yeah, my sis got all the looks

Karrie McD

So, this is what I ended up with when I had a beautiful location and a beautiful model (my sis). I got home after this shoot of my sis in her wedding dress and am not as happy as I thought I would be with the photos. I can't put my finger on exactly why though...

1.


2.


3.



4.


5.


6.


7.


8.


9.



10. (yes, over played, but I like selective coloring)


The ideas here are beautiful...but maybe my exposures are off, my processing is off, my eyes are off :scratch
I know her dress is blown out in a few photos, that is distracting.

Don't get me wrong...I love love love these photos...just somethings off...

Scott_Quier

Wow - these are great! I've been waiting to see how these turned out for you and I'm just blown away by them.

My favorites, in no particular order, are: 1, 2, 4, 6, 9

I would probably go (more) nuts if I had to narrow it down any further than this...

bfjr

#4 for me

Like the lines

Icebear

Good Lord. #6 (Mia Farrow) takes my breath away. They're all wonderful. #3's a bit contrasty for my taste.

heatherfeather

#6 is incredible- I love how soft she looks amongst the rubble!
Supurb job!

saurora

These are all great but number 6 is by far my favorite!!! What a great site to shoot from, I'm green w/envy! I really like the toned shots a lot, the setting seems to be suited for toning. I think it's especially hard when you are shooting someone you know very well to capture that 'perfect' shot, because you are looking for an expression that you've seen before. One that says "this is my sister". You did very well!

evoryware

Great shots! Faves are 5 and 9!

GP Images

I agree about #3 being a bit over done. The rest are awesome! Beautiful subject and some great photography.

Qarik

I think they look pretty good. 2 and 9 are my faves

Dee Lirious

thoughts from a newbie grinner

Don't get me wrong...I love love love these photos...just somethings off...

Iwas coming here to post my intro, started lurking, and your thread caught my attention. Here's what I think, for what little it's worth:

There is nothing wrong with the images at all. The problem lies within you. The fact that you placed your beautiful sister in her beautiful wedding gown, barefoot, in an overgrown field, and around a dilapidated building tells me that you see beyond her aesthetic appeal. Something tells me that your definition of beauty where she is concerned also includes her spirited sense of self.

Not many brides would have gone for this setup but she did and you did an amazing job. You know that the average wedding shots would never have captured an iota of how you see her. Just look at the favorites selected so far: Not one is of any of the tamer shots. It's the ones that you did that were NOT the norm that everyone is favoring. And I think (Again, it's not much and I try not to do it very often, gives me headaches) that what they are seeing goes beyond what the eye is catching, and is mor akin to witnessing what you know about her. Which is what every photographer wants to do and what so few of us succeed at. And if you could somehow look at these more objectively (pretend it's pics of your cousin Irma from Idaho who is just as spirited, but not as close to you), you'd see them for what wonderful captures they really are.

I'm no fan of portraiture,but do it because a gal's gotta eat, but if I could do what you have done here, I'd be in heaven.

This is my long winded way of saying Bravo! Well Done! Now stop being so tough on yourself.

AND HI! My name is Dee

1pocket

#6 is my fav, too -- terrific light falling on her! Likewise, #9.

Scott_Quier

Dee Lirious wrote:

Iwas coming here to post my intro, started lurking, and your thread caught my attention. Here's what I think, for what little it's worth:

There is nothing wrong with the images at all. The problem lies within you. The fact that you placed your beautiful sister in her beautiful wedding gown, barefoot, in an overgrown field, and around a dilapidated building tells me that you see beyond her aesthetic appeal. Something tells me that your definition of beauty where she is concerned also includes her spirited sense of self.

Not many brides would have gone for this setup but she did and you did an amazing job. You know that the average wedding shots would never have captured an iota of how you see her. Just look at the favorites selected so far: Not one is of any of the tamer shots. It's the ones that you did that were NOT the norm that everyone is favoring. And I think (Again, it's not much and I try not to do it very often, gives me headaches) that what they are seeing goes beyond what the eye is catching, and is mor akin to witnessing what you know about her. Which is what every photographer wants to do and what so few of us succeed at. And if you could somehow look at these more objectively (pretend it's pics of your cousin Irma from Idaho who is just as spirited, but not as close to you), you'd see them for what wonderful captures they really are.

I'm no fan of portraiture,but do it because a gal's gotta eat, but if I could do what you have done here, I'd be in heaven.

This is my long winded way of saying Bravo! Well Done! Now stop being so tough on yourself.

AND HI! My name is Dee

Hey, Dee - welcome to the club.

