Fools! They let me near a wedding with a camera.

wxwax · July 3, 2006

Color me cynical, but I generally don't like going to weddings. Mostly it's because all the pomp and money is likely being spent on a couple ill suited to each other and headed for divorce court in a few years.

But sometimes it's different.

My nephew got married a week ago. And this one feels good. They seem tight, and there's a good vibe around them. Yeah, I know, scientific, huh? But still, I think this one has a chance.

Anyway, the dopes let me in with a camera. Fools! They had an official photog, I was just messing around without a flash, as usual. The church was relatively dim, so I was on ISO 1600 and undrexposing to get my shutter speed up.

I had to make this one B&W, the color noise was impossible to fix. Even so, you can see noise, but I like her expression of joy so much I'm thinking it's worth it.

wxwax · July 3, 2006

The only other one worth a darn is their exit. My sister had the bright idea to bring along little rice baggies, to shower the happy couple on the way out.

Pretty good idea, I thought.

wxwax · July 3, 2006

Silly me forgot to use the Whibal to get good white and black points.

So trying to get good skin tones has been about as easy as losing weight.

This is my brother, whose complexion actually is quite red.

wxwax · July 3, 2006

Sooo, what would I do differently?

In the church, maybe use aperature priority more, instead of manual, and deal with the resulting slower shutter speed.

Remember to use the darn Whibal, there's a reason I have it in the bag!

And really, I need to break out the flash and actually use the darn thing from time to time.

DoctorIt · July 3, 2006

Could I borrow that Whibal? I'd like to make sure I get the right tone for cynical.

I had almost forgotten why this

was your avatar.

As for photos, I like your use of wide angle in that second one, everyone really looks happy.

wxwax · July 3, 2006

DoctorIt wrote:

Could I borrow that Whibal? I'd like to make sure I get the right tone for cynical.

I had almost forgotten why this was your avatar.

Tell me I'm wrong!

Thanks, I really like the walking out shot. I may try to frame it for them.

marlof · July 3, 2006

I really like the first one, Sid. As you said, it's so joyful!

wxwax · July 3, 2006

marlof wrote:

I really like the first one, Sid. As you said, it's so joyful!

Thanks Marlof.

She was marvelously patient. You should have seen what the official photog put that poor couple through, and she did it all with a smile.

deeya · July 3, 2006

I think they are terrific.. regardless of how much noise you had to fight with and the fact that you forgot to use your "whatever you called it thingamabob"... (what the heck is a whibal???)

The bride is beautiful... and definitely looks not just happy... but she has a peace about her that makes me think you are right.. she knows this is the right thing for her... I wish them luck..

As for the picture of your brother... it looks like he is very proud... and being the wimpy girl I am.. it actually made me tear up.. very sweet moment you captured there Sid...

wxwax · July 3, 2006

deeya wrote:

I think they are terrific.. regardless of how much noise you had to fight with and the fact that you forgot to use your "whatever you called it thingamabob"... (what the heck is a whibal???)

Thanks Denise!

He's a good guy, very sensitive.

Whibal is a cool little deal, if you have Photoshop. It's a credit card size stack of white, grey and black crads. Shoot it in your ambient light. Then in PS you can use the three cards to set a proper white balance.

It works best when you remember to use it!

Nikolai · July 3, 2006

Heya Sid,
Congrats on your nephew's big event!

I didn't get one thing, though - weren't you shooting RAW?
And if yes, why so much concern over the WB and this W-thingie (I presume it's a white/gray/balck point setter device)? You can always fix it later...

Cheers!

wxwax · July 3, 2006

Nikolai wrote:

Congrats on your nephew's big event!

I didn't get one thing, though - weren't you shooting RAW?
And if yes, why so much concern over the WB and this W-thingie (I presume it's a white/gray/balck point setter device)? You can always fix it later...

Cheers!

Thanks Nik!

Yup, always shoot RAW. But without a definite white/grey or black point, it's harder to get a correct white balance setting. You end up relying on your eye, which isn't the best way to go about it.

