My Cousin Asked Me To Secretly Shoot His Proposal...How'd I do?

[Hof8231]

Hey guys and gals, I used to post here quite a bit, but haven't for a while. I've been doing some work with some sports and music photography, but this is my favorite gig I've had to date. My cousin asked me to candidly take shots of him proposing to his girlfriend (now fiance ) on Broad St. in Philadelphia with City Hall as the background. Since I had to be close and still inconspicuous, I couldn't use all the gear that I would have liked to. They're absolutely thrilled with the results, but I'm not too sure. My main concerns are regarding:

1. Color - Are the photos too 'cool' temperature-wise? I tried upping it but it made everything look too intense in my opinion. I've admittedly never had the greatest eye for white balance correction
2. Composition - Given the circumstances (being on the same median, wanting to get shots including both City Hall/the city and close-ups, I opted for my 70-200 on my crop sensor 7DII.

Mainly looking for critiques on those two points, given that posing, lighting, and background were largely out of my control. However, I'm open to any and all constructive criticism. Here are some images:


1.
on photobucket

2.
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3.
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4.
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5.
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6.
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[tirediron]

I think given the circumstances you did well. The colours/WB looks spot-on on my calibrated monitor, and overall I think the set is well exposed and works nicely.

 

[robbins.photo]

Well the photos look good but all in all looks like the shooting this secretly part was a fail. Your cousin obviously spotted you in shot #5. Lol

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[jcdeboever]

Nice set.

 

[Hof8231]

Well the photos look good but all in all looks like the shooting this secretly part was a fail. Your cousin obviously spotted you in shot #5. Lol

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lol my cousin was the one who knew I was there and set it all up. It was his girlfriend (now fiancee) that we were surprising.

 

[Granddad]

Nice set and will be a treasured memory for them. I particularly like the framing of #2.

 

[mrpink]

You did awesome aside from the last.... just do not like the body positioning.

p!nK

 

[PersistentNomad]

I think the color balance is nice, but it would be nice to see a little bit of a bump in saturation. Cities are loud, vibrant, colorful places, and this just doesn't reflect that aspect. Your composition is overall very good, but I do wish there was a bit more room around the couple in the one where's he's lifted her up. It's like you squeezed them into a cubbie.

 

[KmH]

Instead of adding saturation I would recommend adding about +30 of Clarity and Vibrance, 2 of the 3 Camera Raw/LR Presence set of sliders.

 

[Destin]

I love them all, except for the last one. The landscape orientation and cut off legs kill it for me. But the rest, especially 2 and 3 are wonderful.