mod please delete. thanks.

Bryan,
I'd be happy to look over some images, and I am sure others on this forum would as well. Please select 3-4 images for feedback and provide a direct link to those images specifically. Ideally you would include specific questions you have, eg advice re composition, depth of field, processing, technical questions about equipment. You can start a new thread each day with additional images/questions.
Scott

hey Scott,

Thanks

Bryan,

I'm no professional either and this is not meant as a personal criticism, but I would humbly suggest that you are not ready for paid gigs as a wedding photographer. People expect first class pictures and service for their weddings - one of the most important events in their lives. It is not - at least for most folks willing to pay for a photographer - a weekend warrior job. You should not only have the technique and skill to properly compose and capture all of the standard and unique shots, you should have the equipment for it. I don't know any paid wedding photographer that doesn't have at least one backup body, flash card, etc...

Keep practicing. Since you are in college, see if you can take some photography courses as an elective. If you are still interested in doing weddings, try to find a local photographer who is willing to take you along as an assistant or second shooter.

Yes +2 to the above. With the best will in the world these could only be described as snaps - there is no evidence of skill in composition or in dealing with the light - which just about sums up the requirement for most photography let alone wedding photography where you have so many things to deal that technique needs to be second nature to you. Have a look at the work on the wedding forum and compare it with your own - and imagine how you would achieve their results.

Post processing is another area you need to come to grips with - and the less competent you are as a photographer the more you need those skills!

I am not normally harsh - especially to new posters and I would not want to put you off posting here. Pick a few as sbeme above suggested, put them up here and ask for criticism.

All meant in the best possible way

Hi, Bryan!

First, welcome to FM. Second, you'll find that any community (this one included) develops some habits and some customs. You'll get much better results and feedback from learning the local habits. And the most important one I can suggest is that you approach critique in a more targeted way. As sbeme already suggested, pick 3-4 images that you really like, or where you're trying to achieve one specific thing, and post them here directly so that people can see them on this page. You just have to post the image's URL, and it'll show automatically.

I did take a look at your Flicker gallery. You have some nice images there, and they show that you care about trying to get a good shot. But, they also show that you have not yet embarked on a real study of photography. I'd say that you have the potential to be a great photographer, but you are taking the first steps along that path and there is a long way to go.

1. Post-processing. Love it, hate it... but get used to it. Good that you're shooting in RAW, but if you've never worked on an image in the computer to really make it the best image you can, then I say you don't yet care enough about the quality of each image. You need to care more about each one, really want to make it as good as possible. I'm not talking about retouching, or editing... just white balance, levels, cropping, color correction, sharpening.

2. Light. The changes in light are not something that I see your images optimizing or manipulating to your advantage. You are not using shadows, contrast, color of light, or the intensity of it to create an image that speaks to me. Furthermore, you need to start learning more about flash, multiple lights, and how to alter light deliberately to create the image you want. Read through Strobist and other resources to get started... and then keep working on it.

3. Review. Get into the habit of a critical review. Look at the image. Ask yourself how you could make it better. What would you change about the light, the pose, the DOF, the focus point, everything? You have a shot of your dog that I would have really loved, if the thing weren't slightly out-of-focus. At least, the eyes were... and if the eyes aren't in focus in a portrait, the whole image goes straight to the trash. If the image isn't as good as you can possibly make it, shoot it again. Such self-critique can make you a lot better, relatively quickly.

4. Your nature shots (landscapes, dogs, drop of water, etc.) are much better than your people pics at this point. I kind of like quite a few shots from your original gallery (in your first post), but the family reunion you linked to in the second post... I got through about six images and then came back here to finish the thread. Need to improve a lot on the use of light, the compositions, and making people look their best.

