Should I use this for advertisements?

[ashah]

I am planning on using this photo for my business cards, front of my webpage,

etc. What do y'all think? Should I?

[colinsouthern]

Might be OK when displayed in a small format - but at the size it opened in my browser it looked very soft and very grainy.

[wedding-photography-denver]

Colin, I think that was the idea ;-)

 

Like the overall but the lines are a distraction for me.

[dawn_kelly]

What is the odd image flying in the air up by the front door of the limo?

[colinsouthern]

David,

 

As in "it's part of this new-age genre where the only rule is that there are no rules" kinda stuff?

[dominic_ramirez3]

I would reduce the gaussian blur a little bit. It increases your credibility if you don't notice the effect.

[savagesax]

May look kind of cool as a backgroud and other pics sandwiched in an album.

[msquarephoto]

Although a very good shot for that couple...for me the image might not translate for every bride. Looks like a big 80's style wedding. Also, the bride's arm looks rather stiff and therefore the photo looks "posed". I think it would make a fantastic ad for the limo company.

[john_h.1]

I've never seen asphalt parking lot spaces featured on a wedding photography business card before. That's probably because its not a good idea to have asphalt parking lot spaces featured on a wedding photography business card.

 

Just in case, make sure you have a written release from anyone shown on your business card or other business promotion material that authorizes the use of their likeness for advertising and promotion. If you do not have such permission, you may have some serious legal problems coming your way.

[bdp]

As Dawn mentioned, it looks like you tried to remove something/someone near the front door of the limo.

[steve_c.5]

Conceptually and compositionally, this is a neat shot. However, I do think you shot this with too high an ISO setting. Often happens to wedding shooters who go from indoors shooting on ISO 800 to outdoors where the ISO should go back to 100. I don't know if this was intentional grain, but that's what it looks like.

 

Here is what I would do: I would photoshop out the parking lot lines so that it's just asphalt. An easy stamp tool operation. I'd also get rid of the waving flags on the limo - a minor distraction. Then, I'd de-noise the image with good software.

 

The shot would have been perfect if the right arm of the groom was on her waist, and the left arm of the bride was on his shoulder.

 

And yes, I'd hit the limo company with the idea of them purchasing it and using it in their ads. Or, you might even get them to work with you to recreate it with a better pose from the couple. Maybe a smidge of camera tilt to accentuate the diagonal lines a little. If you do, shoot for a cloud-free day. The clouds kind of distract from the overall image and a clear day would accentuate the limo.

 

One other thought. A really cute idea, and one that would work well for limo advertising would be if you shot the limo driver in full dress standing outside the vehicle, maybe standing behind the driver door with it open, and the bride/groom doing their kiss/dip in the background (shoot this against a pretty wooded backdrop or lake setting and avoid cars and other background distractions). The driver would look into the camera with an expression on his/her face like, "all in a day's work". Shoot this with a super wide angle to get in the loooong limo on one side and the bride/groom on the other. Experimentation would yield some great shots!

[dilley]

Looks like you used the diffuse glow filter in photoshop. I would tone down the "graininess" lever to get rid of some of the noise, it is a little too much for my taste. Otherwise, depending on your market, this will probably be eye catching for a lot of brides.

[conraderb]

Pretty boring - I see this shot in everyone's portfolio nowadays.

[jeffrey_blake_adams]

The event flag on the window, and the shadows on the face distract, the pose is old school, but it is a nice image, doubt I would use it for marketing tho. j

[jaimie blue]

I would not use it because it seems too staged and without any emotional impact which I think is neccessary to attract clients and to separate one photographer's work from another.

[ashah]

Thank you all for your ideas and answers! I will work on this further. Thanks for opening my eyes to things I didn't notice before.