Wedding Critique of the Week 8/15/11

<p>This week's image was taken by Alan White.<br /><br />This is Part 2 of Wedding Photo of the Week. You can see all submissions in the thread with that title. In your critiques - include what you would do to improve the shot or why the shot is perfect as it is.<br /><br />Remember that this is not a contest. Sometimes an image will be a winning image and sometimes an image that needs some help. Try not to just say "great shot" but explain why it works. Or - "Doesn't do it for me" without explaining why.<br /><br />The photographer up for critique for this week should remember that the comments expressed each week are simply "opinions" and the effort and focus of these threads are to learn and to take images to another level. There will be times where the critique is simply members pointing out why the shot works which is also a way for others to learn about what aspects contribute to a good wedding photo. In reading all critiques -- you may agree or disagree with some points of view - but remember that there are varying approaches and often no right or wrong answer.</p>

<p><strong>Alan's Notes:</strong> A quiet last minute finishing touch to the bride's make-up</p><div></div>

<p>I am quite fond of 7:3 and 7:3.5 aspect – but I think for better impact we need to keep a typical Cinematography Concept of apportioning the Main Subject to one half of the frame, or the other.</p>

<p>I think that the concept would be better exploited with a 35mm or 50mm lens to narrow the FoV and to frame out that large area of annoying foreground clutter – but keep the same Perspective, the Perspective works.</p>

<p>At 24 there is a little barrelling and the Vertical Beam at Camera Right is quite annoying.<br>

I would fix both, (by using a longer FL). - easy to do, as I expect that you had the 24 to 105/4 mounted.<br>

Anyway, IMO, you need to be very careful at the edges with a FL = 24mm.</p>

<p>Indicative:<br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/14036252-md.jpg" alt="" width="680" height="340" /> <br>

WW</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Nice shot. A reminder to use a mix of wide angle shots more often.</p>

<p>The challenge with extreme wide-angle is keeping the camera level so the image doesn't lean, and to be aware of the effect that perspective distortion has on the over-all composition. </p>

<p>So, I agree with WW, consider fixing the perspective distortion ... especially annoying when shooting extreme wide-angle architectural elements off center ... in this case the room wall verticals.</p>

<p>Another pet peeve of mine is chopping off chandeliers, or having them tangent to the top crop edge. </p>

<p>My tip is that when shooting extreme wide angle, either zoom out more, or back-up another step or two. This can provide more surrounding image area to allow straightening up of the image, and the use of perspective correction tools that only take a few seconds in PhotoShop. </p>

<p> </p><div></div>

<p>You chose to center the bride in the frame, and it seems as though you did this in camera, rather than by doing much cropping in post. For a centered composition to have worked well, it seems to me that you should have positioned the camera in the center as well, shooting perpendicular to the window-wall, so that the window and framing lines in the room created a more symmetrical perspective. However, you might not have been able to center your shooting position because the bride might have been facing too far away from the camera from that position. </p>

<p>Because the camera position is at an angle from the window, I agree with the prior two comments that positioning the subject off-center improves the image.</p>

<p>I like the idea of this one...The tone, the viewpoint of a far away observer of quiet moment just before the big day. I like the unusual aspect too. The problem for me is I don't really know what is going on until I look at it for a bit. The focus seems to be much more on the makeup artist, who is in full silhouette, than the bride, who is obscured. The other way around could have been magical.</p>

<p>Generally, unless I'm trying to go for a more silhouetted look, I try to avoid shooting with windows behind me. So often you get pixel spill over from the over exposed background unless you are using fill flash appropriately to light the subject. I find the couch a bit visually distracting. If you had much shallower depth of field I think it would be better. The (what I'm assuming is post processing) vignetting is a bit heavy for my taste as well. I get what you are going for, but either zoom in more or be less heavy handed about it. If you have to add so much vignetting to show you what the subject of your focus was, then the shot compositionally isn't very strong IMHO.</p>