Kristen and Scott wedding

mmmatt · November 9, 2010

Some of you may remember my couple from a few months ago that I refused to give them their first e-shoot set and made them reshoot with me?

Here is the wedding... I didn't call for a reshoot this time!!!

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11. Quite possibly my favorite MOB ever... she started her speach by saying" Let me first say how much I love our photographer" and everyone applauded. ahhh:lust:lust:lust:lust:lust

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Thanks for looking!!! c&c is always appreciated.

Matt

Weisel · November 9, 2010

Matt--these are really, really beautiful. I need to learn some things from your brain. What's your lighting on 2 & 3? Possible different, but I like them both a LOT. So fresh and light, but not washed out at all.
..and for some reason, I really love #11. Great comp, great moment. She does look like a great MOB!

~Shane

psenior1 · November 9, 2010

these are really nice, great to see images that aren't over processed.

ows4428 · November 9, 2010

Nice job, I'm picking #14 as my favorite.

marikris · November 9, 2010

Love #1, Matt! She looks like she's about to cry. Beautiful photos.

mmmatt · November 9, 2010

Weisel wrote: »

Matt--these are really, really beautiful. I need to learn some things from your brain. What's your lighting on 2 & 3? Possible different, but I like them both a LOT. So fresh and light, but not washed out at all.
..and for some reason, I really love #11. Great comp, great moment. She does look like a great MOB!

~Shane

Hey Shane. thanks for the compliments. Most of what you will see from me indoors is wall bounce, as are all of the indoor shots here. The ones from the porch are just ambient. They could have been flashed but pointless when you have bright and indirect ambient light that isn't throwing harsh shadows around. That is unless you are shooting off camera or bounce to get some direction to the light. On the walking shot I could have flashed it to get a little more out of the background (like I suggested in your thread on your #12), but it seemed unnecessary at the time and I kinda like the primary focus on the porch and the bride without the distraction of the field behind the house. Not to say I was thinking all of that on site!

I've been working very hard this year on balancing my flash with ambient like Heather is so good at, using flash at night like 10 rocks and also "finding light" like Saville, and Aleksandras seem to do so effortlessly. Others here do those things well too, but I pay special attention to those guys when giving myself lighting lessons. There isn't just one good way to do something every time. It would be nice, but each situation can be captured a myriad of ways depending on how you choose to light it or how much attention you pay to existing light. You can tell completely different stories with an image based on how you light it!

not trying to be preachy or even teachy, but that is what is going through my head these days and since this is my thread I thought I would hop on my little soapbox I guess! Ha

Matt

mmmatt · November 9, 2010

Ahh.. 1 is a nice moment between mom and daughter... loved that one as well. 14 worked well I think. I wasn't sure I liked the two light temps at first but I like the golden richness of the hotel lobby after it settled in with me. psenior, this is the first set I have ever posted in the forum that didn't have a large percentage of creative processing! I got beat up a few weeks ago on that so I am showing my "b-sides" in this thread. Still a large portion of the entire gallery is processed with split-tones, b&w and sepia.

Thanks for the responses!

Matt

sweet caroline · November 9, 2010

The bride looks stunning in these. You did a great job.

Ed911 · November 9, 2010

Great shots Matt. One little issue...I would clone out the reflected light in window in 14...

Matthew Saville · November 9, 2010

#11, 15, and 16 are a testament to just how AWESOME bounced flash can look. Beautifully soft. Of course as usual I wish there were a few images that showcased what the natural light actually looked like, but the images posted are gorgeous either way...

=Matt=

Agnieszka · November 9, 2010

Ed911 wrote: »

Great shots Matt. One little issue...I would clone out the reflected light in window in 14...

+1!

Oh Matt, these are beautiful!!! Thanks for sharing!

mmmatt · November 9, 2010

Matthew Saville wrote: »

#11, 15, and 16 are a testament to just how AWESOME bounced flash can look. Beautifully soft. Of course as usual I wish there were a few images that showcased what the natural light actually looked like, but the images posted are gorgeous either way...

