Recent Bridal Shoot

[mmartin]

C&C welcome.

Full set: Christina: Bridal – Matt Martin Photography

 

[Robin Usagani]

So how did it go? She was going to get married and she wanted pics of her with the wedding gown? Is this for a wedding dress company or what? Nice job man!

 

[mmartin]

Thanks! Yeah, she wanted some pictures before the wedding day in her gown... I wish it was for a dress company.

 

[eric-holmes]

Really nice pictures. What host are you using for your blog. Very simple and well put.

 

[AverageJoe]

Very nice shot, thanks for posting.

 

[Christie Photo]

Nice goin'. I wonder if a longer focal length would have been better.

Don't let anyone give you any grief about the fingers/feet. It seems that critique has taken the place of rule of thirds.

Good use of available light.

-Pete

 

[mmartin]

Eric,

My blog is a wordpress blog with a theme from Graph Paper Press. I think that is what you were asking.

 

[Jovan1254]

AMAZING, you couldnt do anything better for this portrait. Awesome lighting, great effects, wonderful pose.

 

[Jovan1254]

additionally, what lens are you using? natural light?

 

[GeneralBenson]

Sorry to rain on the compliment parade, but I feel like there is some room for improvement. As their should be. If there was not longer room for improvement in ones photogrpahy, then it's time to hang up the camera. I think the lighting is really nice, and the pose from a macro perspective in nice. I like the s-shape of the line the start with her body and finishes with her gaze.

The arms though, despite Pete's standing order to ignore this comment, need some work. The right arm dipping so far behind the pew that it leaves a disembodied hand holding the flowers is very distracting. It's the sort of thing that goes unnoticed for a bit, because the photo has such a strong draw to the eyes and face, which is good. But once I noticed it, it ruins the photo for me.

And the other arm, I also find to be more distracting than the first. First, the bulbous shoulder. With her weight on the armpit, and letting her body slump, it raises the shoulder, making it protrude up. It would have been better to have her sit just slightly taller so the the shoulder could fall into a more natural position.

Second, the arm flab. With her weight on her arm like that, it pushes her under arm out and up, causing that lump where the shoulder should be getting slimer towards the arm. The shoulder has lost it's form, and leaves a bulbous arm in it's place.

Third, the elbow being cut into a sharp line stands out very much. Everything about the photo is soft. Soft pose, soft light, soft background, soft gaze, then we have this hard-edged terminus of the elbow. My eyes follow the line of her body, then follow the line of her gaze, then follow the line of her arm, then it feels like I've crashed into a jersey barrier. If her elbow wasn't so cut off, I feel like it would allow the gaze to continue off into whatever she is looking at.

Last, the elbow blockade turns my eyes back into the photo, which then follow the rest of the arm into the void where the hand gets cut off. Then there is nothing to pull me back out of that void. I think I would have taken a small step left to get more of her elbow, more of the window space, which would alow the viewer to imagine more what's out there instead essentially being a closed window, and then have her turn her head a little with me to keep the nose from extending past the line of the cheek. Also bring her right arm a bit more up the pew back, so it doesn't get disconnected, and bring her left hand onto her lap of somewhere that would not be cut off and it would connect the triangle of her body, gaze and arm. That way if you follow her arm back into the picture, it brings you back to her body, which brings you back to her eyes.

I'm nitpicking here, so don't take offense. The photo still works, just because it has such a strong pull to the face and eyes. Over all, great shot.

 

[SageMark]

And the other arm, I also find to be more distracting than the first. First, the bulbous shoulder. With her weight on the armpit, and letting her body slump, it raises the shoulder, making it protrude up.

Alittle PP and all is good.

It would have been better to have her sit just slightly taller so the the shoulder could fall into a more natural position.

At the angle she is positioned, it would have created a facial expression on the beautiful girl equal to one with gas.


It's a good shot, not the perfect shot I always hear people talk about, but never see. So incomparison to everyones imperfect shots I constantly see, yours is pretty good.

 

[GeneralBenson]

And the other arm, I also find to be more distracting than the first. First, the bulbous shoulder. With her weight on the armpit, and letting her body slump, it raises the shoulder, making it protrude up.

