Wedding practice

[Caz]

With many thanks to Kenny for his advice and mini lessons, I've finally managed to get the bride and groom over to the venue for a bit of practice (unfortunately, he's been ill and might have to have an op before the wedding).

These are my two favourites from the morning:

and



I haven't put these in critique - perhaps not quite enough confidence yet, although I was generally pleased with how many were "keepers" - but I'd be very grateful for any comments.

This is a link to the set that I took for any flickrites among us: http://flickr.com/gp/carolpgh/218Yo1.

Having finally finished editing these, I can now get on to the rest of the day and the visit to the bluebell wood..... and then there's the concert I went to last night. Really liking my new 50mm lens

[ash]

Re: Wedding practice

I like both of these but with some thought before clicking the shutter they would have been so much better.
The first is a lovely intimate moment and the background does not really lend anything to the shot, a larger aperture would have thrown the background out of focus and concentrated on the couple and just having the greenery in the background would have been better. This is a major downside to using auto exposure mode. Its also slightly overexposed.
The second shot is a little wonky and the couple are not big enough in the frame. I like the reflection of the house in the pond. Another intimate shot here and not looking at the camera would have been nicer.
Sorry Caz you did say you'd like comments, this was my kind comments mode.
Ive done a few weddings, let me no if you need any more advice.
cheers
Ash.

[Geoff]

Re: Wedding practice

That's a nice set of photos, just one thing I noticed is that some of the close ups of the couple on flickr are too close and need some more background. I am not a wedding photographer but I often do prints of weddings. One problem I often get is if the photographer asks for 8"x10" and 7"x5" prints of the same image there is often not enough background to do the crop. For instance, your top photo on your forum post will be OK at 8X10 but at 7x5 you will cut off the top of the heads or the feet.
This is only relevent if you plan to put prints in traditional albums but it's worth bearing in mind when taking the photos.
Good luck on the day! I've done wedding photos for friends in the past and I know how challenging it can be.

[ash]

Re: Wedding practice

Just checked out your fliker pics and at a guess you are using your camera in auto mode, this just won't do if your doing a wedding, otherwise all of your shots are going to look like snaps that the bridesmaid took! If your not competent with manual then apperture priority would suit better, when you are photographing people a larger aperture is always better as it isolates the subject from the background. Adjust your apperture to the maximum your lens will allow and the camera will auto adjust the shutter speed.
Get some practice before the big day doing experiments with depth of field, you will quickly learn the diference between a good shot and a crap shot.

[Caz]

Re: Wedding practice

Thank you both for your comments. I have to hold my hands up and admit that I was using AE mode most of the time that day - unusually for me, as I'm happy using manual mode, even on my compact.

As for the settings, I was handed the brochure for the venue and asked to reproduce as many of them as I could.

I think I'm also going to have to be bossier about positioning them - no matter how many times I told them to look at each other and not at me... in defence, I took that lot in 45 minutes flat before the groom returned to his bed.

Thanks once again - it's given me a lot to think about, which is what I wanted

[Pops]

Re: Wedding practice

I like the composition of the 2nd shot and I'm sure it would look even better when the couple are wearing their wedding attire and its been levelled off