Few shots from a wedding workshop

Just a few shots from a wedding workshop I attended the other day. Would be interested to hear C & C.. Cheers.

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Nice clean work! Here's my thoughts:

1. Interesting comp, but the lower half has too much weight and draws away from her eyes.

2. Nice, but not breathtaking. I 'm not sure why she is posed against the wall (she is not using it for support and it doesn't add). Pulling her away a little bit would help with the shadows. Watch the highlights in the dress (couple be compression and all that)

3. Not the best angle, I assume you were shooting with a lot of photographers.

4. Two things I notice quickly - (1) vertical line growing out of her head. (2) the light source camera right is too close to both of them. It is hitting her much faster and stronger than it is him, causing her skin to blow out.

5. Strong pose. Her left hand is too close to the edge of the frame. Also I would have LOVED to see the shadow play across the wall. Right now it is all about her. If you added he shadow it would be about much more.

Thanks for your comments - 4 - that was natural light.

Interesting thing though, one thing we really tried working with was high ISO and longer exposures and not worrying at all about blown out areas. I used to notice blown out spots in photos straight away but now I'm really thinking the only time it matters is if the client says "Ohh, that's a bit bright". Generally it's only other photographers that will spot a blown out area - clients wont. I think freeing myself from worrying about blown out areas is one of the best things I've learnt in ages.

Thanks for your comments though - most appreciated. #1 Did you mean weight or white?

#2 Fair point - this was a narrow corridor and was more of a technical exercise in using window light but I see what you mean.

#3 We had a few shots each, dont mind it myself but interesting you pointed it out.

#4 Vertical line - yes, I agree, should have thought about that

#5 - I'll see if I've got some more from that series.

Cheers.

To be sure, there are a lot of times when you can't contain the entire dynamic range with your camera and you will have to blow things out. The one place where a lot of people will notice the blown out spots is in prints. The transition between white (with detail) and a blown spot on a print is much more noticeable than it is on a backlit screen. This might not matter so much on bright backlit afternoon shot, but it will be noticeable on a shot like this. I say print it and see what you think, it might work out just fine. Also the red channel on your camera is much more likely to blow first (really noticeable in skin tones like #4). One thing I do is to really watch the red channel histogram when shooting portraits.

In #1 I'm talking about the composition weight. I like how you've framed her in the doorway (assuming this is a doorway). The shot is primarily a high key shot, but there is a lot of dark background showing in the top half of the frame. This makes the photograph seem a bit top heavy to me - within that open area, the top half is much darker than the lower half.

I know shooting at workshops is far from ideal. You will almost always not have the ideal position, angle, etc. and it's more about practicing and sharing ideas than getting a perfect shot.

Cheers - you've got some great stuff in your portfolio site btw - good work.

All shots are beautiful! Love them all. Crisp and clear

I think they are nice shots and a step up from some of the other work on your website so looks like a worthwhile course.

I would be weary about using them as part of your portfolio like you have though unless your confident you can get the same standard of shots outside of the training course.

Jon - thanks. Yes, when one is starting out, putting together a portfolio a year or so into your photography will always show an improvement over the series of photos. I haven't finished putting together my site yet so hopefully all sets will stand on their own. Inevitably the shots I did 2 years ago on a 400D and kit lens with not much experience wont stand up to my later shots but they also show that I have gained a reasonable amount of experience.

I don't think there was anything on the course that is difficult to do again. Having said that, having models and a nice setting/hotel to work with does make it a bit easier.

Thanks for you comments.

ooOOOOoo i very much like the last one...