A lake side wedding (17 imgs)

heatherfeather

I just finished uploading this wedding and thought I would take a minute to share and get some free advice and c & c.
The wedding was fun because the weather was a bit iffy and it was an outdoor affair. The so-so weather made for some beautiful clouds as you will be able to see a bit later on....
1.The bride & her big eyes. I think she looks a bit like a pixie in this one due to the angle.

2. Another of the bride:


3. Baby of the B & G. She was just too cute. I was sure glad to get these because she slept the rest of the day and I never saw her again in her little outfit. Yes I know I cut off her hand. She was kind of propped up there and I had just a split second to snap the photo before she toppled over.


4. This was one of their first few glimpses of each other all fancied up (and one of my favs).


5. On the dock (check out those clouds!):


6. and another on the dock- these were really fun. I am having a hard time not sharing all of the dock ones, but I bet you'd get tired of them... lol...


7. This was a hard one. My ste2 didn't really work that well from that distance,(you can see my flash on the table, haha) so I ended up masking him in. Not the best job, but what I could do with my limited skills. I love the clouds though.


8. the snuggle


9. The BMaids, R B (with black stripe) and FG.


10. Bride and Dad (actually step dad, I think) C & C me on the ps work for her chin tuck. (She would have hated it... lol)


11. The flowers:


12. The ceremony:


13. Wedding prayer:


14. Group photo. I think it could use a bit more contrast, but the sky is already so badly blown (bummer) I dunno.:dunno


15. There is always that questioning... what are you going to do? look.



16. They got a little messy with the cake.... (wish I had on a shorter lense at the moment and had gotten the fingertips.) Ah well, candids are candid, and can't always be planned for.


17. A sleepy moment during reception...




and that is that. Let me know what you think!


Sing out if you see anything you think I should have done differently!

JulieLawsonPhotography

They look good to me. Looks like a beautiful location as well.

Scott_Quier

What do I think? Well, WOW comes to mind. I think you did a wonderful job, even with the one where you masked groom back in (though I think you should probably re-visit that one).

Have you thought about using some radio transmitters for your flashes? I know you will have to do the flash manually, but you will get the light you need. And, after you get used to it, it's not that much more work than using the ETT-L and is much more reliable. Something to think about....

Sam

Heather,

Great job!

One thing that did catch my attention was the color balance. Some of the images are warmer than others. The dock photos as an example seem pretty cool. Number 1, and 4 are much warmer.

Maybe pick one look, warm, or cool?

But again, very nice job.

Sam

Agnieszka

Wonderful shots!!! Great light, great posing ... LOVE THEM.

The only one I don't like as much is #11, I think it would have been better if she would have looked at you ... or if the flowers would have filled the photo a bit more ...

urbanaries

Wonderful set! You did a great job capturing the "feel" of the outdoor setting leveraging the clouds and the waterside. I really, REALLY like #2. There is something very professional about this lighting and pose, very well done. Also a big fan of #4, but wonder how much nicer it might look in a monotone? the background and colors aren't really helping the viewer "hone in" on the awesomely captured emotion present.

All in all you did a lovely job, I think the dock photos are gorgeous and know the feeling when you just are so proud of a particular series! A white bordered triptych a la Agniezka would work nicely I'm sure!

I know I'm skipping around, but I love how you leveraged her eyes in #1, but the way its cropped now, the distortion is really obvious. I wonder if you made this a super close crop of her face (if you have the pixels?)

Agnieszka

urbanaries wrote:

A white bordered triptych a la Agniezka would work nicely I'm sure!

Haha, those always work

Agnieszka

Btw (heatherfeather / urbanaries). I think I might have a link that you guys would enjoy!

(Please don't kick me out of this forum, Sam .. haha .. I LOVE smugmug, but the slide show was just not working with my workflow :cry )

It soo easy to put together and your guests can actually order DVDs of the show! You guys should have a look!

http://www.showitfast.com

Just thought I would share as it took me forever to find the link to it, after I've seen so many wedding photographers offering it ....

evoryware

The photos are all beautiful,

that baby!!

heatherfeather

Agnieszka wrote:

Btw (heatherfeather / urbanaries). I think I might have a link that you guys would enjoy!

