I would bounce the light off the ceiling for this first one. The second the third shot marginally work for me but I would take out the glow effect...especially on the last shot if I was trying to show the details on back of the dress. Hope this helps.
1) The lighting is very poor imo. It seems like a table lamp and the black and white conversion is flat. I feel as though it would do better with some more contrast or curve work. However, keep in mind, I like high contrast while many others don't - so, this can be a very relative thing.
2) Good shot, however the duotone conversion isn't flattering. The yellow color just seems distractive and it's too saturated for my liking.
3) the last shot would have been REALLY nice if the effect you were going for was done w/ a Tilt-Shift lens. Here, it just looks like a distracting photoshop fake blur w/ some glow mixed in. If it really was a TS lens that you used, then maybe I'm wrong.
Jason / Saad, thanks for the feedback. Believe it or not the lighting was intentional, albeit a poor decision. We'll try some different set-ups. Fortunately we're not just using a table lamp!!
I think the lighting on the first could work well with a couple of modification. First, I never liked the veil cutting across the face, as it is usually the first thing that catches your eye. I believe there is good portrait lighting going on, with good facial lighting and nice shadows on the side of the face, but it is lost by the veil. I think you could add some "pop" with either modification to the TONE sliders in LR, or the LEVELS command in PS.
I like the second, with the exception of her eyes. Have the bride close their eye and put their pupils in the center of their sockets--then have her open them. It is the surest way to center the eyes. You can adjust from there.
With the third, again the veil cutting diagonally across the body is distracting. It also just hangs there without purpose. I believe if you would have raised the camera angle at bit, you would have had a better perspective and needed less "blur" to accomplish the look.
I actually like the lighting on the first one. What (imho) is killing it is the wall to the right of the bride. Since it's brighter then the actual bride, it's kind of distracting but I really like the mood and the fact it DOES seem like a table lamp. The veil being bunched in front of her eye is unfortunate, but I think you'll fix this the next time, right.
I think the 2nd would be stronger with a more contrasty finish. The duo-tone isn;t strong enough to carry it with her looking out of the frame (which is a dramatic look).
The third doesn't really get it for me.. I just don't feel the purpose of this one. The blur would be nice if you had a contrasting sharpness to it. Without razor sharp details, my eye gets pretty lost.
And no, I didn't try to say the exact opposite of Saad, but since he's local to me, we can duke it out after school.
Coffee - of course there's no offense taken, I post here for feedback from others who have been doing this much longer than me! That's an interesting bit of advice (Bride closing eyes to center), thanks. Also appreciate feedback on the veil, I'll keep an eye on that.
Brian, thanks for the comments. I wonder if I adjusted the expsoure on the bride's face in lightroom if that would help draw more attention to her and not to the wall. I may try that and load another copy for your input. On the veil in #1, I actually balled it up on purpose - that's my style! Everyone has a signature..... I agree with your comments on 2-3. Saads after you - watch your back.
ps - fortunately, these shots are of my wife in her wedding dress - no one is paying for these
