I was in New Jersey this weekend to shoot a wedding with Sean Gallant, and got this shot from the father-daughter dance that I was pretty happy with. Still working on where to place my two off-camera lights. Later went with cross-lighting and liked it a lot.
The lighting is pretty good, however my 2 nitpicks about the photo are (1) the camera phone in the background is white and distracting and (2) the bride's expression is somewhere in between "I farted" and "Not impressed"
The red light on his jacket doesn't bother me. It's a reception party, not a portrait session, and so there's lights coming from the DJ booth and that's part of the party. In this case, the red light doesn't really take away from the image, I don't think, at least not for me. I was curious what it would look like in b&w, so I did a quick conversion. Here it is.
fotojennik wrote:
The lighting is pretty good, however my 2 nitpicks about the photo are (1) the camera phone in the background is white and distracting and (2) the bride's expression is somewhere in between "I farted" and "Not impressed"
That's interesting. You and Robin didn't like her expression, whereas I thought between the father laughing and her expression, that's what makes the shot for me. Maybe it was different for me in the moment, being there, as opposed to what's coming across in this picture.
His expression is excellent. Hers is sort of unfortunate. It's technically a frown (mouth curled down at corners) which is probably a combination of emotions that just didn't happen to produce a pretty facial expression at that key moment. Not much you can do about it if this is the only shot in which you've got the dad's expression this good.
The upside is that, because she knows her own expressions, she'll understand it better than we do, and she may even remember that moment.
You might just want to clone the girl-with-cell-phone out. The problem with her is that the white phone creates a bright spot that draws the eyes there. Or just burn her down a lot. Something to reduce her visual impact.
One can see her expression as a frown if they want, but clearly in the context of the moment it isn't a frown but a very emotional moment for her... as if she's struggling to hold back tears. I prefer the color version, although the black n white works nicely too.
After looking at both, I think I like the color version better. I agree with Robin that black-and-white tends to help emphasize emotion in an image, but here, the red background is a pleasant contrast. The red light on dad's hand is somewhat undesirable, but it's not the first thing you notice, and as you said, it's to be expected at a reception with lights and such.
Mitch wrote: One can see her expression as a frown if they want, but clearly in the context of the moment it isn't a frown but a very emotional moment for her
It is technically a frown -- that much is not a matter of opinion, but of physiology -- which is why I said it's unfortunate. It is fairly apparent that she's not frowning from anger or displeasure, but rather from a mix of emotions, and likely in an effort to hold back tears.
My point in saying it's technically a frown was not to offer an obtuse misinterpretation of the meaning of her expression, but merely to observe that it's not as pretty an expression to look at as a different facial reaction to the same emotions might have been.
It's mainly an aesthetic matter, and depending on the bride, probably isn't as important to her as it is to a third party who doesn't know her. Some brides are concerned first about how they look, and second about capturing memories, but most would probably be happily transported back to the moment by this image, which is why I'd keep it.
Ian, I can clearly see how it is viewed as a frown. And while it's easily seen that way, Mitch is correct, it is an emotional moment and she's struggling to hold back the tears. This was a bride that teared up a lot.
Sometimes, the images that we capture, the emotions are very clearcut. Being there, it was clearcut to me what she was doing. But the image isn't very clear and some people are going to interpret it as I do, and others are going to interpret it as an unfortunate frown. And that's why I put these pictures up here for feedback. I need to know when others don't see things in the same way as I do.
The bride knows what she is feeling at this time (obviously some sort of emotion). Their skin tones and whites where your flash hit look good. I like the shot. The person with the phone in the back is a non issue and can be cropped out. Remember there is only like 3 mins to get an epic shot of the bride with her father.
friscoron wrote:
That's interesting. You and Robin didn't like her expression, whereas I thought between the father laughing and her expression, that's what makes the shot for me. Maybe it was different for me in the moment, being there, as opposed to what's coming across in this picture.
It can be difficult to judge an expression without knowing the person sometimes. For who the images are for, they might instantly connect and recognise the emotion in an image because they know that person... For a neutral, an expression can sometimes look a little odd, but it can be quite normal.
I like it!
Your lighting is great, her expression I don't know, I like it because it shows a lot of emotions but if it was me I would probably hate it as it's not very flattering.
Her expression is priceless and perfect!! This is "a moment" that is touching and special. The unfortunate reality is some how her expression is not put into it's context given the moment. I can't wait to see this kind of expression in photos when my daughter get's married and dance with me.
The color image is very nice....cell phone and all.
