(yet another) urban engagement session (14imgs)

urbanaries

Sorry if you guys are tired of these, but I never get tired of doing them!

I'm really beating myself up for some of the technical flaws last night. It makes no sense to me that my shots from the 20D are sharper than the 40D. I used all 3 lenses (50 1.4, 17-55 and 70-200) pretty much on both bodies. One thing I just now realized (doh!) that may have thrown my ability to expose properly (besides getting started at 7:00 among tall buildings when the sun sets at 7:45) was I was trying out "highlight priority mode" with the 40D. Any tech speak on how this affects the metering would be greatly appreciated.

C&C most welcome and appreciated, as always. Ah, I love the wedding forum!

1. Smiley



2. Breaking the Scott Quier rules. Rebels!


3. It may not be Louisiana, but we can find some wrought iron, darnit!


4. The newspaper shot. It looks oversharpened in this view, maybe I need to change my smugmug sharpening settings :scratch


5. backlighteyflarey


6. I :lust my 50 1.4


7.


8. negative space


9. You guys know I'm a silhouette junkie.


10. I have been trying to do a shot like this for ages!


11. is this in need of cropping?


12. Can't decide if I love or hate.


13. Twilight reflection: good. Noise: bad.


14. get a room, geez!



Thanks for looking, and HAPPY FRIDAY!

-lynne

Ann McRae

Really, really nice. I admire your work, and hope someday to have the chance to do engagement shoots too. But Lynn, on 1 and 2 (and to lesser extent 4 and 8), skin tones look way off to me (at work, uncalibrated monitor, but usually pretty good for color). Anyway, I think they look artificially pink.
6 - 10 are particularly great!
ann

Moogle Pepper

#7, what is she looking at?
#10,
#11, maybe crop out just a little?

They look so happy together!!

urbanaries

Ann McRae wrote:

Really, really nice. I admire your work, and hope someday to have the chance to do engagement shoots too. But Lynn, on 1 and 2 (and to lesser extent 4 and 8), skin tones look way off to me (at work, uncalibrated monitor, but usually pretty good for color). Anyway, I think they look artificially pink.
6 - 10 are particularly great!
ann

Thanks ann for your comments! I did some color pop actions on the ones you referenced and I bet that is the culprit. Now that you say that, I can't believe I didn't notice it! I definitely see it in 2 and 8, although 1 and 4 (her skin at least) seems a little warmer. I think his skin needs attention in just about all of these, now that I look closer! Thanks for the feedback!

Scott_Quier

Here's what I see - comments written before reading anyone else's, gives me a better chance of actually adding to the discussion rather than piling on.

General comment - What a beautiful couple. He's good looking (yes, I can see male beauty and appreciate it) and she is just "drop dead gorgeous". I don't think you can make a bad photo of this couple. I know what it is - you hired a couple of models - just to make us all feel inadequate!:D

1. Color is off. Love the pose. Love the smiles. Not loving the cropped head.
2. Color is off. This is cute and fun. My DW calls this a "fish lips kiss"
3. Simple. Wonderful. Done with this one - nothing more to say.
4. Not liking this too much. She's alive, I'm not so sure about him. Not liking the car in the background.
5. Color looks pretty good. Love the use of the sun(?) in tihs one.
6. I have an idea what she's thinking - it shows in her face soooo well. His expression - there's something about his eyes. The photography is very cool. Love the brokeh. Even the lights in the trees don't throw me much.
7. Too bad you can't combine her from the previous shot with him from this one. That would, to my eyes, make perfect shot. And, the sidewalk is empty in this one.
8. This one is so perfect in so many ways. The light on her. His expression. The smiles. The background forces one to look at them. WOW!
9. Very nice. Your PP helps to overcome the huge blown-out sky.
10. And, you hit a home run with it this time. Composition is great. Their placement within the photo, that of the reflection. And, their interaction with each other. It doesn't get much better than this.
11. Dont' need to crop this one. It's about as perfect as it gets. Though, I would really like to see this one without the watermark, or put the watermark on the right edge of the photo - it's really, really, making a negative impact on the photo.
12. His coloring looks way off here. And, what's she looking at? It's not really clear that she's looking at him.
13. Noise - the cure is make it B&W Gotta love this interaction. Nice!
14. I like this - it's more common to see the roles reversed. This one places her in the more "aggressive" position - refreshing.

Just a quick question - how long were you with the couple? It appears you worked with them for at least a three hours, maybe longer.

Shima

The bokeh in some of these is to die for. Also I love your use of sharpness in the shots, it really makes them feel like they're popping out of the images. As always, amazing stuff!

Awais Yaqub

Hi
These are wonderful !

Swartzy

Wow do these ever suck! :D:D:D:D:D:D:DNOT

Ok, on with a few thoughts. There are a few ways these images could be processed, none of which there is a right or wrong way. What I love about your style here (and always) is that you've made wonderful use of extra saturation/yellow casts, etc. Could these be processed like Yuri's portraits? Sure! But the way you've done these are wonderful and has your vision written all over them. I absolutely love the compositions throughout here Lynne. Fabulous eye.

