First Bridal--CC please

Maxxamillian · July 19, 2009

Apologies ahead of time if this is too many pics at once. It was an incredibly fun shoot and a first for me.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

Jeremy Winterberg · July 19, 2009

I think you did a wonderful job!

The only thing I don't like is how smooth/soft her skin is in #2... But some people like that look, I don't... personal preference.

Scott_Quier · July 20, 2009

3, 9, 10 - For individual reasons, don't work for me.

However, the balance of this set absolutely ROCKS!

I love the light. The processing in #1 just knocks my socks off!

The skin smoothing in #2 - I don't think you over-did it. This image will be treasured for a long time! I would not be surprised to hear that the B&G order a huge wall hanger of this one!

Art Scott · July 20, 2009

Scott_Quier wrote:

3, 9, 10 - For individual reasons, don't work for me.

However, the balance of this set absolutely ROCKS!

I love the light. The processing in #1 just knocks my socks off!

The skin smoothing in #2 - I don't think you over-did it. This image will be treasured for a long time! I would not be surprised to hear that the B&G order a huge wall hanger of this one!

agree but I am going to a nit.....on #4 you cut off the train.....on a full back shot including fully fluffed train always make sure it is fully in the frame.....even if you need to do a foot zoom of a few feet to get the frame wide enuff........

REally nice stuff here.......keep up the good work!!!!

bow

thumb

lilmomma · July 20, 2009

I think they are GORGEOUS! especially 1, 2, 5, and 7

Maxxamillian · July 20, 2009

Thank you all for your kind comments. It looks like it may be safe to turn the set over to mom and bride tonight. (?)

It is so interesting to see how subjective beauty is. Mom, bride, and I spent just over two hours whittling 500+ photos down to 24 favorites, and then those 24 down to 8 or so. The shots they identified with and the shots I would have picked vary wildly. Once I am done with this set then I will go through and play with the pictures I like

Jeremy: Skin (for me) is such a hard thing to get right...not only that, but it is easy to lose sight of what is happening with the picture's overall look. Usually walking away from it for a while and returning with "fresh eyes" fixes this. Thanks for the comment--if mom & bride do not like then I've already worked on a version that introduces more detail at the expense of a slightly desaturated palette. Thanks!

Art: You have every reason to nit about this picture. We had 10 minutes to get out of the gardens, get out of the dress, and get the cars out of the parking lot before they locked the gates for the night. Needless to say, we were a bit rushed. So stupid me, I shot it dead center. If you look at the original the bride and the (blasted) pillar are right in the middle of the picture. Mom & bride liked the shot. I could either crop the pic (and cut the train) or try and get the pillar out of the pic (doable but tedious)...I chose the lesser of the two evils. This is my "do'h" pic of the entire session (and of course, the mom & bride had to choose it...) If I had it all to do over I would have shot this earlier in the evening away from the pillar...

Once again everyone...thanks!

Qarik · July 20, 2009

it's a fabulous set.

I don't care too much for #1 but that's neither here no there.

nicoleshilliday · July 20, 2009

great inspiration! I have my first Bridal in a few weeks!! Thanks for sharing!

Agnieszka · July 20, 2009

Here are my 2 cents

1) The treatment is too soft for me, but I do see why one would like this photo
2) Cute, but for me it's too soft again + I think you overdid the skin a bit
3) I really like that one, but would brighten her face in post
4) I don't really understand why she's posing in front of that column

I love the pose itself, and the treatment is nice to ... but the column?

Maybe if you would have show a bit more of it, it would have helped ... not sure. And you might also want to desaturate her dress?
5) Very pretty

6) Also very pretty + sharp. Only thing that bugs me (and that might be just me not liking blue dresses). I would desaturate the dress + next time try to get out of the direct sunlight?
7) Pretty.
8) Very pretty light
9) Gorgeous but again ... blue dress ...
10) blue dress :cry + I would crop the left side a bit tighter, so it's cropped at the top left corner of the big hair-strain
11) very pretty

Maxxamillian · July 20, 2009

Agnieszka wrote:

Here are my 2 cents

1) The treatment is too soft for me, but I do see why one would like this photo
2) Cute, but for me it's too soft again + I think you overdid the skin a bit

Better? Less overdone. Wonder which one the bride will go for? Will let you know

3) I really like that one, but would brighten her face in post

Done. Excellent suggestion--Thanks!

