My First Wedding: Trial By Fire

Hi guys. This past weekend, I shot my first wedding. I really had no experience with weddings whatsoever, so the learning curve was very steep for me.

It was a small and humble wedding, with the ceremony and reception held in the home of the bride's friend. Some of the challenges that I had were balancing the strong natural backlight from the large windows during the afternoon with the low tungsten light in the house. It was a relatively small house so I didn't really need any long lenses. Most of the shots were indoors with a few outside portraits of the happy couple toward the end of the day.

I have done some basic stuff in post, but need to do some more work. Below are some of the photographs from the wedding. I would appreciate any guidance and criticism that you could give me so that I can improve. Thank you!

1. http://farm8.staticfli​ckr.com …17055870_e35224​c445_b.jpg
   
2. http://farm8.staticfli​ckr.com …17055984_24298a​4b2a_b.jpg
   
3. http://farm8.staticfli​ckr.com …17057258_9bc659​d95a_b.jpg
   
4. http://farm8.staticfli​ckr.com …63180027_c7047a​e3c4_b.jpg
   
5. http://farm8.staticfli​ckr.com …17060674_b9f110​f9d1_b.jpg
   
6. http://farm8.staticfli​ckr.com …63187729_70d4b3​760d_b.jpg
   
7. http://farm8.staticfli​ckr.com …17067620_c49f46​82bf_b.jpg
   
8. http://farm8.staticfli​ckr.com …17054232_3b8417​61e3_b.jpg
   

Nice shots)

I like these. Images are filled with emotion, good exposure and wonderfully sweet.

love shots
maybe for your next shooting, you can add some fill flash.
keep it up!

kathfern wrote in post #14047944
Nice shots)

Thank you kathfern.

SuzyView wrote in post #14049232
I like these. Images are filled with emotion, good exposure and wonderfully sweet.

Admittedly, I did miss the exposure on a few and had to edit in post. Exposure is so much easier in the studio when people aren't moving around!

Lowyat wrote in post #14049544
love shots
maybe for your next shooting, you can add some fill flash.
keep it up!

Thanks for the feedback Lowyat. I had fill for most of the shots, but I think that the ones I posted might not have. I'll keep that in mind next time. Fill whenever needed.

Nice 1st!

i thought she was kissing a woman on the 3rd pic.

while these are not bad, but i think you'll do much better if you add a little more creativity, and less use of the tight shots. (maybe experiment a little with a UWA lens especially in a limited spaces)

kchan156 wrote in post #14050570
Nice 1st!

Thanks!

Autonomous wrote in post #14052262
i thought she was kissing a woman on the 3rd pic.

while these are not bad, but i think you'll do much better if you add a little more creativity, and less use of the tight shots. (maybe experiment a little with a UWA lens especially in a limited spaces)

I made a few photos with the UWA later on in the day. It was my first time using the 10-22mm (literally) and the biggest challenge was to keep the camera horizontal. Here's one of those:

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well, there you go. it certainly adds a little more something to the picture doesn't it?

But, with that being said, get a little bit more creative. capture something interesting.
As far as the flash concerned, I say not to worry about that just yet. I think you just need to learn your lighting first and how to capture the best light under natural circumstances, such as your situation above. and once you get a better grip on it, that's when the magic really happens.
cheers.

Well done, I bet you are excited with all the positive feedback. I would be too scared to try it, and you have obviously done a good job first time out. I bet your next one will be quite creative with all this great input from the panel of experience.

Tragic_Golfer wrote in post #14053909
Well done, I bet you are excited with all the positive feedback. I would be too scared to try it, and you have obviously done a good job first time out. I bet your next one will be quite creative with all this great input from the panel of experience.

Thanks, it's very nice to have my work validated, especially from the bride & groom. I really wanted to do more with lighting, but I forced myself to shoot with just a flash and diffuser/reflector for this one just to keep it simple.

Great pics!

Here are my thoughts.

1. I think it is a cute moment, but her face is slightly underexposed. I would bring up the exposure of the entire image a little. I also am not a huge fan of how she is gripping the flowers - if this were posed I would have her hold it down to the side - people's fists are not flattering.

2. Its a cute snap.

3. Under exposed again, this one by about a stop or so it seems. I am also not a huge fan of this composition - they are directly in the center of the frame.

4. A cute moment, but it looks like you had access to beautiful window light but dint face them into it. The little by has decent light, but the light on the girl's face could be so much better if you rotated them 45 degrees.

5. Another cute snap. While I think this time is more personal preference, I would bring up the exposure on this image too.

6. Cute snap, a bit dark again for my lilking.

7. Cute snap, good light, better composition.

8. good job getting the detail in both of the rings.

Red Tie Photography wrote in post #14056184
Here are my thoughts.

1. I think it is a cute moment, but her face is slightly underexposed. I would bring up the exposure of the entire image a little. I also am not a huge fan of how she is gripping the flowers - if this were posed I would have her hold it down to the side - people's fists are not flattering.

2. Its a cute snap.

3. Under exposed again, this one by about a stop or so it seems. I am also not a huge fan of this composition - they are directly in the center of the frame.

4. A cute moment, but it looks like you had access to beautiful window light but dint face them into it. The little by has decent light, but the light on the girl's face could be so much better if you rotated them 45 degrees.

5. Another cute snap. While I think this time is more personal preference, I would bring up the exposure on this image too.

6. Cute snap, a bit dark again for my lilking.

7. Cute snap, good light, better composition.

8. good job getting the detail in both of the rings.

I appreciate the feedback Bryan. I found many of my shots underexposed, especially in those scenes with strong backlighting. I will use more fill light next time for those. And I'll direct my subjects for posed shots to take advantage of any natural light as well. This was a great experience for me and hope to improve quickly.

frugivore wrote in post #14056330
I appreciate the feedback Bryan. I found many of my shots underexposed, especially in those scenes with strong backlighting. I will use more fill light next time for those. And I'll direct my subjects for posed shots to take advantage of any natural light as well. This was a great experience for me and hope to improve quickly.

For backlit images, you are going to have to ignore the camera's built in meter for the most part, and blow out the background. Unless you use some sort of additional lighting for your subjects, the background is gonna blow out, but you can't worry about that. Focus on exposing your subjects correctly, and your images will look fine.