Latest Wedding

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Name
Greg
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Hi All

I have finally added my latest wedding to the blog. I don't have access to images right now but will add some to the thread tonight for those that don't like going to people sites / blogs etc.

If anyone fancies a look please feel free to do so .

happy to take crit (pos+neg) / pointers / and any ideas on how to improve further.

As you know this is not a shameless attempt for traffic...!!

http://www.gregcoltmanphotography.com/helen-and-declan-white-dove-barn

thanks all
rgds
 
Just had a quick scan (there's a LOT!), but it looks like a great set.
 
Just had a quick scan (there's a LOT!), but it looks like a great set.

yes, should have stated there are about 120 (more than I normally blog but struggled to narrow it down).

Thanks for the comments..
 
Greg, a very quick look through that has left me with two impressions.

1 You have some excellent stuff in there

2 It would have had more impact with a tighter edit

I'll come back for a proper look later ...

PS You say you struggled to get it down to 120(ish). Were you editing in or out?
 
Just looked through the blog post. Great work! Can't think of anything else to say really. :)
 
Never shot a wedding in my life. Excellent these are very emotional actually the one of the bride and groom him picking her chin up wow takes me back to my wedding day and the emotions I had. Crit wise, the only thing I could pick out was on the dress shot in the room with the lovely wooden beams, the shadows on the dress make it look dirty at the bottom like it's already worn. Not sure how that is fixed, you may see it differently but, the b/w dress shots look great so maybe that is your answer. Thanks for sharing.
 
As usual, very much FWIW and saying nothing about the white balance on some of them ;)

Second and third in - second is just a record shot of a building, it's boring as hell and it's of no interest whatsoever to anybody but the couple, therefore you don't need to blog it. The third simply doesn't work, if for no other reason than the foxglove isn't even properly open!

Frock shot's superb (even though it probably loses a point for the shoes being not separated enough) but you don't need six details between the shoes shot and the first human being on a blog post.

Second prep shot - I'd zap that bottle on her head on the left.

Window + kid with ball and the bride's head in that mirror are very well seen, and the bride's mascara going on's well caught.

Bride in silhouette. A profile shot of a woman with a big nose is never a good idea on a blog, even if the subject has no problem with it. Trust me on this. I'm married to a woman who thinks she has one.

The rest of those prep shots are excellent, although if it was mine, I'd have to zap those sockets against the bride's head.

The cow portrait doesn't work for me. You needed to be lower and on a wider lens to get the dynamic it needs.

Bride hair above the two women laughing is a mess. You needed to be to your left and lower to make that work, and the record shot of the table flowers is a non-picture for a blog. All it does is dilute the impact of the good stuff.

The bride's boots shot is superb. Well done mister.

Colour shot of bride sitting on bed is also a little gem, and that back of dress shot is better than anything I ever managed. All it needs is that drawer handle zapping.

Procession and ceremony are very nice, but I'd bin the b/w above the confetti shot. It serves no purpose and does you no favours. Confetti and scoff on a plank are lovely, as are the flip flops and the bits of dead animal on a platter.

I'd also bin the first b/w "carver" shot on the grounds that it's a non-picture.

Speech shots are a mixed bag. You don't need the first b/w one when to all intents and purposes it's the same shot as the colour one above it which has more impact, and it's just a weak variant of the closer one below, which is really nice.

Flowers presentation doesn't work. You were in the wrong place to get it, and really, what's the point of it anyhow? Surely the recipient's reaction is what you want?

I can't comment usefully on the couple shots as I have no experience of that kind of approach, and the same goes for the first four couple first dance shots. After that though they're fine AFAIC apart from I'd bin the one below the band shot on the grounds that it dilutes the impact of the rest, and besides there's way too much armpit and big arm central.

Overall, it's excellent. I can't see any aspect in particular that you might usefully concentrate on as regards approach, technique, coverage or whatever. If you do have a problem (apart from the erratic white balance!) it's picture selection for the blog. I reckon you're thinking too much about the couple and not enough about the impression made on potential customers. I also suspect you may perhaps have a problem which took me a while to get over i.e. thinking too much in terms of "story of the day" when it comes to blog posts and not concentrating on the snaps with impact. The result of that is fillers diluting your "product", which in this case is the blog post.

HTH a bit :)
 
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Just had a quick scan (there's a LOT!), but it looks like a great set.

