Cold outdoor wedding.

BuddyLee

It was 40 degrees and a little breezy, but that didn't stop this couple. Here are a few shots of the many... not even sure I'd call these my favorites yet, but I like them. I did learn it can be difficult to shoot a tall person with a not so tall person. I'll take any feedback, ideas i can get.

1.


2.


3.


4. This one, the flash totally misfired and I'm still not really sure what to do with it. I had to push it pretty far already.

r3t1awr3yd

I personally love the last shot. I'd bump the sat, clone out the ceiling lights and wall socket and light stand leg in the bottom right, and maybe bump the curves a smidge.
Other than those little things, I seriously love that last shot.

BuddyLee

r3t1awr3yd wrote: »

I personally love the last shot. I'd bump the sat, clone out the ceiling lights and wall socket and light stand leg in the bottom right, and maybe bump the curves a smidge.
Other than those little things, I seriously love that last shot.

Thanks for the feedback! I have a few shots that are basically the same lighting with different lifts. So I want to make them consistent. Definitely planning on cloning everything out. I'll try the saturation, etc as well. When I get something I like better, I'll repost.

Matthew Saville

I apologize in advance for being harsh. Read the following input at your ego's own risk!



1. The tilting doesn't work for me. I know he's tall and she's short, but everything being on a slant is worse than that minor issue. If you think about it, she probably LIKES how tall he is. So let him be tall!

Also, the depth of field is way too deep for me in this shot. The officiant is almost as sharp as they are, let alone the fact that the trees and background behind them are even more distractingly close to being in focus. Next time, pay very close attention to your background, and either by way of composition or shallow aperture, minimize distractions.







2. Are you shooting this image at wide angle from close up? The perspective is just not a good portraiture perspective. Maybe you're attempting to make her look a little taller by going for that low-angle, heroic pose. But again, the background is way too in-focus, the horizon line makes her shoulders loon weird and everything else just makes it very difficult to discern her figure. Which could have been showcased very nicely since she's slim and pretty.

So instead of shooting this shot wide and close, definitely step back, zoom in, and open up. I like to shoot full-length bridal portraits with an 85 prime, either on full-frame OR crop, and the background just melts away.

It is important to note that I *AM* also a landscape photographer so I don't casually throw out advice concerning shallow depth. I totally understand if a photographer wants to stop down and get the background a little more in focus. But there is a need for each type of portraits in wedding photography, and this is an incorrect mixture of both. If you want to showcase the environment around her, you have to think really hard about the composition, the shot has to stand on it's own two feet even if you were to REMOVE people from the composition. OR, if you want to showcase the person, the background doesn't HAVE to be blurred, but it definitely needs to be clean and un-distracting...






3. Same advice as above. This is a close+wide image and you should either step back and get a more powerful composition of the environment, OR step back AND zoom in, getting a more powerful portrait of just them. In this image for example, the background of the door is distractingly similar in tone and shape. The way those little square windows "touch" his hair, my eyes just get messed up when trying to look at them...






4. The image and the lighting in this image look fine, and I don't think it's "messed up" or anything. If I had to pick something about the image, I'd say the light isn't exciting enough, and the background is once again distractingly in focus.

I have a long-standing vendetta about this that other D-Grinners have probably already heard enough about, but here goes- Reception lighting needs to reflect the ambient feel of the venue, in at least a few shots though maybe not all. For the 1st dance, I definitely believe the ambient light needs to be showcased at least a couple times. The trick? Don't go bouncing perfectly directed flash for EVERY shot. Don't be afraid of deep, dark shadows. Darkness is emotive; just think about any romantic movie and how the "intimate" scenes are depicted. It is okay to have a little grain, it is okay to have a little blur. If you're not sure you can envision what I'm talking about, I think there are one or two examples of what I'm talking about on my blog...

Again, sorry if this was too harsh for you; I just had a few minutes and thought I'd chime in...

BuddyLee

Thanks for the feedback. I don't take this as harsh. I wouldn't post work for photographers feedback and expect any less. This is really the kind of feedback I'm looking for. I know my clients are happy, but if I go by the opinion of only my clients, I'll never grow my craft. So again, thanks.

Looking through the photos for a couple of days now, I'm actually finding many more I like better than what I have posted. One issue I had during the portrait work was how cold the bride was. It became very apparent I needed to just... get it done. Not an excuse really, but reality. Luckily they are happy with the few samples... but I'm going to take some of your advice here and edit some of the portraits down. I do have a couple wide of the porch shot I'm hoping to create something very nice with.

Matthew Saville wrote: »

I apologize in advance for being harsh. Read the following input at your ego's own risk!



1. The tilting doesn't work for me. I know he's tall and she's short, but everything being on a slant is worse than that minor issue. If you think about it, she probably LIKES how tall he is. So let him be tall!

Also, the depth of field is way too deep for me in this shot. The officiant is almost as sharp as they are, let alone the fact that the trees and background behind them are even more distractingly close to being in focus. Next time, pay very close attention to your background, and either by way of composition or shallow aperture, minimize distractions.







2. Are you shooting this image at wide angle from close up? The perspective is just not a good portraiture perspective. Maybe you're attempting to make her look a little taller by going for that low-angle, heroic pose. But again, the background is way too in-focus, the horizon line makes her shoulders loon weird and everything else just makes it very difficult to discern her figure. Which could have been showcased very nicely since she's slim and pretty.

So instead of shooting this shot wide and close, definitely step back, zoom in, and open up. I like to shoot full-length bridal portraits with an 85 prime, either on full-frame OR crop, and the background just melts away.

It is important to note that I *AM* also a landscape photographer so I don't casually throw out advice concerning shallow depth. I totally understand if a photographer wants to stop down and get the background a little more in focus. But there is a need for each type of portraits in wedding photography, and this is an incorrect mixture of both. If you want to showcase the environment around her, you have to think really hard about the composition, the shot has to stand on it's own two feet even if you were to REMOVE people from the composition. OR, if you want to showcase the person, the background doesn't HAVE to be blurred, but it definitely needs to be clean and un-distracting...






3. Same advice as above. This is a close+wide image and you should either step back and get a more powerful composition of the environment, OR step back AND zoom in, getting a more powerful portrait of just them. In this image for example, the background of the door is distractingly similar in tone and shape. The way those little square windows "touch" his hair, my eyes just get messed up when trying to look at them...






4. The image and the lighting in this image look fine, and I don't think it's "messed up" or anything. If I had to pick something about the image, I'd say the light isn't exciting enough, and the background is once again distractingly in focus.

I have a long-standing vendetta about this that other D-Grinners have probably already heard enough about, but here goes- Reception lighting needs to reflect the ambient feel of the venue, in at least a few shots though maybe not all. For the 1st dance, I definitely believe the ambient light needs to be showcased at least a couple times. The trick? Don't go bouncing perfectly directed flash for EVERY shot. Don't be afraid of deep, dark shadows. Darkness is emotive; just think about any romantic movie and how the "intimate" scenes are depicted. It is okay to have a little grain, it is okay to have a little blur. If you're not sure you can envision what I'm talking about, I think there are one or two examples of what I'm talking about on my blog...

Again, sorry if this was too harsh for you; I just had a few minutes and thought I'd chime in...