My first wedding photography

[kathyt]

I am confused as to what style of editing or "Theme" they/you were trying to achieve here, because to me it looks like a mixed bag and not very cohesive. In wedding photography, being cohesive and consistent is key. That is what brings referrals to you. I do not seeing this being cost effective. Stick with what you enjoy, and the style you WANT to shoot. Then it doesn't become a chore. I do see some good images, but they might need a tad more editing.

I tend to work with every photograph individually, so I try to think of what style of editing is better for each photograph, sometimes trying out different ones and chosing the one that works best. Thank you for the tips, will have to learn how to be consistent if I ever do this again.

P.S. If you could point out where or what could be edited more, that would really help.

thank you for your reply!!!

I am a huge fan of back lighting. In a lot of your images you have some really dreamy light to work with, but you're not using it to your advantage. Two things would have helped you here. A larger reflector and a speedlight. (Oh, and an assistant ) Their faces are mainly in the shadows, and that gives them that grayish tone to their faces. That tells me that thier skin is generally underexposed. In the silhouette images its no problem to not have that second light source, but I can tell you were losing light fast with nothing to fill in with. In some of the images, your subjects are way beyond the light source. So just moving them closer would help tremendously. You would still need a second light source though to fill in thier faces.

So, I wanted to add that on certain images:
4273...I would bring your blacks down to add some contrast. You will know when you are close when his jacket is less gray.
4420...she is very cool. I would warm her up.
4326...needs to be warmed up as well.

I wouldn't mind editing 4420 and 4326 so I can show you what I mean if you would like. Are you using LR or PS? Or both?

I made 4274 lighter and changed the tone a bit to fit in better with the set, thank you. (I could not find 4273, so I assumed you were taliking about 4274)
IMG_3274ed | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Thank you for offering to help out, I don't mind you editing my imiges. This would really help!
I am using PS, don't use LR.

In the future if you plan on continuing weddings, LR will be your best friend. It will save you hours, if not days of editing. For example, if you have an image in similar lighting conditions as 50 others, you can edit just that one, and then sync the others to the same settings. I still have to tweak from there, but it is a major time saver.

 

[The_Traveler]

Next time, if the groom is shorter than the bride, bring a small step stool.

 

[Chris_1071]

I did not read through all the comments so I am unsure if this has been said or not but here goes.

First and foremost, great effort for your first time out. I think you have some keepers in there that the couple is going to love. They did choose them after all.

Second, if you really want to get into wedding photography then try working as a second shooter with someone that has a lot of experience and may agree to guide you.

Third, don't be afraid to turn away clients. I shoot my own style and edit my own style. If a client ever told me that they wanted it done another way then I would shuffle them on to the next photographer. Develop and stick to your way of shooting....it's YOUR style, not theirs.

I know that when first starting out it can be tough and you are going to want to accept anything that comes along. I have been there and when I look back at those images today I always shake my head and say what was I thinking?

Be yourself, be true to your style, and do not accept anything less.

 

[D-B-J]

They wanted me to have the female in the pictures look thinner and the guy bigger (he is a little smaller than her), so I ended up resizing them in every photograph.

This is utter insanity. Either yours for agreeing to do it, or theirs. I think if someone asked me to do that I would have simply ended the interview right then and there.

I hope your next wedding will be between two sane people.

FWIW: I agree with the comments above; pick a style, any style, and do that, not three or four.

I would never alter individuals like that. Smoothing skin, fixing hair, etc, sure! But not alter bodies like that.

 

[Granddad]

In the future if you plan on continuing weddings, LR will be your best friend. It will save you hours, if not days of editing. For example, if you have an image in similar lighting conditions as 50 others, you can edit just that one, and then sync the others to the same settings. I still have to tweak from there, but it is a major time saver.

Amen Kathy!

You did some good work here. LR would have saved you hours and saved some of the too dark photos.

Personally I don't touch weddings unless the couple are broke, doing it on a serious budget AND close friends or relatives I can use the photos as a wedding present for. FOR ME there is too much stress and responsibility.

 

[Deathender]

Next time, if the groom is shorter than the bride, bring a small step stool.

I am not sure if you are joking, but that sounds like a good idea!

 

[Deathender]

I did not read through all the comments so I am unsure if this has been said or not but here goes.

First and foremost, great effort for your first time out. I think you have some keepers in there that the couple is going to love. They did choose them after all.

Second, if you really want to get into wedding photography then try working as a second shooter with someone that has a lot of experience and may agree to guide you.

Third, don't be afraid to turn away clients. I shoot my own style and edit my own style. If a client ever told me that they wanted it done another way then I would shuffle them on to the next photographer. Develop and stick to your way of shooting....it's YOUR style, not theirs.

I know that when first starting out it can be tough and you are going to want to accept anything that comes along. I have been there and when I look back at those images today I always shake my head and say what was I thinking?

Be yourself, be true to your style, and do not accept anything less.

Thank you for your advice and comments, I would have probably loved coming along as a second shooter. Would of been a lot of pressure off my shoulders.

I am not really sure if I even have a style in photography in general. I tend to approach each project I do individually, and often it seems to me that I don't really have a certain style. This may only seem that way to me, but when I see other photographer's work I usually see their define style. When it comes to wedding photography, I never thought I would ever be doing it. So it was even more pressure when I was asked to do it, since I had no idea what I would be up against and only a few weeks to figure it out before the first shoot. It turned out that wedding photography is a whole another world in terms of photography.

 

[Deathender]

I would never alter individuals like that. Smoothing skin, fixing hair, etc, sure! But not alter bodies like that.

Is it because of time consumption, or something else?

 

[D-B-J]

I would never alter individuals like that. Smoothing skin, fixing hair, etc, sure! But not alter bodies like that.

Is it because of time consumption, or something else?

Morals? It's just wrong, personally.

 

[Deathender]

In the future if you plan on continuing weddings, LR will be your best friend. It will save you hours, if not days of editing. For example, if you have an image in similar lighting conditions as 50 others, you can edit just that one, and then sync the others to the same settings. I still have to tweak from there, but it is a major time saver.

Amen Kathy!

You did some good work here. LR would have saved you hours and saved some of the too dark photos.

Personally I don't touch weddings unless the couple are broke, doing it on a serious budget AND close friends or relatives I can use the photos as a wedding present for. FOR ME there is too much stress and responsibility.

They were my friends and on a tight budget, but it didn't seem to take the presure off at all. It actually seemed more stressful than doing it for strangers.

I tried using LR before, but I still end up tweeking each image individually, and then using PS anyways.

 

[Granddad]

I tried using LR before, but I still end up tweeking each image individually, and then using PS anyways.

I use an old version of LR (3.1), I set my own presets and then tweak individually from there - I rarely get away with batch processing. Then I put them in PS and do some things that PS does better. For portraits (particularly of "ladies of a certain age") I also use Portrait Professional combined with PS. If I just used PS I could probably still achieve the results I do but with the combination of software it saves time ... but it's still a long process.

 

[kathyt]

I tried using LR before, but I still end up tweeking each image individually, and then using PS anyways.

I use an old version of LR (3.1), I set my own presets and then tweak individually from there - I rarely get away with batch processing. Then I put them in PS and do some things that PS does better. For portraits (particularly of "ladies of a certain age") I also use Portrait Professional combined with PS. If I just used PS I could probably still achieve the results I do but with the combination of software it saves time ... but it's still a long process.

Instead of Portrait Professional, I use Portraiture. I can use this in LR or PS, but some images just have to be pulled into PS. I just try not to when editing large bulks of images.