Latest Wedding - Camper van, super bright flowers and lots of sun

Fantastic work!
 
Got to say I really liked the set and the vibrancy really worked well due to it being a colourful wedding.

Definitely some brave compositions that I can understand not being to everyone's tastes but you have a slightly quirky style and so it works in the context of a full set IMO.

Loved how you captured so many little details... thought the images were quite grainy but with the compositions and vibrancy it actually complimented the images rather than detracted.

I have the say your style, mixed with using things like auto ISO is a bit of an odd way of working, yet it does work as the images show.

Good work! :)
 
rdh said:
Morning! Short wedding this one - 7 hours. My goodness was it hot. Not that I'm complaining, but heck, it was *hot*!

Full storyboard.

Teaser:

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Do you mind if I ask a question about this shot mate?

Looks like it's taken around mid day? You've managed to keep the sky blue, but there doesn't seem to be any flash added to the pic?

So usually if you expose for the dress the sky is blown, but if you expose for the sky the couple come out very dark and underexposed.

So how did you manage to keep everything exactly right?

Did you use some subtle off camera flash, or is there a trick / secret i'm not aware of? :thinking:

It's a great pic and would love to know how you managed to balance everything so well :)
 
i am sorry you want us to be honest?

i think they are terrible,like bad holliday snapshots.

if i had taken these i would have been so worried about showing them and embarrassed.

i would of been appologising and expecting to give the fee back.

please understand you have asked for feedback and so i am being honest.
 
the other thing that worries me?

are all the gushing congratulations genuine or just being nice?

because if they arent there are a lot people who have no eye for a good photograph.
 
Thanks for your feedback straycat, enjoyed that :¬)

Andy - the trick of retaining the blue sky is to shoot with the subject in direct sun, and keep the dress at the peak of the histogram. It was shot at around 3pm.

Bar the exposure, the camera you use is the biggest factor. The D3s has incredible dynamic range, so it's easy to retain the colour of the sky and get it back to normal in post. Saying that, I just looked at the RAW, you'd be surprised how close it is to the edited version.
 
straycat said:
the other thing that worries me?

are all the gushing congratulations genuine or just being nice?

because if they arent there are a lot people who have no eye for a good photograph.
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Haha is this guy for real? :wacky:

Maybe not to everyone's taste but still a lot of artistic merit in the images, compositions and style.

No eye for a good photo? Go find your mirror and take a good long hard look :LOL:
 
rdh said:
Thanks for your feedback straycat, enjoyed that :¬)

Andy - the trick of retaining the blue sky is to shoot with the subject in direct sun, and keep the dress at the peak of the histogram. It was shot at around 3pm.

Bar the exposure, the camera you use is the biggest factor. The D3s has incredible dynamic range, so it's easy to retain the colour of the sky and get it back to normal in post. Saying that, I just looked at the RAW, you'd be surprised how close it is to the edited version.
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Thanks for the tips... I'm a Canon boy personally but have been thinking about upgrading to a 5D Mark III, so with regards extra dynamic range on FF it might just give me an extra push to get one.

Still kind of amazed you managed to get the sky to stay blue even with pushing the histogram to the far right of the brides dress... very impressive (y)
 
Thanks dude! As you go from left to right, each quarter of the histogram contains double the information than that of the last, so when you push the exposure to the far right, without clipping, you retain the most possible information.

Takes a while to do this intuitively, best way is to take some shots and review straight away. You'll start to build up the link between over/under exposure level and the histogram.

By the way, I shot with a D3s and MKiii, the exact same scene. The D3s was better in terms of recovery and editing abilities (contrast and range). You can grab them at £2K used, absolute bargain.
 
rdh said:
Thanks dude! As you go from left to right, each quarter of the histogram contains double the information than that of the last, so when you push the exposure to the far right, without clipping, you retain the most possible information.

Takes a while to do this intuitively, best way is to take some shots and review straight away. You'll start to build up the link between over/under exposure level and the histogram.

By the way, I shot with a D3s and MKiii, the exact same scene. The D3s was better in terms of recovery and editing abilities (contrast and range). You can grab them at £2K used, absolute bargain.
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Thanks mate good tips... I've actually recently been using the histogram a lot more for exposure checking so I'll endevour to use the tip you gave about double the info as didn't know this.