5. For the next 2-3 years at least, stay away from money. You can surely learn how to do professional photography, but honestly you're not even close to there yet. Especially (God forbid) a wedding, which the bride has usually been planning and dreaming of since before she ever had a boyfriend. People who pay for pictures not only expect great quality... they expect great quality delivered consistently. You'll know that you are ready to take on a wedding when you can see each shot in advance, see the light, alter it if necessary, compose the image, shoot it, edit it, and frame it, all in your head. And then make that shot a reality. Each time, every time, with very very few failures. And that's just the photography side of it! You also need to know when to step close, when to get out of the way, when to be unseen, how to shoot the ring, what kind of poses/shots/scenes they expect to see, and all the folklore that goes with whatever their particular personal religious preference is. And don't forget to meet and chat with the family so you get an idea of relationships and preferences, get the special shots that will matter to them and not just technically well-executed images that have zero emotional content. Hopefully you see my point.

Dude... seriously, just say no. What you've written here today gives the impression that you want to enjoy your photography as a hobby. Great! Do that. But do not think that this kind of interest and attitude will get you paid gigs... and if it does, believe me when I tell you that you are going to get yourself in a lot of trouble. Do you have any idea how quickly you can ruin a friendship, or get yourself sued, by screwing up a paid shoot?

And lastly... keep in mind that we're all reacting only to what you've said here. That's a weakness of the Internet: we don't know you, we only know what you write and shoot. So what we see is a beginner, who wants to get a lot better, and who thinks pro-quality work is easy. The first two are great, but the last is Just Plain Wrong [tm]. If our initial impressions are incorrect, then we'll be happy to get a different impression. Post some pics (just a few!) that you really like and that you feel are great, and we'll see what/how we can make suggestions on improvement.

You've gotten a lot of pretty negative feedback here. Hopefully you realize that everyone who posted is trying to be honest (they don't like what you said, or what you shot), and also positive (they're trying to give you good advice). And also hopefully some of these comments will be useful to you. Look around FM, on the different fora (People Photography, Weddings, Macro, and so on) and you'll see a ton of images get discussed and critiqued. You can learn a lot from those too, and feel free to post your images (in your own thread, please) at any time. You'll find tons of people here who are happy to help you learn.

Cheers.

Hi Bryan,

Welcome to the forum.

I strongly concur in all of the above comments and would add after browsing through your galleries: the vast majority of the images, to me (and my eyes aren't the greatest) look quite soft, even the landscapes; the reunion set contains far too many backs, silhouettes, and not nearly enough eyes and faces.

As Paul suggested, hang around the wedding forum and people forum and see what those folks can do. And I might add, from what I've been told by friends (and the pro who did our daughter's wedding) and read, the quickest way to lose a friend is to do him or her a 'favor' by shooting their wedding and screw it up (which is very likely - only takes one missed shot) - free or not doesn't matter - this is a once in a lifetime experience for the bride and groom, and more importantly their families. Even at the best, you'll have marginal lighting and really need to be on top of your game to do an adequate job because there are more things that can go wrong than you'd ever imagine....that's why the pros can command the prices they do.

And I'll reinforce Paul's last comment - I have found this to be a helpful, congenial forum which, IMHO, sets it apart from other, non-FM forums which shall go unnamed. I have learned a great deal here and still have much more to learn - comments are offered in a constructive spirit without intention to offend. We look forward to seeing more of your posts.

regards,

Bob

<edit> Rodolfo is right on target...

first I would sell the 18-55 lens you have and get a tamron 17-50 f2.8 your image quality will improve and when you see how much better your images come out you will appreciate your skills...I did a friends wedding my first. I had a 30d and a tamron 28-75 f2.8 and a 420ex on a cb digital bracket and used a styrofoam cup as a diffuser..most of the pics came out ok not steller...the first mistake was not shooting in RAW which I know better now after learning a lot from this forum..
second mistake not having a better lens body set up..Ideal setup would be a body with a 17-50 f2.8 and another body with say a 50 mm f1.8 for the low light in the church and have 2 more cf cards at least 4 gigs each..a better set up would be 2 30Ds a 16-35 f2.8 and a 70-200 f2.8 is both L series..4, 4 gig cards and a really good flash 550ex or 580ex( used mainly for fill outdoors and reception) during ceremony flash is frowned upon..not an expert but if I ever do another wedding I will have to get better equiptment


dont let RAW scare you it did me and still light years behind people like Sbeme in terms of overall finished product but I do my best

Se3cond to all but the last post. Nuts and bolts seems like a separate set of issues to me.