From your post it appears you've not heard about the growing trend - Trash the Dress. Take a look at this for an idea of what is happening here. Bear in mind the Karrie and her sister ended up not actually trashing the dress but doing a more or less unconventional bridal portrait session (some months after the wedding). Many of us here know this (Karrie posted some of the pictures from that event shortly after it happened) so we had that as background information as well.

Anyway - Like I said, Welcome to the Club!!

joshhuntnm

That setting is incredible. Nice work!!!!!!!!!!!

Dee Lirious

Scott_Quier wrote:

Hey, Dee - welcome to the club.

From your post it appears you've not heard about the growing trend - Trash the Dress. Take a look at this for an idea of what is happening here. Bear in mind the Karrie and her sister ended up not actually trashing the dress but doing a more or less unconventional bridal portrait session (some months after the wedding). Many of us here know this (Karrie posted some of the pictures from that event shortly after it happened) so we had that as background information as well.

Anyway - Like I said, Welcome to the Club!!

Oh, Scott, I'm disillusioned, heartbroken, devastated. I'm...

3...2...1...

Ok, I'm over it. You're right, I had not heard of this.

But my assessment still stands. While my romantic notions may have been dashed, the images are still super!

And thanks for the welcome.

crockett

I'm probably not entitled to comment but here are my thoughts.

Overall, I agree the photos are very good and you should love them. The photos seem to focus more on composition than the bride. If I was a bride (?) I would like the majority of the photos to make me the star.

1. Just a wonderful shot. I love how I look at her, then I follow the diagonal of the trees, pushing me towards the door, exploring that space and then back to the bride. If I could see the photo "different" in one way, I would like to see her closer to the camera. Still in the same bottom right 1/3 but larger and taller. It makes me wonder if that would improve the photo or not.

2. Again, extremely well framed. Two minor changes I would try myself. Remove the tall single stalk of grass, dead center and bottom. More importantly, I would try to darken the wall directly behind her head. My eye jumps to that bright spot and kind of gets stuck there. Maybe darken the right half more than the left half pushing my eye towards the bride.

3. This photo screams flash to me. Her pose seems awkard in that she may be holding up the wall. My biggest complaint about the photo is that you've posted such a beautiful set of photos and this is the one that doesn't seem to belong. However, it does show that the bride is indeed striking.

4. An excellent job of B&W conversion. My minor pick: I wish I could see more of her face.

5&6 Stand for themselves. Very nice! Minor picks: #5 Dress is blown on the bottom and it holds my eyes a bit. #6 I would have moved 4" to the right to eliminate the bright spots peeking through in the upper right of the frame. A bounce board to fill in the shadown on the left side of her face might have helped this as well?

#9 My personal favorite. The lines and shapes made by the dress (especially the bottom) and how they compliment the rest of the framing really makes a wonderful photgraph.


I sure wish I could take photographs as good as these. Thanks for posting them.

Karrie McD

Thank you all!
Wow! Thank you all sooo much. I feel a little better about this shoot now and I got some great feedback. Sorry about the delayed responce. It was my baby's birthday as well as the holiday. I don't know how to reply to more than one quote at a time so I have to just enter a whole bunch of replies.

Karrie McD

Icebear wrote:

Good Lord. #6 (Mia Farrow) takes my breath away. They're all wonderful. #3's a bit contrasty for my taste.

I see what you mean about a bit contrasty. I tend to do this with most my photos I think... I am going to try to lay off the contrast a bit, when I am shooting people. I'm supposing the way to fix that is lay off the contrast slider, right? How's this....

Karrie McD

Hi Dee!

Dee Lirious wrote:

Iwas coming here to post my intro, started lurking, and your thread caught my attention. Here's what I think, for what little it's worth:

There is nothing wrong with the images at all. The problem lies within you. The fact that you placed your beautiful sister in her beautiful wedding gown, barefoot, in an overgrown field, and around a dilapidated building tells me that you see beyond her aesthetic appeal. Something tells me that your definition of beauty where she is concerned also includes her spirited sense of self.

Not many brides would have gone for this setup but she did and you did an amazing job. You know that the average wedding shots would never have captured an iota of how you see her. Just look at the favorites selected so far: Not one is of any of the tamer shots. It's the ones that you did that were NOT the norm that everyone is favoring. And I think (Again, it's not much and I try not to do it very often, gives me headaches) that what they are seeing goes beyond what the eye is catching, and is mor akin to witnessing what you know about her. Which is what every photographer wants to do and what so few of us succeed at. And if you could somehow look at these more objectively (pretend it's pics of your cousin Irma from Idaho who is just as spirited, but not as close to you), you'd see them for what wonderful captures they really are.

I'm no fan of portraiture,but do it because a gal's gotta eat, but if I could do what you have done here, I'd be in heaven.