Ahh see I would struggle using a Nikon body I think (the D3s is a Nikon isn't it?) but that price is quite appealing!
 
rdh said:
Bar the exposure, the camera you use is the biggest factor. The D3s has incredible dynamic range, so it's easy to retain the colour of the sky and get it back to normal in post.
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I'll second this, it's staggering how much detail you can get back and the D800 has a further two stops - that must be handy and tempting.
 
ajax_andy said:
Haha is this guy for real? :wacky:

Maybe not to everyone's taste but still a lot of artistic merit in the images, compositions and style.

No eye for a good photo? Go find your mirror and take a good long hard look :LOL:
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yes,i was being honest in my opinion,i think they are aweful.

i only replied as its a wedding post and therefore buissness,i dont know the photographer and have no axe to grind.

if it had been a newbie i would not of commented unless i could offer encouragement and advice.

as long as you are honest in your view you can criticise any of my photos,though some peoples view would not bother me.

my friend in holland often tells me if he thinks my photos arent good enough,but when he likes one i know he means it.

i am sure the op dosent want false X factor type praise?
 
gman said:
I'll second this, it's staggering how much detail you can get back and the D800 has a further two stops - that must be handy and tempting.
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At lower ISO's yes. DXO found that when you get to the higher ISOs, the D3s has the higher dynamic range. Couple that with AF, speed and file size - the perfect wedding camera (for me) :¬)

Straycat - you're very much entitled to state your opinion. If you read through this thread, there is no such x-factor fake claps and whatnot. You'll find some who hate it, some who love it, and those in between.

As with anything in life, it's subjective.

Peace!
 
straycat said:
yes,i was being honest in my opinion,i think they are aweful.

i only replied as its a wedding post and therefore buissness,i dont know the photographer and have no axe to grind.

if it had been a newbie i would not of commented unless i could offer encouragement and advice.

as long as you are honest in your view you can criticise any of my photos,though some peoples view would not bother me.

my friend in holland often tells me if he thinks my photos arent good enough,but when he likes one i know he means it.

i am sure the op dosent want false X factor type praise?
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The thing is you didn't offer feedback. You just said they suck.

Which is subjective but EVERYONE can agree they are defiantly professional shots (like them or not).

Show a bit more respect next time and people will be a bit more hospitable to your "feedback"
 
Thanks Tom.

Moving away from what is considered 'normal', and doing my own thing was incredible for my business. Bookings went through the roof. So get yourself being creative and ignore those imaginary barriers which stop you from doing so :¬)

If you've been looking at Storyboard (Code and Hustle), get it, it's well worth the £50.
 
That's the plugin I use - love it!

Ask your next couple if they're up for some additional creative portraits. Make the point that they are additional to the 'norm'. They get the best of both worlds, and you can then post on your blog the shots that represent your passion. And they'll attract those that love them. Win-win-win :)
 
How would you display this style of wedding if your where suppling images on Dvd
or in an Album, Would you say that storyboard style would give you more album sales.
Would a polariser filter help with retaining the sky and dress detail.
 
Tim - each couple get a DVD of all images (print and web). The storyboard layout is akin to a digital album in my eyes, I've not noticed an increase in album sales from them however. People tend to want one or not.

ND grad filter would be best for sky + dress.
 
Thanks for the info Ross, I was just wondering if the album could be displayed in the same style as the storyboard so it matched the digital album.
 
It probably wouldn't be very difficult to replicate the online storyboard onto a DVD. Create the Storyboard to DVD resolution as one large image and then using something like Premiere/Final Cut just zoom in to 100% then do a motion path panning down at a suitable speed. Not sure if ProShow could do it, but some of the effects in ProShow are very nice so perhaps it's best to be more diverse?

My only grip with the Storyboard for PS is that it doesn't put any border around the edge of individual Storyboards - only internal borders. When you compile multiple Storyboards into one big ass Storyboard then it does create suitable borders - but the iPad can't deal with large verticle images and messes up the image quality. So, you have to upload the storyboards individually, not the end of the world as you can batch upload in a blog and specify a border of half the border size in the Storyboard settings (remember top and bottom borders - it doubles up ;)) or if using Screamweaver you can drag multiple images from the OS, and specific a CSS rule for image borders. Just a bit of extra work that's all.
 
rdh - I love your vision, guts and knowledge. It's such a shame that there are so many 'haters' who like to put creativity down because it doesn't fit their idea of conformity and norm.

