And I had a blast! A little background though. A friend and I were out taking photos of Christmas lights and we met some other friends out there. They saw my friend with a nice camera, and later asked him to shoot their sisters wedding in a month or two. Well he said yes, then realized the mistake he made by saying yes. Then he got the bright idea to ask me to help him out.
Well that turned out to be me shooting the entire thing, with him assisting me. I definitely don't plan on going out on my own, I've got waaay to much to learn. I do plan on assisting established pros to learn more of the ropes and expand my wedding photography knowledge.
It was an LDS wedding, so no ceremony pics. These are also the proofs, so I haven't edited out random arms/legs or other small stuff like that
I'm interested in hearing your critiques & helping me improve my techniques
PierreB wrote:
Nice job. First wedding must be very nerve wracking.
Pierre.
I did my first wedding recently enough to remember that it IS nerve-wracking! But nothing beats the feeling of getting a big cheque for doing something you love eh? Certainly beats 9-5 in a cubicle.
Oh come on, that's a little pretentious isn't it ?
If you don't like them why not at least offer the guy some constructive criticism to help him out for future weddings (if he decides to go that way) instead of just rubbishing someone else's work because you think it's below your own level? We're supposed to be a happy fraternity encouraging people here, and we all had to start somewhere.
Over all they look really good though I do agree... it would be nice to see more in colour. One point: the background in #1 is really cool but it looks like you shot the bride with a wide angle. For full length shots try using a long lens... it looks more dynamic... and flattering.
I am thinking of starting to get into wedding photography, but I have very limited experience with that style of shooting. My website is http://www.vegashendersonphotography.com - there are some pictures from various kinds of shoots I have done. Does it look like I could handle weddings?
You can certainly take a good photo, I'm new to weddings myself, and what I'd say to you if you're considering going for it is to think about the following questions...
How good are your exposures normally ? Weddings get hectic at times, you don't often get 2nd chances, you need to nail your exposure pretty close to spot on, pretty much all the time, no "chimping" and adjusting by 1/2 a stop if it's a bit dark/light.
How confident are you in your own ability ? This is supposedly the biggest day of someone's life, are you sure you're good enough to not spoil the day for them ? You can't go back and reshoot if you didn't get enough "keepers"
If you can answer honestly to yourself that you can handle it then go for it, what do you have to lose ? I left my 9-5 last May, and I'm finally now making enough money to do more than just survive, it's not an easy market to get into (at least not over here) but if you succeed, the spiritual (and if you're VERY good, financial) rewards are almost limitless. Maybe it's because I don't have wedding fatigue yet, but I still love nothing more than the feeling of seeing the bride and groom's reactions to the photos, the satisfaction of knowing that people will look back on my work in 30/40/50 years and still be smiling at it.
It certainly beats number crunching in a cubicle, even if your neck may disagree after carrying 2 cameras with L lenses mounted on them all day lol.
I am confident that I can take pretty good portrait shots, especially traditional styles like business and family portraits. I am not an expert at creative shooting, but my attention to detail is definitely improving.
My exposures are generally pretty good. Having done quite a few events, I feel comfortable enough working fast.
My primary reason for not doing weddings has been that I am not sure I can give them the best quality. I would be less expensive, but I don't have the experience or eye that would produce quite as many really good photos as someone who knows the style and has a better eye.
A second reason is I only have one camera body and no 70-200 f/2.8 lens or 85mm f/1.8 lens. I would like to have (or rent) those lenses for the purpose.
That said, I enjoy photography and have had several requests to be a paid wedding photographer by people who have seen my advertisements and viewed my website. I also have looked at my competition here in Las Vegas, and some of them are a bit worse than me, but they still get paid.
I do not advertise as a wedding photographer, and I have turned those people away. I am thinking that I am missing out on the experience and a bit of money by declining each time.
Pierreb - It was a little nerve wracking at the beginning. I've been the "unofficial" photog at a couple so I had a little idea of what to do. I spent a lot of time studying other shots I've seen here and other places (as well as the photos from my own wedding). I was pretty confident on knowing what needed to be done. I am though looking forward to the check since I've got some $$$ dental work coming up
HermanKT - I already told my buddy that if it went well I'll take all the credit, and if it doesn't I'll pass the blame to him for taking the job. Luckily we're good friends & he knew I was joking. We both also knew the bride, and let them know all the facts before they decided to hire us.
bacilonur - I've always been a fan of B&W wedding photography, which is why I posted most of them in B&W. I also was using LR for the first time processing these, and got carried away with how good & easy i was to create B&W images. If the bride wants color, then she'll get 'em in color!
hassy501 - How can I improve my snapshots?
Pattyw - Yeap, that was one of the things I was knocking myself on. Due to time/weather, I ended up having to shoot all the family photos & bride/groom photos mixed together on the steps with my 12-24 lens, mostly at 24. If I had the chance again, they would have given us time to shoot them separately, and I would have used my 28-70 for the bride/groom photos.
I'm getting more confident in my ability at shooting weddings, but I'm nowhere near ready to go out on my own. I'm used to shooting sports, which is where my real passion lies.
#1 is by far my favorite from the day. The only time we had to shoot was the only time it stopped raining while we were up there. As soon as we ended, the rain came down. It definitely beats sitting in a cube in front of a computer!
Do you have any friends/family getting married soon ? This seems to be the way most people get started, shoot one where it doesn't matter (or at least no-one will say anything out of politeness ;-) ) if it doesn't go 100% to plan, see how you feel, and take it from there. The alternative would be to offer someone a ridiculously low cost wedding (my first few were done for <$300 equivalent, so no-one was expecting miracles) to boost your portfolio and see how you cope, then go from there.
Good luck if you decide to go for it anyway, you might want to look at replacing the XT with a 20/30/40D though, you'll spend a lot of time shooting in low light with high ISO and the XT's low light focus and high ISO grain aren't the best, plus you won't have the ISO 3200 cushion if you REALLY need to push your low light level (you can easily print 10x8 with a 3200 image with the slightest amount of PP)
Good job. It would be fun to see everyone's 1st wedding shoot posted up here, wouldn't it?
In hassy's defense, these are mostly candid shots that Scott posted. We ALL have them.
Keep visiting pro wedding photog's websites and pay attention to their timing a lighting styles. Where it they seem to be and think about how to get there. Anticipate everything. Weddings do not vary too much, they all basically follow the same formula so be ready for the shot before it happens and you'll get it! Carry your camera everywhere and shoot everything so you know it better than the back of your hand. Then you won't be worried about technical concerns while you're shooting. You'll be ready for anything - faster.
Check out these guys, they are some of the best:
Story by Photo - Gino Lucadamo
Todd Johnson
Becker
Joe Buissink
Tommy Colbert
Denis Reggie - He is the king of pj style but didn't have a web site the last time I checked
I think these really are pretty nice Scott, and I'm sure the experience (for you) was priceless. I'm sure Jeff and Kimia are very pleased with the results.
For what it's worth, I think I like #7 the best with the sense of motion you've conveyed with the slower shutter speed.
Kevin Dyck wrote:
In hassy's defense, these are mostly candid shots that Scott posted. We ALL have them.
I don't mean to be inflammatory, but candids I can agree with, whereas "snapshots" is such a derogatory term around these forums (see "uuurrrrgggghhhh.....those aren't REAL photos they're just SNAPSHOTS")
I hope I'm wrong though, I like to think we're all nice jolly people wanting to help each other out where we can, certainly the amount of technical info I've learned from this place over the last 2 years has definately made me a better photographer, and I'm infinitely grateful to those who have offered advice, critisism and answers where needed, and long may it continue.
