Bridal Candids - First attempt!!!

Pentax FA 77mm f/1.8 Limited AF

04/16/2007 12:21:56 PM · #1

OK, I've finally gotten all of them processed. I am shooting my first "real" wedding in August and the bride has commissioned me to do several portrait shoots. The first shoot was engagement photos (posted earlier), the second was a formal "studio" shoot... Turned out great, she's happy, but they're typical boring "formal portraits" and not worth posting... The second shoot was with her fiance's drums (he plays in a band). I entered one in "Color Portrait" and it didn't fair as well as I had hoped.

Here are a few others from the same shoot...

We also went to the beach to get some beach candids where she is getting married... I had planned on doing sunrise photos but poor planning on my part put us about 30 minutes late for the "Golden Hour" so I made do as best I could...

I would GREATLY appreciate any feedback on these (positive and negative)... I have started down a path that will hopefully lead to wedding photography on a semi-full-time basis and I really need some feedback to see if I'm on the right track...

Thanks in advance!

-Lee

Message edited by author 2007-04-16 12:23:21.

eamurdock

Pentax KP

04/16/2007 12:54:15 PM · #2

I really like the first beach one, but I feel like you have exactly the wrong amount of detail left in the bride - there's enough to make me think I should be able to really see her, but not so much that I can.

The drum ones have a very "studio" look about them that is unappealing to me; might be less so if you muted the backdrop a bit. And as a musician it is immediately obvious to me when people are pretending to play instruments they don't know how to play, so I'd stick with ones where she's not playing. I played with one of them a bit to try this out, but I'm not posting it because I don't want you to lose control of your images - I'm not a member so I'd have to post it on flickr. Let me know and I can send it to you or post it if you'd like; in my opinion (for what that's worth) darkening the BG and pulling some of the red out helps a lot.

The Sepia one is nice, also; I'd remove the lump behind her right shoulder. Do you have a shot like that where her earing is not so directly connected to her necklace?

The veil shot is great. Nice DOF, dreamy, very pretty.

There you have my completely unprofessional opinions.

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM

04/16/2007 01:03:52 PM · #3

Thanks for the input!!! I agree with everything you said... the first shot was an attempt to salvage what I was going for... unfortunately the sun was too high and I didn't have any portable strobes with me... I ended up overexposing the sky to get what little detail I could in the bride, any more and the sky and water would be a total loss...

I would like to see your version of the drums shots, you can e-mail me directly at lee@dowsedesigns.com... I don't want these floating around all over the web (groom hasn't seen her in her dress yet)... I know he doesn't check this site (I asked specifically), but I don't know about others...

It's funny, the sepia is one of my least favorites... go figure huh!!!

dwterry

Canon EOS-1D Mark III

04/16/2007 02:37:17 PM · #4

Looks good. Left some comments.

Bump for the next guy in line. :-)

Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF for Canon

04/16/2007 02:40:29 PM · #5

Thanks for the kind words David... I'll return the favor a bit later...

pix-al

Canon EOS-5D

04/16/2007 03:02:45 PM · #6

I don't like the drums shots - The colour is not right in them...

The first beach shot - Do you shoot raw? Are you able to create two files (one under and one over exposed) and blend the layers to try and get something that works a bit better? I agree that it either needed a strobe on the bride or make it a sillhouette.

The third beach shot is fantastic.

The veil shot is also great.