Alittle PP and all is good.

It would have been better to have her sit just slightly taller so the the shoulder could fall into a more natural position.

At the angle she is positioned, it would have created a facial expression on the beautiful girl equal to one with gas.


It's a good shot, not the perfect shot I always hear people talk about, but never see. So incomparison to everyones imperfect shots I constantly see, yours is pretty good.

I totally agree. Which is why I made sure to say I liked it, more than once. But if we're going to get anal and find things wrong for the sake of improvement (which is always a good idea), then that's what I found.

 

[GeneralBenson]

At the angle she is positioned, it would have created a facial expression on the beautiful girl equal to one with gas.

I meant to also say, that I fail to see that scenario. Sitting with better posture, while sometimes having this effect on people, doesn't always make people look like they're squeezing one out. A good model can have both good posture and a relaxed, elegant look. Although, said models are quite similar to those perfect photos you mentioned, that you always hear about, but never seem to encounter...

 

[Derrel]

Sorry to rain on the compliment parade, but I feel like there is some room for improvement. As their should be. If there was not longer room for improvement in ones photogrpahy, then it's time to hang up the camera. I think the lighting is really nice, and the pose from a macro perspective in nice. I like the s-shape of the line the start with her body and finishes with her gaze.

The arms though, despite Pete's standing order to ignore this comment, need some work. The right arm dipping so far behind the pew that it leaves a disembodied hand holding the flowers is very distracting. It's the sort of thing that goes unnoticed for a bit, because the photo has such a strong draw to the eyes and face, which is good. But once I noticed it, it ruins the photo for me.

And the other arm, I also find to be more distracting than the first. First, the bulbous shoulder. With her weight on the armpit, and letting her body slump, it raises the shoulder, making it protrude up. It would have been better to have her sit just slightly taller so the the shoulder could fall into a more natural position.

Second, the arm flab. With her weight on her arm like that, it pushes her under arm out and up, causing that lump where the shoulder should be getting slimer towards the arm. The shoulder has lost it's form, and leaves a bulbous arm in it's place.

Third, the elbow being cut into a sharp line stands out very much. Everything about the photo is soft. Soft pose, soft light, soft background, soft gaze, then we have this hard-edged terminus of the elbow. My eyes follow the line of her body, then follow the line of her gaze, then follow the line of her arm, then it feels like I've crashed into a jersey barrier. If her elbow wasn't so cut off, I feel like it would allow the gaze to continue off into whatever she is looking at.

Last, the elbow blockade turns my eyes back into the photo, which then follow the rest of the arm into the void where the hand gets cut off. Then there is nothing to pull me back out of that void. I think I would have taken a small step left to get more of her elbow, more of the window space, which would alow the viewer to imagine more what's out there instead essentially being a closed window, and then have her turn her head a little with me to keep the nose from extending past the line of the cheek. Also bring her right arm a bit more up the pew back, so it doesn't get disconnected, and bring her left hand onto her lap of somewhere that would not be cut off and it would connect the triangle of her body, gaze and arm. That way if you follow her arm back into the picture, it brings you back to her body, which brings you back to her eyes.

I'm nitpicking here, so don't take offense. The photo still works, just because it has such a strong pull to the face and eyes. Over all, great shot.

This is a very insightful and careful C&C. I stopped by the OP's web site and viewed the rest of the photos; my main concern was highlight placement and control...the highlights were on some, far too burned out for my taste. I see this a LOT with digital; I recently viewed the work of four,younger, modern "digital shooters",and saw some large exhibition prints that had poor control over the highlights. They were professional shooters, with studios,and I was appalled at the way they were letting shadows simply burn out, on photos where if the images had been shot on VPS, there would have been lovely detail AND bright highlight feeling, but basically everything in the upper values was detail-less...on the shot of this bride above, when I look at the dress and the arm on the side nearest the window, and I see a B&W conversion, with detail-free highlights, it screams to me--"The in-camera exposure was so bad it had to be converted to monochrome!"