July 18. Wedding

donek · July 19, 2009

This is number 5 for me this summer. I think I'm getting a bit better at it, but would love some constructive feedback.

I'll start with a few details

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nicoleshilliday · July 19, 2009

Great story! One of them has a cut off foot...i would crop closer, but i really like your work! I love an outdoor ceremony! 9, 14, and 15 are all wonderful moments captured on "film". Also, great detail work!

Scott_Quier · July 20, 2009

Here's my take:

Simple. A little under exposed? Ummmm ... what are the jewerly pieces?
:cry The gown is to be the center of attention, however it's the pillars and supports that draw attention. And the very bright background folliage. Additionally, the gown is kinda formless as it's hanging there. Doesn't work for me.
Very nice. I think I would do something about the huge blown area in the upper left of the frame. Aside from that - a winner.
Another winner. I wonder if this isn't a bit underexposed? Usually these sort of chairs are very white and they are coming across as very gray in this photo.
I think I would re-crop this to portrait orientation to get rid of some of the distractions on the left of the frame.
Just very nice. You did a very good job of making sure the dappled light wasn't on any faces and you seem to have a very well exposed image - even in her gown!
:cry All the blown area above them. Granted, sometimes it is what it is. I'm thinking a bit of flash would have allowed you to better control the dynamic range of this image.
I love his total attention on her. He is very, very focused. Nice capture!
I have to ask, "What's with his hand on her chest?" And, his eyes are closed! I would crop the MoH out of the shot, she's not adding anything and you don't have enough of her to be useful.
A bit of fill flash would have enhanced this quite a bit and would have allowed you to better control the dynamic range (blown upper left and right corners).
A tighter crop might be in order. Or a vignette?
One of the best of the set! They are so into each other and you captured the moment so very well! Too bad about having cut off his right hand. A tighter crop might fix that.
:cry Dappled light is almost never a winner and it seriously detracts from this shot. The posing, though - very nice. I would have liked to have seen just a bit more seperation amongst the groomsmen, but this posing works.
:cry Fill light, just a bit, would have helped quite a bit without destroying the feeling of the moment. This might come off better in B&W. Also, I think I would do what I could to burn in the background a bit. Maybe a strong vignette?
I love her free expression of happiness and he seems to be really enjoying it. The flare opens the possibility/need for some alternative processing - use that flare to advantage to make this a more artsy shot. Maybe convert to B&W?
For her expression. Don't know if she's hamming it up or if it's real, but it's a memory. Would have loved to have not seen the DJ lights and to have seen more spectators in the shot - but it is what it is!
Not yet finished. Convert to B&W, clone some abstract gray matter into the upper right corner, burn in the background just a touch and you have a keeper. Too bad about the shadow on her arm and upper face though.
Just a nice context shot - always nice to have. Well executed. I can't tell if you have a problem with level horizon here.
It's a reception shot - well done in that you have captured the ambient quite well. I'm wondering if a B&W might not be better though - maybe?

donek · July 20, 2009

Scott,

Thanks a ton for the critique.

Scott_Quier wrote:

Here's my take:
2. :cry The gown is to be the center of attention, however it's the pillars and supports that draw attention. And the very bright background folliage. Additionally, the gown is kinda formless as it's hanging there. Doesn't work for me.

I was left a little undewhelmed by the gown and found I was at a loss as to what to do with it. Any suggestions or bright ideas when faced with something rather plain like this?

Scott_Quier wrote:

Here's my take:
7. :cry All the blown area above them. Granted, sometimes it is what it is. I'm thinking a bit of flash would have allowed you to better control the dynamic range of this image.

I seem to be struggling with the fill flash and retaining the sky. It's something I mean to put a lot of work into soon.

Scott_Quier wrote:

Here's my take:
9. I have to ask, "What's with his hand on her chest?" And, his eyes are closed! I would crop the MoH out of the shot, she's not adding anything and you don't have enough of her to be useful.

The groom was noticing and examining her necklace. I felt it would be something she would probably appreciate, but probably not the best thing to be showing off here.

