my first e-session! give me some advice on what i can do to improve! pix inside

[booja]

this is my first time doing this kind of thing. i mainly used my camera just for personally use and for fun... i never did photos for others before.

this is sergio and debra, they are actually a friend of a friend. they had already gotten married but it was small because that was all they could afford so there was no photographer. they did not have any pictures of them together to remember anything by. so i thought i would do this for them for free seeing how this is my first time doing this kinda thing. let me know what i can work on.

1.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3658/3583860683_193fb7235c_b.jpg

2.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3624/3584667420_afb83fb899_b.jpg

3.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3382/3583872439_ac3e0912a7_b.jpg

4.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3396/3584665390_72ceed273e_b.jpg

5.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2481/3583874031_d5a5ae78df_b.jpg

6.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2473/3584678610_ae96946aa3_b.jpg

7.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3656/3583873025_20bb27c608_b.jpg

8.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2477/3583859065_75850cc94e_b.jpg

are they bad? ok? good?

thanks for the input!

[FamilyJules]

take my advice with a grain of salt, as I am still learning myself....
I think you caught some great emotion here, and have captured a nice, natural feel to the images....that being said, the white dress is blown out in most shots..
Direct sunlight makes it very easy to do that... now 2,4 and 5 work for me, but 7 is prolly my least fav...too centered and not nearly as relaxed as your other images.
Keep shooting, and maybe try for a shoot later in the day?....I like shooting anytime after 5:00pm

[booja]

yeah... im trying something new in the way i edit. bright, saturated, contrasty look. i over exposed most of them on purpose. i usually edit with the highlights corrected and a lil dark and desaturated. i thought id try it this way since its suppose to be happy and fun instead of dark and gloomy like the way i normally do things

[dufrenbk]

The only thing that somewhat bothers me is that she is almost always looking into the camera, and he is almost always not. I'm sure you've taken more pictures than what you posted here, and I'm sure you have some with him looking at the camera in those. I think they are good pictures overall though. Nice work.

[4mr4do4sho]

The only thing that somewhat bothers me is that she is almost always looking into the camera, and he is almost always not. I'm sure you've taken more pictures than what you posted here, and I'm sure you have some with him looking at the camera in those. I think they are good pictures overall though. Nice work.

My thoughts also. The couples looking in different directions doesn't look pleasing for them. My eyes are drawn to the blown out dress when they should be drawn to their expressions. Great natural emotion that you captured in the photos and with practice it will only get better.

[booja]

yeah... i wanted them to look natural and pretend that im not there... but one of them seems to always look at me once i click... it cant be that hard to ignore me.
and same thing happens when i want them to look at me... one looks and the other looks away.

i have a bunch though where theyre both looking away and both looking at me. i just posted these just because...

heres how i normally edit my pics... with hardly any color


9.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3303/3586477111_234125e50e_b.jpg

10.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3239/3587283908_813d8ff9f9_b.jpg

11.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3654/3586475397_09c4aae90c_b.jpg

[dufrenbk]

I like that editing style. I've actually done a few like that myself. He must just be one of those guys that hates taking pictures. Hard to deal with. I think they will be very happy with their pics.
She has such a nice natural smile. These pictures make her really look happy... especially the last one... man, if only he was looking... o well...
For your first time, excellent!

[mohammadz]

I love the shots!
The last 3 you posted capture some great emotion!

What type of lens are you shooting with? The bokeh is so buttery!

[kandyredcoi]

just like jules im also still learning so heres my .02

a few looks over exposed
and number 1 looks like it was shot towards the sun

other than that...thumbs up!

[mrmarklin]

#1

When both are staring off into space like that the composition would be better with the couple on the left side of the photo. Too much dead space behind them now.

#2 The wedding ring is washed out, and it's your subject.,

#3 He looks totally disinterested compared to her. See also #8.

Frankly the whole set is a little flat, but #10 has real possibilities.

[aram535]

The set is a good set, but I wouldn't go to a client with all of them with that edit. Just like B&W and even selective coloring and 45 degree angles, it's good to have in the bag for a few images. Having all of the session turned into your "style" would kill it, IMHO obviously.

[Marloon]

#2 - needs more saturation in skin, as your clients look like they have cold clammy fingers
#4 - my girlfriend likes this photo

i would just try to recover some lost detail in her dress... i am a huge fan of strong contrast based photos, but you have to lower the saturation of their skin as they start turning more orange.

if you are in lightroom, just lower the skin saturation by selecting orange and by moving the saturation slider accordingly (-10 to -25)

[SOK]

Nice captures, but I'm not a fan of the PP style

yeah... im trying something new in the way i edit. bright, saturated, contrasty look.

That's fine...but in my own opinion, I think you've overdone it...with the exception of #1. I think that is an excellent balance of 'bright, saturated, contrasty' without blowing the dress and faces out.

[booja]

thanks for the input and feedback... i wanted to kinda over expose them but her wearing a white dress and it being super bright outside kinda made it overkill.

i always look through this part of the forum for more ideas on PP styles... i actually got a good 60-70 shots and edited them a few different ways each... some with very little editing at all, sometimes they look better that way.

they loved all the pics. i only like about 10 of them. but the thing about that is that when people that are not into photography see photos that have a little DOF and subject separation, they love it.

and for the people that are wondering about the gear... these pics were shot with a 5d using a 24-70 2.8, 85 1.8, and a 70-200 2.8.

[ovi.dutu]

i love your photos they are so full of life and colour

[booja]

i just thought i would bring this back up to ask a simple question instead making another post...

on shots number 9, 10, and 11... are the shots warm or have a greenish pale cast. on my old macbook they looked really warm and on my new macbook theyre kinda a pale greenish color.

i wonder why both macbooks are so different. i calibrated the same... or i tried to at least

i just wanna see how everyone else sees it