My final wedding

cdifoto wrote in post #11643447
It helps with the sanity. Not so much the bottom line.

I like shooting second actually. I don't have to meet, sell, cull, or process. I don't have to do the boring family formals. I can experiment.

Good luck...

Hey it's half a week's middle management pay earned in about 9 hours (including travel). That ain't bad.

cdifoto wrote in post #11643461
Hey it's half a week's middle management pay earned in about 9 hours (including travel). That ain't bad.

There is something to said for not having to book and then doing all the post work like sitting with the B&G and sometimes their families going over final orders. Thats a lot of work.

It's mostly the "pre" stuff that I hate. Like changing out of my sweats just to meet that ONE prospect at the coffee shop, then coming home and changing right back into my sweats. It doesn't matter what I look like when I sit here and answer emails, respond to texts, and retouch.

Hey Argo, your shots looked pretty good. I read most of the beginning and tail end of this thread and you held your ground against some a-holes; good job. You pictures look good in my opinion and if your clients are happy with them, then you've done your job.

Like somebody else posted, probably some of the criticism you received was from people who have not done weddings and are completely unfamiliar with the stress factor that comes with weddings. There is no second chance, there is no retake, and from what I can tell, it looks like you tackled the wedding alone. Great job.

Your aperture is fine on that last shot and the eyes were in full focus... I'm not sure what that tool was talking about.

Good luck.

OneEyedJack wrote in post #11628647
I've been shooting professionally for 4 years. I know its not very long compared to some, but my life and job revolve around photography. I work a 9-5 job in a fashion studio, and in my spare time i shoot for myself. I like how you passed judgment without having any facts to go by at all.

Not to mention in this same page i have a post of a bride and groom.

My daughter also takes great shots in our home studio; oh and she's 12 by the way. Artificial light and models posing for her with no pressure goes long way, but I wouldn't put her in front of a bride. That's a whole new set of rules that she's not prepared to tackle yet. Maybe four years later when she's 16 she can criticize others in the wedding photography front lines (hopefully not).

sctbiggs wrote in post #11632719
I don't like this one.. the angle... the cluter on the table... it takes away from the beautiful bride and awesome stained glass window.

Well you could learn from it though. See all the details on the dress? That's exactly what your suppose to have in a wedding dress. I looked at your Emerald Photo's facebook page and the #1 rule in photography that you failed was overexposing the highlights on the dress. On the bride and groom pic on your main page where your advertising your services, you lost all details and all one sees is WHITE on her dress... a big WHITE SPOT that draws your eyes to it. I'm sure the dress cost her a pretty penny, at least she has it stored in the attic at home and pulls it out every once in a while to remind her how pretty it is as the pictures missed it. Weddings are tough right?

Maybe Argo can give you a few pointers on how to use your histogram; doesn't hurt to ask. He seems like a nice guy.

Oh and as you can tell, I'm not a big fan of people that lack an understanding of how constructive criticism works when done right. It's pretty obvious you just had to pull something out to say something negative and you failed...badly.

c-los wrote in post #11651974
Well you could learn from it though. See all the details on the dress? That's exactly what your suppose to have in a wedding dress. I looked at your Emerald Photo's facebook page and the #1 rule in photography that you failed was overexposing the highlights on the dress. On the bridge and groom pic on your main page where your advertising your services, you lost all details and all one sees is WHITE on her dress... a big WHITE SPOT that draws your eyes to it. I'm sure the dress cost her a pretty penny, at least she has it stored in the attic at home and pulls it out every once in a while to remind her how pretty it is as he pictures missed it. Weddings are tough right?

Maybe Argo can give you a few pointers on how to use your histogram; doesn't hurt to ask. He seems like a nice guy.

Oh and as you can tell, I'm not a big fan of people that lack an understanding of how constructive criticism works when done right. It's pretty obvious you just had to pull something out to say something negative and you failed...badly.

Wow a little support THANKs and I would be more than happy to share technical info. Nice to see someone that gets it. Us old zone system guys always think in terms of zones and I wanted the dress to be white and not loose detail and even 1/3 more would have pushed it up to far. Some areas on the dress are 3 stops up from 18% gray zone 8 and on the threshold of going off the scale and we know once its gone in digital like trans film its gone.