Thanks, yes, I need to be more ruthless in the cull / blog

Just looked through the blog post. Great work! Can't think of anything else to say really. :)

Cheers Gaz

Never shot a wedding in my life. Excellent these are very emotional actually the one of the bride and groom him picking her chin up wow takes me back to my wedding day and the emotions I had. Crit wise, the only thing I could pick out was on the dress shot in the room with the lovely wooden beams, the shadows on the dress make it look dirty at the bottom like it's already worn. Not sure how that is fixed, you may see it differently but, the b/w dress shots look great so maybe that is your answer. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks. Points duly noted and will have a look at them again before delivery. Much appreciated.

As usual, very much FWIW and saying nothing about the white balance on some of them ;)

Second and third in - second is just a record shot of a building, it's boring as hell and it's of no interest whatsoever to anybody but the couple, therefore you don't need to blog it. The third simply doesn't work, if for no other reason than the foxglove isn't even properly open!

Frock shot's superb (even though it probably loses a point for the shoes being not separated enough) but you don't need six details between the shoes shot and the first human being on a blog post.

Second prep shot - I'd zap that bottle on her head on the left.

Window + kid with ball and the bride's head in that mirror are very well seen, and the bride's mascara going on's well caught.

Bride in silhouette. A profile shot of a woman with a big nose is never a good idea on a blog, even if the subject has no problem with it. Trust me on this. I'm married to a woman who thinks she has one.

The rest of those prep shots are excellent, although if it was mine, I'd have to zap those sockets against the bride's head.

The cow portrait doesn't work for me. You needed to be lower and on a wider lens to get the dynamic it needs.

Bride hair above the two women laughing is a mess. You needed to be to your left and lower to make that work, and the record shot of the table flowers is a non-picture for a blog. All it does is dilute the impact of the good stuff.

The bride's boots shot is superb. Well done mister.

Colour shot of bride sitting on bed is also a little gem, and that back of dress shot is better than anything I ever managed. All it needs is that drawer handle zapping.

Procession and ceremony are very nice, but I'd bin the b/w above the confetti shot. It serves no purpose and does you no favours. Confetti and scoff on a plank are lovely, as are the flip flops and the bits of dead animal on a platter.

I'd also bin the first b/w "carver" shot on the grounds that it's a non-picture.

Speech shots are a mixed bag. You don't need the first b/w one when to all intents and purposes it's the same shot as the colour one above it which has more impact, and it's just a weak variant of the closer one below, which is really nice.

Flowers presentation doesn't work. You were in the wrong place to get it, and really, what's the point of it anyhow? Surely the recipient's reaction is what you want?

I can't comment usefully on the couple shots as I have no experience of that kind of approach, and the same goes for the first four couple first dance shots. After that though they're fine AFAIC apart from I'd bin the one below the band shot on the grounds that it dilutes the impact of the rest, and besides there's way too much armpit and big arm central.

Overall, it's excellent. I can't see any aspect in particular that you might usefully concentrate on as regards approach, technique, coverage or whatever. If you do have a problem (apart from the erratic white balance!) it's picture selection for the blog. I reckon you're thinking too much about the couple and not enough about the impression made on potential customers. I also suspect you may perhaps have a problem which took me a while to get over i.e. thinking too much in terms of "story of the day" when it comes to blog posts and not concentrating on the snaps with impact. The result of that is fillers diluting your "product", which in this case is the blog post.

HTH a bit :)

As usual, much appreciated re the crit. Don't get me started on white balance..its driving me nuts at the moment. I initially thought the ceremony room was easy as it was flooded with light however it turned out that just above where the B&G stood there were some warm lights, but within about ten feet behind them it was daylight flooding through the doors. I cant get a good WB for the life of me....
Im going to put a portfolio page on my site. I think I need to separate the 'impact' shots from the 'blog / story' shots. I agree that there are detail shots that a lot of clients aren't interested in. I want to get 50 or so of my best / favourites that, when a potential bride looks at the portfolio, all resonate. Will get the wifes opinion on which ones to use lol!

Noted your point re the ordering and 6 shots before the first person...Again, I have fallen in the trap of blogging it in the order of what happened as opposed to what sells / people are 'moved' by or interested in.

Cheers Sid, all points again duly noted and will add them to my lessons list. (I am keeping a note book of all key tips / suggestions etc and also writing down my workflow). As Im not shooting weddings week in week out I get rusty on the workflow and, as an example, I edited all these but didnt check my monitor calibration and brightness....so I had to go through them all again plus when the prints came through they were darker than I expected.

Thanks all....constructive crit is a great help.

all the best
 
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