A couple shots from a couple weddings to share...

I'm open to critique.

Haven't really put time aside to post up some weddings pics, so here are a few from a couple of asian weddings.

1. 1Ds3/Tokina 11-16. Full frame, 13mm F/2.8! NO other lens will get you that! Woo hoo!

1. I like the concept, but I don't know if it works with this particular couple in this particular position. I think it would be an excellent non-wedding shot without the couple in it at all. But if the couple is going to be in it, I think there should be more thematic contrast between them and the edifice. The structure is so vertical, but so is the couple. Perhaps if the couple occupied a little more of the frame, and their arms were arranged around each other to create soft diagonals to contrast the hard verticals.

2. Beautiful shot, but the bright spot in the background drags the eye kicking and screaming into the ugly parts of the alleyway. I also think that I'd like him a little higher up, and without his hand buried in her dress.

3. I like it a lot. The color is nice and the flaring works with this image. The bus camera left with the visible destination sign bothers me. It's a concrete distraction in a dream-like world of this photo.

4. Very nice. You shot into the sun (something I love to do myself) but I don't see you catching the beautiful rimlight that the sun can provide. I think you could have sped up your shutter a stop or two to get a more dramatic sky going. I also think I'd like to see her either facing the camera, or perhaps broad lit. (Although at a wedding I know you do with what ya got.)

5. Doesn't move me. I'm surprised you'd bring it up for critique, considering how compositionally strong the rest of your work is. I'm sure it'll make a nice filler in their album. His hands are amputated, but I don't need to tell you that.

6. Made me audibly gasp. My wife looked up to see what I was audibly gasping at and audibly gasped. Winner!

7. I see potential in it, but it doesn't quite move me. I like the diagonal lines and arches created by the first story of the building, but the other floors are too much and don't add to the photo. I also think the dudes are ruining the story of this photo. It might have been about the bridal party excitedly crossing the street, but the staid men just muddy the message.

8. It's all right, but what are they looking at? They're looking in two different directions... not something that bodes well for a happy marriage. If it's just a portrait, they should be looking in the camera or at each other. If it's an image that tells a story, we should see what they're looking at.

I should mention after all that that I'm being nitpicky, and I actually really enjoy your work a great deal.

thanks for the critique. give me something to think about.

for 3, moving traffic is one of the kickers for the shot that makes it unique. people REALLY like the motion. It's just not a usual thing to see in a photo that also has the sun in it.

kinda the same as 4. the dress was blowing around and I wanted to catch a touch of the motion in it. The dress was really the feature of the shot.

haha, yeah 5 is mostly filler.

7 i like just because of the feel of it. it was a very unique lighting situation and it just had a haunting kind of feel to it. Just thought it was neat but I know it's not compositionally strong. you may have noticed that I don't always post only the strongest pics... just stuff that might be a little different, some random stuff too LOL.

in 8, I like to get shots of couples looking all sorts of different ways. In a shoot, you get dozens of images of the couple. Most of them looking at each other, most of them looking at the camera. I try to limit the number of those because they're so common and like to get them to do other stuff to give them variety. The 'looking away from each other' shots are also the biggest enlargement and canvas sellers too. I dunno, maybe people are tired or the norm? who knows.

4 for me is awesome

I really really love 3, and i think the flare really adds to it. Impressive work, #6 is also amazing!

great job!!

Beautiful! My only critique is you need a bit more of a sharpening pass after you resize:

Wow these are really beautiful!! 2 and 4 are my favourites!! And I recognize the scenery in 6 and 7. What time where you shooting that there are no people or cars in sight?

Good shots

Lloyd you gotta get your avatar back, people don't seem to recognize you now..

Svetlana wrote in post #6847877
Lloyd you gotta get your avatar back, people don't seem to recognize you now..

The previous picturecrazy looked much more insane.

lol..true.

Lloyd I like all of these, but I think your new avatar sucks.

Svetlana wrote in post #6846628
Wow these are really beautiful!! 2 and 4 are my favourites!! And I recognize the scenery in 6 and 7. What time where you shooting that there are no people or cars in sight?

These were taken at 4:30pm. Sometimes you just gotta wait and wait for the right opportunity. 6 was difficult because there were so many people going in and out of the Bay. By some miracle, the people and traffic cleared up for 7 to happen. I had to clone out one person though.

TheHoff wrote in post #6845773
Beautiful! My only critique is you need a bit more of a sharpening pass after you resize:

haha yeah, I'm probably one of the worst when it comes to sharpening. I actually used to add ZERO sharpening to my images at all until I started shooting with the 1Ds3. Now I bump the sharpen slider in lightroom to 19. But that's it. I've also never sharpened images when I export them for web. i know i know... they can really use it.

TheHoff wrote in post #6847919
The previous picturecrazy looked much more insane.

perryge wrote in post #6848014
Lloyd I like all of these, but I think your new avatar sucks.

I like stupid avatars. This one was taken in Korea where I saw many of the ugliest glasses I've ever seen worn all over the place by everyone. I tried one on at a street vendor to see how dumb I'd look. Yup. Pretty dumb. Perfect for an avatar.

I had an avatar last year that was so ugly I got PM's from members I didn't know telling me to get rid of it because it bothered them. hahahaha. mission accomplished.

These are outstanding WOW...