Shot my first wedding....

And I can tell you that I have a totally new appreciation for those of you who make your living doing such things. Goodness gravy! I'd absolutely attempt it again....in a while and with some different lenses, at least.

For now, here's some of the better ones we got..."formals" although I definitely already see places we could have improved (a friend shot this wedding with me). It was my sister's day, she flat couldn't afford a "real" photographer. Her venue was The Hotel Hershey....where she works, so they gave her an incredible deal and the royal treatment, to boot. What a wonderful venue....I can't sing their praises enough. What kind people.

Anyway, constructive criticism is welcome and appreciated...please keep in mind the equipment we had to work with (both of us had the same cameras).

And a few more...

Just had to interject I'm the friend. I don't post a whole lot here mostly lurk to learn. Can't wait to get the feedback on them.

I like them a lot. I am no pro at weddings but you did a lot better than most people do there first time

BermyFunk wrote in post #5979760
I like them a lot. I am no pro at weddings but you did a lot better than most people do there first time

Thanks! I think we both studied a LOT ahead of time...lurked here, checked out blogs and websites and everything we could get our hands on, so that we could do a good job for her. The idea of not having any professional looking photos made me sad for her, lol.

Good job on the photos and congrats on getting through your first wedding (I know how that feels myself)! I'm sure your sister will love them. I really like #3... captures the emotion well and your sister has a beautiful smile in it!

Some of the photos are a tad on the dark side... #2 is a nice level of exposure and I think the other photos will stand out a little more with a boost in exposure. The smiles in some of the photos are a bit forced but that's something to work on for next time (crack a joke, do a funny dance, definitely be smiling behind the camera... usually when people see the photographer smiling, they're more inclined to smile themselves!)

Hope that's helpful!

Nice work That blue seems to be a popular colour

Firstly good work for your first wedding but I think PP would be very helpful for many shots. I do appreciate the difficulty, often direct harsh sunlight is the most frightening lighting situation to deal with as I unfortunately found out the other day

Many of them are good but need PP to fix exposure issues and also to add a bit of a kick to make them great in my opinion.

Need to eat dinner now but here's a quick 1 min edit of your last photo, your tastes may differ but here's an idea of what I like personally (a bit more contrasty and stronger color):

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Actually I went a bit too green but hopefully my point stands

I agree with the majority here; your sister is lucky to have you & I'm sure she'll be thrilled with the photos. Great job for yoru first time!

Congratulations - You both should be proud!
They look great to me, spec for your 1st time.

(not that I'm a pro, but I know what I like )

Yes, the harsh sunlight (it was noon when she wanted to do the formal pictures, and there was no amount of cajoling that would change her mind....ceremony was at 2, lol) was probably our biggest obstacle. I know that I really struggled with the exposures. Thanks so much for the adjustment! I'll definitely try that....even with fill flash there were a lot of shadows on the faces and such.

LuckyStar08 wrote in post #5981493
I agree with the majority here; your sister is lucky to have you & I'm sure she'll be thrilled with the photos. Great job for yoru first time!

Agreed

I'm puzzled at the majority of posters in this thread..the OPs stated C&C was welcome and appreciated but with the exception of Jenne, everyone has sort of said good job and that's about it. Now my monitor isn't the best, and it's only quasi-calibrated, but to me it is blindingly obvious every photo in the second post is underexposed and needs adjustment, yet it is only Jenne who has also mentioned this.

I think though that the OPs did a good job (especially so given the difficult (understatement) lighting) because they are not out by much and easily adjustable in PP especially given that they shot in were RAW (though JPG would even provide enough latitude here). At the end of the day the aim is to provide the best wedding shots possible, and I have to say near enough is not good enough and this casual "yeah it's good, they'll love it" is a bit worrying.

Having said that though, it could just be me and my monitor...and it's definitely just my opinion

LOL, ok, I looked, said nothing...but I'm a n00b and could not even come close to doing this well......

I'd love to see the flowers sprouting from the bride's head cloned out. With her dark hair it would really make her the center of attention. Pics #7 (bridesmaid) and #8 (bride).

Your sister is lucky to have you.