#2 is Awesome.

#5 blows me away....golly, I want a shot like that (can I borrow it...pretty please?)

#6.....Oh my.....how beautiful with that DOF. Personally, I would have processed the skin a bit differently with the background...but again, that's the difference in styles and vision (no right or wrong way).

Your use of negative space is remarkable and I try to emulate that at times. Very nice!

#9 is gorgeous!

#10....simply "jacks my slacks"

#13 & 14...simply to die for....fantastic..especiallly 13. I wish I sucked as bad

jeffreaux2

2,5,6,7,9,10,11(I vote no crop),13......

I agree that the color seems a tad off in some of these. The blacks are also void of any detail in some. This may be attributed to your new/uncalibrated monitor?

Great job Lynne. I must admit that I spotted the FDL's on the iron gate in #1 right away....and then in #3 I had decided that your location had a very "Orleans" atmosphere. Artful wrought iron is a favorite BG of mine....good find!

heatherfeather

I never get tired of looking at your work. These are some of the best I have ever seen of yours! Greeeat job!

I do agree that the color balance is a bit off, but you can fix that easy enough. I am loving the flair one, simply stunning. And #6 with the sparkley bokeh, oh la lah! Well done! Keep them coming!

Agnieszka

Scott_Quier wrote:

1-12

dunno

I LOVE every single one (yeah, I know ... SURPRISE!!) I think they are fun, show the couple's personality, ... you have obviously a GREAT eye for common places but the talent to show it's REAL beauty! ... Yes Scott, I agree they are not the "perfect" photos (do not take me wrong Lynne!!), but I LOVE Lynne's style and admire the post processing lust Magazine style material .... I wanted to post some wedding pics myself today ... but I think I'm gonna skip it ...

# 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 13 are killers!

urbanaries

My oh my, what have we here....:hide

First, will definitely re-evaluate some of the white balance in some, I think that may be the culprit. Her dress must not be neutral; I used it in a lot of photos.

Secondly, you guys all rock! I really appreciate all of the constructive and encouraging feedback on the set. I am leaving town (and email and web) for the weekend so until I get back, please accept my sincere thanks for all the kind words! lust

Elaine

Great set, Lynne! Love #5!!! You always capture such variety in your shoots, and natural expressions. I'm watchin' and learnin'.

I'm curious about the difficulties you mentioned with sharpness and your new cam. Care to elaborate?

david_h

urbanaries wrote:

Sorry if you guys are tired of these, but I never get tired of doing them!

Good stuff - I love urban locations.

angevin1

Yeah, and everyone could pick out crap outta there own photos...These are just splendid...bet the client is D happy!

urbanaries

Scott_Quier wrote:

General comment - What a beautiful couple. He's good looking (yes, I can see male beauty and appreciate it) and she is just "drop dead gorgeous". I don't think you can make a bad photo of this couple. I know what it is - you hired a couple of models - just to make us all feel inadequate!:D

These are real life people, promise! They're also a bit older than I although you wouldn't know it from looking at her!
I'm not sure why I'm having such trouble responding to this post...the numbers behave as if they're in a Word outline format, and not simple text. It's very frustrating, as every time I type something the numbers change.

1. Color is off. Love the pose. Love the smiles. Not loving the cropped head.

   I agree with you. I'm not crazy about some of my choices. It seemed the best expressions and exposures tended to have amputations. argh!
   

2. Not liking this too much. She's alive, I'm not so sure about him. Not liking the car in the background.

   Thanks for the straight shot!

4. Color looks pretty good. Love the use of the sun(?) in tihs one.

   Thanks, it was definitely a guessing game to get the right exposure (and focus for that matter) with the backlight, but a few frames worked.

5. I have an idea what she's thinking - it shows in her face soooo well. His expression - there's something about his eyes. The photography is very cool. Love the brokeh. Even the lights in the trees don't throw me much. I looked at that scene and instantly knew it would result in some interesting bokeh, I am glad it works for you too! This type of scene is where the 50 comes in soooo handy...not nearly enough room to shoot this at long range for the 200mm bokeh, which would have also been nice. I wish I had the room to shoot both for comparison, but I would have been roadkill.

1. This one is so perfect in so many ways. The light on her. His expression. The smiles. The background forces one to look at them. WOW!

   I am so glad you like this one, it's an unconventional angle/composition for sure! Quite shocked at your reception!

2. Very nice. Your PP helps to overcome the huge blown-out sky.

   Well....it is a silhouette shot...aren't you allowed to blow out the sky? Does it count if the sky was white?

3. And, you hit a home run with it this time. Composition is great. Their placement within the photo, that of the reflection. And, their interaction with each other. It doesn't get much better than this.

   Wow, high praise indeed! Thanks, Scott!!!

Just a quick question - how long were you with the couple? It appears you worked with them for at least a three hours, maybe longer.

