Wedding No.2

AndrewSt

AndrewSt

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Here are a couple of pics from my second wedding. The full blog post is here if anyone is interested.
 
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Andrew are you after crit on these ?

I also clicked on the blog post but found it difficult to scroll and view as all the images seem to be the same size and don't fall naturally on screen. Plus it rolls into the next wedding straight away when you get to the bottom. Might just be me though :D. You might want to give Blogstomp a whirl, that's what I use ;)
 
Yeah sorry and comments/ crit always appreciated, either specific images or the whole set.

Will look into the blog, seemed fine on my computer but thanks for pointing it out.
 
I think they're great for your second wedding mate (y)

I agree with Pete though your blog needs some work and just the layout could make a massive difference IMO. They kind of look like they've been dumped on your blog with no real thought about layout. The story board layout you've chosen needs to do just that... Tell the story of the day.

As a general comment I'd consider bumping your exposure on quite a few of these. There's a good number that are just a tad too dark, like the wedding post shot.

A few specific comments for you.

* The corkscrew shot - flip one of the images and have them side by side separated by a small white border. Otherwise, they're almost two identical shots one after the other.
* The confetti cones.... One in black black and white one in colour. The same shot. One needs to go.
* Posed in front of the castle. Same again, same shot, one in colour and one black and white - one needs to go.
* The shot of him writing something - it's OOF - there's a few others where you've missed focus too.
* Shooting through leaves is fine but you can't leave them over their eyes or otherwise distracting places.
 
Thanks for the comments. I have changed the format round a little, smaller grid images that can open into a lightbox. I think it does look better than the large stack of images that I had.
 
OK, ref the full works as on your blog, ignoring actual capture and processing, allowing for the fact this is only your second, and also assuming that you're aiming to improve so you can book more gigs ...

You got some good stuff, and the main thing is that you're seeing the pictures as opposed to just snapping away. I do though agree with the above comments about the blog layout, and also about there being no need for both colour and b/w versions of the same shot. Give 'em both files by all means, but only show one or t'other on your blog.

Just a few pointers. One is that you need to start developing the instinct to check your backgrounds all the time so you can spot and avoid things like the door closer in the first shot of the bride, the red blob behind the groom getting his buttonhole fixed, the wall light behind dad as he's walking her in and so on. I know it seems that you've got enough on your plate for now, but this does soon become automatic. Honest. And once you've got the hang of it, you'll be appalled when you notice how some folk never do.

The other major area that you need to think about is a problem that nearly all newbie wedding snappers have until somebody points it out. One of the simplest ways to introduce a sense of dynamics into your snaps and differentiate them from what Uncle Bob turns out is to avoid shooting from your natural eye-level all or most of the time. Try and remember to funk it up a bit by shooting from different heights, especially when you're doing a series of snaps of a fairly static situation e.g. drinks reception.

Ref the confetti shots, your main problem there is that the couple's heads are at the same height as the guests'. That's the main reason why those seem a bit limp. Well OK, that and the fact that you were too far away on too long a focal length to get anything with much impact. Be that as it may, one thing that always helps with a set-up confetti chucking is for you to address the rabble thus "Right you lot, listen up. We'll do a count-down and then chuck it, but don't forget - chuck it up and over them, not at them! So I'll go 3 - 2 - 1 - GO, and on go, chuck it over them, OK?" You'll usually find that most of 'em will do just that and you'll get a far better snap. BTW, was that a burst on continuous?

Posed shots were never my forté, but even I can offer a couple of hints about the bouquet. One is that when the bride hasn't got the thing in her hand, make certain it's out of the shot and not lurking there for no apparent reason like in your first two. And ref those shots with the castle in the background, all things being equal, it usually looks lots better if she's holding the damned thing in the hand that's nearest the camera. "Bunch Of Flowers Over Bloke's Shoulder" is never a winning pose.

All things considered, you did alright there.

HTH a bit.
 
