Where I've Been Plus "Second Shooter" At A Friends Wedding (C+C)

[MelissaMarieImagery]

Hey everyone! Long time no chat Things have been very busy on my end, I recently quit my job at Target Portrait Studio for a better studio job over in the mall. It's still the same concept, photographing families/babies and then selling collections of photos to them after, however this job is paying me by the day for Photography, and I get commission on any sales I do. It's been a crazy few weeks, but I really love it there, and everyone is very impressed with me. It's also great because I have a LOT of freedom. When I worked for Target/Lifetouch they had guidelines that needed to be followed - you were mandated to make sure you got a certain number of vertical/horizontal shots, and specific poses (full body, 3/4, extreme facial closeup, etc), and they had only a few props, which were mediocre at best.

At the new place I can shoot however I want, use their wide variety of props, shoot however the mood strikes me, and best of all-- Use my OWN camera!

I'm making a significantly larger amount of money, and where I was only working a few hours a week at Target I am working Full Time at this new place, for much more respectible pay (Still not "mindblowing" but better than the $8 an hour I was making over at the other studio).

Missed it around here

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So, the real purpose I suppose for this is to actually share a few photos from a friends wedding I attended on the 3rd. She had another Photographer friend already covering her ceremony/reception, but I also offered to do it because my friend can never have enough photos-- especially on her wedding day!

99% of them are Candids, but they loved them. Hope you guys enjoy them too. And you can check out the other 20 selected shots here at My Photobucket

C&C is always welcome-- and I was shooting with an 18-105 lens with a Nikon external flash. I've never shot a wedding before- be gentle lol.


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Also, their wedding song was Ben Folds- I Am The Luckiest, so I doctored this up for them.

 

[IgsEMT]

I've never shot a wedding before- be gentle lol.

ok you're off the hook...
BAD: your lighting is flat and direct as it seems in the first image ESPECIALLY.
Good: You have an eye for details and especially emotions. I like the selective color post processing and it adds to the image.
Uncategorized: Maybe it is my monitor but images seems to be a bit dark.

Good Luck and happy shooting. :thumbup:

 

[MelissaMarieImagery]

The darkness is because I was shooting from pretty far away, light was falling on the subject but I couldn't get as close as I wanted -- also, it's possible when I did some burning around the edges for the vignette I got too close to the central portion of the image.


Thanks for the advice

 

[camz]

I think almost every wedding photographer out there first started by taking pictures of their friends wedding

I think you did capture the emotions in your shots and I must say the details are covered pretty well for your first wedding. I think what lacks is the incorporation of the guests in your shots. To me it looks very lonely b/c on most of the shots it's only the couple. I would shoot with my back towards the head table as well in order to have the croud included in the background. These are the reception shots so you also want to tell the story that "it's partay time!"

 

[MelissaMarieImagery]

I think almost every wedding photographer out there first started by taking pictures of their friends wedding

I think you did capture the emotions in your shots and I must say the details are covered pretty well for your first wedding. I think what lacks is the incorporation of the guests in your shots. To me it looks very lonely b/c on most of the shots it's only the couple. I would shoot with my back towards the head table as well in order to have the croud included in the background. These are the reception shots so you also want to tell the story that "it's partay time!"

Smart idea, I guess I just wanted to make sure the bride and groom got to have a lot of photos of them togeather, I feel like I got to capture some moments that were very intimate, and personal for them. I definitely understand about shooting more of the guests, though.

I actually photoshopped some people OUT of the images you see, because I wanted them to be intimate and personal. Perhaps they look more lonely than intimate, though?

If I was the ONLY shooter, I would have done more of the guests/decor and make sure everything is covered, but since I know she had a photographer I was really more looking for images that were going to a) look great for/of the bride and groom, and b) perhaps be useful in my portfolio.

I will certainly make sure to keep that in the back of my head for the next wedding I go to/shoot, though Thanks!


Any other opinions?

What would you guys reccomend for lighting?

 

[epp_b]

I agree, the lighting is very harsh. Figure out the best technique for diffusing your flash, whether it bouncing, shooting through a softbox or what-have-you.