K&Cs wedding - part one

spencer87 · Jun 6, 2006

this was my first wedding, and all in all i think it went very well (better than I expected, to be honest). Preparations at the bride's house got off to a late start because her car broke down, and then the makeup artist did a horrible job on the bride. I was thankful for my background in makeup and skincare, because the bride's sister and I ended up redoing her makeup! Aside from that, things went very smoothly. Here are a few of the prep shots, C&C is always welcome.

spencer87 · Jun 6, 2006

a few more from the bride's house:

AprilRamone · Jun 6, 2006

She has very pretty handwriting

I really like that shot on the bottom right of the first posting. She looks like the quintessential happy/nervous bride! Was she a friend of yours, or was this your first "stranger" wedding?

Alison · Jun 6, 2006

Love the vows shot.

spencer87 · Jun 7, 2006

Alison- thank you!

AprilRamone- not a friend, this was my first paid wedding. that shot is one of my favorites, the B&G loved it as well.

Big Mike · Jun 7, 2006

Nice work, I also think that shot stands out...great capture of emotion.

Christie Photo · Jun 7, 2006

Big Mike said:
Nice work, I also think that shot stands out...great capture of emotion.

I'll second that.

Pete

elsaspet · Jun 7, 2006

I think you did an awesome job, especially for the first time! You asked for critique, so I'll give you a bit (but keep in mind this is in no way to take away from your wonderful photos, but to help you push it up just a notch).
Your black and white could use a bit more contrast when you encounter flat lighting. Just bump it a tad. Otherwise I love the tones.
You've got really nice dof control, but I would like a bit smaller dof on details (unless it includes body parts).
Another thing to watch is your crop values. You might want to shoot a tad wider, keep the raw intact, and show the jpeg with your revised crop, that way you can always go back to the raw when cropping for an 8x10.
But back to the pics.......wonderful. The bride will love these, and I hope you liked the experience.

spencer87 · Jun 8, 2006

elsaspet said:
I think you did an awesome job, especially for the first time! You asked for critique, so I'll give you a bit (but keep in mind this is in no way to take away from your wonderful photos, but to help you push it up just a notch).
Your black and white could use a bit more contrast when you encounter flat lighting. Just bump it a tad. Otherwise I love the tones.
You've got really nice dof control, but I would like a bit smaller dof on details (unless it includes body parts).
Another thing to watch is your crop values. You might want to shoot a tad wider, keep the raw intact, and show the jpeg with your revised crop, that way you can always go back to the raw when cropping for an 8x10.
But back to the pics.......wonderful. The bride will love these, and I hope you liked the experience.

thanks so much for such a thoughtful critique!
b&w- the same comment was made on another forum, I actually converted these and then toned down the contrast because they looked to contrast-y on my monitor! i just got the printed proofbook though and they do look a bit dull compared to what I have onscreen. ill have to play around with them some more.

thank you for the other comments on DOF and cropping, I am trying to learn from these so every little bit helps