My daughters engagement, my first.

Promised to take some shots for my daughter for her engagement. Went to the Memphis Botanical garden. Sun was harsh, used single Einstein, my vari-ND filter & my Sig 85mm.

Lovely, congrats

Congratulations to your daughter, she is lovely. Photo wise, they feel stiff and slightly awkward and I think the lighting could be a lot stronger. I think #2 is definitely the best but I'd warm it up and photoshop out the shiny bits on her face.

i agree more light and consistant WB
also shoot 100% back lit and fill in with the lights no need to have cross shadows as in 3

Thanks for the comments and tips, I'll look at some of the others and see what I have, I just worked these up for Corey. She is so excited about having them.

Thanks again!

Not sure why people thing you need more light. Exposure wise they look about right. Balance between strobe and ambient is a matter of taste. but within reason in all of these.

I would suggest a shoot through PLM for these. That would help a lot. Also Pixil's suggestion about using sun as rim light/kicker is much preferred.

I wonder if the stiffness isn't the father/daughter thing. I would think shooting your daughter's E-Session is kind of like teach her how to drive; Yes you can, but its much more difficult for both of you than having someone else do it.

I presume you are NOT going to have your camera gear on her wedding day.

That's happened to me see? https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1218786

dmward wrote in post #14871452
Not sure why people thing you need more light. Exposure wise they look about right. Balance between strobe and ambient is a matter of taste. but within reason in all of these.

I would suggest a shoot through PLM for these. That would help a lot. Also Pixil's suggestion about using sun as rim light/kicker is much preferred.

I wonder if the stiffness isn't the father/daughter thing. I would think shooting your daughter's E-Session is kind of like teach her how to drive; Yes you can, but its much more difficult for both of you than having someone else do it.

I presume you are NOT going to have your camera gear on her wedding day.

That's happened to me see? https://photography-on-the.net …/showthread.php​?t=1218786

the pics are generally under exposed and if you turn the lights up and close down you can over power the shadows and have an even exposure

Pixil Studio wrote in post #14871474
the pics are generally under exposed and if you turn the lights up and close down you can over power the shadows and have an even exposure

Hmmm... maybe a monitor thing, the skin tones look just about right to me on my iMAC with calibrated monitor. The backgrounds range from just about right to a little dark, but that I attribute to the photog's desire (attempt) to balance the sun lit background with the strobe lit subjects.

Sun was harsh for sure, my monitor is calibrated (Spyder 4 Pro) most of it is due to me try to learn the balance of off camera flash and the very bright background. Thanks for all the tips. I'm learning, just need more practice and time in the field.