S.A. represent! Seems like a great bride! Dodging is very noticeable in a few of these, and I think a curves bump would be of great help in the majority . . . good job!
I think these need more work before going to the client... (sorry man, just trying to be honest). I've put down some very candid thoughts below.
1,2,4 & 7 are very under exposed.
As Danny said above, the dodging is extremely noticeable and distracting.
Overall the posing is pretty static. She's a pretty bride but only models and very thin people look great when shot from underneath. See how her face thins when you're shooting from a higher angle?
I know it was your first bridal shoot and at sunset no less, so not the easiest of circumstances.
Yeah to be honest, they are horrible. Not sure if you used flash or not, but its a must if your shooting sunset. Try reading up on the strobist. Not trying to be rude, keep trying, no one gets it the first time.
Thans everyone, I am still getting used to the doge tool. I appreciate the honesty, It's the only way I am going to improve. Working on the curves now. I will post updates when I am finished.
SAREBEL wrote:
Thans everyone, I am still getting used to the doge tool. I appreciate the honesty, It's the only way I am going to improve. Working on the curves now. I will post updates when I am finished.
Glad you can take it, some people just run off and cry or they bite back.
Could you give use some input on your shooting style and what you are doing? Maybe we can help you out, point you to a few websites that can vastly improve your skills.
I have my flaws as and I commend you for posting, I don't have the balls to yet. lol
Check out www.youtube.com for tutorials on post processing. In fact, I'm watching some right now and how to fully use lightroom2. Learned a lot from a few vids already.
I have a pretty thick skin. I am a noob. I want to learn to be like Hass, Tony, and Pingol. I read my wife's bridal magazines for ideas. I kind of want to grow into a cross between traditional wedding photography and glam shots. PP is a little new to me. I think I am trying to do to much too fast.
With that being said, I have made some exposure corrections. Let me know what you think.
There are some pretty fundamental issues with these, and I think a firm grounding in metering, exposure choices, and lighting would go a long way. Give it some study and go back at it and knock us (and more importantly your clients) dead.
The corrected shots look much better. Had you put these up first you probably would have got much better feed back. The colors look nice now. I sense you did a good job with a person that seems to have a fair bit of self awareness and is not confortable being photographed.
Just a small comment about cropping/posing...on the second set where you did the corrections, number 4...its usually not appropriate to crop off body parts, especially at a joint. Keep the crop where the whole hand is showing.
Second set, number 5...you will get this effect (sort of) with flash w/o using the dodge tool, where the face is illuminated, but the background is properly exposed or darker (to get that moody effect). Don't depend on PS to illuminate the face...find out ways to harness the available light or a strobist setup to do that. Remember that when you dodge too much, you lose a lot of contrast in that area and it becomes very noticeable.
Finally, when you use flash, don't use direct flash with no modifier in studio setups. The hard shadows are very noticeable in the studio shot, and this is what you want to avoid.
I would agree with everyone that you need to learn flash work. I am addicted to my strobist setup and you couldn't pry it out of my hands. I'm going back to a mix of natural and flash, but strobist work is crucial at sunset.
I think if I were to choose a favorite, it would be number 4 in the second set, but w/o the odd crop.
Keep at it...like it was said before, no one gets it on the first try. If you keep on trucking at FM and really listen to the good advice people are giving you, you will improve very quickly.
One other note...if you can't find the version of Light: Science and Magic with Fuqua as the author, try a search with Fil Hunter...he's listed first on my book. The book is red and it looks like it has a gear on the front.
Thanks everyone. I have a bunch of scribbled notes that I am going to be looking into when I get home from work! My next Bridals shoot will be better, because of you all. Thanks so much. I appreciate your time and comments!
Wow I have to say I think this is one of the best photographic posts I've seen on FM. For a while I've been getting worried that nobody seemed to give good constructive criticism anymore. This is why I love FM.
Well done Sarebel for taking it so well and well done to the community for giving very constructive criticism that can be built on. Sarebel, good try and above all keep on shooting!
paulhodson wrote:
And unless you are using CS4 rather than CS3 or earlier the dodge tool is usually not one to choose. It has been significantly improved in CS4.
I use CS3, how much better is the Dodge tool in CS4? Is CS4 worth the upgrade?
It is much better - but I am not sure it is worth upgrading for that. I went from CS2 to CS4 - but that was mainly for the Raw conversion which is a step up. Others could probably advise you better.
My feeling is that at the stage of Photoshop you are probably at, the cost is not worthwhile for you unless you have a lot of spare cash.
For the equivalent of the dodge tool try this action in CS3 - run it and paint with the color the brush selects to lighten - reverse brushes to darken.
In almost all of these she has her arms clamped down to her sides, don't know if it was that she was nervous, or if that is how you posed her, but it might be a good idea to try some different things. Also she has some tan lines you might want to work on in pp. I think that part of your problem with the dodge tool is not using soft edges and a low opacy. I have to say though that the last one with the corrected PP looks very good, and you did a good job not blowing out the whites in the dress.
It has been significantly improved in CS4.