winter wedding - part I (18 imgs)

urbanaries

The lovely and talented Llywellyn traveled long and far to shoot Michelle and Scott's wedding with me the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I'll let Kerry/Llywellyn post her shots in a separate thread. I don't want mine standing next to hers, she did such a great job!

This wedding was a real blast to shoot because unlike most clients who *think* they want photojournalism but then want all these posed shots in the schedule (making it challenging to do either very well) these two truly let me capture the day as it unfolded. It was an intimate affair, only 60 guests which was so nice. This is my last gig of the year so I'm probably going to post a lot!

1.


2. God bless her, she only had one attendant, it was such an intimate, quiet "getting ready" time, and I was lucky to be a fly on the wall!


3.


4.


5.


5. We did a little "first look" session where they saw each other before the wedding...I had him turn around and close his eyes, of course!


6.


7. He sure knows how to make her laugh!


8. a little canvas texture on this one....yay or nay?


9. The ceremony decor was absolutely breathtaking (this was shot hours before the wedding, when there actually was light outside!)


10. The couple couldn't even stay apart before the ceremony, they hung out together with their small bridal party until they walked down the aisle...


11. And 10 minutes before the ceremony started, the self dubbed "Male of Honor" finally showed up. He is best friends with the bride, and walked her down the aisle in place of her late father. He was a hoot.


12. The bride and the flower girl


13. almost time...the ceremony was lit by christmas lights and candles only (thank heaven they let me use off camera flash sparingly)


14. I am going to have to swap out those blasted guest faces! ruining the moment! :rolleyes


15. I have had terrible processional shots the last few weddings so I am so pumped these turned out ok. The shadows are a little hard, but I can live with that!


16. Yay rah radio poppers!!!


17. it's official!


The lighting was so warm, and added to the ambience, I processed these warmer than normal so appreciate your thoughts if I went too warm in some. They do look warmer in smugmug/Firefox than in CS4, now that I look at them.

Will post another thread with reception pics. C&C welcome, thanks for looking!!!

heatherfeather

These are FANTASTIC!
Oh La la! I love them all!

My fav is #6. I love the treatment, framing and emotion. Just scrumptious!

Next favorite is #13- what a cool shot! The reflections in the floor and the decorations just seem to be popping of the screen they are so elegant. You really did a great job capturing the beauty in all its splendor.

#15 and #16 are close behind with 15 being the better of the two.
I think I would like #16 a bit better if the empty row of chairs was cropped out.


I was waiting for you to share this wedding so I am glad to finally see it! Yay!
Fantastic set! Now share part II!

urbanaries

heatherfeather wrote:

Oh La la! I love them all!

My fav is #6. I love the treatment, framing and emotion. Just scrumptious!

Next favorite is #13- what a cool shot! The reflections in the floor and the decorations just seem to be popping of the screen they are so elegant. You really did a great job capturing the beauty in all its splendor.

#15 and #16 are close behind with 15 being the better of the two.
I think I would like #16 a bit better if the empty row of chairs was cropped out.


I was waiting for you to share this wedding so I am glad to finally see it! Yay!
Fantastic set! Now share part II!

Aw, thanks Heather!!! I am glad you like 6, I almost didn't post it! And 13 is one of my faves, too. I was in photo nirvana snapping away at all the details and splendor, as you say!

I agree with you on 16, definitely would benefit from a crop....I think I would lose the christmas light pole on the left, but I bet it will be worth it! Thanks for the suggestion!

And set II is up...:D Now we just need to get Kerry's amazing shots up, too! :poke

Agnieszka

You're killing me, they're WONDERFUL!!! .... EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM!!! And what's up with that shiny, beautiful floor, why do I never get locations like that???? I love your processing, I love your angles, I love the emotions ... I love the colors, the framing, the details. Uhm ... yeah, ... nice set (including the dancing shots)

So now that this was your last wedding this year .... haha, did you have a drink yet?? Cheers to being done with the season!!

urbanaries

Agnieszka wrote:

You're killing me, they're WONDERFUL!!! .... EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM!!! And what's up with that shiny, beautiful floor, why do I never get locations like that???? I love your processing, I love your angles, I love the emotions ... I love the colors, the framing, the details. Uhm ... yeah, ... nice set (including the dancing shots)

So now that this was your last wedding this year .... haha, did you have a drink yet?? Cheers to being done with the season!!

ahh, I'm having a glass of wine as we speak! And you are killing me with all the NICE THINGS you always say, considering how amazing your work is. Anyway, thank you for your encouragement! Re: the venue, I have been lucky enough to get an album into the sales office and this is my 5th wedding there in about a year, and I've got another 4 booked for '09. It is a little tough with the monstrous ceilings but I think I am getting the hang of it (finally!) Thanks for commenting!

Oh, and I wish you would have someone videotape how you work with brides and grooms (maybe that new year's wedding!?) because I seriously don't know how you get them so relaxed and how you remember creative ways to pose them and get them to interact. Maybe if you need a second shooter next year, I'm your girl!!!

sherijohnson

You did a great job!