I'm probably restating the above, but you need also to learn to edit ruthlessly. That means throwing out pictures that need an explanation, pix that are technically lacking and pictures that you have to apologize for.

The other part of editing is sequencing (and sizing) to keep interest yet provide delightful surprises. In other words, make the whole greater than the sum of the parts.

Good luck!

First off, Thanks for all your comments. i will gather some pictures over the next week, as alot of the photos that are online were taking 2 or 3 years ago.

I am not ready and or have time to take on a wedding, i didnt mean to come off as if i wanted to shoot a wedding now and start to make thousands. im not in it for the money. i dont need it to support what i will be doing, i just share a passion for photography. The closest wedding that will be able to get pictures at i will be a assistant photographer for another friend whos career is in wedding photography. and it happens to be a family wedding but thats in 8 months so im not in a rush to do anything paid. right now im just trying to get a start.

All my equipment is just what i have now and i am going to shoot with it to my fullest potential before considering new lens and other things that i dont need at the moment.

And as for the taking pictures of people in a serious way, setting the lighting up, posture, etc., yes i just started, literally 2 weeks ago. i have been taking shots of still life and landscape type pictures for ahwile and it was all because i liked taking photos from a young age.

Actually since the holidays are coming around i will definetaly get a chance to take shots of people/family and catch their emotions.

So till then Happy Thanksgiving and ill see everyone later,
Bryan

Welcome to the forum - I look forward to more shots.

I agree with all the feedback above but am worried that you will be discouraged.

Post 1-3 pictures with exif and specific question and you will get lots of feedback.
Post lots (1 or 2 posts per week) and get lots of feedback and you will advance fastest.
Wait until you get a great picture and post it, and you will learn least.

So I hope to see more.

Scott

Scott makes a great point. Seconded!

First of all kudos to nightkidsi for taking the heat in the spirit in which it was given (not always true even of experienced posters here )

Secondly thanks to the above posters who expressed better than I did what I tried to say.

And third - good luck and enjoy this hobby (or profession if you get there)

And I would like to add one further suggestion: resist the temptation to become seduced by gear and technology (as have I and I hope I've broken the cycle - of course the bad economy helps ). As many times as I try, I've never been able to effectively recover an image with (1) totally blown highlights and (2) blurred subjects because I did a poor, half-a**ed job in capturing it - and I still do this, but not quite so often patience and care are virtues, a lack thereof carries a heavy price

I think digitalbug30d nailed it with the recommendation of the Tamron 17-50mm f2.8. I had (and need to fill the gap now) a 28-75mm and it was superb - not up to taking a beating like pro lenses but it produced superb colors, contrast, and was sharp, sharp, sharp.

Strive to learn how to maximize the gear you have and capture images that are technically sound - it'll pay many dividends in the long run, especially while at the computer doing post-processing.

Regards and good luck!

Bob

Bryan, welcome to FM. I agree with all of the above comments. The best wedding shooters know their gear and how to use it without having to think about it. If you watch a seasoned pro wedding shooter they make it look really easy, but that's because they have so much practice. If you really want to shoot weddings, get some books and read, read, read. Also another source is wedding magazines. From these you'll be able to see trends in photography.

As was mentioned, the shoot is only half way done when you press the shutter button. Photoshop is really your friend when it comes to teasing out the very best image. Glad to hear that you're shooting RAW. May I suggest shooting RAW + Jpeg and trying to get your RAWs to look better than the Jpegs. Once you do this you'll be on your way. Remember, that when you shoot Jpegs the camera does some processing for you.

Gear was previously mentioned and I have another inexpensive sugestion for you. Get a Canon EF 50 1.8 lens. These can be had for about $70 and are beyond a doubt one lens that everyone should have, unless they have the more expensive 50 1.4 or 50 1.2L. One of the problems with the kit lenses is that they are slow zooms. Shoot with the 50 1.8 wide open or at 2.0 and you'll begin to get a better feel for when to throw a background out of focus and when to go for maximum depth of field.

Most importantly, though. Keep posting on FM. The people here are great and very knowledgable. I know I have learned a lot from these fine folks.

Happy Shooting,
Mark