Pretty good considering it's only your 2nd wedding. As for the images you've posted, here's my take:-

1. I would probably have rotated them slightly so the crease under her arm wasn't showing plus I'm drawn to the metal rod sticking out from her backside.
2. I know the bridge and I think this shot lends itself so that they're facing you, not sure why you'd have them facing away. You may have some more on your blog post but I haven't looked through all of them.
3. Nice fun shot.
4. Personally, I wouldn't keep this. The leaves cover too much of their faces, the bottom of the fence distracts plus it looks like she's removing a mark or fluff from his jacket.
5. I would bin this one too. It looks like he's looking at her cleavage, she's holding her dress (assuming to keep it from getting wet/dirty) so looks a bit untidy and the sky is flat.

I'm not sure on the b&w conversions as they seem a bit flat to me and many of the images in the blog could maybe do with a contrast boost and exposure tweak. But that's simply my opinion as I tend to edit with quite a bit of contrast and stronger colours (see here if you're interested). Hope you take the critique in the right way and keep posting ;)
 
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PeteMo said:
Pretty good considering it's only your 2nd wedding. As for the images you've posted, here's my take:-

1. I would probably have rotated them slightly so the crease under her arm wasn't showing plus I'm drawn to the metal rod sticking out from her backside.
2. I know the bridge and I think this shot lends itself so that they're facing you, not sure why you'd have them facing away. You may have some more on your blog post but I haven't looked through all of them.
3. Nice fun shot.
4. Personally, I wouldn't keep this. The leaves cover too much of their faces, the bottom of the fence distracts plus it looks like she's removing a mark or fluff from his jacket.
5. I would bin this one too. It looks like he's looking at her cleavage, she's holding her dress (assuming to keep it from getting wet/dirty) so looks a bit untidy and the sky is flat.

I'm not sure on the b&w conversions as they seem a bit flat to me and many of the images in the blog could maybe do with a contrast boost and exposure tweak. But that's simply my opinion as I tend to edit with quite a bit of contrast and stronger colours (see here if you're interested). Hope you take the critique in the right way and keep posting ;)
Click to expand...

Brill thanks, exactly the sort of comments I am after. Appreciated!
 
Serendipitous Sid said:
OK, ref the full works as on your blog, ignoring actual capture and processing, allowing for the fact this is only your second, and also assuming that you're aiming to improve so you can book more gigs ...

You got some good stuff, and the main thing is that you're seeing the pictures as opposed to just snapping away. I do though agree with the above comments about the blog layout, and also about there being no need for both colour and b/w versions of the same shot. Give 'em both files by all means, but only show one or t'other on your blog.

Just a few pointers. One is that you need to start developing the instinct to check your backgrounds all the time so you can spot and avoid things like the door closer in the first shot of the bride, the red blob behind the groom getting his buttonhole fixed, the wall light behind dad as he's walking her in and so on. I know it seems that you've got enough on your plate for now, but this does soon become automatic. Honest. And once you've got the hang of it, you'll be appalled when you notice how some folk never do.

The other major area that you need to think about is a problem that nearly all newbie wedding snappers have until somebody points it out. One of the simplest ways to introduce a sense of dynamics into your snaps and differentiate them from what Uncle Bob turns out is to avoid shooting from your natural eye-level all or most of the time. Try and remember to funk it up a bit by shooting from different heights, especially when you're doing a series of snaps of a fairly static situation e.g. drinks reception.

Ref the confetti shots, your main problem there is that the couple's heads are at the same height as the guests'. That's the main reason why those seem a bit limp. Well OK, that and the fact that you were too far away on too long a focal length to get anything with much impact. Be that as it may, one thing that always helps with a set-up confetti chucking is for you to address the rabble thus "Right you lot, listen up. We'll do a count-down and then chuck it, but don't forget - chuck it up and over them, not at them! So I'll go 3 - 2 - 1 - GO, and on go, chuck it over them, OK?" You'll usually find that most of 'em will do just that and you'll get a far better snap. BTW, was that a burst on continuous?

Posed shots were never my forté, but even I can offer a couple of hints about the bouquet. One is that when the bride hasn't got the thing in her hand, make certain it's out of the shot and not lurking there for no apparent reason like in your first two. And ref those shots with the castle in the background, all things being equal, it usually looks lots better if she's holding the damned thing in the hand that's nearest the camera. "Bunch Of Flowers Over Bloke's Shoulder" is never a winning pose.

All things considered, you did alright there.

HTH a bit.
Click to expand...
Again, thanks a lot, very useful.
 
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