Scott_Quier

I LOVE #6 and #7 - both have such beautiful emotion!

And #12 - that is such an intimate shot.

Can you throw up a quick diagram showing the lighting you used in #16? Or, even, a word-diagram? That would be soo cool.

Llywellyn

Squee! I've been waiting for you to post your faves. I'll say it again: I was there with you and didn't see half the shots you grabbed. Seeing how you work in person just elevated my respect and admiration for your work to a whole new level. I really love #3.

urbanaries

sherijohnson wrote:

You did a great job!

Thank you Sheri!

urbanaries

Scott_Quier wrote:

I LOVE #6 and #7 - both have such beautiful emotion!

And #12 - that is such an intimate shot.

Can you throw up a quick diagram showing the lighting you used in #16? Or, even, a word-diagram? That would be soo cool.

Thanks, Scott! These two were so crazy about each other, it made my job very easy!

I went back to look at 16 and sheesh, I was totally wrong! That one was taken with ambient light only, 17-55 IS, 2.8, 1/16th. I should have known when I didn't see any bad shadows, and you can see the lightstand in the top right hand corner that didn't fire. Shows how much I know about my own pics

urbanaries

Llywellyn wrote:

Squee! I've been waiting for you to post your faves. I'll say it again: I was there with you and didn't see half the shots you grabbed. Seeing how you work in person just elevated my respect and admiration for your work to a whole new level. I really love #3.

You're crazy Kerry! Now you see how freaked out nervous I get, and how many different times I changed the lighting....you gotta be thinking I'm insane. Thanks for experiencing this one with me, it was so fun to meet and shoot with you!

Swartzy

No words.......yea, maybe a few.....marvolous! I like the warmer tones in these as they are more about capturing the essence of mood....and extremely well done I might add. I absolutely love #13...what a great great shot! (you can tell I'm a landscape junky.....). You did a fabulous job as always Lynne and again, the processing here is a bit different than other weddings....variety is the spice of life. Oh, how much fun it would be to shoot a wedding with you.

urbanaries

Swartzy wrote:

No words.......yea, maybe a few.....marvolous! I like the warmer tones in these as they are more about capturing the essence of mood....and extremely well done I might add. I absolutely love #13...what a great great shot! (you can tell I'm a landscape junky.....). You did a fabulous job as always Lynne and again, the processing here is a bit different than other weddings....variety is the spice of life. Oh, how much fun it would be to shoot a wedding with you.

Well I am surprised no one has noticed a reason these look slightly different than my other shots to date....especially you! Any guesses?

13 seems to be going over well! I really had to stop myself, normally I am not much of a "details" photographer but it was really hard not to be with this one!

Dgrin has been such a blessing to me.... in addition to meeting Scott, Andi and Shay at WPBC last year, Kerry is now the third dgrinner to shoot a wedding with me! (to be fair, no one has shot TWO with me, so that should tell you something! )

Thanks, Dave! One of these days we'll shoot something together, whether it's in Indy or the Twin Cities! For sure.

Scott_Quier

urbanaries wrote:

Well I am surprised no one has noticed a reason these look slightly different than my other shots to date....especially you! Any guesses?

Let's see .... maybe because you bought/rented a 5DII? I'm guessing because Kerry said you had rented a macro lens that she used for at least part of the day and you might have rented the camera at the same time.

urbanaries

Scott_Quier wrote:

Let's see .... maybe because you bought/rented a 5DII? I'm guessing because Kerry said you had rented a macro lens that she used for at least part of the day and you might have rented the camera at the same time.

Almost! Just a 'regular ol' 5D. I've been tempted to make the switch and rented one to test drive for the weekend...it was nice! I think I'm done spending money on gear this year, though!

divamum

I've been drooling over the images in this thread and its siblings (including Llewellyn's!) - so, so, so beautiful. Gorgeous venue, gorgeous bride, gorgeous pictures. GaWOW.

I was thinking about all you wedding photogs yesterday - I wound up taking some pictures at a church function for my daughter, and all I could think was HOW ON EARTH do you all do it?! I'm really aware of what's going on around me from years onstage and have a pretty good eye for noticing things, but honestly - I was WORN OUT after two hours of ... well... two hours of nothing much special and it increased my admiration for all of you even higher than it already was! Trying to do that AND remember to adjust the camera settings at the same time - sheesh. Every last one of you are rockstars in my book bow

Scott_Quier

Yeah, it's not for the faint of heart. Imagine doing all that for anywhere between 4 and 14 hours with very little break. And, when you do get a break, it's when you are driving from one venue to the next so you really don't have any time to power down the brain cells. Exhausting is one way of putting it. Another way is LOTS OF FUN!

jeffreaux2

These are absolutley breathtaking. As I scrolled through I found myself REALLY wanting to take a peek at their finished album. I'm sure it will be beautiful.

