First solo wedding

Well, I got one under my belt finally. I have been second shooting for a local pro most of the summer but this is the first one I did myself. I learned a ton. Overall I'd give myself a C-, acceptable, but barely. I made a lot of mistakes that I won't make again. I told my fiance' it's like leaving the plug out of the boat..you only do it once.

This turned out to be a very special day for the bride and even more stressful for me. When I got there (very early I might add) the bride takes me to the side and said her Uncle (and Godfather) who is dying of cancer surprised her by flying up to be there for the day. With tears in her eyes she asked "Can you please make sure you get lots of shots of him for me? This is the last time I will ever see him." *Gulp* He has stage 4 pancreatic cancer with no hope of remission. They gave him 12 months when he was diagnosed and he is on month 17 now.

So I gotta tell you, when they had their dance it was one of the most touching things I have ever seen. It truly changed me. The music actually stopped halfway through the song (technical problems) and they just kept dancing. You could have heard a pin drop. When they were done there wasn't a dry eye there - including me. I was crying, with my hands shaking the whole time I was shooting them.

Anyway, here are a few shots. I know they are not the greatest, but please critique away - it's the only way I'll get better.

Bride and groom bringing their son up for unity candle

A couple more that were technically "no good" but for some reason I really like 'em. Hey I'm a photojournalist right?

They are really that bad?

the Ring shots are pretty nice

the second to last is OOF. but i have to say i like them. but i think all of the sepia is too much. i like black and whites, some vignetting would be nice as well.

thats just my 2 cents.

shannon

The rings are nice, but overall they are on the dark side and need exposure fixes. The compositions are average and the mono/duotones can use more dramatic post processing. Do you have any from the formal photo session to display? It is not a bad showing for a first wedding. Good work, and keep it up.

You told us a lovely story. I got all excited and then you didn't show us the pictures! Where are the pictures of this dance?

Rings look great. Love the cake.

Dont like the ceremony son looking at the B/G. It just looks OOF. Your focus says look at the boy. But the framing and composition says look at the couple.

The "aisle interesting angle" shot is not the best. You went down but your composition was a poor. If you look at your cemetery, you can see that you are off center. The feature on the wall should have been central.

My 2 cents worth.

the pictures are great, and it's the memories that are most important. your client will be very pleased indeed.

Visual Bride wrote in post #4003464
The "aisle interesting angle" shot is not the best. You went down but your composition was a poor. If you look at your cemetery, you can see that you are off center. The feature on the wall should have been central.

He's not dead yet mate....

mcmadkat wrote in post #4003662
He's not dead yet mate....

My Firefox spell checker seems it even understands the context of what I type. I just thought it was a USA spelling.

I think your B&G will be very pleased with these. From the samples you posted you have captured their special day showing their love and the emotion of the day. Can you post a photo of the Uncle and the Bride dancing? That was a very moving story and I would like to see how you captured that special moment. Thanks,

Thanks for the critiques and advice. I really appreciate it

Here are a couple more as requested...

overall nice pics

Love the ring shots. Creative! What lens did you use?

liking 3, 4, 5