A Special Wedding

[Dave W]

Hi all, just got back from Gretna Green after ushing for 2 of my best mates who finally got married after being together since they were at school.

They had a photographer for the wedding itself so my camera stayed firmly in the bag. All the other stuff from the day I was only too pleased to try and capture for them.

Here's just a few of the decent shots with plenty more on my flickr if anyone fancies a look.

C&C more than welcome because I'm not happy with the PP in most of them as I had 450 shots to edit last night so it was a bit of a rush.

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[The_Bulb]

There's some good shots there IMO, but you shouldn't rush your processing just to get them done - you are asking for comments on these, so shouldn't they be the best you can produce????

I think 2, 3, 4 and 8 all have good points, nice DOF on the rings and I like the angle you have shot the table at, although I would be tempted to clone out the emergency exit sign, I find it distracting and the image does look as though it is a bit underexposed!

You have also cut the tips off the bouquet in number 2, which is a shame, because it would have been a good shot.

I am gonna stick my head on the line here, cause I do not profess to be an expert with the flash, but I would say that 8,9 & 10 look as though you are using an onboard flash, and I think they could do with the flash power output power being turned down and the shutter speed being slowed down to try and let a bit more of the natural light into the camera. I am not sure if you have any options to do this on your specific camera. I think the other option is to use an external flash and use it in manual mode with the method above, or to use the curtain sync option - hopefully someone more knowledgable will be able to improve on this or tell you I am talking a load of c*ap!!!!!

 

[Will B]

I see your point Bulb, but the difficulty in trying to let more natural light in with people in the frame is movement, escpecilly as they have probably been well oiled by now. Its a trade off between exposure and sharpness. I would say all things considered 8 9 and 10 aren't so bad.

 

[Snapper73]

I see your point Bulb, but the difficulty in trying to let more natural light in with people in the frame is movement, escpecilly as they have probably been well oiled by now. Its a trade off between exposure and sharpness. I would say all things considered 8 9 and 10 aren't so bad.

This is where a professional would have the right kit to be able to shoot in low light with the ISO ramped up. Some ok snaps but for me the flash is far to harsh and needed to a bit softer or defused a little.

 

[Dave W]

Thanks for the comments, much appreciated.

The_Bulb, you are right about the processing and I should have taken more time to do them properly which I now have done. I have also taken your advice with the shot of the glasses and got rid of the emergency exit stuff.

As for the flash the latter shots were done using an external flash mounted on the camera, it is very harsh but I had little choice because there was no where to bounce it, I haven't got a diffuser and I was getting a little drunk by then so faffing about with wireless off camera was a no go.

I would have much preferred natural light shots but that's really not an option a lot of the time as the ISO performance on a Sony a100 is like a house brick.

 

[The_Bulb]

I see your point Bulb, but the difficulty in trying to let more natural light in with people in the frame is movement, escpecilly as they have probably been well oiled by now. Its a trade off between exposure and sharpness. I would say all things considered 8 9 and 10 aren't so bad.

I am not saying that they are bad, I am just trying to give a bit of feedback as to how, if the photographer was to find himself in a similar position again, he may try and improve the images. As stated, I am not an expert with a flash myself. Maybe if he published the EXIF data we could have a look at what the shutter speed was, but these are posed shots and in my opinion the shutter speed doesn't have to be that high!!!!! Turning the power of the flash down may also help reduce the harshness in the appearance of the flash, also changing the light metering mode may help :shrug:

Thanks for the comments, much appreciated.

The_Bulb, you are right about the processing and I should have taken more time to do them properly which I now have done. I have also taken your advice with the shot of the glasses and got rid of the emergency exit stuff.

As for the flash the latter shots were done using an external flash mounted on the camera, it is very harsh but I had little choice because there was no where to bounce it, I haven't got a diffuser and I was getting a little drunk by then so faffing about with wireless off camera was a no go.

I would have much preferred natural light shots but that's really not an option a lot of the time as the ISO performance on a Sony a100 is like a house brick.

You did better than me, whenever I've been to a wedding as a guest, I never normally get many photos later into the night, mainly due to alcohol consumption

 

[Dave W]

All the exif info is available on flickr if you fancy a look, just click the pic.

As for the later photos it's simply down to the fact that it was a very small wedding and I knew all of the guests so was more than happy to just leave the camera on the table and grab it when an opportunity arose, some decent shots are not even mine (though the ones I have posted are all my own work I hasten to add). I think alcoholicy shots are great.

I think a diffuser would help a lot so will be investing in one very soon, I also need to play with using a flash more. Most of my photography is done without any flash so my experience is limited somewhat.

Thanks again for your comments.