This is my long winded way of saying Bravo! Well Done! Now stop being so tough on yourself.

AND HI! My name is Dee

Welcome to Dgrin! I love this forum, a great place to learn and learn and learn

I am sorry your romantic notion was ruined. However, just to put it out there, I did pick the location and I did pick the model. I knew they would go great together!

Karrie McD

Thank you!!!

crockett wrote:

I'm probably not entitled to comment but here are my thoughts.

Overall, I agree the photos are very good and you should love them. The photos seem to focus more on composition than the bride. If I was a bride (?) I would like the majority of the photos to make me the star.

1. Just a wonderful shot. I love how I look at her, then I follow the diagonal of the trees, pushing me towards the door, exploring that space and then back to the bride. If I could see the photo "different" in one way, I would like to see her closer to the camera. Still in the same bottom right 1/3 but larger and taller. It makes me wonder if that would improve the photo or not.

2. Again, extremely well framed. Two minor changes I would try myself. Remove the tall single stalk of grass, dead center and bottom. More importantly, I would try to darken the wall directly behind her head. My eye jumps to that bright spot and kind of gets stuck there. Maybe darken the right half more than the left half pushing my eye towards the bride.

3. This photo screams flash to me. Her pose seems awkard in that she may be holding up the wall. My biggest complaint about the photo is that you've posted such a beautiful set of photos and this is the one that doesn't seem to belong. However, it does show that the bride is indeed striking.

4. An excellent job of B&W conversion. My minor pick: I wish I could see more of her face.

5&6 Stand for themselves. Very nice! Minor picks: #5 Dress is blown on the bottom and it holds my eyes a bit. #6 I would have moved 4" to the right to eliminate the bright spots peeking through in the upper right of the frame. A bounce board to fill in the shadown on the left side of her face might have helped this as well?

#9 My personal favorite. The lines and shapes made by the dress (especially the bottom) and how they compliment the rest of the framing really makes a wonderful photgraph.


I sure wish I could take photographs as good as these. Thanks for posting them.

Crockett, I have to say, as much as the other posts boosted my esteem, your reply gave me what I was looking for ( as well as the contrast advice) You have remindedd me of something I tend to do and need to stop. I tend to forget that portraitture is about the model and not the background/location. I was cought up in the beauty of this location and forgot that my main focus should have been on my sis. I know it is okay for some photos but I should have gotten more photos with her as the main point of view.

Also, I did not use any type of flash at all during this shoot. There are a few photos that I probably should have though. The light that you do see is either the natural sun light or a gold reflector. I can't remember if I used a feflector for number 3 or not...it looks like I probably did though.

Any how, I really, truelly appriciated all your feedback...as well as the rest of the replies. Thank you all so much!

Icebear

Karrie McD wrote:

I see what you mean about a bit contrasty. I tend to do this with most my photos I think... I am going to try to lay off the contrast a bit, when I am shooting people. I'm supposing the way to fix that is lay off the contrast slider, right? How's this....

Oh yeah!!

Photosbychuck

Great Photos!

I like #2 the best


Take Care,
Chuck

Karrie McD

Sorry to bump this back up but
I just gotta b..ch for a second and maybe put a smile on your face. (I would be laughing at me if I weren't me)

I got a lot from this shoot. I learned some things about shooting people, I got some great advice from you all, I got some great ego boosting praises, I got some beautiful photos my sister...and I... can be proud of, and ..... I GOT POISON IVY ALL OVER MY KNEE :cry It hurts, not just a little rash but blisters that hurt on top of itching.... :cry So, another lessoned learned from this shoot.... Wear pants when you are working.

And somehow, I don't know how, but somehow my sis did not get any poison ivy...I'm glad for her.

okay, just thought I would share this lovely bit of side information...and maybe some of you can learn from my painful mistake... WEAR PANTS!!!!

JH-Photo

wow. i like at most the #2
the #3 is not bad as well. sometimes i use also painting with light (dodge and burn). but the #2 looks like a secret... give us more of this :-)

nicoleshilliday

My husband and i "trashed" my wedding dress a little over a year after our wedding with a local Albany, NY Photographer. It was so much more fun then the formal wedding pictures. We were able to show what we really like to do, but in our wedding attire. We rode bikes (well kinda) and went for a hike in a waterfall. We also were able to get some great shots of us under the tree where he asked me to marry him. (if you want to check them out go to http://shillidayphotography.smugmug.com/gallery/3645353_fnqgS#P-1-15 )

so now to tie it back into the post (sorry i realized the post was from last year, but i had to comment)....i think these pictures probably show the more natural side of your sister and i think she will love them more and more over the years.