This is one of those shots that I wanted to work out. The bride and brides father are blurred and I didn't get to the angle I wanted to be at. Shall I just bin it, or see if they like it?
It's not that bad. Depends what else you have of this moment. Otherwise hit it with some heavy sharpening and call it "close enough". If they don't like it, they don't have to print it.
If it were me, I might think about putting a little more contrast into just the bride and FOB.... Making the stand out a bit more I think would possibly make the shot have a bit more focus.
I had binned it and then took it back out again. I've got other bride and dad pics so it's no problem to bin. What made me think twice was my own wedding pics. We had a mixture of professional and the usual snap shots by guests. Some of my wifes favourites were technically very poor guest shots but she saw something in them that she really liked. I'm not suggesting for a moment that I intend to let standards slip and start including all the junk. Just interested on others thoughts of including a single shot that wasn't up to par but may add something. As suggested above I think if it were the only one with the two of them then it would have to go in.
jb1970 wrote:
We had a mixture of professional and the usual snap shots by guests. Some of my wifes favourites were technically very poor guest shots but she saw something in them that she really liked. ... Just interested on others thoughts of including a single shot that wasn't up to par but may add something.
I DO have some thoughts on this now that you put it that way.
This opinion may be in the minority here but my advice is that if you think there's something about the shot - maybe you just get "a feeling" - I would say to leave it in. "Content" is more important than the technical aspects. And you never really know what they're going to like.
Let me share with you how I've come to the above conclusion ...
When I was first starting out, I showed a client the proofs after they had been through only the first round of culling, where the worst of the worst were removed, such as eyes closed, out of focus, test shots. [Bride was very impatient to see the pictures so I showed what I had done up to that point, with the understanding that a second round of culling would be done to get the shots down to "the final presentation".] Then I did the second round of culling where I got rid of the marginal pictures with no redeeming value. Come to find out, the bride had already started picking out her "favorites" to go into the album from that first round of culling! After I finished my second round of culling, the bride sent me a list of her "favorites" and, low and behold, many of those favorite shots I had already binned, thinking that, for sure, she'd have no interest in them. So I had to go back and pick her favorities ouf of the trash in order to make the album.
D. Diggler wrote:
Let me share with you how I've come to the above conclusion ...
When I was first starting out, I showed a client the proofs after they had been through only the first round of culling, where the worst of the worst were removed, such as eyes closed, out of focus, test shots. [Bride was very impatient to see the pictures so I showed what I had done up to that point, with the understanding that a second round of culling would be done to get the shots down to "the final presentation".] Then I did the second round of culling where I got rid of the marginal pictures with no redeeming value. Come to find out, the bride had already started picking out her "favorites" to go into the album from that first round of culling! After I finished my second round of culling, the bride sent me a list of her "favorites" and, low and behold, many of those favorite shots I had already binned, thinking that, for sure, she'd have no interest in them. So I had to go back and pick her favorities ouf of the trash in order to make the album....Show more →
you lost a crucial opportunity though... you don't mention picking out those favorites that you had binned and looking at them over and over and over until you could figure out WHAT the bride saw in them.
paparazzinick wrote:
My rule is if the shot looks like it is a guest photo then it wont make the final cut. This photo looks as if a guest took it from the sidelines.
Yes that's a very good point. However, having just read your comment on another thread about this thread why bother making a post at all, when you obvioulsy believe this post to be of no value? Sometimes I'm curious about what other people would do. If I had no interest at all in any other photographers work or opinions then I wouldn't waste any time on a forum.
jb1970 wrote:
Yes that's a very good point. However, having just read your comment on another thread about this thread why bother making a post at all, when you obvioulsy believe this post to be of no value? Sometimes I'm curious about what other people would do. If I had no interest at all in any other photographers work or opinions then I wouldn't waste any time on a forum.
I never said your post had no value. You said it. I was just saying for you and anyone else on here that wanted to read it. If the photo looks like a guest photo then it gets killed. I had a few from yesterdays wedding that I dumped because they looked like this. Nothing wrong with it. We all shoot them. Not everyone is perfect and if we were all perfect then life would be boring.
ANd my other post was basically saying why all the ass kissing and is this shot worth it posts? Ive been on this forum for a while and it goes in waves every 2 years. It gets real good then the elementary kids come out to play again then it gets good again. You will see what I mean soon enough. I did look at more of your work and it is pretty good. So what confuses me is when someone with decent work even thinks of keeping and asking about a photo like this.
ANother rule I use, if you think you need to keep a so so photo then do something to it to try and make it artsy and usable.
paparazzinick wrote:
I never said your post had no value. You said it. I was just saying for you and anyone else on here that wanted to read it. If the photo looks like a guest photo then it gets killed. I had a few from yesterdays wedding that I dumped because they looked like this. Nothing wrong with it. We all shoot them. Not everyone is perfect and if we were all perfect then life would be boring.
ANd my other post was basically saying why all the ass kissing and is this shot worth it posts? Ive been on this forum for a while and it goes in waves every 2 years. It gets real good then the elementary kids come out to play again then it gets good again. You will see what I mean soon enough. I did look at more of your work and it is pretty good. So what confuses me is when someone with decent work even thinks of keeping and asking about a photo like this.
ANother rule I use, if you think you need to keep a so so photo then do something to it to try and make it artsy and usable....Show more →
Thanks for taking the time to respond. I see your point. To be honest I probably didn't express myself that clearly to start. In hindsight I maybe wouldn't have posted that picture but just posed the question ' have you ever included any below par images that you feel may have added to the story'. No doubt most people would have just replied an emphatic 'no'.
It was my wifes reaction to my own wedding pics that surprised me and sort of prompted the question. A number of pics that I would have binned straight off without question were among her favourites.
jb1970 wrote:
have you ever included any below par images that you feel may have added to the story'. ...
It was my wifes reaction to my own wedding pics that surprised me and sort of prompted the question. A number of pics that I would have binned straight off without question were among her favourites.
And the lesson is, there, that you SHOULD include below-par images if they add to the story.
I don't think clients look at pictures the same way we do. We look at a picture and see the technical shortcomings. They look and see the content. I suppose they're somewhat blind to the technical aspects.
jb1970 wrote:
Thanks for taking the time to respond. I see your point. To be honest I probably didn't express myself that clearly to start. In hindsight I maybe wouldn't have posted that picture but just posed the question ' have you ever included any below par images that you feel may have added to the story'. No doubt most people would have just replied an emphatic 'no'.
It was my wifes reaction to my own wedding pics that surprised me and sort of prompted the question. A number of pics that I would have binned straight off without question were among her favourites. ...Show more →
Sometimes we get wrapped up in a black hole of editing and do not notice the outside world. Then when someone else sees a photo we might have dumped and thinks it could be a keeper. It is nice to get that outside perspective.
One more tip. I rate every single photo I take at a wedding from 1-5. 4 and 5's are automatic keepers. 3's I get my wife or assistant to go through those and see if one should be bumped to a 4. 1 and 2 gets deleted and burned.