I think their decision to just let you "do what you do", instead of encumbering you with a laundry list was best for them and you. I ask myself....when a clients says...."I love your creativity".....and then....."here's what I want"......why don't they just give me the car keys and let me drive if they truely like my creativity?

Again, kudos to you for getting this agreement up front. It paid off well.


-1-I have tried this on occasion, and actually got one decent one so far. Your shoe shots...on the other hand...always look like a high end ad. I think some cropping from the left would help, but the DOF is yummy, and you are perfectly focused on the right spot!

-2-I like the pj feel. I hoipe you used that window and sheers to get some good headshots?

-3-Really nice. When I think of pj I almost always see it in BW, but the color here....the warmth.....its a good thing for the image.

-4-Yes!!! nicely done!

-5- I like the stolen moment feel here. This isn't photography, it's a song.

-6-My my....WHAT a venue!!! My mouth is watering and my ears are ringing with gig envy......not that I could do it the justice that you do.

-7- Lynnes using textures......and something that is similar to a LOMO treatment....and jeff likes it!!!! ....as well as the composition. Very nicely done!

-8-Im not sure about the treatment here. Some of the detail in the upper part of her clothing is lost. It looks soft as well. It looks like a PS action. Your style is unmistakable...the treatment here is just not what I expected.

-8-Im always astonished at the pop and intensity of your BW images. This looks a tad flat. I say "nay" to the texture here.

-9-have you shown any of these to one of those high end bridal magazine editors? Me thinks ya should. Really. Do it! Now....

-10, 11, and 12- To me these are just perfectly timed moment catching of the type that really separates good pj wedding photography from the imposters. Very nicely done.

-13-good grief! just a gorgeous location!

-14, 15- I like 15 better, but they are both great shots. IMO I don't think the guests faces are bad enough to worry with. Maybe do something cropwise with the chair at lower right in 14. Thats it.

-16-Id like more explanation here...please. I have been patiently awaiting the funding for radio poppers for awhile. The lighting here is superb. Please confirm....are your 580's simply sitting on the wall shelves at frame left and right? Again....the light here is scrumptious!

-17-Shadow smay be a tad hard, but you have good skin detail in the shadows so no worries. Perfext timing here.


In all, a beautifully captured set. I like the warmth of them....and the color balance with the ambient light. You really did a great job Lynne!!! A great job!!!

Shima

Wow, wow, wow!! Lynne these are all just breathtaking!!! I love your use of lighting, whether it be natural or artificial... and your processing is to die for. Wish I could have tagged along for this one, Llywellyn's very lucky to have been able to shoot this with you! Going to go look at set #2 and comment there now

urbanaries

Scott_Quier wrote:

Yeah, it's not for the faint of heart. Imagine doing all that for anywhere between 4 and 14 hours with very little break. And, when you do get a break, it's when you are driving from one venue to the next so you really don't have any time to power down the brain cells. Exhausting is one way of putting it. Another way is LOTS OF FUN!

Hear, hear! I always ask to eat with the catering staff, because I get very worn out from being socially "on" for that many hours (and I'm an extrovert Aries!) the last thing I want to do for the 15 minutes of a 13 hour day I don't have a camera in my hand is schmooze with guests.

I am sooooo glad this was my last wedding of the year. This fall has been really taxing on my health, social life, and housework It's like a love/hate relationship, for sure!

schmoo

I don't venture outside of landscapes as often as I like but I had to see this thread. Holy smokes what a GORGEOUS wedding and perfect captures of this ceremony. I have shot one wedding this year as primary and even though I always knew it was hard, I have newfound respect to seasoned photogs like you who manage to pull great shots and keep a smile on your face the whole time.

Kerry is one very lucky photographer to have been your second foro this event. I am never ever disappointed looking at your work, Lynne!

Swartzy

Ah yes! The 5D! I love that camera even though it's a bit slower in focusing than say the 40D. Detail shots are very cool, especially when you "nail" them. That first of the shoes is seriously stellar......belongs in the port for certain! It's fun to see all the variety of processing, comps, what's in your mind's eye for different venues.....makes one versatile Again Lynne, wonderful job. They looked like a fun couple and bet you had a blast.

Shima

urbanaries wrote:

Almost! Just a 'regular ol' 5D. I've been tempted to make the switch and rented one to test drive for the weekend...it was nice! I think I'm done spending money on gear this year, though!

I think there was a sorta magical feel that happens when you first look at shots from the full frame, I really can't explain it, and didn't quite expect it. That explains a little bit now, I couldn't place my finger on it earlier!

Just remember, if you ever switch to full frame only, bye bye 17-55 usage (mine should be up for sale on the forums soon on that note...) :fles::

Elaine

What a stunning venue! Heaven for detail shots! And what a gorgeous set of photos! My faves are 1, 4, 5, 5, 13, 14, 16. Wonderful job, Lynne!