Deb and Lance e-shoot

mmmatt · June 2, 2009

***edit*** there are some retouched images on page 2

Hello all,
Here are a few from an e-session that I shot on Sunday. Any comments or criticisms are appreciated.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Thanks for looking!

Matt

***edit*** here is part 2 of the series http://dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=133458

Swartzy · June 3, 2009

Good job Matt. Of course everyone is going to drool over that last one because of the light..and it's a good shot...but...the others should not be overlooked. You had challenges (you know and I know what they were...

) and you overcame those well. I do like the perspectives of #4 & 5 a great deal. Those worked great! #4 (and please take it with a grain of salt) needs color correction as the yellows are ruling...but, you may have desired that exact look...to my eye I was thinking if the sky was brought out more with the coloring of the buildings then the skin tones would also be in line...but that's simply my opinion.

My fave of the set is #7. Really a nice composition, great captured smiles and the essence of their wanting to be with one another. Ok, done pontificating now...

sweet caroline · June 3, 2009

Very sweet set. Looks like the couple was enjoying the shoot. #7 is beautiful.

Caroline

mmmatt · June 3, 2009

Swartzy wrote:

Good job Matt. Of course everyone is going to drool over that last one because of the light..and it's a good shot...but...the others should not be overlooked. You had challenges (you know and I know what they were...) and you overcame those well. I do like the perspectives of #4 & 5 a great deal. Those worked great! #4 (and please take it with a grain of salt) needs color correction as the yellows are ruling...but, you may have desired that exact look...to my eye I was thinking if the sky was brought out more with the coloring of the buildings then the skin tones would also be in line...but that's simply my opinion.

My fave of the set is #7. Really a nice composition, great captured smiles and the essence of their wanting to be with one another. Ok, done pontificating now...

Thanks so much swartzy! Glad you like them. Thanks for the comments on 4... not sure how I missed that, but that most certainly wasn't intentional!! Done now though.

thanks Caroline for your comments as well... not sure they enjoyed it too much... They were a little stressed about it, but I think they will be happy with these. I like 7 a lot also. Very flattering pose for both of them. That was ambient light at night, from a big yellow sodium bulb by a lower level loading dock. So yellow in fact, that I can't get reasonably good color out of it. That will probably be their favorite too.

Matt

zoomer · June 3, 2009

Challenging shoot.
I like number 7 best as well. Looks like they were having fun in that one and it is flattering to them both.

Blurmore · June 3, 2009

6 is a great shot.
7 is the best angle to flatter the lady, I'd replicate this often on wedding day and stay away from shooting her in profile. 4 is camera position is below nose level, probably not the best, I have a rule about challenging subjects that rule is NEVER shoot them from below their nose level.

Qarik · June 3, 2009

overall some nice shots!

but 1 thing..I would not present #4 to the client. The lady's chin neck area just looks really bad. Because of the lighting and her pose the chin just melts into her neck and really is unflattering.

mmmatt · June 3, 2009

Blurmore wrote:

6 is a great shot.
7 is the best angle to flatter the lady, I'd replicate this often on wedding day and stay away from shooting her in profile. 4 is camera position is below nose level, probably not the best, I have a rule about challenging subjects that rule is NEVER shoot them from below their nose level.

I'll agree with you on that one... I was definitely more focused on the comp there.

You guys are all correct about this being a tough shoot, and I'm not afraid to say that this particular challenge is new to me. This glimpse and your comments will be VERY helpful for wedding day. They don't want a lot of posed shots, but this will be helpful in shooting candids too.

Matt

dank-photo · June 3, 2009

7 and 8 are my faves...really nice light. I like their expressions in 2 and 3 a lot...love the dof in 6, but wish their expressions were more natural. Overall, great work!

beetle8 · June 3, 2009

#7 is the best,
Great tips from Blurmore *thanks*

zoomer · June 4, 2009

Try to shoot them from slightly above and at angles on the wedding day as much as possible.

VayCayMom · June 5, 2009

Nice job, of course 8 is pure magic!! Awesome job on that one! The groom to be is beaming, and you captured that well. No one has mentioned this but #5 bothers me, I think they look awkward and it seems to accent some features that perhaps are best not. His head is so far away from her head, it makes them both seem larger through the middle than they may wish to see in a photo.

mmmatt · June 6, 2009

VayCayMom wrote:

Nice job, of course 8 is pure magic!! Awesome job on that one! The groom to be is beaming, and you captured that well. No one has mentioned this but #5 bothers me, I think they look awkward and it seems to accent some features that perhaps are best not. His head is so far away from her head, it makes them both seem larger through the middle than they may wish to see in a photo.