Awais Yaqub · July 3, 2006

congratulation May God bless them happy life

Nikolai · July 3, 2006

Hmm,

wxwax wrote:

Yup, always shoot RAW. But without a definite white/grey or black point, it's harder to get a correct white balance setting. You end up relying on your eye, which isn't the best way to go about it.

May be it's just me being a foreigner and plain stupid, but isn't a wedding usually a "black tie" event?
I mean - weren't there *p*l*e*n*t*y* of white shirts/dresses and black ties/jackets/tuxes to give you enough info for setting WB later on?

I'm honestly trying to figure out why such an experienced raw shooter as you needs a WB thingie...

DoctorIt · July 4, 2006

Nikolai wrote:

I'm honestly trying to figure out why such an experienced raw shooter as you needs a WB thingie...

The more thingies, the better.

:hide

saurora · July 4, 2006

I like all 3 shots, Sid....you did a great job. The expressions you captured on the father, the bride and your brother are all very priceless. It's wonderful to have moments like those captured in a photo. And yes, sometimes when things are right, weddings can be kind of nice!!! Congratulations to your nephew and blessings for a long and happy marriage.

ziggy53 · July 4, 2006

wxwax wrote:

Silly me forgot to use the Whibal to get good white and black points.

So trying to get good skin tones has been about as easy as losing weight.

This is my brother, whose complexion actually is quite red.

Sid,

I can detect at least 2 distinct light sources, with different white balance.

The best compromise I came up with, for this image, was:

RGB color space
Levels - R-1.12, G-1.15, B-.8
Switch mode to CMYK
Levels - Y-1.9
Switch back to RGB before saving.

This tended to yield the best flash-tones on all the other skin in the photo, and an acceptable gray on the collar of the fellow in the background (it appears to have been a white collar).

ziggy53

wxwax · July 4, 2006

Nikolai wrote:

May be it's just me being a foreigner and plain stupid, but isn't a wedding usually a "black tie" event?
I mean - weren't there *p*l*e*n*t*y* of white shirts/dresses and black ties/jackets/tuxes to give you enough info for setting WB later on?

I'm honestly trying to figure out why such an experienced raw shooter as you needs a WB thingie...

The thing is, Nik, the white shirts aren't really white in natural light - they'll be shades of grey. If you make them pure white, they'll look blown out.

Ditto with black - it's rarely pure black.

I tried Pathfinder's suggestion of changing the values for the white and black eyedrops to something less than pure white and pure black, but as I mentioned, assigning values is pure guesswork. And I'm not very good at finding middle grey in a color image.

The Whibal, especially the middle grey card, takes all of the guesswork out of it.

wxwax · July 4, 2006

ziggy53 wrote:

Sid,

I can detect at least 2 distinct light sources, with different white balance.

The best compromise I came up with, for this image, was:

RGB color space
Levels - R-1.12, G-1.15, B-.8
Switch mode to CMYK
Levels - Y-1.9
Switch back to RGB before saving.

This tended to yield the best flash-tones on all the other skin in the photo, and an acceptable gray on the collar of the fellow in the background (it appears to have been a white collar).

ziggy53

Thanks Ziggy! This gives me something to experiment with.

As always, you're very generous with your tips!

The background guy's shirt is actually blue. Here's my best attempt at white balancing his image.

Nikolai · July 4, 2006

Sid, I see

wxwax wrote:

The thing is, Nik, the white shirts aren't really white in natural light - they'll be shades of grey. If you make them pure white, they'll look blown out.

Ditto with black - it's rarely pure black.

I tried Pathfinder's suggestion of changing the values for the white and black eyedrops to something less than pure white and pure black, but as I mentioned, assigning values is pure guesswork. And I'm not very good at finding middle grey in a color image.

The Whibal, especially the middle grey card, takes all of the guesswork out of it.

Thanks for the explanation!

Fools! They let me near a wedding with a camera.

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