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My First Wedding



 
 
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  #1  
Old September 11th 06, 07:38 PM posted to rec.photo.digital
embee
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Posts: 61
Default My First Wedding

Hello,

I've just posted some pictures I took at a recent wedding and I'd be
very grateful to group members if they'd have a look and tell me what
they think. First, some background:

I was not the official photographer at the wedding - I was there as a
guest and, as the groom had hired a professional wedding photographer,
I was very careful not to get in his way. Some of the pictures -
particularly of the bride and groom - were therefore grabbed, rather
than posed for my camera.

I used this as an excercise to see how well (or badly!) my camera and
post-processing skills coped with what many photographers consider a
challenging assignment. I have never photographed at a wedding before
and I have no desire to do so professionally - too much stress!!

Areas I was particularly looking to get right were exposure, contrast
and colour (you'll notice people in the pictures have a wide variety
of skin tones and this, combined with all the usual problems
associated with a wedding, presented me with quite a big learning
curve both during the picture taking process and afterwards on the
computer.)

I also wanted to concentrate on getting my sharpening skills right. In
the past I have over-sharpened pictures I have edited for the web and
I knew that to do so in a wedding shoot would be a disaster.

Overall, I am quite happy with the results, although I accept they are
by no means perfect. On my CRT monitor they appear to have
satisfactory contrast and colour and do not appear over-sharpened to
my eyes. I am also quite happy with the test prints I have done.
However, I've looked at the pictures on my work computer with an LCD
monitor and I notice the contrast seems a little flat - I guess this
is an issue with LCD screens as the prints appear OK.

Areas I am not so happy with are my framing (a crucial part of wedding
photography IMHO) and some nasty hotspots on the skin in some pictures
(I forgot to take anything to difuse my flash and so tried to rely on
natural light most of the time with no fill - stupid mistake). I also
notice a lack of real neutrality in the highlights in some pictures -
although in print it's not noticeable.

For the record, I used a Canon 1DMKIIN with a 24-105L IS lens.

I'd welcome comments about what I got wrong and what I got right, as
well as any advice on how I can improve. Thanks for looking:
http://www.pbase.com/midie/wedding
  #2  
Old September 11th 06, 09:55 PM posted to rec.photo.digital
Phil
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Posts: 36
Default My First Wedding


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  #3  
Old September 11th 06, 10:43 PM posted to rec.photo.digital
Joseph Meehan
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Posts: 142
Default My First Wedding

Phil wrote:
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*/56.230
. wrote:


Areas I am not so happy with are my framing (a crucial part of
wedding photography IMHO) . . .


I don't know what the said rules of "framing" are for wedding
photography, nor do I think I'd care.
Sometimes the formula approach to wedding and studio photography can
become quite predictable and boring. Some of the best wedding photos
I've seen have been very nonconventional.


I have not yet seen the OP's shoots, but I plan to shortly when I have a
little more time. However I will suggest this. For the professional the
formula approach is necessary. Those stock photos must be done. That said,
the best photos and the ones people remember best are usually not part of
the formula. These are the photos that often are only available from a
friend or family member. From what the OP wrote, I would have to
congratulate him on his approach.

OP: Frankly I almost totally skipped over your images until I read the
fact that you recognized the difference between your responsibilities and
the professionals and the need for the pro to have primary access. Those
are the photos that everyone expects and had better be there or someone will
be mad, even if it is not the bride or groom, it may be the mother or aunt
or brother.



--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit


  #4  
Old September 11th 06, 11:06 PM posted to rec.photo.digital
embee
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Posts: 61
Default My First Wedding


"Joseph Meehan" wrote in message
...
Phil wrote:

OP: Frankly I almost totally skipped over your images until I read the
fact that you recognized the difference between your responsibilities and
the professionals and the need for the pro to have primary access. Those
are the photos that everyone expects and had better be there or someone
will be mad, even if it is not the bride or groom, it may be the mother or
aunt or brother.



Thanks Joseph,

I was VERY conscious of this, and went to great lengths not to step on any
toes (figuratively speaking!)

The pro was there to do his job, which pays his bills. I was there as a
guest, hoping to get a couple of nice pictures while also enjoying a happy
day. Two totally different roles.

I didn't have the same access to the posed shots of the bride and groom, but
then again I wasn't earning my living that day.

Next time I find myself in a similar situation, I'll remember to take along
a longer lens - I feel I could have got some nice unguarded candids working
around the fringes of the event, instead of trying for posed shots. It's an
excuse to go shopping for a nice 200mm L lens anyway......!

Cheers.


  #5  
Old September 11th 06, 11:49 PM posted to rec.photo.digital
John McWilliams
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Posts: 6,945
Default My First Wedding

embee wrote:
Hello,


For the record, I used a Canon 1DMKIIN with a 24-105L IS lens.

I'd welcome comments about what I got wrong and what I got right, as
well as any advice on how I can improve. Thanks for looking:
http://www.pbase.com/midie/wedding


First comment: Too many! Cull out the dups, and the ones with blinks, etc.

The opening carriage scenes are nice and set part of the story, but then
used in a lot of the ensuing ones. Softer focus on bridesmaids, shallow
dof, and background that lends to nice blurring.

I didn't get past the ones with the carriage, so not sure how far you went.

--
John McWilliams
  #6  
Old September 12th 06, 03:03 AM posted to rec.photo.digital
[email protected]
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Posts: 67
Default My First Wedding

embee wrote:
Next time I find myself in a similar situation, I'll remember to take along
a longer lens - I feel I could have got some nice unguarded candids working
around the fringes of the event, instead of trying for posed shots. It's an
excuse to go shopping for a nice 200mm L lens anyway......!


I'd take a top-grade prosumer camera or dSLR with a 28-140 equiv.
ZOOM lens. Beats spending the whole wedding trying to switch between
lenses before scenes vanish. My experience - if you use manual-focus
mode - is that such zoom lenses get the job done before scenes vanish.

No $4 to park! No $6 admission! http://www.INTERNET-GUN-SHOW.com

  #7  
Old September 12th 06, 01:17 PM posted to rec.photo.digital
GregS
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Posts: 27
Default My First Wedding

In article , embee wrote:
Hello,

I've just posted some pictures I took at a recent wedding and I'd be
very grateful to group members if they'd have a look and tell me what
they think. First, some background:

I was not t
http://www.pbase.com/midie/wedding


The photos look pretty good when I turned out the lights. With lights
on the pics lacked contrast and pretty flat looking. A flash would have
brightned up a hazy day. I usually adjust pictures for my usuall viewing
on a monitor. A little tendancy to put too much space at the top, and
cutting off feet.



greg
 




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