Pros, can I get some feedback please ?

Hi,

 

I was wondering if some of you seasoned pros out there could give me some

feedback, there's always room for improvement right ?

 

I'm looking for what I did wrong/right, what could I have done differently ?

 

I posted 300 photos on the site from the wedding, there were more, the ones I

like the most I put on the first page, so you won't have to wade through 300

photos, well, unless you want to ;-)

 

http://larcombe-photography.smugmug.com/gallery/845726

 

Thanks in advance,

Tony.

Hi Tony,

 

Don't know that I would be considered a wedding pro after just one, but I have done portrait work for a number of years. One thing that stood out to me in many of the "formals" is that some of the individuals are standing in shade and others have full sun hitting them. That is a situation that makes it difficult at best to get a good even exposure across the image.

 

George

Help us help you <br>

What equipment did you use? <br>

What do you think you did right and wrong? <br>

Sebastian, 20D and a new 580EX, this was my first time out with the flash, I didn't compensate the flash enough, well, at all.

 

Shade and no shade question - I tried to get all shade but was swayed by the audience...."it'll look good over here" and "let's get some with the fields behind" etc...

It's not a shade/no shade issue, it's some in shade, some not, in the same image.

Hi Tony,

You shot a lot of nice pictures and I realy like the b/w ones, the ones in color look a little washed out to me, but that is me...... :)

I am a color person. Did you change the parameters at all in the camera or left it as it comes from the factory? I always step up my saturation a little, but like I said I love color. The wedding must have been a welsh one :) by the look of the dragons, nice setting and church.

My mentor told me that you always have to take control over the crowd for lighting, put them where the light is right, don't let them tell you any different.

tony - could you post the best 40 or so? I would love to help, but 300 images is tough to go through, and I don't want to just focus on teh first 30 that I see :-(

You did excellent work. digi I presume?

 

Because time is of essence allow me to get to the point right away: 1) some pix overexposed IMO (either that or these people are super duper white - which is possible if not from California). 2) Edit heavier w/more discipline.

 

Otherwise I like it.

I believe the pictures were shot in Llanhennock/Wales and those people have very little sunshine, so maybe that is why they are all so light ;) ........... am I right Tony? Just curious ......

Hi tony,

 

You made a reasonable job of exposure although you should negative comp your flash a couple of stops when shooting a group of predominantly black tuxed men.

 

If you are looking for crituque on your posing, there is some work to be done there. Getting people to relax with you is key. A little laughter here and there will help and when they do, shoot them! Get people closer to each other and not facing the camera directly (mostly any way). Create mood by the use of your (obviously great in this case) backdrops. You might want to read up on posing a little more from where I stand. Of course I am not trying to discourage you in any way, just help point a few thing out. Whit that in mind I hope you do well with your venture.

 

Best, D.

Well, I'm sure you are looking for critique on your photos, they look great, but I have a different suggestion.

 

Please don't have such a huge header, if I click on an image on the bottom row it loads the new page and scrolls back up and I have to scroll down to get the next image! They call that Click Fatigue, and smugmug hates it.

 

Simple fix: put your menu horizontally instead of vertically :)

 

Aaron Lee

Steffi, yes you are right, Welshies are quite white, it did start raining 1 hour after the wedding was over, I may have over-exposed on the odd occasion though, I won't blame them for everything. I love your website too, fantastic photos.

 

Aaron, great suggestion on the link buttons, I'll try and change that right now.

 

I do need to get more involved with posing people and making them laugh, I find that tough to do, I'm not a naturally bossy (or funny come to that) person, but the more I do it the more I feel comfortable about doing it.

 

Thanks everyone for your feedback,

Tony.

I think you did a good job. I would comment on these itesm:

 

Someone mentioned some of the color images looked a little washed out.. I agree, I like heavier color tones.

 

I don't care for the "fig leaf" pose for guys... hands covering the crotch. I tell them to do a military hand pose (put the thumb down the outside seam with fingers slightly curled) or if it works, the GQ hand in the pocket look. Also, I didn't notice it, but watch the cuffs on guys. Either they all have a bit of the white shirt sticking of the cuff, or they all don't, just make sure it's all consistent.

 

On one of the bridesmaids shots (page 6 top left).. make sure they all stand up straight and not lean unless they are all leaning.

 

The other thing is like you mentioned... sun/shade shots.. get them all in one or the other and politely tell whoever it was trying to direct you as to why it won't work there.

 

Bob