My First Wedding!

Will Chao · Apr 15, 2011

Hello guys, I'm 16 years old and from Australia, I recently began photography as a hobby (or maybe profession). A year later I finally got the chance to photograph a friend's wedding, hope you enjoy and please don't hold back any constructive criticisms! Thanks.

Location: Brighton Beach, Melbourne

Gear: D700 gripped + Nikon 35 F1.8G (Yes it's DX) + Nikon 70-300 F4.5-5.6 VR

Drake · Apr 15, 2011

I don't dig most of the B&W ones, mostly the last one, but the rest is really great. I wouldn't say it was your first wedding. There are quite many shots and you haven't numbered them, but most of them seem well thought out, and some are just spectacular. I also like the post processing of many shots. But you've used pretty many PP styles, I am wondering if it will look good in an photo album, as a whole. I've always imagined (and seen) wedding albums containing photos mostly in one style. But that's just a thought. Love your work.

Will Chao · Apr 15, 2011

Drake said:
I don't dig most of the B&W ones, mostly the last one, but the rest is really great. I wouldn't say it was your first wedding. There are quite many shots and you haven't numbered them, but most of them seem well thought out, and some are just spectacular. I also like the post processing of many shots. But you've used pretty many PP styles, I am wondering if it will look good in an photo album, as a whole. I've always imagined (and seen) wedding albums containing photos mostly in one style. But that's just a thought. Love your work.

Thanks a lot for your feedback Drake, the B&W was pretty much used as a last resort as they didn't look good in color, but turns out it doesn't look good in B&W either :-(

Double H · Apr 15, 2011

"...but turns out it doesn't look good in B&W either :-("
If it doesn't look good in color, b&w won't help.
You have a great eye. It looks like you had a good relationship with the couple and they felt comfortable trying all of your ideas. You must have had a lot of time, or you hustle your tail and have an assistant. Great work. One of the picnic shots I'd like to see more of their faces (they are to the far right of the frame). Your processing looks good also. There were a few where the dress wasn't totally white. I think it's important to keep the dress white.
Keep shootin', Tex.

LarissaPhotography · Apr 15, 2011

Looks like you had a while to "play around" with the bride and groom. If you can continue to experiment with different shots, you'll continue to grow as a photographer. Just make sure to mix your experimenting with looking at the work of amazing photographers and learning as much as you can.

g-fi · Apr 20, 2011

These are awesome for your age! You have a lot of potential ahead of you! Now, please please PLEASE step away from the vignetting. It's so overdone, and so heavy in most of the shots where you've used it, and I think that it really takes away from what are otherwise very nice shots. You have some great shots, don't kill them with your post processing.

Robin Usagani · Apr 20, 2011

I have a lot of photos that look bad in color because of light mixing that usually cant be avoided.

Double H said:
"...but turns out it doesn't look good in B&W either :-("
If it doesn't look good in color, b&w won't help.
You have a great eye. It looks like you had a good relationship with the couple and they felt comfortable trying all of your ideas. You must have had a lot of time, or you hustle your tail and have an assistant. Great work. One of the picnic shots I'd like to see more of their faces (they are to the far right of the frame). Your processing looks good also. There were a few where the dress wasn't totally white. I think it's important to keep the dress white.
Keep shootin', Tex.

Paul D. Van Hoy II · Apr 20, 2011

Will, great images - especially with this being your very first wedding!

You've got a great eye for composition and I love your post processing style.

My only suggestion would be to encourage more natural interaction from your subjects.

You can still pose and position them as you choose, but direct them a bit more and try to elicit natural smiles/laughter and play between the bride and groom.

Paul

NayLoMo6C · Apr 20, 2011

this is pretty phenominal for having only a years worth of experience. Kudos to you kid

kric2schaam626 · Apr 23, 2011

These are great! Just a few in there that I would alter, like the one where his ear takes up 80% of the frame, but otherwise, great job!

Icarus Image · Apr 23, 2011

If you're already doing this good of work at 16, you probably don't need to go to art school. Get a business degree, at least a minor. Your natural talent behind the lens will take you plenty far enough.

As far as your post processing, definitely back off the vignettes or learn to make a more subtle one. The built-in vignettes in lightroom/raw/aperture are horrible and so is the basic action for vignetting that comes packaged with photoshop. You can check out other actions, make your own, or just learn to dodge the edges by hand so you have better control. There's a few images as well that seem a touch oversaturated, but that can be intentional and stylistic as long as you keep it under control.

This is a great start for sure!

Markw · Apr 23, 2011

Man, I'm really sorry to be the bubble burster here, but each one seems to be oversaturated and overexposed. Maybe besides one or two. Maybe you like that, but it's something that I really dont, personally. It would be good to be able to see some detail in the dress...somewhere. Some are blurry, and most seem kind of soft.

That being said, you do have a great eye for composition and posing. Definately keep that up and I'd just try to back off of the PP just a tad and see if you like it. Take a more natural approach, see how they turn out. If you don't like it, you can always go back to the supernova effect you've got going on here.

Overall, nice series. :thumbsup:
Mark