quality of wedding photos

i would really appreciate some input on my wedding photos, i am starting out,

but i feel as though i need some sort of direction & approval from wedding

photographers with many years experience, is the quality good?, how does it come

across on a scale of amature to pro, you can find my images under single photos

& my weddings folder, thankyou for your time.

Sorry Astrid to put it on a scale - very amature. The B&W coversions are not very good, the drawn vignettes are horrid looking. The camera handling and compositions, backgrounds, posing... All of it its lacking purpose and that is my main theme for you. Compose and create each image with a purpose. The ones that are set up still come across as snapshotish based on how tight or far away your are shooting. The tight ones are cutting off body parts, the wide ones are too wide. I can tell you are looking at lots of images and trying to copy which is good but when tilting images there is usually a purpose, a diagnal line or corner to place people in. When posing people you shape them in your positioning so they look good, go in tight to get emotions or out wide to create a mood. You have arms and bodies cut off, harsh sun on part of the picture and shade on the other part. Your around the world shots are good, seems like a different photographer, like not much translated to the wedding stuff. On the positive side I think you have an eye, it needs a lot of development but you will get out of photography what you put in, you definetly have an eye and a decent variety of ideas for starting out....you can get "there" if you get a little obsessed about improving.

Hi Astrid. It looks like your wedding photos have more of a traditonal bent to them. It looks like you have an eye for it. I would take that traditional look and go with it. Hone it, practice it, learn it. With so many photographers shooting in a so-called photojournalistic style, your more traditional approach may be just what certain clients are looking for. Don't fight it and try to learn a different style. You already have a certain style or look, which is more than most newcomers have.

 

Learn the technical in and out. That is the only way to really capture what you imagine in your head. If you take on wedding photography you WILL find yourself in situations where the lighting is horrible, the locations are less than ideal, etc. Having a solid technical base will give your the ability to pull good images out the least ideal situations and conditions.

 

If you are going for a more traditional look, lighting is of the upmost importance. Do a search for Monte Zucker or CLay Blackmore images and techniques. You will need to learn how to do quick and effective portrature lighting, typically with a small softbox and off-camera flash.

 

If you master some lighting techniques and learn some more posing and framing techniques, I think your stuff will really stand out from the rest of the pack.

 

If I had to rate it, I would say it is somewhere above amature, but not quite pro. More practice and knowledge needed, but the good thing is it looks like you have an eye for it (many don't IMHO).

Too much use of selective coloring on the B&W's.

do yourself and the rest of the world a favor - don't use selective coloring - EVER. That goes not just for you but for every photographer!

 

some people like it but I think it is the most amateur looking thing anyone can possible do to a photo.

I still have most of my brides asking for black & while with spot color. It doesn't matter if photographers have grown weary of the effect. As long as clients still want them, we should keep providing them. Someday clients will tire of them and we can move on to something else we will soon find old and worn out, but that brides will see as cutting edge.

For me these are pleasant, "homely", albeit non-cutting-edge images. I'm sure the couple will enjoy them.

 

Regarding the post processing:

 

- I'd lighten up 6537095, 6537097, 6537101 and warm up 6537090 (camera's auto settings get fooled easily).

 

- I'd avoid selective coloring except if the bride explicitly wants it or if it really adds to an image (seldom). Same for b/w.

 

- I personally avoid showing the same image multiple times with different effects applied to it.

 

- I'd do more images of the couple interacting instead of staring at the camera next time.

Astrid,

 

The photos are not bad it's just all of the processing that I could do without also some of the tint on the b&w can go it's a bit out dated.

Astrid I do like your composition and your angles and think you have a good eye.

I think they're fine. Good composition, good exposure. You're doing fine on posing and there's nothing wrong with selective color. Your color balance and saturation need some work, possibly you need to calibrate your monitor. What's with the two shots of the empty easles though?

astrid - I personally hate B/W conversions when only the clients are in bw. that looks freaky. and I also don't like the tendency to tilt everything.

 

but overall, your eye is fine - you just need to refine your lighting and get your color looking better. it looked pretty washed out on my screen.

I've done a little critiquing on your photos in the critique thread

 

I think you know what you WANT to do and what style you have, but you need to practice practice pratctice on getting it to look professional.

 

Positioning, DOF, lighting, all need to be finely tuned.

 

You need to learn your editing software as well, because your conversions look quite sloppy to me (sorry, I'm just trying to be honest!)

 

But I DO think you will get better and should stick with it :)

L E, do yourself and the rest of the world a favor.

 

Lighten up.

I guess the lightheartedness of my original post was lost in translation.

I agree with most of the technical points...my suggestion would be to work on posing. The shot of the bride and bridesmaids around the car has potential, but the bride looks awkward, the maid to the right is looking off to the side, and the girl in the back is partially hidden behind the car. Also, the houses in the background aren't adding much to the shot. For a shot like that, really use the car-have the bride lean back on it, bridesmaids lean on the side, etc. Be careful about having a woman lean forward-it can make her look a bit chubby.

I like the shot of them with the trees-a very clever idea. You have some really nice shots in your portrait portfolio-try to bring some of that style in to your wedding shooting. Be careful about shooting from a low angle-it can make people look fat. I'm seeing a lot of blown highlights, which isn't always a bad thing, but you need to learn some flash and other techniques for controlling contrast.

You have a good start, just keep at it.

I think they generally look good. I would have done the following differently:

 

Photo 6613342 - I'd have composed the shot to include her feet.

 

Photo 6613340 - I'd have picked up that annoying branch.

 

Photo 6529217 - I'd have included their feet and then tried to tame the highlights. (fill flash and exposure compensation - see http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/fixing-dynamic-range.htm)

I would consider investing in Adobe Lightroom and some decent books on post production techniques. You have an eye for the photography I think, but feel the selective colour treatment actually spoils the photos. It just ends up looking a bit amateurish.

 

There was a real spate of this type of treatment over the last few years and is already feeling very dated (well in the UK anyway - I guess so in the US also judging by the other posts).

 

I would take a couple of months to really learn the technical side of photography and processing, this will immediately lift your photos to the next level.

 

It's just all a big fun learning curve eh?

 

j

This one:

 

http://www.photo.net/photo/6613342

 

Get it right in camera, too easy to fix this when you shoot it (and no reason it came out like this) -- the bottom is chopped off. I think this was already mentioned above.

 

Sometimes you just. have. to. slow.... down... a little... on the job. and compose thru your viewfinder before snapping.

Gee guys thankyou all so much, your input is just great, i realy appreciate it, i am listening to you all.

I will be very honest. Good composition but the colored BW looks like a Halloween special.

 

A.

Hello! You need to add more composition, dynamic, plot and... intrigue...

Do not forget about technical quality... The lighting, poses. I join to many opinions above.