Thanks so much for the comments. 8 was lit with a video light behind on a stand and a strobe via pocket wizard flex tt5's shooting up from the ground if anyone is wondering. I was going for the heavy shadow on the brick wall and the hot hairlight... sorta worked. I'm still doing a lot of experimenting in that regard. I wish I would have gotten more of the cast railing. Either way I'm glad you like it.

Matt

mmmatt · June 26, 2009

Well, the saga continues a bit with Deb and Lance. I tried to do some liquify and I suck at it, so I called up a guy who I went to school with who is better in PS and asked him to take a crack at it. I don't know enough about this stuff to say what is good and what isn't but to me this doesn't look natural.

Original here

and touched here

What do you guys think? Is this as good as it gets? it is an improvement but does it look natural to you?

Matt

mtmcelvy · June 26, 2009

I don't think I would have noticed the edit without the before picture.

mmmatt · June 26, 2009

thats good news! thanks

Matt

mtmcelvy wrote:

I don't think I would have noticed the edit without the before picture.

sweet caroline · June 26, 2009

mmmatt wrote:

thats good news! thanks

Matt

The edit looks good, but I wonder if it will be too obvious to people who know her. Then again, she may be thrilled. I mean, every woman wants to look beautiful.

Caroline

MA-FOTO · June 26, 2009

sweet caroline wrote:

The edit looks good, but I wonder if it will be too obvious to people who know her. Then again, she may be thrilled. I mean, every woman wants to look beautiful.

Caroline

Great edit.... but will the clients mind?
you know the clients .... tough call.

The shots are nice - crisp.

let us know who the client likes them......

Later,
_Mark

mmmatt · June 26, 2009

sweet caroline wrote:

The edit looks good, but I wonder if it will be too obvious to people who know her. Then again, she may be thrilled. I mean, every woman wants to look beautiful.

Caroline

She actually asked if I could do this and I tried but I'm just not good at this kind of thing. I will wait for a few more comments then shoot her a copy.

Matt

Qarik · June 26, 2009

sweet caroline wrote:

The edit looks good, but I wonder if it will be too obvious to people who know her. Then again, she may be thrilled. I mean, every woman wants to look beautiful.

Caroline

The actual tehnique looks fairly good..but now it appears almost not her anymore. I would leave it somewhere in between.

heatherfeather · June 26, 2009

mmmatt wrote:

She actually asked if I could do this and I tried but I'm just not good at this kind of thing. I will wait for a few more comments then shoot her a copy.

Matt

Well, I agree with Caroline. Unfortunately her neck is perhaps her most distinguishing feature...... and to take it back that much really makes it look fake. She looks beautiful in your edit though and it was a great job. I agree with Quarik that somewhere in between would be a bit better. But do make her happy. She has a beautiful face.

divamum · June 26, 2009

Qarik wrote:

The actual tehnique looks fairly good..but now it appears almost not her anymore. I would leave it somewhere in between.

mmmatt · June 26, 2009

Qarik wrote:

The actual tehnique looks fairly good..but now it appears almost not her anymore. I would leave it somewhere in between.

I'm pretty sure she will love it... she looks 20 years younger.

Matt

mmmatt · June 26, 2009

heatherfeather wrote:

Well, I agree with Caroline. Unfortunately her neck is perhaps her most distinguishing feature...... and to take it back that much really makes it look fake. She looks beautiful in your edit though and it was a great job. I agree with Quarik that somewhere in between would be a bit better. But do make her happy. She has a beautiful face.

she is a beautiful person truly... until I started editing the photos I didn't really notice as crazy as that sounds.

This is enough positive response for me to show it to her... I'll report back.

thanks folks!

Matt

beetle8 · June 26, 2009

Wow, very impressive work by your friend,

VayCayMom · June 27, 2009

Qarik wrote:

The actual tehnique looks fairly good..but now it appears almost not her anymore. I would leave it somewhere in between.

I agree, too much, backup half way.

Deb and Lance e-shoot

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