=Matt=

I shot the cocktail party w/o flash. different room but similar lighting under typical ceiling height. ISO 6400

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Like I said, still trying to find light that I like. Sometimes I do, but mostly it is flat indoors. No contrasty pop that my light makes, higher iso (6400 on all of these) and lacking in definition and crispness. Also you are limited in depth of field due to needing the lens wide open. With a good amount of light I am comfortable shooting ambient as long as color temps match. Also in a stage situation with spotlights and whatnot I feel very comfortable and I think the heavy blacks in those situations make the scene more palatable for me, but in a flat evenly lit room I just end up with a lot of ho-hum. With marginal, even light, it is hard for me to find a benefit in ambient compared to bounce.

Ed... good catch my friend! SC... thanks!

matt

Matthew Saville · November 12, 2010

mmmatt wrote: »

I shot the cocktail party w/o flash. different room but similar lighting under typical ceiling height. ISO 6400

19.

20.

21.

22.

Like I said, still trying to find light that I like. Sometimes I do, but mostly it is flat indoors. No contrasty pop that my light makes, higher iso (6400 on all of these) and lacking in definition and crispness. Also you are limited in depth of field due to needing the lens wide open. With a good amount of light I am comfortable shooting ambient as long as color temps match. Also in a stage situation with spotlights and whatnot I feel very comfortable and I think the heavy blacks in those situations make the scene more palatable for me, but in a flat evenly lit room I just end up with a lot of ho-hum. With marginal, even light, it is hard for me to find a benefit in ambient compared to bounce.

Ed... good catch my friend! SC... thanks!

matt

...Which is why I go to town on the B&W conversions when it's time to shoot ambient in a flat lighting situation. Crank the contrast and create your own dramatic-ness! :-P

=Matt=

Qarik · November 12, 2010

nice set over all matt! Some of your flash work seems bit harsh in a few shots like #14...and you HAVE to clone out that dude on the bridge in #7! btw are you trying for a slightly less contrasty processing? I would like to see a touch more in many of your shots.

mmmatt · November 12, 2010

Matthew Saville wrote: »

...Which is why I go to town on the B&W conversions when it's time to shoot ambient in a flat lighting situation. Crank the contrast and create your own dramatic-ness! :-P

=Matt=

... which is why I bounce! ha!!! Doubt we'll ever see eye to eye on that one!!!

Qarik wrote: »

nice set over all matt! Some of your flash work seems bit harsh in a few shots like #14...and you HAVE to clone out that dude on the bridge in #7! btw are you trying for a slightly less contrasty processing? I would like to see a touch more in many of your shots.

Hey Quarik, thanks for the input. I see what you mean on 14 looking a bit harsh, but I'm not sure what others you could be talking about. A lot of what you are seeing in 14 is the difference in color temps, but certainly I could have brought more ambient in and made the difference more subtle. I could also process that out by processing the raw file twice for each light temp and merge appropriate parts as a layer. I chose to keep it as is and it grew on me. As for the bridge there are more people to the left under my watermark too. I could certainly work on that one, and may still do that. There were probably 20 wedding parties there while we were shooting... I don't like shooting there on Saturdays because people are everywhere. As for contrasty, no change. This is how I do. For the most part these are all just raw processed which typically accounts for about 75% of what I deliver.

Thanks!

Matt

ssimmonsphoto · November 17, 2010

mmmatt wrote: »

I shot the cocktail party w/o flash. different room but similar lighting under typical ceiling height. ISO 6400

Which camera are you using for the 6400 ISO shots? The noise is really fine with me and I'd LOVE to be able to push a camera that high. I don't go above 1600 with my 7D before the noise gets to be too much for me.

Great looking shots!

mmmatt · November 17, 2010

It's all about full frame sensors... Canon, Nikon, Sony or whatever. More surface area allows for quality high-iso. These were shot with the 5d MKii. I have used my 5D classic at 3200 with success many times. You don't have a lot of exposure to play with though, so it is best to nail it. I shot a dozen or so at the end of an e-session recently that were iso 25,600 which is the max the MKii will go and even though I had to still underexpose a tad, they aren't unusable as black and white... or so it seems, I haven't done the work on them yet. I'll be posting that session soon. Thanks for the compliments!

Matt

trevorb · November 18, 2010

I really like #14, there is something I find attractive when white light and yellow/orange light mix, great image.

Kristen and Scott wedding

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