First Wedding - 2/24/2007

My wife and I shot our first wedding this past weekend. We were the second shooter for the wedding (I guess that makes us 2nd and 3rd shooters...). The couple was a friend of ours from church, which made it a lot of fun. Unfortunately, due to 60 mph winds and blowing dust, no pictures were taken outside. We wanted to post some of the favorites on here since we've learned so much through these forums. Any CC is gladly welcome.

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Lovely shots. Really love number 3

You have some really nice angles on these- nice job

great start, really like first and third and fifth

the 1st thing that I see is the compostion, In images 1, 5, 6 and 7 you have the person of intrest looking towards the short side of the frame, which for this type of shoot is a technical no-no, as it created tension. We tend to want to leave more space in the direction they are facing.

I love number 3 and 5.

For some reason which I cant explain I like #4 best

Compositions. For the most part I see snapshots. There are odd compositions that the different composition doesn't add anything in #1, #3, and #7. What you have to think of, is are the shots something the couple would pay to have included in the portfolio or just looked at and passed over.

Nice work for a first wedding!

Here are a few comments/suggestions:

1 - your bride is looking outside the frame. Her look is exiting the image and so do my eyes. You want to keep the viewer's attention inside your photograph as much as possible.

2 - Too tight of a crop. The boy on the left is cut in half (ouch!) as well as the top of the head of groom (I think). I would also have focused on the groom (if that's him alright!) as he's the most important player of that picture!

3 - Is my favorite of your shots

4 - A bit deeper DOF would allow us more context. We can barely make out the B&G and guests being photographed.

5 - I like also. The mood, natural lighting. Only thing as Corey mentioned is the fact that the bride looks towards the outside of the photo instead of towards the center.

6 - A fun candid. A bit more context would be nice (I assume he's dancing, but can't really tell - he may be tripping for all I know! ) A bit of PP may help (vignetting, B/W, etc)

7 - You cut out her feet and dress. Again, she's looking towards the outside of the frame.

8 - A fun shot. Could have been tricky lighting, but you managed to expose the B&G well so good job on that!

Some very good shots in general. Just a few pointers to make even better IMHO!

Keep that shutter moving!

Wow! You may find that the couple think your photos are better than the paid photographer's!

If you google "wedding photography," I think you would find that your photos are just as good as many (if not most!) of the random photographers you'd find.

Not sure I agree about the problem with "exit strategy" -- if you can't have your subject facing out the side of the frame, you can never shoot a profile. I like the foreground bokeh you've achieve with the candle in #5.

Bottom line is that art, even photographic, is subjective. You'd find that many brides would consider your photos truly beautiful, as I do.

Meg

Good start. Think more about lighting, and consider bouncing your flash off a wall. Try not to use central composition so often, wasting space in the frame, but if you do you can crop.

Thanks everyone for your input. I tried to pick the pictures that would have the greater impact on someone who wasn't at the wedding. Thanks especially for the comments on composition, I admit it is an area that I'm not that knowledgeable about. I'm not sure I understand the central composition idea, but I'll definitely research some in that area.

All but #6 and #8 were natural light only photos. #6 could have definitely been better from a different angle and with bounced flash, but that's where my wife was when she had the opportunity to snap the picture...I guess that's just wedding photography for you. For #2, the groom isn't in the picture, I have another similar picture with the groom in focus, but there is a really bright window right behind him that is distracting...shot at 85mm on my 80-200 2.8L, I just couldn't get far enough back to get the ring bearer in the picture...aside from jumping over a couple of pews...probably not cool during the opening prayer, lol.

I also wish #4 had a little less depth of field issues, I'd just seen similar shots and tried to get one like it...I'll get it next time for sure!

Overall, we learned a TON! Definitely good advice to shoot as a 2nd a couple of times...
Thanks again, I can't wait until the next one!
Ryan & Sarah

Nice..I can't believe it's your first wedding I really like #4 and 5 best but I think 3 could use a little more contrast.