Scott_Quier wrote:

Here's my take:
13. :cry Dappled light is almost never a winner and it seriously detracts from this shot. The posing, though - very nice. I would have liked to have seen just a bit more seperation amongst the groomsmen, but this posing works.

I had picked the location earlier and the light hadn't been a problem. I was having such a tough time getting anyone together for any of the formals that I was afraid to move even 50 feet for fear of loosing them.

Scott_Quier wrote:

Here's my take:
14. :cry Fill light, just a bit, would have helped quite a bit without destroying the feeling of the moment. This might come off better in B&W. Also, I think I would do what I could to burn in the background a bit. Maybe a strong vignette?

Still the fill flash. I need work there. I was trying to preserve the colored lights from the DJs lighting. I was afraid fill would kill it totally.

Scott_Quier · July 21, 2009

For the dress - here's a couple or three ideas:

1. As it was - I took this image because I knew what I wanted (see next image) but was not sure I would be able to pull it off. So, I took a safety.

2. This is the result of a different exposure and a bit of work in post

3. One of my earliest successes

donek wrote:

The groom was noticing and examining her necklace. I felt it would be something she would probably appreciate, but probably not the best thing to be showing off here.

I don't know that there's any problem showing it here. It was just something I've not seen before so I asked. I agree - this is probably a shot that the B&G are going to really appreciate later if they don't already.

donek wrote:

I had picked the location earlier and the light hadn't been a problem. I was having such a tough time getting anyone together for any of the formals that I was afraid to move even 50 feet for fear of loosing them.

I know the feeling. You scope a place out and then it changes in 1/2 hour. There's only two ways I know to counter that problem. The first is to scope it out sometime before the wedding day, at the same time of day. The other is to observe a bit better - what do you have for cover, where is the sun, where is the sun likely to be in 30 or 60 minutes.

As for the fear of loosing them, I ask the bride to provide me with someone how knows everyone at the wedding. This is usually one of the bridesmaids or friend of the family or the wedding coordinator. Someone. The B&G are paying the photographer to capture moments and images. The photographer is not being paid to round everyone up or to make sure they stay where they are supposed be. That should be one someone who is getting compensated for that work (and compensation doesn't need to mean being paid

). If you allow the B&G to take a little ownership of the process, things usually turn out better and you don't get quite so stressed.

Heather's idea of delivering a schedule to the clients (the B&G) before hand is also something that has promise. I haven't tried that yet - I just read about it in another thread, but would seem to have some merit - again it let's the clieint take some ownership of the process .... and it helps them "Be where you need to be, when you need to be there if you want the photographs you've indicated you want to have."

donek wrote:

Still the fill flash. I need work there. I was trying to preserve the colored lights from the DJs lighting. I was afraid fill would kill it totally.

Fill flash does not (and should not) blow out the ambient light. As you continue your research and practice, come to understand a technique called "Dragging the Shutter". This might be a good place to start that process. Basically, dragging the shutter is setting your exposure settings to allow for the capture of the ambient light (much like you did for this photo), then adding just a bit of flash to the mix. This "just a bit of flash" will usually (but not always) be something in the neighborhood of -2/3 to -5/3 of a stop less then ambient. On a Canon camera, use manaul mode, set your exposure for the ambient (maybe 1 stop less than ambient if you want to bring ambient down a bit) then set your FEC to something in the range of -2/3 to -1 2/3 stop. Doing this, the flash will not over-power the ambient but will complement it. This is one of my more successful shots using this technique:

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EXIF: ISO 800, 1/25s, f/2.8 Of course, flash was off-camera, but the technique is the same as using an on-camera flash except you don't have the facility of using FEC - you have to do all the math in your head instead of using the computer in the camera to calculate the FEC. Just remember that you use the shutter speed (in addition to aperture) to control extent to which ambient light contributes to the exposure and you use the aperture to control the extent to which flash contributes to the exposure. So the longer the shutter speed, the higher the ratio of ambient:flash in your exposure.

July 18. Wedding

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