Keep up the excellent work!
 
I'm sorry but this is not a style I particularly like :shrug: there a some really nice photos but I just don't get why you shoot cutting through people :shrug: it almost comes across as making a concerted effort to compose bad photos :( I know styles vary but I struggle to consider this as a style...

What is "Destination Wedding Photography"
 
Do you realise there is no such thing as a 'bad' composition? What one considers 'good', another can consider 'bad', and visa-versa.

While you don't get what I offer, it is no less stylish than anything traditional in nature, and since it's an intuitive thing, it can't be explained to you. And there's no need to. I don't expect everyone to get it :¬)

Destination means that you travel anywhere for weddings. Many stay in their localised zone, I go all over the place.

My lack of compositional ability is taking me to Hawaii next week to shoot a wedding, for example. Thankfully some people do see the artistic value in it ;)
 
I think with these photos, there are some that would work in isolation, and others that are very much part of the storyboard. I don't think many people would have a picture of the bottom of someone's legs framed and on the wall, but nor would they for the traditional 'detail' shots like flowers, rings, shoes etc. either. Personally I think the style is great, but it doesn't matter what I think as long as there's a supply of clients who think the same way.

My lack of compositional ability is taking me to Hawaii next week to shoot a wedding, for example.
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QED :cool:
 
MWHCVT said:
I'm sorry but this is not a style I particularly like :shrug: there a some really nice photos but I just don't get why you shoot cutting through people :shrug: it almost comes across as making a concerted effort to compose bad photos :( I know styles vary but I struggle to consider this as a style...

What is "Destination Wedding Photography"
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Or everyone could just shoot the same stuff, in the same old fashioned way forever, with no one ever bothering to advance or try something different in the ART that is photography, that would be nice wouldnt it? :clap:
 
rdh said:
Do you realise there is no such thing as a 'bad' composition? What one considers 'good', another can consider 'bad', and visa-versa.

While you don't get what I offer, it is no less stylish than anything traditional in nature, and since it's an intuitive thing, it can't be explained to you. And there's no need to. I don't expect everyone to get it :¬)

Destination means that you travel anywhere for weddings. Many stay in their localised zone, I go all over the place.

My lack of compositional ability is taking me to Hawaii next week to shoot a wedding, for example. Thankfully some people do see the artistic value in it ;)
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I'd argue different to that there clearly is such a thing as a bad composition, if your going to get up set when someone comes along that doesn't like your style your going to get upset quite often :shrug: there is no need to get defensive just because I don't like your style, and I'm not that fussed that you off to Hawaii it makes no odds to me :( there are clearly those couples that like your style, I suspect However there are a vast majority that don't maybe that is why you a destination photographer ;)
 
Exactly John!

Oddly though, some quirky shots do make it as prints and whatnot. They're details that may be normal to the non-associated viewer, but they are objects of sometimes huge emotional/sentimental value to the couple - and that's all that matters (as you say).

QED - refreshing to see that used on a forum! :¬)
 
MWHCVT said:
I'd argue different to that there clearly is such a thing as a bad composition, if your going to get up set when someone comes along that doesn't like your style your going to get upset quite often :shrug: there is no need to get defensive just because I don't like your style, and I'm not that fussed that you off to Hawaii it makes no odds to me :( there are clearly those couples that like your style, I suspect However there are a vast majority that don't maybe that is why you a destination photographer ;)
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My friend, I am far from upset. I couldn't be happier. I've had some very negative comments aimed at me in this thread (far from being constructive - your's included: "purposefully bad compositions") - not once have I reacted emotionally.

Not to mention your last statement - I have to travel to get work. I can only smile at that, because you don't see the enquiries that I get.

Perhaps they're all delusional. Or perhaps you can tell yourself I'm lying, if that makes you feel any better :¬)

You stick to the rule of thirds, and don't worry about people like myself who don't, and all will be well in your world :¬)

Edit, also, this:

My lack of compositional ability is taking me to Hawaii next week to shoot a wedding, for example.
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Was said in jest. Lighten up!
 
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RDH is a forum member that gives constructive and educated feedback on other peoples work and people should not be trying to push him away just because they don't have taste (joke joke joke).
 
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