Please brutally critique my first E-Session ever

Thank god this was with friends, who understood it was my first E-Session. We arrived on location a little late. Sunset was 750 we got there at 735 (they were running a little late not me)

My first mistake was assuming I was going to get good "golden light" at this hour, and didn't take into consideration how much foliage there is there. Even at High noon there is so much over hang that it would help block hard light and require a very weak fill flash, if any. It was also practially 100% over cast, so it was very "washed out"
Well, lesson learned and I tried my best to get good shots.

High ISO scares me, and it should cause I got a lot of noise and artifacts in these photos. NR is 100% Color and 100% Luminance on these photos using LR2 (I know LR3 and Noise Ninja are better but this is all I have on my laptop)

2nd, im not getting anywhere near the DOF I wanted, and its surprising because most of these are shot with a nifty 50 at 1.2 and a 100macro at 2.8

So, these are about the best of the 200+ photos I took. I was in such a rush I forgot to put the 50 back into AF after I was using it for reverse macro and didn't even pay attention for 15 or so of the better composed shots.

I was in such a rush to beat the light that I didn't really get to be creative at all, I feel these shots are a little boring =/

Anyway, rip me apart on these so when I go back I can get a much better collection.
Thanks

Noone has anything to say?

The only good shot technically & emotionally is the one he's looking up at her and she was smiling.

The rest was in consistent in term of lighting, posing, cropping, background-choice, and compositional-wise.

Shooting during overcast or under foliage shade is one of the best, if not easiest condition. If you want more contrast, under expose ambient and use your flash to fill, if you want them to look soft & dreamy, then let ambient be your main light.

As far as DoF, using it correctly will come naturally later. DoF has a lot to do with distance, & focal length as well, and not just F stop. If you want to blur out the rest of the background, use longer lens as it compresses the background better.

The 100mm macro is a little too sharp for my taste, too sharp is not always a good thing. It also hunts too much in low light. I'd get the 85mm for portraits.

its not easy when its to dark to even get a focus =/

Correct me if i'm wrong but are all shots for a session supposed to be "consistant"
Whats wrong with variety?

Drakeskakes wrote in post #10041268
its not easy when its to dark to even get a focus =/

Correct me if i'm wrong but are all shots for a session supposed to be "consistant"
Whats wrong with variety?

That's why I do not like the 100mm, it hunts too much in the dark. The 85mm will lock on fast with an on board flash AF assist light.

Nothing wrong with variety if that's your taste. Inconsistency here really means that your shots are like 2 different people shooting at varied exposures, different times of day, different lighting situations etc.

Let take the two shots where he's lying on her lap for example. The first one, your flash dominated and your ambient was almost completely killed off making it like it was shot at midnight, then the next shot everything was nice & bright like mid-day.

It was due to a lot of experimenting, that's where the inconsistancey comes into factor. Being my first e-shoot they understood it was a learning platform so I wasn't afraid to choose different options. I've also never shot under these conditions. When we talk in terms of fill flash, should it be shot TTL or is it supposed to be as if your shooting without a flash and set it manually to 1/32 or 1/64.

I'm not planning on going to buy an 85 mm anytime soon, since I don't have a need for it. So what would you suggest inchangr for the next session. I them I wanted to redo the shoot there again when it's brighter and I can pretty much not worry about having to create light.

Take it slow, make careful measurement before you shoot, chimp if you must. Your shots might not turn out with the best expression, but once you get your settings down, you'll get that later. Getting 200+ shots should not be your goal, your goal should be getting solid shots, even if it's just 10 of them.

As for your flash, since it's outside and you are fairly new. I'd just use E-TTL for now, manual once you feel like you are up to it.

Make no mistake though, shooting wedding related events are not easy, it takes time & experience. Be patient, and keep on practicing. When I started out in photography, I had to carry a tape measure and a light meter with me and measured everything then wrote down everything before I shot, that's how I learned. Digital makes things a lot easier, but also confuses people more.

quit worrying about the light and work on your composition, you are framing way too wide, get closer
the last photo is the best imo you seem to be "overthinking" it all just relax and take some great photo's and yea high ISO's scare everyone

I agree with the too-sharp business. All that sharpness and the over-lighting just makes it look staged. Good wedding and engagement photos will never look staged (IMHO), and a little blown out background will soften everything up and bring out the dreamy-ness that Viet was talking about.

What f-stop were you shooting at? That 50 will be just fine once you two get a little better acquainted.

