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wedding photo critique


david_volkmann

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<p>David,<br>

Sorry but I don't have the time to go thru your client galleries. I did go thru the wedding galleries on your site. While there were some okay shots, I'd say you're not quite ready for prime time. Some of the most important areas I'd suggest working on are your use of flash and understanding posing and composition.</p>

<p>I suggest planetneil.com and strobist.com as excellent places to start working on your flash technique. Read a book on posing. There are several out there. Google is your firend. Any chance of assisting an established pro in your area?</p>

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<p>Hi David,</p>

<p>well honestly, I would not consider what you show to be pro quality work. Some of the reasons are they are largely under/poorly exposed or lack fill lighting. You have a few decent shots, but in general the composition is weak and looks too centered in many. I can't tell from your gallery "wedding 2" but it appears your focus is off in several too.</p>

<p>I would get familiar with what flash does and how, then work really hard to balance your lighting better. Next I would suggest having a good look at the work of some photogs whose work you like, then try to reverse engineer the images that grab you. Figure out why the compositions work, what makes the lighting great, how they positioned themselves for that this or that shot, what focal length and aperture they used, etc. etc.</p>

<p>Best, D.</p>

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<p>Paul,<br>

I have contacted several (like 8 or 10) local photographers and asked to assist in any way possible. I have not had one willing to let me. I have offered to do whatever they needed me to do for the day at no charge and have no responses. I have been doing weddings for the past year or so for friends and referals only. In fact I have booked 7 weddings this summer alone. The clients have thus far been happy, These weddings are by refferal only and I have not been advertising myself. In fact I go out of my way to tell people of my capabilities and my very limited experience in this field. I have not had any complaints as of yet but I feel somewhat guilty doing these weddings with no formal training. I have several books on photography but I learn much better by doing not reading. Any Wedding photographers in MA??<br>

David</p>

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<p>OK, here goes.</p>

<p>The looping gallery on your main page only has 3 photos. The first one (the couple in the front yard of the mansion) is fine. The second one (the little girl) is very amateurish. It demonstrates a complete lack of understanding of how to drag the shutter, and on top of that, there is a very obvious side-shadow on the little girl that reveals you weren't using a flash bracket, or even bouncing your flash. The third photo suffers from the same lack of dragging the shutter, plus you neglected to clone out the mole/pimple on the beautiful young woman's face. Furthermore, I suspect the black-and-white conversion was an effort to rescue an out-of-control white balance issue. At any rate, as a black and white conversion, you should trend more towards the right of the histogram (that is, bring up the brightness, in general).</p>

<p>Then I ventured into your "Weddings 1" gallery. These photos suffer from many of the same problems (overly-dark B&W conversions, obvious flash side-shadows in portrait orientation, lack of attention to backgrounds, inability to drag the shutter, etc.). For sure, there are a few nice shots, but in general, they have a very "snapshot-ish" feel to them.</p>

<p>"Weddings 2" actually showed a lot more promise. I've got to say, comparing the two galleries was like night and day. Maybe the second gallery just contained fewer low-light reception shots, but overall, these photos looked much better.</p>

<p>I would recommend reading the blogs of other wedding photographers you admire, and trying to emulate their style. Hope this helps.</p>

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<p>First is the site is annoying. I don't like sites that resize my browser window and remove my toolbars. That is you controlling the look of my browser which is a violation as far as I am concerned. Any site that does that is immediately off my list.</p>

<p>Second, beyond the other comments, you have blown the highlights of the dress in several of the images. That is a pet peeve of mine and in my opinion shows a lack of understanding exposure. I also suspect that many of the B&W images were done that way to hide color balance problems.</p>

<p>This is going to be harsh but from what I saw the pictures were little more than snapshots that could have been taken with a P&S camera.</p>

<p>There is some promise and I suspect over time you will get better. My first couple of weddings were much worse. So keep going. Learn all that you can. Look at other images by others. You don't have to copy but it provides some good ideas.</p>

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<p><em>"I have contacted several (like 8 or 10) local photographers and asked to assist in any way possible. I have not had one willing to let me. I have offered to do whatever they needed me to do for the day at no charge and have no responses." -David</em><br>

<em></em><br>

Allow me to take a guess, you've sent them emails and offered to assist them at no charge. Suggest that you put your hat in your hand, put on your best social skills and go visit their studios. Beforehand, visit their websites, do your homework and be familiar with their style and products so you can demonstrate an interest in learning more about what they do. BTW, you're not offering your assistance at no charge, you're requesting an apprenticeship at their expense. Instead of simply tagging along at a wedding and getting first-hand training, you might offer to help out around the studio sweeping/mopping floors, etc...whatever it takes.</p>

<p>In the meantime, look into alternative training such as DVDs: <a href="http://www.photovisionvideo.com/store/CTGY/DVD/">http://www.photovisionvideo.com/store/CTGY/DVD/</a> research old threads here on P-net, visit the forums and other resource websites such as strobist. Consider joining PPA and/or WPPI and look for local seminars. Good luck.</p>

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<p>Well thanks for kicking my a#$ guys! I needed it. I really have been looking for some direction with my photography and it has been tough. Not alot of people around looking to help. I appreciate all your comments and if you have any more please feel free. It is the only way to learn, although it hurts like hell!!! Thanks guys.</p>
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<p><em>" Any advise on the photos David?"</em></p>

<p>Your personal work looked to be your strongest images. In general I see alot of the common new shooter problems with lighting, flash work, and composition. Many images are cropped too tightly. Several detail shots were quite nice. I don't understand why there are so many B&W images, especially the beach shots. Learn how to bounce your flash. Suggest that you feature the bride more, study some glamour portraiture and model comps. You also find the resources above (Training DVDs, PPA/WPPI) will have a dramatic influence with how you see your images and those of others. Also consider joining <a href="http://www.photoshopuser.com/">http://www.photoshopuser.com/</a> You've got a good starting point, good luck.</p>

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