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Archive 2014 · My FIRST wedding!

  
 
haleym77
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · My FIRST wedding!


I shot a very small wedding with a very small budget. The bride was an old preceptor of mine way back when I first became a nurse and she let me practice some baby shots on her baby a while back. I was so nervous and was all alone, and I've never even second shot, but it was either I do it or she was just going to have friends take the pics. Anyway, I learned a lot but I am beyond thrilled how they turned out! The light was hard. I live in the desert and so there's little shade out there except for thin threes that provide dappled shade at best. And this was out in the big, wide open desert. But we found some trees, and a ravine, and then I put the guys in the direct sun for some sun practice as well as some drama. I'd love any critique but am also just smiling at the fact that I feel like I succeeded in giving them some nice shots. I obviously have a TON more of family and the ceremony, etc., I've just had some fun with these so far.











Edited on Nov 12, 2014 at 02:54 PM · View previous versions



Nov 10, 2014 at 05:59 PM
friscoron
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · My FIRST wedding!



You did indeed succeed. Great job! I'm sure they're very happy/ecstatic over these. Not a lot to critique here. My only nits would be that we've lost the groom's face in No. 1. (Remember to number your pics going forward to make it easier for us to comment on individual pics.) On the last one, look at the groomsman on our far left. He looks pretty relaxed, doesn't he? Now look at the groom and the groomsman on our right, hands just hanging there. Their hands attract our attention, and it looks awkward. Get at least one hand in the pocket in a shot like that. Like I said, tho, overall these are great!



Nov 10, 2014 at 08:53 PM
haleym77
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · My FIRST wedding!


Thanks for those critiques! All these little tips add up. I know I lost the grooms face in this shot but I just loved the expression on the bride, I had to post it :-) I do have a variety in this spot where the groom is fully visible that they will receive of course. The reminder to look at their hands is good. I also had to clone sunglasses oit of the groom's pocket on #2 because I hadn't noticed it when shooting. Another good reminder to scan for all those little details. Thanks again!


Nov 10, 2014 at 09:10 PM
paregorike
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · My FIRST wedding!




good job



Nov 10, 2014 at 11:00 PM
haleym77
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · My FIRST wedding!


Thank you paregorike :-)


Nov 12, 2014 at 02:53 PM
nextelbuddy
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · My FIRST wedding!


first time or not these are great, you handled the lighting situations very well.


Nov 12, 2014 at 02:58 PM
haleym77
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · My FIRST wedding!


And here's two of the beautiful bride and her daughter :-)





Edited on Nov 12, 2014 at 03:38 PM · View previous versions



Nov 12, 2014 at 03:04 PM
Nate Haskovec
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · My FIRST wedding!


I couldn't help but notice that you cut off the feet in most of the pictures.

Was this intentional?



Nov 12, 2014 at 03:08 PM
haleym77
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · My FIRST wedding!


Yes! The bride was wearing purple converse :-/ They're cute and obviously I got a ton of shots where I left them in, I just chose to not display any of them in this thread yet as it doesn't really fit what I was going for with this set.. I'll get one processed and show you here in a bit.


Nov 12, 2014 at 03:14 PM
haleym77
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · My FIRST wedding!


They've got feet! Haha. I'll post one tonight of the bride in her Purple Chucks. Don't feel like doing the skin work and I gotta run out for a family shoot right now.






Nov 12, 2014 at 03:37 PM
oakdog8
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · My FIRST wedding!


The feet were also my only major gripe. I think they are cropped in such a way that there is too much empty space above the subjects, and too much of the lower leg. Once you cut off the feet, you've created a 3/4 length portrait, so crop appropriately.

Otherwise, I think you did an excellent job. Certainly something they will enjoy looking back and appreciate rather than some snapshots from friends.



Nov 12, 2014 at 04:11 PM
Elijah
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · My FIRST wedding!


Very good for the first wedding! WAY better than mine when I first started


Nov 13, 2014 at 07:39 AM
Drew Newell
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · My FIRST wedding!


Looks great! Now that you have shown one with the feet in it on the groom/groomsmen shot, I would like to see more of them that way, I honestly like it. It's a bit of a quirky choice of footwear for a wedding, but it works for me. I think it shows a little personality. My only other complaint would be that in some of the pictures the Bride's dress is overexposed a bit. If you shot in RAW, should be recoverable. From some of the other shots, I can see there's a lot of detail in the dress, would be great if you could recover that detail in them all. Just a minor thing really though because the face is exposed properly.


Nov 13, 2014 at 08:45 AM
dmacmillan
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · My FIRST wedding!


You did a nice job.

What focus point do you have active? Is it the center spot? Look at the first few photos. You are leaving a lot of headroom, with the faces pretty much dead center. If that is an intentional choice, then it is your prerogative. If, however, it's part of focus but not recompose, be aware that you are doing it. I think that's leading to the "feet cut off" comments.



Nov 13, 2014 at 09:17 AM
Aremac 01
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · My FIRST wedding!


These are pretty nice for a first wedding. I will say though that you got lucky with it being outdoors with plenty of natural light. The light may have been "hard," but it was still light. Needless to say, a good percentage of weddings are almost the polar opposite of that. My first wedding was in a dark church, so I guess I'm a little jealous!


Nov 13, 2014 at 08:59 PM
haleym77
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · My FIRST wedding!


dmacmillan wrote:
You did a nice job.

What focus point do you have active? Is it the center spot? Look at the first few photos. You are leaving a lot of headroom, with the faces pretty much dead center. If that is an intentional choice, then it is your prerogative. If, however, it's part of focus but not recompose, be aware that you are doing it. I think that's leading to the "feet cut off" comments.


No, I usually always manually set my focal point to the closest point where my faces are. I rarely focus and recompose, and on this lens in particular...just seems to give me more misses, especially when fairly wide open.

My "signature" composition is kind of a running joke over on DPS. I find that I gravitate towards leaving a lot of head room, lower weighted compositions, with eyes bang slap in the middle of the frame. This is just how I organically composition my shots, as well as how I organically process them. I seem to find a lot of interest in the skies above my subjects or the foreground below them, and so I compose heavily weighted one way or the other. I am trying to get out of that box a bit but also recognize that that is just my style so I assume it will always be a big part of my work. Time and time again people comment on how I should "appropriately" compose and crop but then remark at how beautiful my photos are, so I guess I don't give much weight to "the rules", haha! And my business is taking off like a leer Jet and I have had multiple co-workers "cheat" on other co-workers who happen to do photography, to have me take their family photos. So I must be doing something interesting and appealing

BUT, with that being said...I have grown with the help of forums like these so I greatly take all of this advise with thanks, and catalog it away, and grow a little bit each shot as a result. Thanks to all for your help and encouragement



Nov 14, 2014 at 12:39 AM





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