First Wedding Results

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nevets2001uk

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145
Name
Steve Gordon
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My partner and I shot our first wedding a few weekends ago for a friend's Brother. I've always been nervous of weddings considering the high pressure and lack of experience but I guess you have to start somewhere.

The day went very well with a mix of reportage style and some group formals throughout the very long 13 hour day. We'd spent a lot of time ahead of the day planning our approach and working out the timings and it was a great help.

I'm after any constructive feedback to help us improve as we enjoyed the day and would like to try it again. There's always room for improvement but we are pleased with the images we handed over.

1.
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2.
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3.
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4.
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5.
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6.
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For a first attempt, not bad at all. I like them all, except no. 5, as it lacks eye pleasing composition and balance. No. 1 is my definate favourite, though, a lovely shot.

Edit: Some photos are exactly the same.
 
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Thanks for the comments. I've fixed the duplicated shots now!

We were quite pleased with how some of the prep shots worked. Taken on a stool in a spare room at the bride's house using an old towel as a cover and a curtain as a backdrop!
 
Yes, you have some super prep shots but on the whole, the inside shots are underexposed and need a bit of punch to make them shine.

This is very noticeable in the 'suit' shots, no definition at all, just look like one large boiler-suit and not jacket and trousers.

I like #13 the best, is it a crop? if so could you post the full image.

Watch the vignette in #12, it is intruding on the group.

Your B&W are lacking a bit of contrast but this could be caused by underexposure.

Try and get a better vantage point in #16, really need the brides eyes because they tell a better story.


Not bad and thanks for posting.
 
Hey, I think youve done a lovely job for your first weddings, and have to say one of my favourite parts of the day are the prep shots, i love the shoe and cake shots, and good forethought with the towel and background.

There are a few things i spotted for future (that people have pointed out on pics here and now they bug me lol) youve cut off the B&G's feet in quite alot of pics and the brides hands too, i think either a tighter crop or a spot for next time, also i think number 13 is lovely and really expresses the emotion but would have liked to see it landscape with them in the right hand of the frame and the last one, try getting the side angle on and bouncing the flash from the ceiling to stop the motion blur, i did a similar one which is on here and they are hard to capture.

But i am being picky as i think these are fab, just things to look out for. Hope thats ok, tell me to shhh if you like as im not a pro lol Do you have the full set on your website?
 
Beautiful job, beautiful bride! Like he vignetted group shot. Probably breaks lots of rules but I like it.
 
tiler65 said:
Yes, you have some super prep shots but on the whole, the inside shots are underexposed and need a bit of punch to make them shine.

This is very noticeable in the 'suit' shots, no definition at all, just look like one large boiler-suit and not jacket and trousers.

I like #13 the best, is it a crop? if so could you post the full image.

Watch the vignette in #12, it is intruding on the group.

Your B&W are lacking a bit of contrast but this could be caused by underexposure.

Try and get a better vantage point in #16, really need the brides eyes because they tell a better story.


Not bad and thanks for posting.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the comments and all taken on board for the next time. I agree on the dark suits, although I didn't notice it as much in Lightroom on my monitor so I'll check the calibration as they do appear dark now that I look at the jpegs. Hopefully I can recover some detail and improve the processing. Exposing inside was something I found quite difficult and is certainly an area for me to work on.

No. 13 is the full image but I also have a wider shot which we presented. I didn't like it as much since the dress was slightly cut off but here it is anyway.

P1006A0_0746.jpg


No. 12 I think you're right needs reigning in a little. I did however present alternative shots with more standard processing applied...

P1006A0_0509.jpg


P1006A0_0513.jpg


Do you think these are better?

I'll also work on the contrast of the B&W shots. I probably did underexpose by about a 1/3 as I was worried about blowing out the dress.

Thanks again for your honest views. I can take your thoughts away and use them next time.
 
Alladin121 said:
Hey, I think youve done a lovely job for your first weddings, and have to say one of my favourite parts of the day are the prep shots, i love the shoe and cake shots, and good forethought with the towel and background.

