First wedding...be gentle, but honest :)

CCPhoto

Wow, I think I'm more nervous about this post than I was shooting the wedding! I was definitely NOT ready to shoot a wedding, but agreed to shoot for a great friend when they were canceled on last minute. It was "just do it" or they would have ZERO photographer. I tried to make the best of a less than ideal situation and just hope they are happy. The wedding was yesterday and here are just a few shots that I edited today. I am so sorry if I am posting too many shots, by the way! C&C sought and appreciated.

#1


#2


#3


#4


#5


#6


#7


#8


#9


#10

Surfdog

Looks like you did a great job of catching those key moments and the emotion of the day. Number 9 is awesome. Not sure what your intent was on your color images, but they seem washed out to me. Even your B&W images could use some levels adjustment to up the contrast. Overall, your client should be pleased.

Gitzo

The money shot is number 5 for me. Always looking for a moment. Any moment that stands out. Keep at it!

CCPhoto

Thanks so much for the comments. I know I have a LONG way to go and hope to eventually gain a little understanding of this side of photography. Hoping to find a local wedding photographer to learn from and hopefully second with for a long while. Thanks again!

mmmatt

some great moments for a first wedding! 6 is the best for me. I love how you used her dress as foreground blur and just caught clear focus on part of the little girls face. Very well done. I agree that overall these could all use a bit more pop.

Matt

Surfdog

It says alot about this set that nearly everyone who comments has a different favorite. I would take that as sign of a successful job.

KA0TVO

Well done :-)

WillCAD

That's a great series, Chris. I disagree with you - you obviously ARE ready to shoot weddings, since you did a great job on this one on short notice.

#3 is posed beautifully
#4 is a perfect head shot
#5 pegs the Cute Meter
#6 is a classic portfolio shot
#9 is a great candid moment capture

Congrats on a successful first wedding shoot.

mmmatt

WillCAD wrote: »

That's a great series, Chris. I disagree with you - you obviously ARE ready to shoot weddings, since you did a great job on this one on short notice.

#3 is posed beautifully
#4 is a perfect head shot
#5 pegs the Cute Meter
#6 is a classic portfolio shot
#9 is a great candid moment capture

Congrats on a successful first wedding shoot.

[reality check] Well.. 10 shots does not a wedding shooter make, but if the rest of the wedding looks like this then you have done better IMHO than most first timers. Outdoor seems as though it was an ideal overcast sky which is far different than a typical summer wedding of full noon day sun. Looking at 9 I see a ton of grain so there seems to have been some exposure issues that raw probably helped with, though we all have to push a few.

CC you did a great job for a first timer but Will, don't get him too big headed over a few shots. Not taking away from what you have shown us here CC, but there is still more to the game than what you have seen! [/reality check]

Matt

zoomer

These came out ok...nobody is going to hunt you down over the quality of these.
They will I am sure be very glad you were able to jump in and get these photos for them.

CCPhoto

I can assure you that I won't get a big head over any comments. I tend to ignore the most positive and most negative comments, for the most part, knowing that there are going to be overly positive and negative feedback. I am NOT ready to shoot weddings, but am thankful for the opportunity to help out a brother and NOT ruin his pictures completely.

Will - Thanks for the confidence and the kind words, but I have so much to learn before I'm "ready" to start booking weddings as a primary. I feel like I got some decent shots and avoided any catastrophes, but...LOTS to learn

Matt - Thanks for both comments. No worries about me getting a big head, I can assure you. Regarding #9: I had been shooting with flash throughout the majority of the reception, but tried cranking the ISO and shooting sans flash for this shot. The room was near completely dark except for a few tiny Christmas lights. I thought, even with the grain, it might fit the mood better than with flash, however; I can now see that maybe wasn't the best idea. Learning, I am! Thanks so much, again, for your time and comments.

Zoomer - I would've hoped that you, being a successful wedding photographer, would've offered something I could learn from. I'm well aware that these were "ok" and that I won't be on any Top 10 lists any time soon, which is the biggest reason for my posting here. I am just hoping to learn from those of you that are so good at what you do that you ARE hunted down. I'm sure you're just busy, but I hate that I missed out on your insight regarding what could take my photos from "ok" to "great".

pinkymaling

I will say that I like the moments you captured but here is my honest opinion and questions "hope this helps you out"

1. It seems like you were stuck shooting with one lens, am I right?
2. I'm getting the feeling of being claustrophobic seeing everything so tight
The problem with keeping everything so tight is that it can limit your loose print sales. In the future keep in mind that your sensor is going to spit out a 2x3 ratio - so if someone wanted, let's say an 8x10 to purchase -- they are going to lose an inch on each side and then more when they go to frame it -- this is just one scenario. Again just food for thought
3. Cropping in so tightly can also suck the story right out of an image. For instance: in one of the photos the bride is looking at something with her mouth slightly open. Would love to know what she is gaping at
4. So overall - perhaps trying a wider lens or don't crop in as much. The crops seem too tight for my taste.
5. It seems to me that you got stuck shooting with a wide open aperture. The images are so soft, almost too soft
6. The whites are blown out in your monochrome photos: try pulling down the reds a little or adjusting the highlights.
Otherwise learn how to use curves and levels. Oh question: Do you use "aperture" or "light room" or any other raw processing software to help with this?
7. Fill flash my friend
8. When shooting a kid -- get on there level, but this might be the look you are going for. Shoot one up high and then one on their level. That way you end up with two points of view, great for book building

I am going to agree with Matt on this one. You caught some nice moments. (by the way....Matt is the lighting master:) I wonder if there where nice moments that you didn't post. I know if you shot a wedding there are probably at the very least 400 - 600 photos you went through:) Perhaps there are more that tell a bigger story that are also better than you think they are.

