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DPChallenge Forums >> Photography Discussion >> First paying gig...comments?
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 06/09/2006 11:32:20 PM · #1
Well I have completed the proofing for my first paying wedding client! She is happy with the pictures, and I am kinda happy with the pictures. I thought if I posted some of them here you all could help me with things that I should be looking to improve on.

My biggest snafu...totally forgot to take pictures of the groom by himself! Luckily, I don't think he is the type that will care, but still! Very embarassed myself just the same...I also had some kind of malfunction with my flash during the processional, still haven't figured it out.

Anyway...I would love comments, opinions suggestions...whatever....

Thanks to all in advance!









Message edited by author 2006-06-09 23:42:42.
 06/09/2006 11:53:49 PM · #2
Not bad! A lot better than my first wedding... Love the window light shot...very well done. My only comment would be to crop out the flag on the right side of the photo. Crop it just after the second window - it will give you a tighter image. Also love the one of the bride and groom. Lots of emotion always makes a good wedding photo - black and white - nice touch. Looks like you got a lot of detail shots (shoes, kids)aways a plus! Good job!
 06/10/2006 12:13:31 AM · #3
If you look below the flag in the window shot you can actually see the case that I carry my lights in! I can't believe that I didn't notice that when I was taking the shot. Here is a link to the album that I designed for them...Album

What do you think?
 06/10/2006 12:39:31 AM · #4
WOW, awsome job on that album! So many really, really good shots in there. Are you sure that was your first time ;)
 06/10/2006 12:46:25 AM · #5
I swear, first paying gig. I took pics at my sisters wedding and best friend's wedding last fall, but I was actually in both of those, so I only took candids at them. Also, I took a LOT of pictures to get those good ones! I took 450 or so pics and she is getting 210 proofs.

Any constructive critiques? Don't get me wrong...absolutely love the complements and thank you very much!
 06/10/2006 01:17:42 AM · #6
Very nice work, especially for a first timer. The only tip I can offer is carry spares for everything. Things have a habit of breaking at the worst possible times. :D

06/12/2006 09:01:53 AM · #7
Mick, I already have a plan for that. I am going to buy another D70 for now, and then after I get a few more bookings I am going to sell my current D70 and then upgrade to a D200. I have backup bulbs for my lights and such as well, but the backup body is the biggy. Plus if I have two cameras I won't have to run up and down the stairs to the balcony for shots, I can set them up and have my assistant (aka amazing husband) take the pictures with the second camera.

Thanks to all for the comments...anyone else willing to give me their two cents?

06/12/2006 09:53:52 AM · #8
I think that they are nice images, though I would change one or two things about them. IMO, the b&g dancing together needs a lot more contrast to work well as a black and white image.

To do this, I would try using in ps on the original colour version: Layers/New Adjustment Layer/Channel Mixer, then clicking "monochrome", pushing the red slider a bit to the right, moving the constant slider a bit to the left, then noise reduction over the image for the inevitable noise. Finally, I would lay this image over your image and blend the two until I had a nice version with whiter whites and blacker blacks, with nice, bright skin colours.

I would probably also try and add some guassian blur to some of the backgrounds to make them less distracting - there is quite a lot going on in several of your pics, especially in the wooden lined room (reception?), and very definitely I would burn and blur the background of your window shot (which I really like, and the composition of which I already like, but you need to get rid of the flag and "not an exit" sign!).

The couple on the steps might also benefit from having the contrast pushed in b&w, with the bright foreground cloned out.

However, all of this is photographer to photographer talk - the bride's reaction is the only really important one!
 06/12/2006 09:44:13 PM · #9
OK here are a couple of edits from the feedback







Thanks for the input! A couple of other questions for you all...

What is the best way to make a black and white conversion?
Should I use less DOF when shooting so it takes away more of the background?

Does the dress in the center picture seem a bit washed out or is it just me?

Message edited by author 2006-06-12 21:44:52.
 06/12/2006 10:48:04 PM · #10

In general, it's a good idea to put clients in the shade, but you shouldn't show the bright foreground. Also if they're in the shade, a little fill is usually needed, either via reflector or flash.


06/13/2006 07:56:13 AM · #11
Originally posted by carisakD70:

What is the best way to make a black and white conversion?
Should I use less DOF when shooting so it takes away more of the background?


I don't pretend to know what I am talking about but I will give you my opinion!

The method I outlined to you (using channel mixer in an adjustment layer) is one of the more flexible ways of converting colour to b&w. You can use the colour information in the image to alter the brightness of different elements in a natural fashion.

This effectively replicates the film practice of adding a filter (traditionally a yellow filter is used) to the image so as to enhance the image. The problem (I find) is that the red channel, upon which you rely quite heavily to replcate the yellow filter in post production, tends to be quite noisy on most cameras. This is worse for indoors, high ISO shots (the kind that you might need to rely on for wedding pics).

This may be a reason to add a yellow filter to the camera for images that you know will be turned into black and white in the final edit: you will have less data in the red channel to create noise from the start (if my understanding of the physics is correct). However, correcting the image from yellow filtered to standard colour may be problematic!

As for DoF: I know that some wedding photogs use a large DoF and use blur in post in order to create the impression of shallow DoF. This has the advantage of keeping everything in focus (so you do not get blurry shots of the key, unrepeatable moments) but will never look as clean as a perfectly executed shallow DoF shot. It will all depend on available light, the imnportance of the moment, how confident you are about getting the right element in focus, how confident you are in PS, and what is the photographic effect that you ultimately want to achieve.

I like the re processed images!


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