First Assisted Wedding: 10/19/07

believe it or not, not many traditions were followed by the B&G. No garter, no bouquet, no cake cutting and feeding.

I had to convince them to get up and fake this:

MDJAK wrote in post #4161661
guess that means the others suck, huh? Thanks.

Talk about the glass half empty. :p I really liked the limo shot, it jumped out at me. The others are nice, I think you need to adjust the white balance a little, too orange (could be my monitor)

thank you sir, I was just kidding, but you know that. (Oh, not about my pics sucking, I know that; about you giving me a left-handed compliment. )
me

Mark,

These are very good IMHO. The interior of the limo shot and the window shot of the Bride in the Limo are the really great. I also like the "beer" and 'frige shot...fun Bride here On some of the interior and flower shots I see a yellow cast...WB issues perhaps or my "soon to be calibrated" monitor? Also on the "posed" cake cutting photo I would have bounced the flash to eliminate the shadows behind them.

Too bad about the crappy weather...that kills off the outside & under the trees photos for sure A "non-traditional" B&G turns the mission into an PJ affair for you. Did you get any ceremony shots? A 1000+ photos translates into a long week's worth of PP...please post some more when you are done with editing.

MDJAK wrote in post #4163081
thank you sir, I was just kidding, but you know that. (Oh, not about my pics sucking, I know that; about you giving me a left-handed compliment. )
me

The photos look good, I would be very happy as the the bride and groom, you did good

Mark, I think you have some excellent captures there. The limo shot is a winner, it looks like something that came out of Life magazine. Their expressions are priceless, definitely happy with a hint of the jitters, you captured the moment quite nicely. I would love to see this in B/W, perhaps with slight vignetting. The candid shots are great - I believe they would prove invaluable to the couple.

That said, I think you have to adjust your white balance in some photos. Congratulations on your gig!

Hey Mark.

Here's my critic of these.

First one: - Nice capture, but not digging the brides face very much! Did you bounce flash for that one?
Second - Looks a little underexposed and the white balance looks off. Was this very high ISO? I see some banding.
Third - I like this one!, especially the brides face, I'd be tempted to boost the black levels and contrast a hair though
Fourth - I like this one as well, be tempted to see what it would look like in B&W
Fifth - Nice Candid moment.
Sixth - Nice photo, was it direct flash?
Seventh - The side shadows are really killing it for me. Sorry

Question for you Mark, do you shoot in Raw? What do you use to process your photos?

Mark, seriously, doing several weddings you will learn more and more. The shadows are distracting whenever you have to use flash. so work away from the wall. Put the B&G, if possible, in the middle of the room, not against the wall. I even have the organizers put the table about 15-20 feet from the wall so I don't have to deal with shadows. That's the only thing you have to work on, the lighting. Shiny faces and reflections are the main reasons why I use a bracket and a diffuser for those situations.

I like the inside the limo shot a lot. Great use of WA there.

Lots of hotspots on faces, white balance problems, very apparent shadows, and somewhat boring composition... my very very honest opinion on these.

I used bounce flash the entire evening. The room (and the tent before) was very dark and the ceiling was only about 9 feet high. I did not use my bracket, as after a recent poll of that, most people do not use one.

In an effort to post these quickly, and with over a thousand shots, I did not touch wb on any of them, and so I agree it is probably off. As to ISO, yes, between 1600 and 3200. It was real dark. As to banding, may be a result of quickly downsizing them.

I don't dare try B&W, as I stink at it, but thank you.

no, I did not use direct flash at any time.

TOOGY wrote:
Seventh - The side shadows are really killing it for me. Sorry

Don't apologize. I want your honest opinion. In this case, the DJ told me they weren't planning on cutting the cake. The video operator asked me, since I know the bride and groom, if I could convince them to at least make believe. That's why the table was not moved out into the middle of the floor, resulting in the shadows from the low ceiling.

I shoot only Raw and always have. I use Lightroom and PS3. I'm just not very good with the sliders and can't always tell what looks good.

SuzyView wrote in post #4165393
Mark, seriously, doing several weddings you will learn more and more. The shadows are distracting whenever you have to use flash. so work away from the wall. Put the B&G, if possible, in the middle of the room, not against the wall. I even have the organizers put the table about 15-20 feet from the wall so I don't have to deal with shadows. That's the only thing you have to work on, the lighting. Shiny faces and reflections are the main reasons why I use a bracket and a diffuser for those situations.

I have a diffuser and should have used it. I also have a bracket, but recently viewed a DVD of top wedding pros and none of them used one, and a question I posted here resulted in most not using one, so I left it in my car.

AeroSmith wrote in post #4165748
I like the inside the limo shot a lot. Great use of WA there.

Thanks, Josh.

Mario. wrote in post #4165784
Lots of hotspots on faces, white balance problems, very apparent shadows, and somewhat boring composition... my very very honest opinion on these.

Mario, thank you. I want honest opinions. That's the only I can get better, hopefully.

Thank you all for taking time to comment.

mark

Oh, forgot to mention, my assistant was using a Rebel XTi at 1600 ISO most of the night. Some of these may have been taken with that, not sure. They're quite grainy, but there was no other choice.
me

Oh, my, I just noticed my title change.

in #1 her expression is not flattering. #2 is too dark