4) I don't really understand why she's posing in front of that column I love the pose itself, and the treatment is nice to ... but the column? Maybe if you would have show a bit more of it, it would have helped ... not sure. And you might also want to desaturate her dress?

As stated previously...my "D'oh" pic of the entire session. The fact that they picked it and it is on display for all to see kills me. I chopped, cropped, and tweaked to no avail. I'm going to offer to re-shoot this one and pray they'll take me up on the offer instead of print.

5) Very pretty
6) Also very pretty + sharp. Only thing that bugs me (and that might be just me not liking blue dresses). I would desaturate the dress + next time try to get out of the direct sunlight?

7) Pretty.
8) Very pretty light
9) Gorgeous but again ... blue dress ...

10) blue dress :cry + I would crop the left side a bit tighter, so it's cropped at the top left corner of the big hair-strain

I see what you are saying on the crop--however, I think it takes too much of the bride out of the picture and leaves one guessing on the source of the light pattern on her dress.

11) very pretty

Thought I'd get the blues correcting the blues but it turned out to be a fairly straight-forward and painless process. Isn't it funny how far two cents can go? Thanks for taking the time--I really appreciate the candor and willingness to help out.

Let me know if you see anything else?

heatherfeather · July 20, 2009

Oh MUCH better.

Agnieszka · July 20, 2009

heatherfeather wrote:

Oh MUCH better.

+1 Love it

I think the blue cast workst sometimes .. but then you need to go crazy with the rest of the pic too ... some of my favorite photographers seem to not care about the blue on their bride's dresses, but I think it only works if you go way over the top with all the other colors too

Anyway. Love what you did

Photog4Christ · July 20, 2009

Maxxamillian wrote:

It is so interesting to see how subjective beauty is. Mom, bride, and I spent just over two hours whittling 500+ photos down to 24 favorites,....

You showed your client "500+ photos" and then narrowed it down to 24? You must really enjoy torture!

You should have narrowed the 500 down to less than 20 images and then had them select their favorites from there.

Jeremy Winterberg · July 20, 2009

Yes, they look MUCH better!

aaronbrown · July 20, 2009

#01 : Love the glow. Nice in B&W.
#02 : I'm in the "Face is too soft" camp, but love the eyes.
#09 : Love the warmth but the horizon seems a little crooked.
#11 : Hands down, fantastic!

Great work!

zoomer · July 21, 2009

3 5 7 9 11
I like all of those shots.
Some pretty mixed lighting, a lot of blur in the others.
Overall a darn good set.

The column ruins an otherwise very nice shot in 4.

I really like the redo on the portrait with the bouquet, the first one looked way over cooked.

The redo's all look better than the originals.
When in doubt just click on the color cast button on the white dress and your color will snap into line.

Maxxamillian · July 21, 2009

Wow...lots of really good feedback which is greatly appreciated:D

Photag4Christ: The mother of the bride submitted a very nice order last night, a second order this AM, and is keenly interested in seeing what else I can come up with. Using Aperture's stack and rating process makes the whittling down process easy and fairly quick (a good portion of the time was deciding on the final pics...getting the 24 down to 8 or so). Had I taken your approach I would have potentially lost a good deal of money as the prints I would have selected vs. the ones the client selected would have been VERY different. You point, however, has merit--I know I can reduce the stack sizes (and overall number of pics) on the next go round...I can find a better balance of efficiency without sacrificing customer relations. I'd be interested in how you, or anyone else for that matter, manages this process. Thanks for the input.

Zoomer: I use Nik's "white neutralizer" action--will play with the color cast button...now I'm curious. I sometimes struggle with the "going to far" thing and am happy I have a sounding board such as this. Is there anything you do to catch yourself from overdoing it?
And ah....the pillar. :cry
The blasted piller. :cry
What's worse is they ordered the shot for print...in spite of my gentle diplomacy to do otherwise

Each shot that was revised was ordered for print. The only other adjustment I made was a horizon adjustment in #9 (thanks aaronbrown!)

And thanks everyone else!!!

zoomer · July 21, 2009

If they love it then it is a great shot, agree with them about how great it is don't try to talk them out of it.

That is why you have to show them all 500+ pictures....never fool yourself into thinking you can pick the best pictures from a shoot. The client will ALWAYS surprise you by picking photos you think are crap.