There are a few things i spotted for future (that people have pointed out on pics here and now they bug me lol) youve cut off the B&G's feet in quite alot of pics and the brides hands too, i think either a tighter crop or a spot for next time, also i think number 13 is lovely and really expresses the emotion but would have liked to see it landscape with them in the right hand of the frame and the last one, try getting the side angle on and bouncing the flash from the ceiling to stop the motion blur, i did a similar one which is on here and they are hard to capture.

But i am being picky as i think these are fab, just things to look out for. Hope thats ok, tell me to shhh if you like as im not a pro lol Do you have the full set on your website?
Click to expand...

Thanks for taking the time to comment. I certainly agree with your thoughts on cutting off the feet in some shots and did notice it myself when reviewing the shots. During the ceremony we were a bit restricted as there was really only one place to stand out of the way of guests and the room layout meant no side aisles to move around in. We ended up shooting past the table with the register or over it. These details of the composition will certainly be in my mind more next time.

No. 13 was shot on a balcony and to the right was an ugly building so we were a little limited in the angle we could use. Here are a couple more from the same location...

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P1006A0_0747.jpg


The shot of the first dance confetti is a bit of a story. Just as the first dance started my 1DMIIN hung was an error. I removed the battery and reseated the cards but it was effectively dead. Luckily my partner was shooting with the 20D but unfortunately we don't yet have a second flash gun so that shot was taken with on camera flash, hence the movement streaking. Thankfully she was able to get some good shots and the 20D did us proud. In the end it turns out my CF card was corrupt and replacing it got me back up and running. I'm also very pleased I was shooting to both cards and had a backup of the shots on the other card. Definitely a reminder that backup equipment and cards is a must.
 
For a 1st set they are very good, agree that some need a bit of help with some punch. Also, some backgrounds are distracting, with flagpoles and the like sticking up. Something I get wrong I know, but overall a nice set. I do like 14.
 
Good job.

Perhaps on some of the shots you're shooting towards bright objects like the white car on #3 for example, maybe use your flashgun for a bit of fill light as he looks a little under exposed.

I also noticed the flash shadows on alot of the shots indoors, be wary of shooting portrait with a flashgun if there's a wall behind the subject.
 
not bad for a first set, well done. My only comments would be that you have a lot of dark areas in the frame. If you are using Lightroom, this can be easily corrected using the fill light slider. Also try and stick to a uniform look and feel for the photos. Its very easy to get caught up being too creative when you first start out. In some of the shots when you can see the sky, I would definitely sacrifice the sky to ensure the couple are well exposed, if you dont want to go down the route of layers and masks in PS.
 
A great set, well done. The Audi rings shot is very creative. I agree with the other comments about contrast and some images lacking punch. For the portrait shots try and include an image for some of the poses which shows the couple with space all the way around them. You can always crop in later if needed, but its nice to have some shots which include the location and all the details of their outfits etc. Having said that, I quite like 13 cropped, I think this will be one of their favourites.
 
Thanks for all of the useful comments. I'll work on the processing to add more punch to the shots. I do need to pay a little more attention to backgrounds when shooting also. I was using fill flash for a lot of the outdoor shots but perhaps need to play around with the settings a bit more. I'm reasonably new to flash.

I'm thinking of getting an off shoe flash cable so I can be more creative with the angle of the light and also correct for portrait format shots where the flash is currently sideways.

I looked again at these in Lightroom and the shadows and dark suits have reasonable detail until I export to JPEG.
 
I think you've done remarkably well for a first wedding - give yourself a huge pat on the back. (y)

There's little wrong with these that can't be sorted out with a bit of time spent in processing and some of the problems have already being pointed out. The only shot which really jarred my nerve endings a little was No 10 which has a pronounced red cast affecting the skin tones, very visible on the brides's dress and veil, and is actually causing the bridesmaids dresses to shift from blue to Lilac. Your clients will spot that instantly. ;)

Sorry if it sounds picky - you've done a very good job overall.

Oh - and I don't like the shot of the TTRS, but that's because I haven'y got one! :puke:
 
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CT said:
I think you've done remarkably well for a first wedding - give yourself a huge pat on the back. (y)
Click to expand...

I agree, for a first wedding you should be very pleased, and as CT has said any minor errors can easily be dealt with in PS, i really like that Audi shot, nicely thought out :)
 
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