Marcy and Stu -- C&C Appreciated

Hi--I'm new to this subforum, but I've done a couple weddings informally. I wasn't the primary photog for this particular wedding, but I was fortunate enough to have access to the pre-wedding get-together in the couple's hotel room, and the pro wasn't there. I felt like I got some good captures in that warmer, more intimate environment.

As for the main venue, it was the Museum of Contemporary Art in Detroit. A tough environment because of low light and a very stark white wall as the backdrop for the ceremony. No center aisle either. I also tried my best to stay out of the pro's way, so no flash--all natural light, shot mostly with my primes. The 70-200 came out for a few shots.

Anyway, this was a total no-pressure practice run for me not being the primary photog, and I'd appreciate any C&C because I'm shooting a couple weddings in the summer. Thanks.

http://www.kreishmanph​oto.com …nuary-2010/15477388_Z4g5f

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please post a few photos here, that way you will get more people commenting.

Svetlana wrote in post #11659205
please post a few photos here, that way you will get more people commenting.

OK... I didn't want to post too many, but I can throw some on here...

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Here is my take on it.

Starting from post #3

1. Interesting with all the reflections. God color treatment.

2. Cute moment, dont like the tilt.

3&4. Cute moments. I think the composition and timing are nice.

5. Not the most flattering expression, and doesnt really tell me a story. She is putting on some shoes and having a conversation? Not really noteworthy to me.

6. Cute, again with the tilt.

7. I like the composition (minus the tilt). Its underexposed a bit though.

8. Tilt..and a bit underexposed again. While I find the other tilted images slightly annoying (but thats all) this one I find really detracts from the image. You include the background, speakers, and the end of the wall. Plus, the whole time I was typing this I have had my head tilted to see it straight. Composition on this is poor.

Good job, but I feel there is room for improvement.

I think the emotional moments you got as a whole were great. IMO, that's a very important aspect of weddings.. However, I think technically speaking most of these suffering from the same faults. They are a bit tilt-happy and they are all dark/underexposed and you've got a lot of clipped blacks. Your settings seem a bit wonky, like you're not very sure of yourself.

Mirror shot - I think this is really fun, bu again, dark, blacks are clipped. I think your SS was much higher than needed. Your camera metered for the scene incorrectly and since you were shooting Av, it over compensated on the SS, underexposing the shot.

Doorway shot - Same thing here.. Though I imagine it was really dark, because I see the SS was only 1/200 but still, It's something you'd at least want to bring up in processing.

Little girl cuff shot - Again, super cute, and the light seems better here, a little harsh in the contrast, but that could be the processing.

Little boy jacket shot - You have lost tons of details in your blacks here. This one was shot at f/3.5.. but why? The others are all shot pretty wide open.

Whew, I can tell that venue WAS really dark.. I would have stuck with shooting with your 35mm and 40mm as much as possible.. You have the equipment to make it work!

Thanks for all the pointers so far. I think I probably should've stayed at 35, as Auroraskye mentioned, in order to bring more into the frame--a lot of the tilting was an attempt to cram more into the frame.

As far as exposure goes, I agree that the settings seemed a bit off, and there's only so far you can crank the exposure in PP without making the image look bad. I also used a new develop preset in LR3 that did some wacky things to many of the images, so I'm thinking I won't be using that again.

Unsure of myself? Absolutely!

The environment during the ceremony was also tricky--as you can see, the big white wall was the entire backdrop, so pulling in the speakers and other grungy background stuff, as Red Tie mentioned, was actually intentional. The building itself is a re-tooled car dealership, so it had a grungy/industrial look that contrasted with the white of that main wall. So, if you're in that situation, how would you manage it? Just shoot against the plain white wall or add some of the industrial grunge?

Anyway, thanks so much for the comments. In my day job I frequently say that you don't learn much from the easy cases, so I'm glad I had the opportunity to shoot the poorly-lit difficult environment with no pressure... Were I the primary photog I would've felt better about turning on the 580EXII with a large Rogue FlashBender, but I kept that in the bag, just being a guest and all.

I promise to go easy on the tilt next time.

Red Tie Photography wrote in post #11659614
8. Tilt..and a bit underexposed again. While I find the other tilted images slightly annoying (but thats all) this one I find really detracts from the image. You include the background, speakers, and the end of the wall. Plus, the whole time I was typing this I have had my head tilted to see it straight. Composition on this is poor.

Good job, but I feel there is room for improvement.

Yeah, I wasn't all that happy with the composition, but didn't know what else to do. The speaker in that shot is my wife, so that shot was actually a one-handed shot with my 70-200 still mounted while my other arm was around my daughter in my lap, because I had to watch her while my wife spoke. It really wasn't a flattering place to shoot from at all. I also became acutely aware of how helpful a center aisle is for photography, because there was none here.

Thanks again for all the help.

I agree with Brandi and Bryan - love the pp on these, but the shots are underexposed and some could use less tilt for sure.

You usually get the best feedback when you post 8 images and number them, just for future reference!

1st image- this is actually why I don't mind guests taking pictures at weddings. You weren't in the photographer's way from the look of it and you got a great shot that's a little bit different and unique- something the main photographer wouldn't be able to get because he's trying to get the "best shot".

Second Set- I love the mirror pic- good job keeping yourself out of it! The rest captured some great moments as well. You used a little too much tilt in the pic with the bride and her dad (I'm guessing he's her dad). I think it would've been a stronger picture if shot straight or with just a little bit of tilt.

Third Set- There's only so much you can do from your seat and I like how you incorporated the lamp ball things above your head. Not too shabby for having a disadvantage like that.

For all of them- I know what you meant to do with the sepia-ish editing and while I don't mind them I would also like to see these pictures in color. I hope you did a normal edit and these are the specialty edits. If not I'd go back through them, do them normally, and present them to the bride as a gift- she will love them!

All those pics are of the bride and groom. There is a bit of an age difference.