A few wedding photos - C&C much appreciated please

[chet79]

I was a groomsman at a wedding last weekend, and managed to get quite a few shots. I also gave the camera to a friend and told him to snap away. I'd like some critisism on some please (especially my post processing - which was mostly cropping, curves, levels, contrast and on a select few, vignetting, channel mixer and "selective" gaussian blur as per this (http://photoshoptutorials.ws/photoshop-tutorials/photo-effects/bloom.html) tutorlal).

Do you think my borders are big enough? I've never really done any before. And if I'm going to print some out, should I leave the borders on?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v312/chetau/IMG_8684aborder.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v312/chetau/IMG_8714bborder.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v312/chetau/IMG_8718aborder.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v312/chetau/IMG_8722aborder.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v312/chetau/IMG_8758bborder.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v312/chetau/IMG_8766bborder.jpg

I'm still editing the reception pics, will upload some when I'm done.

Full gallery here (http://chet.smugmug.com/gallery/2550091#134805767) (albeit without borders).

All taken with 30D / 50 f/1.8 lens.

[Hellashot]

I see typical wedding snapshots. #1 needed a fill flash - over exposed background and her right shoulder. #4 is really front focused - focus is on the woman's back sitting down.

[Robert_Lay]

The only reason that I don't like the borders is that they do not mimic anything that you would normally find in a professionally done overmat and frame. Think in terms of what color frame you want, what color mat board you want and what color of bevel cut of the mat board opening you want.

Lighting is EVERYTHING!

#1 is significantly over-exposed in critical areas.
#2 Here and in #1 the angle of the sunlight is so oblique that it is actually behind the subjects, and the shot is overexposed.
#3 Finally got a scene that is exposed more properly, but the sun is still behind the subjects.
#4 Here we have the three bridesmaids with near perfect sun angle and the exposure is good.
#5 I don't know whether it's focus or camera movement, but this image is just too soft. Also, a mixture of shade and direct sunlight is bad news.
#6 She is in a relatively good light. He is being slammed with direct sun's rays from behind - Arrgh!


All of the above shots would benefit dramatically from Open Shade instead of the direct sunlight. Outside photography with natural lighting should seek Open Shade, which is no direct rays of the sun - only an open sky above the subject, as is typically found in the shade on the north side of a building. You have to force your subjects into the correct lighting environment - they're never going to stumble onto it on their own.

[feilb]

#1 Not liking the expression or the fly away hair. Looks like she wasnt quite ready for the picture.

#2 Nice shot, the desaturation is ok, would have cropped more off the bottom.

#3 Great shot considering the harsh afternoon lighting and the lack of any background. Not much to pick at here.

#4 Skin looks like plastic, if this was a pp edit, i would back off a bit to leave some detail. Skin smoothing is only really necessary for closeups IMO. Expressions arent great except for the girl on the right who isnt too bad. I dont really like the selective blur on the flowers either.

#5 A nice special effect shot, but i would have carried it out through the whole photo to give a consistent look, not just on the bride. Feels pretty blown out, but maybe that is what you were going for.

#6 Cant complain too much, his expression isnt great, but hey, you cant necessarily stop to pose the face can you. Maybe wait a little longer before pulling the trigger to make sure you are getting the expressions you want. Or better yet, fire off several in a row so you dont miss it when it comes.

Really a pretty darn good series. The only one i would remove would be the first one. Some of the over exposure is forgivable and you cant really control angle of light unfortunately.

[chet79]

thanks guys, your comments are great - fantastic way to help me improve. you've all given me a few things to keep in mind for next time.

Robert_Lay: #5 is purposly OOF - as per the tutorial I linked to before. Maybe too much OOF?

Not much I could have done in terms of lighting, except for maybe some fill-flash I guess.

I've actually re-edited #1, #4 and #5:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v312/chetau/IMG_8684bborder.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v312/chetau/IMG_8722bborder.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v312/chetau/IMG_8714cborder.jpg

[NBEast]

For my preferance; on #4 I would want to see lens blur applied to the people's heads it was front focused on rather than unnatural looking sharpness applied to the girls. That soft focused look is fine but the super in-focus backs-of-heads is disatracting.

[thrumyeye]

The re-edits of 1 and 4 are great! You know - the original post of #1, I didn't even know that was water behind her until I saw the second post of it? I just thought it was overexposed dirt or sand behind her. GREAT job in bringing out the water detail.

I'm, uh, confused by the comment on the fly-away hair. That's life if you ask me. Get a gal in the wind and you're going to have that. Guess you could try to clone it out, but I think it's fine. Her expression does appear that she was about to speak to you, but that is just how some smile as well.

I see what you were trying to achieve with the gaussian blur. Keep working on it - you've got a good start as far as trying to apply it to achieve a certain soft, magical look. Practice, practice, practice. It's a good technique when used with the right photos (IMO).

As far as borders, I like them for displaying images electronically (online proofing, forum postings, emails, etc) but when it comes to printing, it's not necessary. Since a lot can end up in frames anyways, it can be pointless...