First official wedding solo

I was asked earlier this year if I'd be willing to shoot a wedding, it was my wifes cousins best friend(bride) who had asked me. Although I told her I've never shot a wedding before they insisted on having me do it because they liked my previous work. I told her "Are you sure you want someone who has no wedding experience"? The bride and her fiance talked it over and decided they wanted me to photograph their day. As for cost lets just say I was extremely reasonable.

I was quite nervous to say the least, wondering what all I would need to invest in and what not. Making sure I had enough batteries, memory cards, a wide angle lens, a speedlight, etc... My first purchase was the 430ex II speedlight and secondly I purchased a Canon 17-55mm f/2.8 lens. The flash is what took some learning. The lens was sharp from the box and I have shot with it quite a bit prior to the big day. Friday, August 17th came and I found myself stocking up on AA batteries, clearing memory chips and charging batteries. I also had a backup camera I was getting ready as well. That evening I met the couple at the grooms supper and we went over a few things, the nervous feelings were setting in a bit but also I was excited to shoot my first wedding solo. The bride said to me "You'll do just fine". Saturday, August 18th came and about 10am I started getting things packed up because it was a 45 min drive to the city in which they got married. The rest is history, I had a fantastic time and I hope to do it again. I have a sneak peek on my Facebook page and I got a really nice comment from the bride already saying she loved the pictures.

Here is a sample of what I got for shots. I welcome critique.

1.

2532 x 3223

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And a few more:

9.

2452 x 1927

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Good job! My favorites are 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12, with 7 being the overall favorite.

Damm that lens is super sharp! Great job!

Thank you both for your kind replies! Means a lot to me and gives me motivation.

Erik~ This lens is truly awesome!

Positives:

For the most part the exposure and clarity looks good.
WB looks mostly right, a few are off (like #11).

Less Positives:

Compositions are all centered and very stiff and pose-y.

Not terrible but continue to push yourself to be more creative.

looks good try not to shoot formals or portraits with both hips and shoulders square to camera makes people look stiff awkward and heavier

Here are a couple more I had to resize to work with imageshack.

13.

auroraskye wrote in post #14892910
Positives:

For the most part the exposure and clarity looks good.
WB looks mostly right, a few are off (like #11).

Less Positives:

Compositions are all centered and very stiff and pose-y.

Not terrible but continue to push yourself to be more creative.

Thanks for the critique Brandi! Posing and creativeness need to be worked on, I definitely agree with you.

Pixil Studio wrote in post #14892936
looks good try not to shoot formals or portraits with both hips and shoulders square to camera makes people look stiff awkward and heavier

I will remember that!

skin overdone on 8.

Juandaphotography wrote in post #14893761
skin overdone on 8.

Yep I'm gonna redo it

Mosabi, I too was thrust into a similar situation with only a couple of days notice. And, the wedding was outside in super-bright sun. I studied up on the Speedlight as best I could but your exposures are far better than mine.

Any tips on using the Speedlight as a fill light? I tried experimenting with flash compensation but didn't have a lot of luck.

Thanks.

1. Good job positioning so that the light wasn't (a) creating harsh shadows on the face (b) uneven due to dappling through the trees. Skin tones are decent, though may be a little magenta--it's tough to get color balance bang on when shooting near all that greenery. I'd touch up under the bride's eyes (use spot healing on a layer, sampling from cheek below; reduce opacity to taste--about 60% perhaps; then flatten layers).
2-Skin looks a little smooth--did you do anything here ? Fairly good light--or safe light at least--as above; but I wish the background wasn't so contrasty with blown-out bits.
3-These shots are all about the resultant shape, the line of the profile. You've cut hers off at her nose. If a bride is in a photo she's probably the most important thing going on in that photo.
4-Fine for what it is--I wouldn't worry too much about posing these kinds of shots (dude's hanging out).
5-Skin tones read as too dark to me. In mixing down to the monotone, I'd have boosted the yellow/orange channels to bring the skin tones up.
6-turning them around would have made his boutoniere (sp !) more visible and the bandaid (?) on his right hand less visible.
7-I like this. I'd slightly tweak under the eyes as mentioned earlier. It will probably be the only thing bugging the bride about the photo (if she's overly nit-picky about herself at least).
8-Safe, I suppose, but there's no reason you couldn't bounce. Yes, the wood is tinged orange, perhaps, but so probably was the ambient. The direct flash seems a little harsh to me.

Well here is a redo of #8 Is #13 any better?
13.