Well, we got started around 7 and were done by 8:30. I bet the velocity of the changing light from shot to shot is fooling you! Plus don't forget we were in and out of tall building shadows which can make dusk feel like midnight in some spots!

Thanks for your always helpful feedback!

Scott_Quier

urbanaries wrote:

These are real life people, promise! They're also a bit older than I although you wouldn't know it from looking at her!

Well, that would explain the beautiful muscle definition in her gorgeous legs in #3. And that's all I can safely write about that.

urbanaries wrote:

I'm not sure why I'm having such trouble responding to this post...the numbers behave as if they're in a Word outline format, and not simple text. It's very frustrating, as every time I type something the numbers change.

I think the issue is that I wrote that list using the numbered bullets and you captured some of the HTML in your response. I guess, next time, I'll just stick to straight text to make life easier for all (but me).

As for the blown sky in #9 - OK, I'll give you that one and the fact that the sky was white to begin with ... OK, we'll cut you some slack on that one. But, I think I'm more used to seeing shots like this from you with some color in the sky. That's why the initial comment.

I'm glad to see that you only had 1.5 hours with them. From the photos, it looked like you had more like 3 or 4 hours and I was quite jealous of all that time. Now, I'm jealous of the fact that you got such a large number of super, wonderful, fantastic photos in such a short period of time!!

urbanaries

Shima wrote:

The bokeh in some of these is to die for. Also I love your use of sharpness in the shots, it really makes them feel like they're popping out of the images. As always, amazing stuff!

Thanks, Cat! I am not feeling like they are super sharp, so maybe I need to lighten up on that a bit! I am definitely loving the bokeh on the 50 1.4. So much fun to work with!

urbanaries

Awais Yaqub wrote:

Hi
These are wonderful !

Thanks, Awais!!!

urbanaries

Swartzy wrote:

Wow do these ever suck! :D:D:D:D:D:D:DNOT

Ok, on with a few thoughts. There are a few ways these images could be processed, none of which there is a right or wrong way. What I love about your style here (and always) is that you've made wonderful use of extra saturation/yellow casts, etc. Could these be processed like Yuri's portraits? Sure! But the way you've done these are wonderful and has your vision written all over them. I absolutely love the compositions throughout here Lynne. Fabulous eye.

#2 is Awesome.

#5 blows me away....golly, I want a shot like that (can I borrow it...pretty please?)

#6.....Oh my.....how beautiful with that DOF. Personally, I would have processed the skin a bit differently with the background...but again, that's the difference in styles and vision (no right or wrong way).

Your use of negative space is remarkable and I try to emulate that at times. Very nice!

#9 is gorgeous!

#10....simply "jacks my slacks"

#13 & 14...simply to die for....fantastic..especiallly 13. I wish I sucked as bad

Thanks, Dave!!! I did calibrate my monitor successfully over the weekend and I see a big difference in some photos, so there's definitely some redux in order, but not necessarily change the overall approach. I appreciate your take on my style, it's very helpful to see that others see "us" in our photos. I'm not sure if that sentence made any sense but I think you know what I mean!

Re:5, you can borrow anything you like!!! Imitation = flattery, right?

I would like to hear what you mean about processing the skin differently in #6 in relation to the background. I do think it is a bit overexposed now, and the WB a tad cool. Is that what you're referring to....or something else entirely? s

I couldn't be happier about #10 (although I wish she had a slightly different facial expression) but I can't say I've ever heard the phrase "jacks my slacks." Too funny!!!

Thanks for your encouragement Dave, I know we have different styles but it's great to learn from and be inspired by others, otherwise we would never grow as artists.

urbanaries

Elaine wrote:

Great set, Lynne! Love #5!!! You always capture such variety in your shoots, and natural expressions. I'm watchin' and learnin'.

I'm curious about the difficulties you mentioned with sharpness and your new cam. Care to elaborate?

Hi Elaine! Sorry for the delay in reply...just needed 20 minutes to sit down and acknowledge all the kind folks in this thread!

The variety is why I love location shooting like this so much...we literally shot everything in a 2 block stretch. :ivar

I feel like when I focus on peoples eyes, about half the time (or more) the focus plane is actually an inch behind where I intended. I haven't done controlled testing to determine whether it's user error, or whether it's true backfocusing. Here's an example from another series, the face is OOF but the shirt is in focus. (Granted, this was at f2.2.)

urbanaries

david_h wrote:

Good stuff - I love urban locations.

Thanks, David for commenting!

urbanaries

angevin1 wrote:

Yeah, and everyone could pick out crap outta there own photos...These are just splendid...bet the client is D happy!

Thanks Angevin! I do think there were times where I was too easy on myself, and looking back I set the bar too low for growth. I'm going thru a phase where I'm feeling like I can and should be doing better than I am, so at least it's pushing me.

And while the client says she liked the sneak peek of these dozen photos, she did ask, "Are those your top picks?" The doubter in me hears, she's hoping there are better than these!