You clearly have no idea.......let me hound you for the next couple days on how much I know and how little you know!!!!! LOL

c-los wrote in post #11651974
Well you could learn from it though. See all the details on the dress? That's exactly what your suppose to have in a wedding dress. I looked at your Emerald Photo's facebook page and the #1 rule in photography that you failed was overexposing the highlights on the dress. On the bridge and groom pic on your main page where your advertising your services, you lost all details and all one sees is WHITE on her dress... a big WHITE SPOT that draws your eyes to it. I'm sure the dress cost her a pretty penny, at least she has it stored in the attic at home and pulls it out every once in a while to remind her how pretty it is as he pictures missed it. Weddings are tough right?

Maybe Argo can give you a few pointers on how to use your histogram; doesn't hurt to ask. He seems like a nice guy.

Oh and as you can tell, I'm not a big fan of people that lack an understanding of how constructive criticism works when done right. It's pretty obvious you just had to pull something out to say something negative and you failed...badly.

This thread is getting nasty again. This just must attract negativity.

Red Tie Photography wrote in post #11652678
This thread is getting nasty again. This just must attract negativity.

Come-on everybody play nice now....

c-los wrote in post #11651974
Well you could learn from it though. See all the details on the dress? That's exactly what your suppose to have in a wedding dress. I looked at your Emerald Photo's facebook page and the #1 rule in photography that you failed was overexposing the highlights on the dress. On the bride and groom pic on your main page where your advertising your services, you lost all details and all one sees is WHITE on her dress... a big WHITE SPOT that draws your eyes to it. I'm sure the dress cost her a pretty penny, at least she has it stored in the attic at home and pulls it out every once in a while to remind her how pretty it is as the pictures missed it. Weddings are tough right?

Maybe Argo can give you a few pointers on how to use your histogram; doesn't hurt to ask. He seems like a nice guy.

Oh and as you can tell, I'm not a big fan of people that lack an understanding of how constructive criticism works when done right. It's pretty obvious you just had to pull something out to say something negative and you failed...badly.

oooh, i see what you tried to do there...

I'm well aware that the dress in that photo is blown out. I've got plenty of photos of that dress with the details showing through just fine. If I was concerned about advertising myself to other photographers, I wouldn't use that photo. However, other photographers don't pay my bills.

That particular photo was shot outdoors in the middle of the day under harsh light from probably about 70 ft away on a swaying floating dock in under a minute as we were under a pretty big time crunch.

As for any other of the one million errors I have in any photo I have taken... I'm well aware. I'm a self critic and much harder on myself than you were just then... thanks for trying though.

sctbiggs wrote in post #11664967
oooh, i see what you tried to do there...

I'm well aware that the dress in that photo is blown out. I've got plenty of photos of that dress with the details showing through just fine. If I was concerned about advertising myself to other photographers, I wouldn't use that photo. However, other photographers don't pay my bills.

That particular photo was shot outdoors in the middle of the day under harsh light from probably about 70 ft away on a swaying floating dock in under a minute as we were under a pretty big time crunch.

As for any other of the one million errors I have in any photo I have taken... I'm well aware. I'm a self critic and much harder on myself than you were just then... thanks for trying though.

After this self incriminating response, all I can say is ... "No Comment".


Argo,
You see? Always take people's criticism with a grain of salt. I can't believe they put you on the defensive after giving the quoted response.

- BTW, my 12 year old daughter reading this just said "that's dumb, why would you not put your best picture up".


moving on... best luck to all. Argo, I'll look forward to your next set. Sounds like it's still not your last wedding as there will always be that other nephew or niece or friend that won't take no for an answer.

c-los wrote in post #11669853
After this self incriminating response, all I can say is ... "No Comment".


Argo,
You see? Always take people's criticism with a grain of salt. I can't believe they put you on the defensive after giving the quoted response.

- BTW, my 12 year old daughter reading this just said "that's dumb, why would you not put your best picture up".


moving on... best luck to all. Argo, I'll look forward to your next set. Sounds like it's still not your last wedding as there will always be that other nephew or niece or friend that won't take no for an answer.

This sounds like a familiar response from someone I used to see around here...

c-los wrote in post #11669853
After this self incriminating response, all I can say is ... "No Comment".


Argo,
You see? Always take people's criticism with a grain of salt. I can't believe they put you on the defensive after giving the quoted response.

- BTW, my 12 year old daughter reading this just said "that's dumb, why would you not put your best picture up".


moving on... best luck to all. Argo, I'll look forward to your next set. Sounds like it's still not your last wedding as there will always be that other nephew or niece or friend that won't take no for an answer.

It'll take real deep pockets to bring me out to shoot another one thats for sure.