I think they will be happy with these. I do agree with them being too sharp and inconsistent. I also agree to definitely shoot when it is light out while you are practicing your composition and creativity. That way you don't have to worry so much about lighting up the entire area. It's helpful to critique when they are bigger and when they are numbered. I'm no professional but I tried to critique the best I can!

1- I really really (really) like this one, except for his foot being cut-off. You caught a great moment! I think there might be a little too much space at the top too.
2- I understand the look you were going for here, but the way you did it just made their skin look very unnaturally white. Play with the levels a bit and try and get some color into their skin. I also don't really feel much connection to this picture, I wish they were maybe turned to the front. Definitely watch because you cut his foot off here too.
3- I'm just not really feeling this picture. No connection. But it might mean something to them or someone who knows them.
4- Cool location! Wish I could see the background more! I think the lighting is a little harsh on them, and it needs a much tighter crop. The face he is making also doesn't really fit the picture to me.
5- I like this one too. It's kinda odd how he is looking up at her neck, but I think this is a nice picture of her. Maybe tone down the flash a little bit, but I think that one is one of the best ones.
6- This one is my favorite! I don't have anything to say about it. The blacks seem a little gone, but it could just be my monitor.

You did a good job for 1st time out. I always shoot in E-TTL, you can ride the compensation up or down to get the flash level and ambient light you need. I would try to get in closer. Pose them and then tell them they can not stop moving, kissing laughing, while they are doing this circle them a couple times being aware of composition and fire away. Get a variety of shots, close, wide....

I like the first and the last ones the best. The first just needs a little processing.

viet wrote in post #10041545
As for your flash, since it's outside and you are fairly new. I'd just use E-TTL for now, manual once you feel like you are up to it.

Make no mistake though, shooting wedding related events are not easy, it takes time & experience. Be patient, and keep on practicing. When I started out in photography, I had to carry a tape measure and a light meter with me and measured everything then wrote down everything before I shot, that's how I learned. Digital makes things a lot easier, but also confuses people more.

When I would shoot this scene in ETTL I got a horribly dark backround with a well lit subject but to me it was like shooting on a black studio backround and defeated the purpose of the nature backround.

Scoen wrote in post #10041866
quit worrying about the light and work on your composition, you are framing way too wide, get closer
the last photo is the best imo you seem to be "overthinking" it all just relax and take some great photo's and yea high ISO's scare everyone

Its hard to focus on composition when you can even get the subject lit at F1.8 1/60 without flash at ISO 1000

Dawid wrote in post #10041951
I agree with the too-sharp business. All that sharpness and the over-lighting just makes it look staged. Good wedding and engagement photos will never look staged (IMHO), and a little blown out background will soften everything up and bring out the dreamy-ness that Viet was talking about.

What f-stop were you shooting at? That 50 will be just fine once you two get a little better acquainted.

Shot between F 1.8 and 2.8 (sometimes 5-6) The wireless trigger I was using doesn't allow camera control of the flash and sometimes it was far away, and I was clibing all over rocks and stuff so I compensated with aperature

I agree with what's been said and simply wanted to comment on the time. Not sure what time you told them to arrive, but I would have been planning to shoot at 6:00. If you stand around killing time waiting for the sun to drop, that's fine. Better to have too much time than not enough. Especially on the first shoot. Can you take them out again, albeit earlier? And go shoot the location without them at that time of day. Find some good angles and immerse yourself there. Work pays off.

collierportraits wrote in post #10043706
I agree with what's been said and simply wanted to comment on the time. Not sure what time you told them to arrive, but I would have been planning to shoot at 6:00. If you stand around killing time waiting for the sun to drop, that's fine. Better to have too much time than not enough. Especially on the first shoot. Can you take them out again, albeit earlier? And go shoot the location without them at that time of day. Find some good angles and immerse yourself there. Work pays off.

I actually found the place on a hike with my girlfriend the day before and called them to tell them I found a better spot. Its got GREAT daytime lighting but me being so new and wanting to appear professional, thought Golden hour, low sun yada yada. I wanted to be on location AT 700 for a 750 sunset time according to the tide report. They were running late and we didn't get there till about 730-740 I'm going out there again maybe today if the some comes out, sometime around 600 hopefully

I think what happens is sometimes we know just enough to be dangerous. Great location with beautiful scenery, but remembering that the couple is the focus here and not the scenery might be a lesson learned.

Not picking on you. I do the same and need to practice what I preach as well!

dave