I made a post a little while ago regarding how tough the lighting situation was at this wedding, and how freaked out I was about it.
Ok, so the pictures are done.. I posted them to a private gallery for the couple, and I'm nervous again. Would you mind giving me your input? I know its a lot of stuff to go through, but I'd really appreciate it. Are they good or bad (and why)? Any tips on how to improve, or how to change my tactics when shooting?
I need to get better at this... I'm not very happy with the product at the moment.
Over all, very good for your first gig. The pre-weddings needed some fill light for the faces and I'm not sure what you were doing during the dance shots, but for the most part they're good.
The two things I would concentrate on is;
1. Fill flash
2. White balance
I like to shoot with ambient light as much as possible - I find flash (even fill flash) to be too artificial looking, and I don't like how intrusive it makes me. I'm also not comfortable using it in general (on ttl). I'm learning to trust modes. I'm used to shooting everything manual, but have been trying to let the gear work for me more, so I can think more about comp/etc without the extra worry. Using fill intelligently will be the next step - I think I should get a bracket.
I guess I consider using flash admitting defeat or something. I never want to touch it, and only did as a last resort.
And yes, white balance was an issue for me for sure. I need to remember to switch the settings around when I enter the darkened hole of the reception.
Thanks for your advice (and sorry about the life story).
Well Done, You have managed to be in the right place at the right time, and your shots do not look like they were from a "First Timer".
As mentioned you do have a problem with most of the dance shoots, mainly shutter speed to low, a proper use of fill flash would have shorted that, and there are many online tutorials for fill flash on the net to help. Regarding the white balance issue, shooting in Raw would overcome that problem, and allow you to pick the balance to suit.
Are you kidding, if my first wedding came out half that good I'd have been stoked. Be proud, they look great.
Your issues are very basic. White balance and use of fill flash. WB can be fixed in post for the most part but fill flashed is need in a few of these. I noticed that in the ceremony shots you had quite a bit of grain. Purposeful? If it wasn't, can I ask what your shooing with? They look to be at very high ISO's and it was obviously cause of the gym type venue they were at. A 5D or even a 40D, (I have 2) could have really helped there.
Your only gonna get better from here. You have the eye now practice like heck and get even better.
The dance floor stuff was fun time, I deliberately dragged the shutter with lots of flash to get that effect. I've seen it done before, maybe with better results than mine.
The ceremony was brutal. They were standing in a black trap away from the sun. I was shooting a borrowed MarkIII at 6400 iso, 2.8 and 200th with an IS 70-200 lens (I usually shoot 5ds, but attending the rehearsal the day before let me know what I was in for).
Thanks again for the feedback! Do you think the pictures are worth what they paid? (Almost 2K?)
For a first wedding, this is superb. Beats the crap out of my first
The bride seems to fit your style. Can't put my finger on it, but that's all I can say-- she seems to fit your style. The woody lodge is cool too, not a typical wedding place.. well, maybe it is in Canada, but not in these parts
The compositions and exposures look OK but the PP on the black and whites in particular is lacking a bit... they look like just straight conversions. Is this just a set of proofs, and then you apply the special processing to the final selection? Did the package include an album? If there is an album or the bride picks photos, I would do more specialized PP work on them later, but if not, do the extra PP work now. Unfortunately with weddings you'll find you spend an additional 20-40 hours working the images afterwards.
I would have liked to have seen more photos of just the couple. Someone wrote on this board recently (paraphrased) that it's 89% about the bride, 6% the groom, 4% the mothers and 1% everyone else. Maybe I skimmed over them?
A good white balance trick is to convert to B&W. Problem solved
And as a final note, don't be afraid of flash. I prefer natural light like you do... I'd shoot 85L and 35L if I could... but I've found you can get really creative with flash, especially off-camera flash triggered with remotes (pocket wizards or ebay remotes, read strobist.com for inspiration). It isn't as bad as you think, and even the top wedding photographers use flash all the time. Flash is your friend
very good! Those are awesome for you first time. what lens where you using for your ring shots. also loved the location where the bride was getting ready.
