Untitled

Nice catch!

Amazing catch

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Feels odd that the doves, which are moving, are frozen and the bride is blurred. Would be interesting to hear the photographer's thoughts on why it was shot with this kind of focusing and depth of field. The kid in the foreground adds a lot of expression to the shot and the architecture in the background is effective. I don't quite get the greenish tint at the top and bottom of the photo.

A really great moment you captured! I don't know how you could have done it (I am a relative beginner), but more space to the left and eliminating the big white area on the upper right would have made it even more perfect. Still, what superb timing, I am sure the bride was very pleased!

Actually,this is a nice wedding shot.The photographer take it from a good angle and his place and camera place is very good.The characters are showed well and the features and gestures.Good zoom on the birds with nice composition.
Regards(Bobby).

Regards(Bobby).

great capture.

I agree with Fred.
The doves are deadly rigid and convey some sort of agonizing feeling.
Personally the picture makes me uncomfortable.
There is a nice action in the background, but the foreground message is so strong that it does not push through properly.

I like the b&w. I like the depth of field and the point of view. I sort of don't like the little part of featureless sky in the background...it gives the shot a bit of a pasted in look for me. I'm not sure about the vignetting, but don't have a major problem with that. All that's tech-related.

Regarding the doves, I'm sure people will wonder why the photographer focused on them. My thinking is that if it weren't for the doves in the foreground, this would be just another wedding snapshot.

Jim, to me it's the difference between including the doves (which is an important part of the shot) and focusing on them (which I was asking the photographer about).

What makes the shot IS the focus on the doves. in order to get both the bride and the doves in focus the photographer would had to use a wide angle lens 17mm 18mm.

For the remaining 2 options (Focus on Bride or Focus on Doves) I think the latter is far better. Imagine the Shot with the Doves out of Focus and the Bride in Focus, it would be just another capture.

The washed out sky in the upper right corner is no problem for me. But the dove on the left side is too close to the edge. Having said that, this is an amazing shot and I congratulate the photographer.

First, since there is a discussion brewing here about the doves, I just ask the question why wouldn't you focus on the doves? This is a momentary event and it makes a lot of sense to focus on that in the context of the overall event--we are just seeing one shot and I am sure many others are focused on the bride/groom.

But I think this photograph is one that embodies both the problem of working with animals and the concept of opportunity lost.

My problem with the doves--and a little blur in the wings might have helped--is really the one closest to the center. This is just one awkward bird in its position in the frame and in flight. Without it, the other two might have been a photographer's dream! I hope Pantis had a super fast motor drive and got something else!

But other than this bird being so distracting, let's dissect this as an image. For me, the balance is thrown off by the entire area right of the doves. The little boy might be a great character but is more like a dangling participle and he, along with the open sky, just pull us right out of the frame and focus--which I believe is still pretty much the bride framed by the doves. I find my eyes looking at her and then pulling back to the doves.

I do think that the bride would probably love this shot, it is a great record, but not a great photo. Now, had the awkward bird not been there, a slightly slower shutter speed, the groom inside the framing, a tad more room on the left of the left bird's beak and the right cropped, then we might have something really special and probably what any photographer would hope for!

Knowing how fast doves take off when released, this can be nothing more than a "quick-draw" shot. About all one can do is to get into position, set a desired shutter speed, and then snap (perhaps machine gun) a few photos when the birds are released. Obviously Pantis went for action-stopping shutter speed rather than depth of field. Still, there could not be time for considerations of composition -- I feel that one just has to grab a few shots in the split second available. To me, this is simply an opportunity snapshot, and it would be hard for anyone to make it into anything more. One can carefully set up, especially regarding where to be standing, choose the right lens and desired shutter speed, but beyond that what is captured is a matter of good (or not so good) fortune.

Well, I have to agree - doves do not understand art and perform bad.

Birds are like a note played on piano. This is a instant of time.

A happy instant this time.

I think John A makes a really good point about the dove in the center. With only the two side doves, perhaps the focus on them would make them feel a bit statuesque and a little movement in the wings would be nice. But the focus on this conglomerate of doves, for me, adds to that heaviness and takes away the grace that I think John is seeing by suggesting how this photo might look with the center dove out of the picture. Good discussion.

I think Stephen's and John's comments are right on the mark. Considering that this moment was hectic and unpredictable (when will be the exact moment that the birds fly, and in what direction?), we can't demand perfection in the balance and composition of the image. In fact, perfection might take away from our perception of what this moment was like. It was surprising and delightful - just look at the expressions on the faces. I too wish for the groom to be in the photo and some blur of the birds' wings, and maybe the birds flew right into the photographer's face a little too much, so they dominate the frame just a little too much, but I still like it.

wonderful moment, congratulations

first, I want to thank all of you for the discussion.
I must say Stephen Penland said it just right.
Anyway, next time I will try my best, and hopefully I'll get it better.

The feel of a fairy tale is captured perfectly. Need one really say more?

This is the kind of photo that one might approach with many technical and aesthetic ‘ifs’: if the DoF had been a tad deeper, if the shutter speed a touch slower, if the flight pattern of the birds a little more accommodating… For me, though, the interest of the image lies in the unexpected contrast between the foreground and background, which accentuates the symbolism of the doves, even at the cost of blurring the wedding party behind. It is true that the lovey-dovey, peace-and-harmony significance of the release of the birds is exaggerated, frozen unnaturally in time, but might that no augur well for the future? My guess would be that this photo, as long as it were not the only one of the wedding, would be well appreciated by bride and groom.

great photo..

It seems to be a grab shot (though it could have been timed) with the doves frozen in time. Actually a very good PJ shot documenting the wedding a bit differently. Certainly different fom an aesthetic point of view. But, interesting all the same