Mel & Rich

fsquare · Feb 12, 2012

Second shot my first wedding yesterday. Here are some of my shots. What I really tried to aim for was getting my composition right in camera so there would be no cropping involved in post. Let me know what you guys think. I'm going to put a good amount so individual C&C isn't necessary but maybe give me an overall feel on how I did.

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Kerbouchard · Feb 12, 2012

Seems like a lot of the shots, particulary with her dress, have a bluish tint to them.

Other than that, on several of them, I know what you were doing, but I wonder why you did it...like the bouquet in focus and everything else out...well, it worked, but I don't know why you did it. Perhaps once, but over and over not so much.

On the others, some of the forground elements don't necessarily compliment the subject and the few that show the eyes of the bride seem a tad soft.

#20 is almost comedic. With the direct flash used, the eyes closed by an onlooker, and another one wearing sunglasses, it's almost funny.

Overall, my favorites would be 6, 17, and 18.

fsquare · Feb 12, 2012

Kerbouchard said:
Seems like a lot of the shots, particulary with her dress, have a bluish tint to them.

Other than that, on several of them, I know what you were doing, but I wonder why you did it...like the bouquet in focus and everything else out...well, it worked, but I don't know why you did it. Perhaps once, but over and over not so much.

On the others, some of the forground elements don't necessarily compliment the subject and the few that show the eyes of the bride seem a tad soft.

#20 is almost comedic. With the direct flash used, the eyes closed by an onlooker, and another one wearing sunglasses, it's almost funny.

Overall, my favorites would be 6, 17, and 18.

My monitor must not be calibrated properly because I don't see the bluish tint to the dress.

As for the flowers and the bride/groom out of focus, well I only really did it in two shots and in two different perspectives. I wanted to give the lead the option to choose where in the album he wanted to place one of them if he decided to go with either one.

#20 was shot outside. It was a group shot of over 100 people. Some were in shade and others were in bright sunlight. No real choice in this situation with that amount of people.

Kerbouchard · Feb 12, 2012

fsquare said:
Kerbouchard said:

Seems like a lot of the shots, particulary with her dress, have a bluish tint to them.

Other than that, on several of them, I know what you were doing, but I wonder why you did it...like the bouquet in focus and everything else out...well, it worked, but I don't know why you did it. Perhaps once, but over and over not so much.

On the others, some of the forground elements don't necessarily compliment the subject and the few that show the eyes of the bride seem a tad soft.

#20 is almost comedic. With the direct flash used, the eyes closed by an onlooker, and another one wearing sunglasses, it's almost funny.

Overall, my favorites would be 6, 17, and 18.

Click to expand...

My monitor must not be calibrated properly because I don't see the bluish tint to the dress.

As for the flowers and the bride/groom out of focus, well I only really did it in two shots and in two different perspectives. I wanted to give the lead the option to choose where in the album he wanted to place one of them if he decided to go with either one.

#20 was shot outside. It was a group shot of over 100 people. Some were in shade and others were in bright sunlight. No real choice in this situation with that amount of people.

Look at #15. No blue tint. Look at #16, 18 or 19. Do you see a difference?

As far as the rest of the critique, no worries. I definitely understand taking a variety of shots to give the main shooter a choice.

fsquare · Feb 12, 2012

I adjusted the white balance on #18. Let me know if that's better. Thanks for the critiques.

Robin Usagani · Feb 12, 2012

Putting the WB, exposure, and sharpness problem aside, I think these photos are generally not wide enough. Once in a while it is good to have a tight crop/composition but not all. I want you to look at what you have put so far and tell me which of these you think is something you would print big, framed, and mounted on a living room wall.

fsquare · Feb 12, 2012

6, 10, 12, 18 if i had to choose from what i have here. I guess my standards must be low.