Wow, I really hope my first wedding comes out as well as yours. I think this is an excellent first wedding. You should definitely be proud. I can tell that you won't have a problem finding things to fix (you sound like me -- I can always find what's wrong with my photos), so I'll repeat: I really think you did an excellent job. My first wedding will have similar lighting problems on the complete opposite end -- direct midday FL sunlight.
You used Ambient light for all of these? I was going to ask how you lit it because I love the lighting. So I'll disagree with the other posters in that I like the look of the ambient light only -- especially when the bride is getting ready. It tells me a lot about the location. And I think it looks completely natural. But I'm not a pro, so take what i say with a grain of salt. I don't know if I'd like it with fill flash, but that's because these are definitely my style.
I thought you did a really good job with framing and composition (although I'm sure some could be better), and I think you nailed the emotion of the event. One of my friends was telling me that her wedding photographer took good photos in the technical sence, but didn't capture the emotion of the day. I have to remind myself that while composition and lighting are important, it's more important to capture the emotions -- brides want that.
2k for the wedding? Sounds like a good deal. I've seen far worse photographers charge more. Of course, it's what the B&G think!
Question -- of all the photos you took, how many (what percentage) did you keep and how many did you toss? I'm just wondering for reference. I tend to shoot a LOT just in case people have goofy faces.
A few tweaks - the very last photos in the gallery need WB correcting to push some of the orange back out of them. If you shot these with .jpg, you may need LightRoom to adjust them.
Second, there's a pic in the early part where you're catching the bride by the window and it gives this short lighting across her face that makes her nose look much more pronounced than it should be.
Third, just after the short light pic, there is one of her showing off her blue garter and snow boots and frankly that's hot and I thought I should just point that out.
Good choice of lenses and perspectives. Nothing jumped out at me as wrong in those categories which is how things are supposed to be.
Carla,
I looked through most of the pictures. I think you have such a great eye and a talent that takes a long time for some to learn. You have a great future ahead of you. There is no way that your clients won't be thrilled with your work. Now, work on mareting yourself so that you will will have no life except wedding photography.
Yvette
I just heard back - they're happy! Yay! Some images are mysteriously awol from the gallery... I'm working on getting them up now.
Andrew -- Many of the b&w images (particularly from the ceremony onwards) were converted because the white balance was brootal.
They have all been photoshopped in some way or another, and I did spend a bit of time on them so far..... The b&w shots are not straight conversions - they are rescue ops in many cases. The exposures were not all that hot due to the conditions. I know what a good b&w should look like - but when I'm rescuing it gets hard to keep it looking ideal - those buttery grey and white tones just aren't there!
Jared - I found a 100mm macro in a pawn shop a little while ago, got a smokin deal on it too! Thats what I use for the ring shots. Some of the nicer prep shots are with it too. I should use it more often!
Deb! Thank you! I appreciate the niceness I've been chewing my nails/hair/husbands ear off for the last day or 2 over these things. I think I shot 1500+ images for this wedding - around 450-500 are seeing the light of day. (I only promise 250 for a wedding this size, but I aim to impress!)
St Green - The reddish dance shots are reddish instead of being yellowish (gag!) I did some split toning on those - I kind of like how warm they are, I think they have a mood.
Her nose was a little on the large side... I did find that by side lighting her a little on the hot side it was giving her a little nosejob, I didn't really notice how heavy the shadow was until now! I agree with you about the garter, and thanks for the warm words.
Yvette - thank you also. Shooting more is what I really need to do.
Carmina, you do have a good eye, and the trick of finding a good place to capture the action.
I will often use my reflector in the getting ready shots, when you use discernment, you can get some good stuff without being obtrusive.
I liked how you used the window light for your formals, and some of the relaxed looking groupings.
I would have liked to see more portraits of the couple.
Looking forward to more from you.
well, there we're too many for me to look over all. But from what I saw (and I think people have been repeating) If this was what I got for my first wedding, I'd be stoked! :] (Hassas). You got good angles, you capture the moments well, you were where you need to be =] gj
