5....probably my favorite.

bigtwinky · Jan 5, 2011

Not a fan of most of them, sorry.

1- nice idea, but there is too much floor. The processing is not to my taste, it was way too contrasty

2- much better for composition than #1. But again, the processing kills it. The darks are too dark and the whites are blown

3- something is just off with this image. it doesnt seem sharp at all. the white pipe thing in the back seems sharper than the people, missed focus point? I get the whole horsing around thing, but I dunno about fake guns and a dumpster. Plus, the third dude is behind the dumpster! If this is setup, then, get everyone in on the image.

4- missed focus again? This seems to either suffer from bad flash or too much processing / vignetting

5- framing is nice here, although I would of liked a bit more space in front of her or even showing what she is laughing / smiling at. the image seems to suffer from harsh flash.

6- out of focus and I'm not a fan of the floating torso effect. the hand looks a bit awkward

timlair · Jan 5, 2011

Thanks guys so far. To respond to a few comments, Shot 3 was a quick shot. No set up hardly at all. I wanted to focus on the groom and i should have increased the DOF to get everyone in focus.

I guess 1 & 2 are just what I like in PP. And im glad you say you dont like it cus now im going to go re edit haha.

In 5, she was laughing at her groom who was across the sanctuary so I only shot her.

Number 6 was something she wanted taken, and her hand was up to show the ring. Not much of a fan of it either. Im going to see if i have another one like it.

timlair · Jan 5, 2011

Good idea erose. The pro's wife did the posing. And she is very old fashion/ stubborn haha.

Oh, and a question. How could i have improved the flash situation. I struggled with it the entire day. I Bounced it if you were wondering.

Bram · Jan 5, 2011

#6 and #7 are both OOF. I think those are the most important shots. They look OOF to me.

shannab · Jan 5, 2011

I also had a hard time with the ripped paper on the first ones they were my focus not the couple!

Robin Usagani · Jan 5, 2011

You need to be consistent with your editing. Either that or your exposures were all over the place, meaning each shot the exposure jumps around too much. Usually that is what happens when you use Aperture priority with spot metering (true with other metering settings too but not as jumpy).

gsgary · Jan 5, 2011

Schwettylens said:
You need to be consistent with your editing. Either that or your exposures were all over the place, meaning each shot the exposure jumps around too much. Usually that is what happens when you use Aperture priority with spot metering (true with other metering settings too but not as jumpy).

Thats why some shots i will use an external light meter and meter a grey card and alway shoot in manual

waynegz1 · Jan 5, 2011

timlair said:
How could i have improved the flash situation. I struggled with it the entire day. I Bounced it if you were wondering.

Did you take your flash off-camera?

gsgary · Jan 5, 2011

misstwinklytoes said:
gsgary said:

Did you use an Iphone ?

Click to expand...

I wish someone could point out to me how this is helpful....:er:

They don't look like they were taken with a DSLR

misstwinklytoes · Jan 5, 2011

Erose, I can agree with that, but I'd rather use the report button instead of ignoring it because it happens *often* and a lot of new users are being discouraged. Why discourage people who signed up to the forum to learn and improve?

I just don't think this is the place for the asshattedness. People are actually trying to improve. He's clearly taking C&C nicely and seems to *want* to improve. Maybe I'm wrong.

Crystal · Jan 5, 2011

In 1 & 2 I find the torn paper distracting its all I can look at +1

mwcfarms · Jan 5, 2011

I think the OP is a she. I might be wrong. And I agree, they (the OP) want critique thats constructive. Maybe gsgary honestly thought it was shot with something other than a DSLR. If not gsgary /bonk with a trout.

To the OP i found the contrast to be a bit much personally. And I think focusing is an issue in the majority of them.