My First Wedding

[dphoto]

Hello All!

My wife and I shot our first wedding last weekend. :D We shot it for a friend and were the only photographers covering the event. I was really nervous but excited as well, and before I knew it the event was here and gone. Overall, I think it went really well. There are a ton of things I would have liked to have done differently, so I have a lot of room to improve for next time. Thanks again to all who have given such great advice. Here are those samples I promised... :D If you have any comments or suggestions or whatever, don't be afraid to share! Some of these shots are better (or worse) than others, but hopefully these will give an overall feel for the event.

I used my 20D with Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 lens and my wife used my Digital Rebel with 18-55mm kit lens. She also managed to use the Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro lens on a couple of shots as well. Nice choice! :D For flash, I used a Sigma 500 DG Super with Stofen Omni-Bounce and my wife used a 550EX. For the "formals", I used an Alien Bees B800 with a white umbrella and a B400 with a silver umbrella. I used a 2:1 lighting ratio. All photos shown have been cropped, some have had Photoshop adjustments in levels, curves, and/or shadows/highlights. None of the images have been sharpened, except the first image. All images will be sharpened before printing.

My wife took this shot a couple of weeks before the wedding. It was proudly displayed during the wedding... as you'll see later. :D [Digital Rebel, kit lens, f/6.3 1/80 sec ISO 100]
http://www.capitalcityphoto.com/tmp/wedding/1069-5522b.jpg

Here's a shot of the cake... I should have lit those candles! [20D, Tamron 28-75 lens, f/8.0 1.3 sec ISO 100]
http://www.capitalcityphoto.com/tmp/wedding/52TX-2072_5x7.jpg

Here's the father of the bride with his youngest son. The shot was posed, but the sentiment was not! :D [20D, Tamron 28-75 lens, f/2.8 1/60 sec ISO 400]
http://www.capitalcityphoto.com/tmp/wedding/52TX-2148_5x7.jpg

Here's the groom's parents. [20D, Tamron 28-75 lens, f/10.0 1/100 sec ISO 100 Alien Bees]
http://www.capitalcityphoto.com/tmp/wedding/52TX-2250_5x7.jpg

Getting ready for the picture, but it turned out to be better than the picture itself (in my opinion). [20D, Tamron 28-75 lens, f/10.0 1/100 sec ISO 100 Alien Bees]
http://www.capitalcityphoto.com/tmp/wedding/52TX-2260_5x7.jpg

The picture itself. [20D, Tamron 28-75 lens, f/10.0 1/100 sec ISO 100 Alien Bees]
http://www.capitalcityphoto.com/tmp/wedding/52TX-2261_5x7.jpg

Here's a shot from the ceremony. [20D, Tamron 28-75 lens, f/3.5 1/60 sec ISO 400]
http://www.capitalcityphoto.com/tmp/wedding/52TX-2407_5x7.jpg

The bride and her family. [20D, Tamron 28-75 lens, f/11.0 1/80 sec ISO 100 Alien Bees]
http://www.capitalcityphoto.com/tmp/wedding/52TX-2463_5x7.jpg

This was just cool because I got to use my star filter. :D [20D, Tamron 28-75 lens, f/2.8 1/50 ISO 400]
http://www.capitalcityphoto.com/tmp/wedding/52TX-2509_5x7.jpg

I liked this perspective on the dancing. There is one Alien Bee B800 with white umbrella to the left. [20D, Tamron 28-75 lens, f/8.0 1/100 sec ISO 100 Alien Bee]
http://www.capitalcityphoto.com/tmp/wedding/52TX-2558_5x7.jpg

A happy moment. [20D, Tamron 28-75 lens, f/4 1/60 sec ISO 400]
http://www.capitalcityphoto.com/tmp/wedding/52TX-2629_5x7.jpg

Grandma was too tired to make it up to the steps for her "formal", so I took this with the Sigma flash. Notice the black and white image in the background. :D [20D, Tamron 28-75 lens, f/3.2 1/60 sec ISO 400]
http://www.capitalcityphoto.com/tmp/wedding/52TX-2665_5x7.jpg

My wife took this of the bride dancing with her father. Alien Bees were at each end of the room. [Digital Rebel, Canon 100mm macro lens, f/9.0 1/100 sec ISO 100 Alien Bees]
http://capitalcityphoto.com/tmp/wedding/52TY-6174_5x7.jpg

After the bouquet and garter toss. They're dating each other, so who knows... :D [20D, Tamron 28-75 lens, f/9.0 1/100 sec ISO 100 Alien Bees]
http://www.capitalcityphoto.com/tmp/wedding/52TY-6280_5x7.jpg

And last but hopefully not least, here is a shot of the bride and groom the day after the wedding. I used a 550EX for fill flash on this one. [20D, Tamron 28-75 lens, f/3.2 1/250 sec ISO 400]
http://www.capitalcityphoto.com/tmp/wedding/52UX-2729_8x10.jpg

So there you have it! I hope you enjoyed your viewing experience. :D Like I said, comments/suggestions are always welcome!

Take care and thanks for viewing!
-Deva

[berto]

main problem i have with some of the pictures are that the posed pictures- the subjects aren't looking at you or you shot them at a different angle. not pleasing to the eye.
some are underexposed and some have distracting background or foreground.
but hey you were brave enough to have a go at it. i'm sure with creative cropping you could save most of those pictures..

bert

[jgbeam]

Very nice set of pictures, especially for a first time. If you are good enough friends, I would suggest asking the B&G for an honest critique. They are the ones, after all, who need to be satisfied.

Jim

[freddycr]

Good arrangement of the subjects in the group pic. Like a lot the BW one. I'd try increasing the saturation on the last one.
Good Job

[cmM]

the last shot is cool.

[dphoto]

Hey, thanks for the comments and also the words of encouragement. freddycr, the last one looks better with increased contrast and decreased brightness. But I'll have to try the saturation as well. Looking at that picture again, the light on their faces is a little flat. Next time I'll have to use on off-camera flash to the side. Some highlights on the bride's hair would have been nice. Anyhow, thanks again!

-Deva

[froman98]

I love the last shot!

[dphoto]

Wow, OK, so it looks like the last shot is the favorite (of the group). Glad to hear! :D

-Deva