(Please don't kick me out of this forum, Sam .. haha .. I LOVE smugmug, but the slide show was just not working with my workflow :cry )

It soo easy to put together and your guests can actually order DVDs of the show! You guys should have a look!

http://www.showitfast.com

Just thought I would share as it took me forever to find the link to it, after I've seen so many wedding photographers offering it ....

That looks soo cool. I just spent the last hour reading the entire site, and watching tutes. I think I am going to get it, but wondered if you have actually tried it and wanted to see one of yours. (If you don't mind!) I bet it is awesome if you have. Do you have the Pro or the light one. Or did you just get the trial? I am excited about the possiblities. The cool thing is that with the imbedded codes you can put the slideshow anywhere- myspace and where ever. Thanks for the link!

heatherfeather

JulieLawsonPhotography wrote:

They look good to me. Looks like a beautiful location as well.

Thanks for the comment! It was lovely there!:D

heatherfeather

Scott_Quier wrote:

What do I think? Well, WOW comes to mind. I think you did a wonderful job, even with the one where you masked groom back in (though I think you should probably re-visit that one).

Have you thought about using some radio transmitters for your flashes? I know you will have to do the flash manually, but you will get the light you need. And, after you get used to it, it's not that much more work than using the ETT-L and is much more reliable. Something to think about....

You know I should just stop being such a chicken and go for it. :hide At this point I am still learning so much (like more every day) that soon I must arrive! (ha ha fat chance of that!)

Can you use the radio transmitters with the speedlights?? Hmmmm. Hope so, since I don't really want to buy a whole new system.

heatherfeather

Sam wrote:

Heather,

Great job!

One thing that did catch my attention was the color balance. Some of the images are warmer than others. The dock photos as an example seem pretty cool. Number 1, and 4 are much warmer.

Maybe pick one look, warm, or cool?

But again, very nice job.

Sam

At this point I am just happy if I get it within the realm of acceptablity. (I mean somewhat correct skintones- and not too far one way or another) I am still figuring out the whole color management thing. I probably should invest in an expodisk or something. It would make my post processing easier, I bet.

I just read a huge tutorial from Rutt about processing portraits and I think it will really help me get my raw settings right. (Instead of fixing them after the fact in PS like I did this time. It was agonizing!)

BTW, I would love to hear from someone a link to some great ACR Raw presets. I have spent some time looking for them but haven't found any to fall in love with.

Thanks for the comment, Sam. You are (of course) totally correct. I am (of course) self taught and going at it like a maniac- head first.
:dgrin

heatherfeather

Agnieszka wrote:

Wonderful shots!!! Great light, great posing ... LOVE THEM.

The only one I don't like as much is #11, I think it would have been better if she would have looked at you ... or if the flowers would have filled the photo a bit more ...

Thanks! That is soo coool to hear that from you-

(You are a busy lady. I just looked at your calendar on your site and "boy howdy" are you in demand a lot!)

Yeah, I hear you about #11.

heatherfeather

urbanaries wrote:

Wonderful set! You did a great job capturing the "feel" of the outdoor setting leveraging the clouds and the waterside. I really, REALLY like #2. There is something very professional about this lighting and pose, very well done. Also a big fan of #4, but wonder how much nicer it might look in a monotone? the background and colors aren't really helping the viewer "hone in" on the awesomely captured emotion present.

All in all you did a lovely job, I think the dock photos are gorgeous and know the feeling when you just are so proud of a particular series! A white bordered triptych a la Agniezka would work nicely I'm sure!

I know I'm skipping around, but I love how you leveraged her eyes in #1, but the way its cropped now, the distortion is really obvious. I wonder if you made this a super close crop of her face (if you have the pixels?)

How about this?


And this? Feel free to tell me I am not getting it... (I wanted to make sure you could see just a bit of her gown so viewers didn't need to blush!)

heatherfeather

evoryware wrote:

The photos are all beautiful,

that baby!!

Thanks!

Agnieszka

heatherfeather wrote:

That looks soo cool. I just spent the last hour reading the entire site, and watching tutes. I think I am going to get it, but wondered if you have actually tried it and wanted to see one of yours. (If you don't mind!) I bet it is awesome if you have. Do you have the Pro or the light one. Or did you just get the trial? I am excited about the possiblities. The cool thing is that with the imbedded codes you can put the slideshow anywhere- myspace and where ever. Thanks for the link!

