OTE - My first wedding/ a few samples

[markc]

As a starting point, do you feel like I'm anywhere within the ballpark of being close to being able to charge for weddings? I was planning on doing atleast 2 more for free and I'm doing some children's birthday parties with my fiance just for the practice.

I hope you don't take offense, but I would say no. I think you are on your way, but a lot of what I was doing in Photoshop should probably be second nature for you to do in-camera. I would say keep practicing and get as much time behind the camera as you can. There are a lot of composition skills that you don't need weddings to get good with. Just keep shooting people around you and take classes when they are available.

 

[markc]

I have to admit it was easier in the old days. We just got a good strong strobe put it on automatic and worried about the composition and being sure we got all the shots.

Having had some experience shooting both film and digital, I would say that there is very little difference between them. My 10D pretty much directly replaced my EOS5 and my method of shooting hasn't changed because of it. Sure, I can use the screen to double check images (which I don't do often), and I have to be more careful not to overexpose (which is like shooting slides), but the basics are all there: composition, lighting, etc. Setting white balance is nothing more than choosing the right film (indoor/daylight). The concepts are the same; it's just knowing how they match up.

The same thing goes for Photoshop. Levels and curves is the same as choosing the right paper and contrast filter for the enlarger, and you still have to worry about color balance for color prints.

 

[Grym]

No, I don't take offense at all. I was actually expecting to really get hit harder about my pictures than I was. I think I am really going to have to go in and do some borders, etc.

 

[markc]

Eh. Personally I think borders, beyond a simple black outline, only detract from an image. If the image doesn't work, a border will only make it worse. If you want to use a border, I'd suggest to keep it very simple.

 

[Grym]

I hope you don't take offense, but I would say no. I think you are on your way, but a lot of what I was doing in Photoshop should probably be second nature for you to do in-camera.

So, just checking because I am really just recently starting to see photography the way I see it now...to adjust the whites you are increasing the blue in the picture because the lighting is too warm...in camera I would do that through the white balance, or I could have just used flash/diffuser and ISO to get similar results, right?

I really like what you did with the whites, but on the table I liked the atmosphere I got from mine. I see that yours is a technically better picture, but I have a hard time with doing that to it. I really liked the low warm light on the table and I don't feel like it pointed out the wrinkles on the tablecloth as much...On the other hand, I like the way the silver frame and candle holders look in yours...I'll have to play with it...

 

[markc]

Yeah, I wasn't sure if I lost too much warmth, but I figured it showed what you can play with. I usually come back later to reassess. For white, yellow can make it look dirty (so I added blue).

If you get the white balance set right, white will come out white without a strong color cast. ISO shouldn't affect that. It deals with light sensitivity. A flash is closer to sunlight than most indoor lights, so yes, a flash would probably have given you a more balanced light. The problem is, if it were a weak flash, the part it lit would look look normal or a bit blue and the part it didn't reach would look yellow, as the two lights wouldn't match.

 

[bowronfam3]

Ok...here goes my $0.02! LOL! I think that one of the most important parts of shooting a wedding (and I'm sure many will disagree, however this is from a woman's perspective keep in mind!) is that you do everything you can to make the bride look like the most beautiful woman in the world. Whether it be by getting the best angles, lighting, poses, etc. Seeing as how the bride is a larger woman, I think that the angles you shot from are dreadful for her. I am a plus size woman here, so I know what I'm talking about! The selective coloring in #6 with the bride in the background...the first thing I noticed was that the little boy looked like he was cut and pasted into a different background. This angle and with the selective coloring makes the bride look huge compared to the child. I think that the selective coloring in #7 does something similar. I also think that if you do weddings professionally in the future you should think about discussing things like how the couple will stand at the alter and those types of things, so that you are assured to be able to get the right angle...lighting..etc. I hope I wasn't too hard on you, but you said you wanted critique...I wish you the best of luck!

 

[mysteryscribe]

Thanks Mark I always thought digital was like shooting slides. You have a lot less latitude in exposure. The reason I could set the camera and light on auto and just worry about the other things, is that the film had a good latitude and as long as i was careful what I had in the foreground the exposure was pretty easy to adjust in the lab.

What I did to lighten these pictures is what I would do in a darkroom. I in effect burned and dodged a little then added a hit of blue. Like you said, nothing we couldn't have done in a darkroom ten years ago. The things you can't fix are composition and like the lady said being able to shoot pleasing looking shots. I am used to a lot more strobe light so the light (color) balance isn't usually a problem for me. Also a strobe hit shot had really nicer contrast in my opinion.

By the way the only time I shot slides was when a customer held a gun to my head and then I bracketted like mad.

When you are ready to shoot a wedding is a matter of opinion. My advice is always followed by shoot shoot shoot. Nothing beats experience. The best experience is to work with a seasoned photographer but that is getting harder and harder to do.

I still say, shoot for the face and let the rest take care of itself. The largest number of complaints I heard about 'other' photographers (never me you understand) was that the pictures were dark. When you penned the customer down, so that you would make the same mistake, it was always you could hardly see the faces.

If you are trying to gain experience, find those folks who would not have a photographer otherwise, and try to learn from everything you shoot. Don't be afraid of critique it is your friend, but only if you learn from it. If you can shoot behind the 'real' photographer at a friend's wedding do that as often as you can.

However all that said, for a first effort, if you had done the digital darkroom (photoshop to you guys) things these prints would have been acceptable in a walmart world... They might not be the ten k wedding acceptable but would have been the gift for a friend acceptable.

 

[markc]

I think that one of the most important parts of shooting a wedding (and I'm sure many will disagree, however this is from a woman's perspective keep in mind!) is that you do everything you can to make the bride look like the most beautiful woman in the world. Whether it be by getting the best angles, lighting, poses, etc.

Oh, absolutely! Otherwise you are just recording the event. This is why I think photography still takes the cake over videography for weddings. As popular as video is, people still want photos. It's up to the photographer to make use of the still images to capture the event in ways that video can't. In a way, they have to capture magic.

That's why I think budding wedding photographers should shoot people as often as possible. The more situations you shoot in, better you are able to deal with what might (and probably will) come up at a wedding. The same goes for shooting various body types and clothing.

 

[Grym]

As far as plus side brides, I wanted to try to shoot from a higher angle to try to help her body type, etc., and some other things...but the situation wasn't really working out well for that...

shooting some kids birthday parties for the shooting people experience this weekend. I may post some of those to get some critique on how I compensate for lighting, etc.

I would really appreciate any tips on shooting plus side brides to make them look slimmer or at least not make them look bigger than they are...

 

[mysteryscribe]

rule one: most wedding gowns make most real world brides look about twenty pounds heavier and two inches larger in the hips. Good luck fixing that.