Bridal session...C&C Wanted

I am still learning, all C&C appreciated and thanks in advance...

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and a couple more...

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I really like the third and 4th ones that you posted... thanks for sharing.. The second one, maybe a different angle or something?? And the first one... as I was told by a well know photographer... Try not to put anything on the train... It kind of "ties" the bride down... But all in all, I think that you did a good job..

Decent effort but you've given yourself a tough lighting challenge there with subject in shade and a bright sunny backdrop. I would have looked for a more neutral background in order to bring out better colour in the subject.

paul33 wrote in post #6221057
Decent effort but you've given yourself a tough lighting challenge there with subject in shade and a bright sunny backdrop. I would have looked for a more neutral background in order to bring out better colour in the subject.

That's right along the lines of what I was thinking. If you shot these exact same shots about 3-4 hours later, you would have had dramatically different outcome in terms of color and contrast. The shots are good, but the conditions under which you shot make it pretty tough to get a balanced photo without blown out highlights.

White is always tough to shoot, as it is easy to blow out the highlights. The sky is brutal in the shots you posted, and that makes for a tricky metering situation. You either get the bride in the correct exposure, or get the sky in the correct exposure. If the bride is correct, the sky is probably blown out. If the sky is correct, the bride is horribly under-exposed.

In your 4th pictures, you did the best thing you could, FIND SHADE!!!! If you crop out the sky, the exposure is petty good in #4. As Paul pointed out, you might want to avoid the sky at this time of day, and have her stand next to something like a big tree, or a tree line.

Thanks for the C&C....Yes the lighting was terrible. Unfortunately that is the time we were able to get together. She is a freind and is wearing a cheap dress I bought to practice photos with. I will definately try these again at a later time of day....THANKS

you could increase the contrast a bit, did you do any processing of the images?

using fill flash here would have helped balance the background to the subject. The subject looks dull/flat... don't be afraid of using flash in these situations.

I agree with what was said above...if you're in charge, pick a better time if you can. Reality is that you never get to pick the time of day for a wedding, so you do have to learn how to make the best use of the light where you are. In this case, that would probably mean exposing for the background and filling the foreground with flash, or split the difference and use a big reflector to bounce some light back onto the bride. Once the light is balanced, I think a wider aperture would go a long way toward separating the bride from the background. F2.8 or wider would make quite a difference, especially when it comes to creating an image that stands apart from a snapshot.

I am still learning how to work with light and flash. I will have another go at it. Thanks for all the help. I did a little post processing, but I am still learning that too.

Is she squinting, or is the sun really bright? Or is that her natural smile. I am not being mean I was just curious, I promise.

This is my try at it, a quick 2 min. The 4th is a great pose; yes you did put yourself in horrible light situation, but you learn. Use your resources to your advantage (photoshop, actions if you have them). Keep up the good work.

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I like the edit....I have been working on it a bit and will try to repost my attempts. It is her natural smile and yes the sun was bright, so it may be a little of both. We are going to try a TTD session tomorrow. Thanks again for the comments and edits.

Another quick pp... maybe a bit overdone, but idea should be there. Some dodging and burning, as well as cloud overlay. Keep up the good work.

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I think they would look better with some strong contrast.