first wedding, round 3

Elaine

I finally finished posting all my shots from my first wedding! I learned that I seriously need a new workflow to get through this many shots in a timely manner. Thank goodness I was just the tag-along second shooter with no obligations! Anyway, here are a couple more shots and a link to the gallery...
First, a few disclaimers:
1) I did not shoot raw. I just began shooting raw within the last two weeks.
2) As I stated already, I was the second shooter. Anything I got was gravy!
3) The dog was important to the bride (that's why there are pics of her in the gallery)!
4) I didn't include hardly any of the formal posed shots in the gallery because as the second shooter, I was not in the correct position to capture those shots. I let the main photog take care of it, although I did shoot some as back-up, just in case.
5) There are still a few shots where nice skin tones have eluded me.
6) I am not urbanaries or photogmomma! :bow

gallery:
http://e-heasley.smugmug.com/gallery/3729201#214096613

C&C is appreciated!

1 - hair in curlers before ceremony


2 - ceremony


3 - traditional cutting of the cake


4 - lots of emotions


5 - Father/daughter dance

Scott_Quier

Nice Job!

1 - looks a bit dark to me. The grain is not an issue though.
2 - Love her expression!
3 - Yup, a cake cutting. Love how you got both of them in the shot so well!
4 - I absolutely love this one.
5 - And the happy smile!

P.S. - You have some PM

schmoo

This was just second shooter practice? My god, the primary shooter has a great backup!!

What made you decide to change your workflow? If this is your older one, I would not have thought anything needed changing...

jeffreaux2

Very nice...........really very nice. I also looked at the gallery, and think that if this couple's primary photographer lost all of his work they would be in good shape with your shots. I think your PP looks great....all in good taste....and it looks like you did a good job of covering all of the goings on throughout the event. When you said you need to change your workflow, I assume you meant to be able to accomodate a large volume of photos. I don't see anything lacking in the PP work.

So are you ready to go it solo?(I think you are!!!)

I better be, I will be doing my first solo wedding this coming Saturday.

Elaine

Thanks, Scott! #4 is one of my faves, too. PM reply sent.

Thanks, Schmoo! The primary photog was actually our (very mature) sixteen-year-old babysitter! She shoots with a Nikon D50, no external flash either, and gave the B&G nearly 500 shots, auto processed (I think she uses GIMP and just pressed "auto fix")...one version color, one B&W, one sepia. She delivered these one week after the wedding. I limped along in PSE 5, spending way too much time on each shot, to the point I don't care to look at them for a long time! I don't believe I would have been satisfied with the other photog's processing, but . No disrespect to our dear babysitter (I adore her!), but if the B&G were willing to hire an inexperienced teenager for their main wedding photog, and I was along for the experience for free, then I probably shouldn't have put this many hours into it. I realized this at the beginning, but I'm not very good at letting something go without giving it my best, at that time.

Thanks, Jeff. Am I ready to go solo? No. Way.
I'm glad the pp seems to look OK...there was just too much time involved. I think that's due to not getting better shots out of the camera as well as not having a good grip on processing large amounts of photos! I'm hoping that shooting RAW and learning Lightroom will help the latter.

I appreciate all of your feedback, very much!

urbanaries

to your disclaimer including my name....in NO WAY did my first few weddings look as great as your first! so that's the true measure. You are lightyears ahead of most first timers! your images are beautifully exposed, composed and have emotion in them. Not a small feat when you're figuring out firsthand how hectic and pressure-cooked wedding days can be!

1. I love this one, I think it could use a "darks" curves boost, I think her skin needs to be a few shades lighter than the BG, right now its the same muddy gray. I wouldn't worry about blowing the dress (or you could mask the layer out) ---just a thought on processing.

2. This is a great angle that is difficult to get without a second shooter. Well done. Love the colors and her sweet expression.

3. This is very well exposed and composed! I am not a huge fan of cake cutting shots but this one works very nicely!

4. WOW. Absolutely beautiful and moving!! You got quite a few nice emotional moments of them dancing...well done!!! it's hard to do in the pitch black reception hall!

5. I love the emotions here! Not sure if the angle/crop works for me. I would have liked to see more of the sparkly tent ceiling, I think. but there's nothing wrong with the shot at all, I'm just thinking out loud!

I'm so impressed with the shots I've seen from this wedding. I think you're right, second shooting can be the best of both worlds...less pressure and more freedom!

Travis

I don't have the experience of Lynne, Jeff, and Scott in this area so I'll leave the technical C&C to the experts. I can say, without a doubt, that these images are better than most of the ones that I've seen established pros deliver. You captured not just the image but also the emotion of the event.

photogmomma

urbanaries wrote:

1. I love this one, I think it could use a "darks" curves boost, I think her skin needs to be a few shades lighter than the BG, right now its the same muddy gray. I wouldn't worry about blowing the dress (or you could mask the layer out) ---just a thought on processing.

2. This is a great angle that is difficult to get without a second shooter. Well done. Love the colors and her sweet expression.

3. This is very well exposed and composed! I am not a huge fan of cake cutting shots but this one works very nicely!

4. WOW. Absolutely beautiful and moving!! You got quite a few nice emotional moments of them dancing...well done!!! it's hard to do in the pitch black reception hall!

5. I love the emotions here! Not sure if the angle/crop works for me. I would have liked to see more of the sparkly tent ceiling, I think. but there's nothing wrong with the shot at all, I'm just thinking out loud!

I'm so impressed with the shots I've seen from this wedding. I think you're right, second shooting can be the best of both worlds...less pressure and more freedom!

Lynne stole everything I was going to say! ! #4 and 5 are just stunning....

First wedding? You must have done others in your sleep because this certainly doesn't look like a first wedding! Awesome job!

Mitchell

Elaine,
These are really great! I love the emotion you've captured on 2, 4 and 5. The angles, PP and timing are all working beautifully. Well done!!

How did you become a second shooter? Did you approach a pro you know? I'd love to do this, but I don't have a clue how to make this happen.

Elaine

Lynne, Andi, Travis and Mitchell...
You are too kind! Thanks so much! Thanks for reminding me that this was my first wedding, after all. The group here at DGrin has certainly helped me get even this far. Thanks for taking the time to comment and critique and encourage!

Mitchell...as I mentioned in my reply above in this thread, the hired photog was our teen-aged babysitter. She told me about the gig, expressed her concern and hesitation and then was thrilled when I volunteered to tag along! So, the opportunity kinda fell in my lap. It was a great experience that brought a ton of work. Maybe the results will bring more work (regular portrait type work, rather than wedding work. I don't think I'm ready for another one of those yet!).