I hope this helps and you keep on working on your skills with weddings. There is a lot to learn but its worth working at it. Its such a wonderful venue to shoot. So much beauty and happiness and excitement. Eventually, the technical becomes second nature.

http://www.backdrop-photography.com

bendruckerphoto

You did a great job for your first wedding. Just be careful though. Some of the shots are really noisy. If your camera can't handle higher ISOs, you have to avoid them at all costs.

zoomer

Hi Chris,
No worries, I seldom do in depth critiques. When I do it is normally because the photos were very close to being very good "in my eye".
I was giving you a compliment when I said no-one would hunt you down over the quality.
You have a long way to go to reach the point it seems you would like to be at.

The best tip I can give you is to go to the websites where the best photographers are and look at their work. Then look at your own work with an objective eye. Try to make your work look like theirs, this can be accomplished with a LOT of study and practice. If you put in the work you will reach your goals.
Best of luck to you.

nicoleshilliday

zoomer wrote: »

Hi Chris,
No worries, I seldom do in depth critiques. When I do it is normally because the photos were very close to being very good "in my eye".
I was giving you a compliment when I said no-one would hunt you down over the quality.
You have a long way to go to reach the point it seems you would like to be at.

The best tip I can give you is to go to the websites where the best photographers are and look at their work. Then look at your own work with an objective eye. Try to make your work look like theirs, this can be accomplished with a LOT of study and practice. If you put in the work you will reach your goals.
Best of luck to you.

I agree with Zoomer, research ask for advice. Try to match their processing techniques, but keep your own style. I shot many weddings for free before i started charging. I still have a long long long way to go and I have been doing this part time for 5 years professionally. I look back on my first wedding and cringe. But I get a little more creative every shoot.

I used to process the heck out of my photos in the beginning but I am learning now that a lot of processing just covers up the moment in the photo. If the processing doesn't add to moment then take it back a little.

Do you use photoshop? or something else?

Less is sometimes more.

MelmoK

For a first wedding with no real warning I think you did a good job. While there are many technical issues with some of the photos, the B&G are sure to have some wonderful photos of their special day to cherish.

Matthew Saville

You have a great eye, and that's what matters most. Just keep practicing. Preferably NOT as the primary photographer at a wedding; you can get plenty of practice shooting candids at random GTG's, and you can practice portraiture any time someone is willing to get in front of your camera.

I would however take another look at the processing of the images. What camera did you use? Did you have to bump up the exposure in post a lot? I'm assuming that the original images have a lot of potential, if you shot them on a recent generation camera and got your exposures close. And of course I would also lose the soft focus; the images can stand on their own without it.

It will take years and tens of thousands of images to find your style and perfect your shooting / processing technique, but like I said, at least you have the eye.

A great portrait has one or more of these four things nailed: Light, composition, pose, or timing. If an image doesn't have at LEAST one, and preferably two or three of these factors contributing to it's artistic value, then it's not worth keeping. I see a lot of decent light, timing, and composition in your images, for example...

Good luck!
=Matt=

CCPhoto

I'll try to address everyone, but if I miss someone it wasn't on purpose:

pinkymaling - Thank you. I have MANY more photos, but just put up 10 that I quickly processed the day after the wedding (so the B&G would have something to tide them over while waiting on the rest). I actually haven't even gone through all of the shots from the day yet. That post is very helpful and gives me several things to specifically look for. Much appreciated!

Ben - I'll take that into consideration. I've read (on this forum) both schools of thought, so it gets a little confusing. Some say "avoid cranking the ISO at all costs" and others say "don't be afraid to really crank the ISO". I will be more aware of this in the future.

Zoomer - Many thanks and so sorry I misunderstood your meaning regarding being "hunted down". I follow you now!

Nicole - I use CS4 right now. I know how important it is to get PP technique down and that I have a long way to go. It's very easy to get heavy handed with the PP, especially when you know there are technical flaws with your images and lack confidence. I will make an active effort to cut back on PP, improve my technique and learn to let the image stand on it's own.

Matt - Thanks so much for your time and insight. I will continue practicing, mostly doing portraiture. I do a bit of on-site, outdoor photography and stay fairly busy with that. It will give me more and more opportunity to learn my camera and technique. I just recently got into photography at all and have to tried to teach myself as much as possible and spend a great deal of time on the forums, trying to learn from those of you with much more experience. I feel like I've learned a great deal in my 7 months of shooting, but that only covers a few of the basics.

I am currently shooting a D300s (just upgraded from my learner camera, D60) and it is obviously much more camera than I started learning on. I believe I am comfortable enough with the layout that I can operate it in the dark, but just need to continue learning how to take advantage of the camera's abilities. Regarding exposure, I bumped it up too high in PP. I felt like exposure was good out of camera, but didn't trust myself so I bumped it up. I have all the RAW files, so I can easily fix the exposure and won't bump it this time.