Wedding photography....1st wedding......

ShannonHeat · April 9, 2007

This was my very first wedding taken last month. Comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Desmond · April 10, 2007

I'm also a beginner wedding photographer . have a look at my recent post on flash comparisons . My thoughts on the pictures were that the first one might have looked nicer if the reflection was properly focussed . The second one came out really nice , almost like natural lighting with some catchlights in his eyes as well . The third one looks like a bit of slow shutter motion-blur . I use the Nikon 18-200 VR lens which helps in these situations .
Though you have to be sure of whether you can use flash in a church I have found that in most cases flash looks better . I programmed my Nikon D80 function button to "cancel flash " and the first wedding I did 3 months ago I took 1100 pictures

, almost duplicating each shot with and without flash to compare . I found that when the background is darker natural lighting seems to be better if you "adjust for skin tone " afterwards in PS .

ShannonHeat · April 10, 2007

Thank you
Thank you. it helps to have extra eyes on your growing photographic abilities. If you don't receive critique, you almost never catch what you're doing wrong. I never noticed that about the first pic, but you're right. Good eye! Oh,and another thing I did wrong.....I shot in jpeg instead of raw...lol. I know better now.

Desmond wrote:

I'm also a beginner wedding photographer . have a look at my recent post on flash comparisons . My thoughts on the pictures were that the first one might have looked nicer if the reflection was properly focussed . The second one came out really nice , almost like natural lighting with some catchlights in his eyes as well . The third one looks like a bit of slow shutter motion-blur . I use the Nikon 18-200 VR lens which helps in these situations .
Though you have to be sure of whether you can use flash in a church I have found that in most cases flash looks better . I programmed my Nikon D80 function button to "cancel flash " and the first wedding I did 3 months ago I took 1100 pictures , almost duplicating each shot with and without flash to compare . I found that when the background is darker natural lighting seems to be better if you "adjust for skin tone " afterwards in PS .

damonff · April 10, 2007

I love #2...very moody...contemplative. #1 is a classic wedding shot - a must have. Great start to your career. Show some more...reception??

Mike02 · April 10, 2007

Cool ideas Shannon, but I think you need to work a little bit on your technique,

the pose in #1 is a little awkward, #2 shouldnt be framed so strangely and maybe have the cross not obscured behind the groom's head,
and #3 is too shaky for my tastes, but over all, not a bad try for your first wedding.

quark · April 10, 2007

You might also want to post what type of equipment you have to work with. The crowd here can give you advice on lenses that will make your life easier.

david_h · April 10, 2007

Hi Shannon,
Nice for your first wedding. Here are my thoughts on the three images:

1. I like this, but had I been doing it, I'd have used a wider apperture (f1.4) and focused on the reflection, making the foreground image as out of focus as possible. Your skintone colour is a bit strange as well - looks to have too much Cyan to me. You also might have gotten a better look if you had grabbed the image from the other side or while she was doing the other eye.

2. I can't make up my mind about this one. I think I agree with the post above that the composition is a bit odd. Might have been better if you were a bit higher and if the angle was such that his head was more to the right of the frame and we could see all of the cross.

3. I've tried everything to try to get interesting shots during the ceremony. It's normal to get stuck at the back where it's hard to be creative. You have the same problem with this shot.

Of the three, I much prefer the first. You could make a decent black and white from this if you wanted. I'd be interested to see some more.

Desmond · April 11, 2007

I don't want to start a lengthy debate on RAW vs Jpeg which gets a lot of people's backs up BUT : I only shoot jpeg . I know all the benefits of RAW and you will have more lattitude for adjustments with RAW , especially with something as important as a wedding . Then again you can get twice as many shots on jpeg and if your technique is right you won't need RAW most of the time . If you practice a lot with jpeg which is less forgiving then your faults will show up more which will make you a better photographer as you learn to correct them . RAW is similar to film in that there is a lot of lattitude for adjustment with a negative so that the person who develps your film can make you look good by adjusting exposure so you never know how much it was out in the first place . Don't be too concerned about not having the composition 100% "as someone else would take it " , listen to their advice but when there is little time for a shot rather capture the memory as best you can than not take it because the composition isn't perfect .