I guess i don't grasp being a second shooter the same way others do. I find i am suppose to be there to compliment what the main shooter is doing. He told me to crop tight. That is specifically what he asked for so since it was my first time working with him I decided to listen to what he was telling me. When he asked me to go wide I did but i just didn't post those here. At the ceremony I took the shots from the back of the church wide while he stayed up front. There were other times I also went wide.

I'd actually like you to point out where I had exposure problems.

Thanks for all the help....i'm figuring from the comments that the shots weren't as good as I thought they were. I didn't think they were the amazing but for my first time out I actually thought I did a decent job.

APHPHOTO · Feb 12, 2012

I thought you did do a good job. But when you post a bunch of pictures and ask what we all think. Well its easy to pick apart someone elses work.

mishele · Feb 12, 2012

No cropping in post? I would think this is a mistake. You should try to give yourself a little wiggle room. I've never shot a wedding but I'm sure that I wouldn't want to bet on straight out of the camera on every shot.

Balmiesgirl · Feb 12, 2012

Besides the wb the photos are pretty good . On #16 be careful shooting ladies from a low angle like that. Not very flattering. Heavier ladies look better with a higher perspective usually. Then their arms wouldn't look so big... the attention would be drawn to their faces instead. Congrats on your first wedding

you did a nice job!

manaheim · Feb 12, 2012

I like the 3rd one. It's quirky.

Robin Usagani · Feb 12, 2012

On my monitor:
6 (missing #5), 11, 15, 18, 20 are pretty bright and I dont see details.

Ok so you listed 6, 10, 12, 18 as the one you think are frame worthy, here is my explanation why I disagree with you.

6: I guess you can frame it. I just think the composition is not that strong. She is looking to the right yet you have more space on the left.
10: Definitely better than 6 but I still think it is way too tight. If you frame this, you will cut off the subject a little more on the left.
12: Too tight, you will cut off her hair on the top if you frame it
18: Too tight, you will cut off his head on the top

I am just trying to make a point that these are all too tight and generally not good photos to be showcased.

fsquare · Feb 13, 2012

mishele said:
No cropping in post? I would think this is a mistake. You should try to give yourself a little wiggle room. I've never shot a wedding but I'm sure that I wouldn't want to bet on straight out of the camera on every shot.

That was pretty much what was asked of me. Keep your shots cropped tight. Of course, he didn't mean every shot but most of them were. I'd say I had the 70-200mm on for about 90% of the time. Main photog had his 24-70mm on the whole time. The only time i put the 24-70mm on was during the ceremony and at the grooms house where the room we were in was tiny.

Schwettylens said:
On my monitor:
6 (missing #5), 11, 15, 18, 20 are pretty bright and I dont see details.

Ok so you listed 6, 10, 12, 18 as the one you think are frame worthy, here is my explanation why I disagree with you.

6: I guess you can frame it. I just think the composition is not that strong. She is looking to the right yet you have more space on the left.
10: Definitely better than 6 but I still think it is way too tight. If you frame this, you will cut off the subject a little more on the left.
12: Too tight, you will cut off her hair on the top if you frame it
18: Too tight, you will cut off his head on the top

I am just trying to make a point that these are all too tight and generally not good photos to be showcased.

Thanks for all the help. I guess i see your point with the images being bright. Seems like the rest of the image is well exposed but the dress is slightly blown (it isn't but missing detail).

The other thing is that when i was shooting I guess i didn't think "frame worthy" and thought more "wedding album worthy". Just never really crossed my mind. Next time around i'll keep that in mind. I do appreciate you really getting in there and taking the time to look them over.

The other thing is that I hardly used a flash. I've never really tried using the D700 at it's higher ISOs but i had it at 3200 for most of the day and leaving it there without issue. The church was brutally dark and as you can see by #17 it turned out pretty good without it.

Robin Usagani · Feb 13, 2012

it may not be exposure problem. It may be just post processing problem. Start using adjustment brush if you havent done so. Doing global exposure correction usually wont cut it.