| Author | Thread |
|
|
08/12/2007 11:41:42 PM · #1 |
This is new territory for me (photographing people) and I would really appreciate any feedback.
I am hoping that if I practice for many months and go to some weddings I might be up to photographing a few.
Thanks so much!
 |
|
|
|
08/12/2007 11:44:37 PM · #2 |
|
|
|
08/12/2007 11:45:37 PM · #3 |
exposure is off. Photo looks good but be careful of how your shooting. Too dark and it's hard to recover the image in processing. Try to get more of the bride in the photo, I don't think anyone would want half a bride. haha then again that's half the fighting, hahaha, j/k
|
|
|
|
08/12/2007 11:57:08 PM · #4 |
I am including the unedited version... just resized it for the web... the light is natural sunlight... this is not a real bride. I am much too inexperienced for that... she's a friend who tried on the gown I bought at the local goodwill thrift shop. Thanks!
 |
|
|
|
08/13/2007 01:19:18 AM · #5 |
I know ppl are busy voting but thought it wouldn't hurt to bump this - I really want to learn how to photograph brides - weddings even... thanks again.
I am voting and trying to leave comments too - building good Karma with you all I hope (grin)
Message edited by author 2007-08-13 01:20:20. |
|
|
|
08/13/2007 07:28:58 AM · #6 |
I think it might help if you posted your exposure information and your post-processing information with each photo. That would help people to better give constructive advice/criticism.
Without knowing anything else, I would say it needed fill flash, and color correction. |
|
|
|
08/13/2007 07:45:47 AM · #7 |
Opps sorry... that would help Linda, thanks... shot this in AP mode... iso/500 - shutter speed/50 f-stop 4.0.
Used levels, smart sharpen..put it through NI - used the blur tool to soften lines ....dodged the eyes... burned a bit in the eye area as well...cloned out a few spikes of hair... cloned out the windows in the b/g - darkened the cloned parts to make it look like she was outside.
I need to practice keeping this info for challenges so thanks again for asking. Maggie
|
|
|
|
08/13/2007 07:50:14 AM · #8 |
Exposure is way off. Color looks horrible. composition is lacking. Image is way too soft, especially around the eyes.
Message edited by author 2007-08-13 09:13:16. |
|
|
|
08/13/2007 09:25:40 PM · #9 |
Thank you for all your comments - I appreciate the re-edit of your comments BHuseman - but your original one was ok too - I actually had a good chuckle over your sentiment "thank god that wasn't a real bride.â
The room I shot that photo in is a sun room... the floor is a sky blue and the windows are all tinted blue... and because I live in it I really never noticed what you all pointed out... the blue cast was way off and not complimentary to her skin tones.
I am going to reshoot that same woman in that dress and I will post more shots and ask for feed back because that's how I learn.
I am pretty happy with my wildlife shots... took practice and feedback from many people on this site but I improved.... so I will do the same with my brides... I will go back to voting now and hope my comments are help full.... Maggie
|
|
|
|
08/13/2007 11:03:48 PM · #10 |
While it's nice to get a perfect photo on a wedding day, it's not likely - too much to do and too little time to do it.
This could be a better capture - always better to get it right at the time of capture than to try and fix it later (especially if you shoot 900 on a wedding day and expect to have a life and make money too).
Shoot RAW - you can miss on color and exposure and it's an easy fix later. Custom WB via an exposdisk helps a lot, especially with natural light and mixed light. It's less precise with flash if shooting TTL as the flash varies a bit in it's contribution to the lighting. You can push the exposure a stop either way with no issues.
The bigger issue is the BG - it's very distracting. A wide aperture lens is the proper fix - shoot this with a 50 1.4 or 85 1.2 or 1.8 and the BG is not an issue - it's one reason Cantrell, celentano, etc make the bucks they make - they have the gear and knowledge to turn ugly locations into beautiful places.
Lighting wise, a flash would help or a reflector to kick some of that nice light back into her face.
Pose...for a posed shot it needs work, but the glass in her hand suggests a candid...so get in closer.
|
|
|
|
08/13/2007 11:19:31 PM · #11 |
I'll just say that I'm glad DPC doesn't pay my bills.
Yes the photo could stand some improvement, but no the exposure isn't way off. The color balance is a bit, but not horribly off, it's just daylight balanced in shade, easily fixed with a warming photo filter in PS. FWIW, I'd rather a photo be on the cool side than warm when I'm trying to PS it.
Would it score well here. Nope. And that's not the pic's fault. Will it score well with the bride. Yes, I believe it will, it's quite flattering actually.
Now, what might improve it some. A good B&W conversion with a slightly bumped contrast might give it some kick. You could dodge the face just a bit.
I actually do prefer your crop over the original.
Yes, do learn flash, do learn to use reflectors, do learn RAW. But then learn to break the rules that DPCers so love to preach.
|
|
|
|
08/13/2007 11:36:50 PM · #12 |
|
|
|
08/14/2007 08:38:05 AM · #13 |
Being somewhat new to photography too, I have found a few tips for situations like this.
To start with, the advice about using a larger aperture is good -- it will make the bride stand out against a hopefully blurry background. Positioning the bride further away from the background can help here too if you don't have really fast glass.
Second, when shooting light or dark objects, you really almost have to go manual or at least bump the exposure accordingly. The light meter in most cameras is easily fooled by large quantities of white (brides dress) and large quantities of black (tuxedos). Makes wedding photography quite difficult. For this shot, I would have either shot in manual being sure to overexpose by one stop or set the exposure compensation to +1. For shooting dark objects, underexpose by a stop. I didn't believe this and it's not a hard and fast rule, but once I tried it, I found my skin tones (faces) came out much better.
Finally, fill flash would have helped here. The arm holding the glass is quite dark and there are some funny shadows around her nose. I probably would have bounced some fill flash off a wall / reflector to the left of the shot to try to balance things a bit better. Also, I probably would have tried to position her so the light was coming almost directly from the side and not over her shoulder. This would evenly light the whole side of her face evenly and a toned down fill would as mentioned above would eliminate shadows on the other side.
Again, I'm no pro, but I've been learning for close to a year now and these are some tips I've found. Another good site for wedding help (using a flash) is here.
Good luck and keep playing! |
|
Home -
Challenges -
Community -
League -
Photos -
Cameras -
Lenses -
Learn -
Help -
Terms of Use -
Privacy -
Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2025 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 09/11/2025 04:11:43 PM EDT.