Ha! I knew you would love it!! You have many possibilities in slide-transitions also! I got the PRO, thought what the heck if you're spending money on it already ... haha ... The only thing I didn't like is the music that they offer (background music) ... but maybe they'll ad some more songs at some point ... and in the "worst" case you can always just skip the music-part

AND you can ad a link on the bottom, so your clients can get prints straight from smugmug! YAY

So, here's one of my SHOWS

or have a look at my blog, I posted some slide shows on there (don't fall asleep!!!! I'm bad at selecting photos - haha) There is a link under some of the photos (I haven't embedded any slide shows yet) ...

Enjoy

urbanaries

Loooove the BW version!!!! Maybe something like this for the "pixie" crop shot?

evoryware

She might like both of those crops!

jeffreaux2

Heather....these are fabulous. I also see what others are saying about white balance warmth/ consistancy....but...that aside these are sweet. Very well done!!

I know it is possible to do some piecemeal sort of batch processing in ACR by saving settings, but if you just try Lightroom....it will change your world when editing large numbers of photos. It is worth the asking price for sure....and presets abound for download. I completed ALL of my editing on my last wedding with 700-800 keepers in around 7 hours. Still a days work, but that included hand picking some for special treatment in PSCS3. Before lightroom I may have spent anywhere from 20 to 30 hours on that same job. THAT is $$$ in the bank!

heatherfeather

jeffreaux2 wrote:

Heather....these are fabulous. I also see what others are saying about white balance warmth/ consistancy....but...that aside these are sweet. Very well done!!

I know it is possible to do some piecemeal sort of batch processing in ACR by saving settings, but if you just try Lightroom....it will change your world when editing large numbers of photos. It is worth the asking price for sure....and presets abound for download. I completed ALL of my editing on my last wedding with 700-800 keepers in around 7 hours. Still a days work, but that included hand picking some for special treatment in PSCS3. Before lightroom I may have spent anywhere from 20 to 30 hours on that same job. THAT is $$$ in the bank!

That does sound wonderful. My last wedding I spent around 50 hours. That was plenty for me.:whew I was wondering how people like Agnieszka did 2 weddings a week and still kept on top of the 2 week turnaround. I'll have to try that. Thanks for the comment Jeff.:D

DavidS

Wow! These are really good. I love the moments you have captured, the lighting and the compositions. Very inspiring. I just love #5.

WildWally

I really enjoyed looking at theses !!!
Very nice !!!:D

ladytx

These are very nice. Please tell how you shot them and settings.

heatherfeather

DavidS wrote:

Wow! These are really good. I love the moments you have captured, the lighting and the compositions. Very inspiring. I just love #5.

Thanks David! I love to hear that from you!

heatherfeather

WildWally wrote:

I really enjoyed looking at theses !!!
Very nice !!!:D

Thanks Wally. So, are you really wild? or is that just what your mom called you when you were little?

heatherfeather

ladytx wrote:

These are very nice. Please tell how you shot them and settings.

These were all taken with my 5D, in Raw.


The indoor shots were f4 ISO 200 1/60th
First out door were f7.1, 1/320, ISO 200
Dock ones 1/200 f16 ISO 200, and I bumped the flash (with bbc) to around +1.5 or so (underexposed the sky, and cranked the flash to properly expose the subject- I did this a ton that day)
BMaids on dock were 1/500 at f10 ISO 200
Ceremony is 1/250 at f11 ISO 200
Group shot 1/200 at f10 ISO 200
messy groom 1/200 at f8

Photosbychuck

Great Photos!

I love #4 but I always heard it is bad luck for the groom to see the bride before walking down the isle.
c/c #9 the RB hands are covering faces.

Take Care,
Chuck

heatherfeather

Photosbychuck wrote:

Great Photos!

I love #4 but I always heard it is bad luck for the groom to see the bride before walking down the isle.
c/c #9 the RB hands are covering faces.

Take Care,
Chuck

That is what they say.... but I always leave it up to the B & G to choose.

As to hands covering faces, you are of course right. But I don't think it wrecks the photo, as it was a spontaneous moment, and I have the boring stiff ones where everyones hands are in just the right spots too.

Thanks for the comments Chuck!

WildWally

Only wild when the time is right !!!

heatherfeather wrote:

Thanks Wally. So, are you really wild? or is that just what your mom called you when you were little?

Rhinotherunt

Nice storytelling there. Looks like a beautiful venue.