First Bridal--CC please
Maxxamillian
Registered Users Posts: 60 Big grins
Apologies ahead of time if this is too many pics at once. It was an incredibly fun shoot and a first for me.
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Comments
The only thing I don't like is how smooth/soft her skin is in #2... But some people like that look, I don't... personal preference.
However, the balance of this set absolutely ROCKS!
I love the light. The processing in #1 just knocks my socks off!
The skin smoothing in #2 - I don't think you over-did it. This image will be treasured for a long time! I would not be surprised to hear that the B&G order a huge wall hanger of this one!
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REally nice stuff here.......keep up the good work!!!!
It is so interesting to see how subjective beauty is. Mom, bride, and I spent just over two hours whittling 500+ photos down to 24 favorites, and then those 24 down to 8 or so. The shots they identified with and the shots I would have picked vary wildly. Once I am done with this set then I will go through and play with the pictures I like
Jeremy: Skin (for me) is such a hard thing to get right...not only that, but it is easy to lose sight of what is happening with the picture's overall look. Usually walking away from it for a while and returning with "fresh eyes" fixes this. Thanks for the comment--if mom & bride do not like then I've already worked on a version that introduces more detail at the expense of a slightly desaturated palette. Thanks!
Art: You have every reason to nit about this picture. We had 10 minutes to get out of the gardens, get out of the dress, and get the cars out of the parking lot before they locked the gates for the night. Needless to say, we were a bit rushed. So stupid me, I shot it dead center. If you look at the original the bride and the (blasted) pillar are right in the middle of the picture. Mom & bride liked the shot. I could either crop the pic (and cut the train) or try and get the pillar out of the pic (doable but tedious)...I chose the lesser of the two evils. This is my "do'h" pic of the entire session (and of course, the mom & bride had to choose it...) If I had it all to do over I would have shot this earlier in the evening away from the pillar...
Once again everyone...thanks!
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1) The treatment is too soft for me, but I do see why one would like this photo
2) Cute, but for me it's too soft again + I think you overdid the skin a bit
3) I really like that one, but would brighten her face in post
4) I don't really understand why she's posing in front of that column
5) Very pretty
6) Also very pretty + sharp. Only thing that bugs me (and that might be just me not liking blue dresses). I would desaturate the dress + next time try to get out of the direct sunlight?
7) Pretty.
8) Very pretty light
9) Gorgeous but again ... blue dress ...
10) blue dress :cry + I would crop the left side a bit tighter, so it's cropped at the top left corner of the big hair-strain
11) very pretty
Thought I'd get the blues correcting the blues but it turned out to be a fairly straight-forward and painless process. Isn't it funny how far two cents can go? Thanks for taking the time--I really appreciate the candor and willingness to help out.
Let me know if you see anything else?
+1 Love it
I think the blue cast workst sometimes .. but then you need to go crazy with the rest of the pic too ... some of my favorite photographers seem to not care about the blue on their bride's dresses, but I think it only works if you go way over the top with all the other colors too
Anyway. Love what you did
You showed your client "500+ photos" and then narrowed it down to 24? You must really enjoy torture!
You should have narrowed the 500 down to less than 20 images and then had them select their favorites from there.
Neal Jacob
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#02 : I'm in the "Face is too soft" camp, but love the eyes.
#09 : Love the warmth but the horizon seems a little crooked.
#11 : Hands down, fantastic!
Great work!
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I like all of those shots.
Some pretty mixed lighting, a lot of blur in the others.
Overall a darn good set.
The column ruins an otherwise very nice shot in 4.
I really like the redo on the portrait with the bouquet, the first one looked way over cooked.
The redo's all look better than the originals.
When in doubt just click on the color cast button on the white dress and your color will snap into line.
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Photag4Christ: The mother of the bride submitted a very nice order last night, a second order this AM, and is keenly interested in seeing what else I can come up with. Using Aperture's stack and rating process makes the whittling down process easy and fairly quick (a good portion of the time was deciding on the final pics...getting the 24 down to 8 or so). Had I taken your approach I would have potentially lost a good deal of money as the prints I would have selected vs. the ones the client selected would have been VERY different. You point, however, has merit--I know I can reduce the stack sizes (and overall number of pics) on the next go round...I can find a better balance of efficiency without sacrificing customer relations. I'd be interested in how you, or anyone else for that matter, manages this process. Thanks for the input.
Zoomer: I use Nik's "white neutralizer" action--will play with the color cast button...now I'm curious. I sometimes struggle with the "going to far" thing and am happy I have a sounding board such as this. Is there anything you do to catch yourself from overdoing it?
And ah....the pillar. :cry
The blasted piller. :cry
What's worse is they ordered the shot for print...in spite of my gentle diplomacy to do otherwise
Each shot that was revised was ordered for print. The only other adjustment I made was a horizon adjustment in #9 (thanks aaronbrown!)
And thanks everyone else!!!
That is why you have to show them all 500+ pictures....never fool yourself into thinking you can pick the best pictures from a shoot. The client will ALWAYS surprise you by picking photos you think are crap.
Experience and posting in places like this will help you to define for yourself when too much has been reached.
Don't always follow the advice you get either. If you like something then don't let somebody else talk you out of it, that is how you will develop your personal style. You don't want to be like everybody else.
If you never go to far you will not grow in your skills.
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But, think of it from the client's point of view. I'm sure that many of those images were duplicate poses, etc.... so, there were repetitive images for the clients to go through.
You certainly don't have to take my advice, but I'm just speaking as someone that was schooled by togs that get multi- $thou$and$ in print sales.
The togs I know use projection sessions and ordering sessions. They sit the client down in a viewing room. They prep the client and educate them so that they know that this "Viewing/Ordering Session" will be THE ONLY time they can place an order. The whole family is there... Mom/Dad, Grandma, etc.... This way there is no "Well.... I need to check with my husband, let me get back to you." because the husband is right there in the room. Then they go through the images together in a slide show. After viewing the slide show, the tog walks through the images with the client. If the client says "no" to any image, then it is removed from consideration. They don't get another chance at it.
Neal Jacob
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If you're looking to buy a car, does the salesman say "We have an inventory of 2,000 cars on the lot right now! Let me show you each and every car!"??
Neal Jacob
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Zoomer: Great advice--much thanks!
Photag4Christ: I'm almost speechless...this flies in the face of good business sense in that the customer is provided a service that is edged with stress and with limited options due to overly restrictive policy. I would be curious what percentage of their client base repeats as customers. Additionally I would wonder at how many of their customers refer, and how many of those referrals turn into new customers. While I dont doubt the veracity of your comments (they are your acquaintances, not mine), I am stunned at the potential opportunity cost these photographers must be paying....how many more "multi-thousands" of business they are losing because of this way of running their business. While you are fortunate to have been educated by those successful in the business, I am willing to bet you can come up with a much better model that would be more richly rewarding for both you and the clientele.