Pre wedding shoot - Kirsty and John

Mark1616 · December 27, 2011

Did my first pre wedding shoot for a while getting ready for the 2012 season. These were taken around Burrator Resevoir on Dartmoor. It was a really grey and cold day but the couple did a good job and being up beat even if photography isn't their favourite thing.

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Kinkajou · December 27, 2011

I really love the natural look of these photos... it looks very much like a 'day in the life' session rather than a 'let's take pictures' session, which I think is wonderful.

My only nit is that in #4 the couple gets a little lost in all of the texture of the image. I definitely understand why you went for BW on it, but I feel that it might be a little stronger in color.

I was listening to a creative live webinar a few months ago and someone said 'shape is the enemy of color' (or something along those lines). I can't remember who the photographer was offhand, but he was making the point that images with clean, simple and strong shapes are ideal for black and white, while images that do not have simple and strong shape tend to look better in color. I'm sure everyone has their own opinion on this and there are definitely occasions where this rule can be broken, but I think that it has helped me in my decision-making process when I'm trying to decide whether to convert an image to BW or go with color and is something that may apply here, especially if you compare how strong #5 is in BW versus #4.

Anyway, that's a really small point in the grand scheme of things. I love the set and I'm sure they will as well!

Mark1616 · December 28, 2011

Thanks Kristin for taking time to help out. I really enjoyed this one and now looking at it can see exactly what you mean, will take a look at the colour option again.

Ed911 · December 28, 2011

Nice work over all...

1. I think needs to be cropped. Put your hand across the bottom and block out some of the dead space. The road/bridge doesn't add anything to the photo...and you can cut off quite a bit of the bottom and not sacrifice much of the bridge.

2. Nice separation. Unfortunately, his mouth is right in the middle of saying something and looks a little weird. There's a saying that goes something like this, "the the best shots are the ones in between...just before and just after." I avoid taking shots while people are talking, if possible. I never knew how strange lips looked when forming words until I started shooting events. Separation from the BG is nice. I would avoid straight on shots of her nose...I don't think it's her best facial feature. If her head were turned more toward him, or in the direction that he's looking...I think it might be a better look for her. You never know when someone is proud of, or hates an over bearing facial feature, so if I think it's over the top...then I either shoot it so that I minimize it's presence, or give it a touch of the liquify brush in PhotoShop. Not a lot, but enough so that she would look at it and say, hmmm...my nose looks pretty good in this shot. I also think the colors and lighting are spot on...but, that's just me like what I see.

3. Three is nice...but could use some cropping...too much bridge and not enough of them. The bridge isn't that spectacular...and is dead space. Your subjects are way too small for comfortable viewing in this format. I'd remove 60% of the bridge...compare both and see if you don't get the same feeling, but a better view of the subjects.

4. This is a great black and white conversion...but, as was said, and also the first thing that I noticed...the background is too busy. Add some bokeh to the BG in PhotoShop. This image is also what I was speaking of when I advised cropping 3. Nice amount of bridge, but not too much. After looking at this image again...I'd also crop the bridge at the top of the tunnel under it...removing the bright distraction at the bottom of the photo.

5. Really like 5...with the lead-in and conversion. Good capture. Nice bokeh.

6. I'm not a big fan of shots that hide the faces of the subjects...because most of the time they're not interesting enough to warrant hiding the faces of the subjects. However, this one, for me, rings a bell. Very nice...love the colors, and feeling of intimacy and interaction. Well done. Foreground interest and background bokeh, with their interaction captured in between. Nice. Another plus, is that you have them walking into the picture and not out of it.

Just some food for thought...

Mark1616 · December 30, 2011

Thanks a lot Ed for the detailed info, really good to get feedback!

trevorb · January 3, 2012

Three is my favorite; I don’t think you could have framed it any better. #5 is pretty epic as well, really like the light on the roadway.

Mark1616 · January 13, 2012

Thanks Trevor!

rhommel · January 16, 2012

gorgeous set! love #5, #3 is ok too, but have to agree that there's too much of the bridge, maybe a bit of cropping will do the trick

Pre wedding shoot - Kirsty and John

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