norrispictures

Yes, THE roll of the ceremony. It was quite horrible. I was shooting with an older camera - manual wind - and sometimes the film doesn't catch so I have a "double-check" system to make sure it does wind, so when I changed rolls during the ceremony, I thought I was safe cause I checked it. But I wasn't and I literally didn't have any photos from the actual ceremony. They weren't very happy, but they didn't actually pay anything for the photos and they also knew I was a complete amatuer at the time. Since they had originally planned on just having a family member shoot the photos, I thought they should've been a little more understanding and forgiving...

But it was a horrible experience that still haunts me to this day and I'll never shoot a wedding with a manual film camera again.

Elizabeth - I know you're not necessarily asking for critique on your work, but you did say, "How much would you charge for these photos?" which begs the question of quality.

And certainly your photos are nice, however, I see things I would change, if you don't mind me saying so. I find it interesting that this last photo you posted in your explanation is exactly the photo I was disatisfied with, mostly because there is a sharp, distinct and quite unflattering shadow of her chin and nose on her chest.

You mentioned that you worked on these photos extensively afterwards, and I'm sure you did, but not everything can be fixed post-production. The shadows are something that should be noticed and avoided during the shoot, perhaps by moving the source of light, perhaps by moving the model or tilting her head - whatever you must do to eliminate these distracting shadows...

Again, I'm just critiquing here and remember that I believe your photos are quite lovely, just my own opinion on how they could be slightly improved next time... and you could even lessen or soften those shadows in post-production, if you think it worth the while.

LightTec definitely has lots of new equipment not on their site - their prices are different than the Web site also - higher, generally. But it's a great place to rent - I was happy with it.

He has a new Canon 5d now.

I agree that it does look a bit rotated. I really love the picture, though - it's gorgeous, I wish I had taken it! :)

The only other thing I would mention that others haven't mentioned is that I wonder what happened to her right hand - it looks strange to me the way it just disappears - almsot looks cut off.

That's just my opinon - others may not find it distracting.

I photographed a wedding with an inadequate flash and it was the absolute worst experience of my photography life. It still disturbs me when I remember it. I'm fortunate that the bride and groom didn't pay for their photography, but please trust me on this: No matter what they say, they really do expect good, even great, excellent photos.

The bride and groom at the wedding I messed-up were the most easy-going, relaxed, fun-loving people ever - you know the kind - "Ah, don't worry! We're not picky! We won't care!"

But they did. And they were angry and upset with their pictures.

I sound negative, I'm sure, but it's hard to forget such a painful learning experience. I'll never do another wedding for which I'm not completely confident that I can turn out excellent photos.

Can you get some better equipment before the wedding? Rather than turn tail and run, perhaps just make sure you're absolutely prepared.

So, Peter, you:

"like to strive for that effect when shooting people dancing"

But, you:

"Personally ... don't shoot when people are dancing"

Can't tell whether you're qualified to speak on the subject or not. ;)

You're quite brave to welcome critiques.

I agree that the bright flash and low light is the biggest issue with most of these pictures.

And these are the issues that I see:

The colors look too cool and unflattering -- every face has a bluish hue. This could possibly be helped with some level adjusting - maybe adding a bit of red. I agree with the other comments about RAW vs. JPG - you could do alot more adjusting if you have RAW images.

There are hot spots on almost every forehead due to the bright flash, which makes the pictures unpleasnt to view - and I think that gives it the amatuerish, snapshotish look that the other members are referring to? Do you have a diffusion filter on your flash? On your lens? Both of those would help with that problem, although probably not eliminate it completely. Are you flashing straight on, or tilting the flash head slightly up? That would help also, even if you don't have white surface to bounce off of, a dome diffuser would probably spread out the light enough.

Of course, getting a faster lens is the best option, but if the budget doesn't allow for that right now, these are other suggestions.

Maybe you've already thought of/done all of these things, and if you have then you can ignore my comment. :)

Hope it's helpful and good luck with your photography.