Experience and posting in places like this will help you to define for yourself when too much has been reached.
Don't always follow the advice you get either. If you like something then don't let somebody else talk you out of it, that is how you will develop your personal style. You don't want to be like everybody else.
If you never go to far you will not grow in your skills.

Maxxamillian wrote:

Wow...lots of really good feedback which is greatly appreciated:D

Photag4Christ: The mother of the bride submitted a very nice order last night, a second order this AM, and is keenly interested in seeing what else I can come up with. Using Aperture's stack and rating process makes the whittling down process easy and fairly quick (a good portion of the time was deciding on the final pics...getting the 24 down to 8 or so). Had I taken your approach I would have potentially lost a good deal of money as the prints I would have selected vs. the ones the client selected would have been VERY different. You point, however, has merit--I know I can reduce the stack sizes (and overall number of pics) on the next go round...I can find a better balance of efficiency without sacrificing customer relations. I'd be interested in how you, or anyone else for that matter, manages this process. Thanks for the input.

Zoomer: I use Nik's "white neutralizer" action--will play with the color cast button...now I'm curious. I sometimes struggle with the "going to far" thing and am happy I have a sounding board such as this. Is there anything you do to catch yourself from overdoing it?
And ah....the pillar. :cry
The blasted piller. :cry
What's worse is they ordered the shot for print...in spite of my gentle diplomacy to do otherwise

Each shot that was revised was ordered for print. The only other adjustment I made was a horizon adjustment in #9 (thanks aaronbrown!)

And thanks everyone else!!!

Photog4Christ · July 21, 2009

That's great that the client put in a large order!

But, think of it from the client's point of view. I'm sure that many of those images were duplicate poses, etc.... so, there were repetitive images for the clients to go through.

You certainly don't have to take my advice, but I'm just speaking as someone that was schooled by togs that get multi- $thou$and$ in print sales.

The togs I know use projection sessions and ordering sessions. They sit the client down in a viewing room. They prep the client and educate them so that they know that this "Viewing/Ordering Session" will be THE ONLY time they can place an order. The whole family is there... Mom/Dad, Grandma, etc.... This way there is no "Well.... I need to check with my husband, let me get back to you." because the husband is right there in the room. Then they go through the images together in a slide show. After viewing the slide show, the tog walks through the images with the client. If the client says "no" to any image, then it is removed from consideration. They don't get another chance at it.

Photog4Christ · July 21, 2009

zoomer wrote:

....

That is why you have to show them all 500+ pictures.......

If you're looking to buy a car, does the salesman say "We have an inventory of 2,000 cars on the lot right now! Let me show you each and every car!"??

zoomer · July 22, 2009

Bad example, not even close to the same thing.

Photog4Christ wrote:

If you're looking to buy a car, does the salesman say "We have an inventory of 2,000 cars on the lot right now! Let me show you each and every car!"??

Maxxamillian · July 23, 2009

Photog4Christ wrote:

That's great that the client put in a large order!

But, think of it from the client's point of view. I'm sure that many of those images were duplicate poses, etc.... so, there were repetitive images for the clients to go through.

You certainly don't have to take my advice, but I'm just speaking as someone that was schooled by togs that get multi- $thou$and$ in print sales.

The togs I know use projection sessions and ordering sessions. They sit the client down in a viewing room. They prep the client and educate them so that they know that this "Viewing/Ordering Session" will be THE ONLY time they can place an order. The whole family is there... Mom/Dad, Grandma, etc.... This way there is no "Well.... I need to check with my husband, let me get back to you." because the husband is right there in the room. Then they go through the images together in a slide show. After viewing the slide show, the tog walks through the images with the client. If the client says "no" to any image, then it is removed from consideration. They don't get another chance at it.

Zoomer: Great advice--much thanks!

Photag4Christ: I'm almost speechless...this flies in the face of good business sense in that the customer is provided a service that is edged with stress and with limited options due to overly restrictive policy. I would be curious what percentage of their client base repeats as customers. Additionally I would wonder at how many of their customers refer, and how many of those referrals turn into new customers. While I dont doubt the veracity of your comments (they are your acquaintances, not mine), I am stunned at the potential opportunity cost these photographers must be paying....how many more "multi-thousands" of business they are losing because of this way of running their business. While you are fortunate to have been educated by those successful in the business, I am willing to bet you can come up with a much better model that would be more richly rewarding for both you and the clientele.

First Bridal--CC please

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