bryce_sickich

<p>Hi Melanie,</p> <p>Thanks for your response! I see what you are saying....however, I found her hairstyle a little strange. I think she recently changed it, and it seems to accentuate her face differently than it did before. What are some suggestions on making her face shape less "noticeable"? Maybe poses in which her face is at more of an angle? Any suggestions are helpful, as I'm shooting their wedding...so I'm glad you pointed that out!</p>

<p>Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend! I shot this couples e-session this past Thursday evening. They had hired another photographer to shoot their engagement photos a few months ago, but were unhappy. During their wedding consultation, they expressed wanting to have another e-session. Wound up booking me for their wedding, and I offered to throw in a complimentary one-hour e-session. We were discussing 'Save the Dates', and they told me they had one photo they liked from the other photog and were planning to use that. I got a text from the bride on Friday night, saying: "Hey! We liked your pictures so much we are switching our save the date! You did awesome it was exactly what we were looking for."</p> <p>That is a very nice compliment to get from your clients ;-) Anyway, here is the link...as always, looking for nice, constructive criticism and feedback. Thanks!</p> <p>http://www.photosbybryce.com/blog/sarah-simeon-e-session-daytona-beach-fl</p> <p>Bryce</p>

<p>Bob,</p> <p>Thank you for your comments! While I can understand what you are saying about the exposure, I wanted all of the backgrounds dark in the church. It's that ugly. I typically shoot all of the church event stuff, so I'll see if I can find something to post as an example. I'm definitely going to watch the highlights with regard to being able to see the detail on the bride's dress. I can see that now, and it's something I want to fix. </p> <p>I will try to shoot more portrait orientation photos next time with "plus sized" people. That is something I feel that just takes practice. This particular wedding was challenging, because the bride is not outgoing and very reserved...and so were the bridesmaids, save for one. Compared from their engagement session however, she was SO much more relaxed! They were all in a hurry to get back inside at the reception while shooting the wedding party. That coupled with the little time we had while the sun going down, I feel like I did the best I could with what I had. I had originally wanted to do the wedding party shots right after the ceremony, but the B&G wanted to get right to the reception. I warned them that we would be extremely limited on time. </p> <p>In the end, they love the photos and are quite happy. I learned quite a bit, and had a blast. So all in all, I am happy with what I delivered. Anything you can walk away from having learned something, and apply that knowledge to another situation is successful. Also, my main goal is to please my clients and deliver a consistent product that allows the personalities of the subject to come through the photo. In the last two weeks, I just booked two more weddings from shooting this one!</p> <p>On a side note, I feel like too many photographers try to "impress" one another. Why? Asking for critique to become better is one thing, but working as a photographer trying to impress another is just stupid. That said, I'm thankful for resources such as this site and being able to ask for honest, helpful critique that will help drive me to be the best photographer I can be! Thanks again!</p> <p>Bryce</p>

<p>Hello everyone…I shot this wedding at the end of June. Would love to get your thoughts and constructive criticism. The ceremony location is my home church, and the lighting is absolutely AWFUL! All fluorescent lights with a neutral/tan colored walls that give off a greenish hue, and a black ceiling. The stage has a purple/blue wall with sound-reflecting panels. The bride originally wanted all of the fluorescent ceiling lights on, including the stage lights which are colored halogen spot-type lights. Nicely, I told her that the fluorescent lights above the stage HAD to be turned off. Fortunately, these clients were great to work with, and she trusted me. Still, my church is the absolute WORST place to shoot in. In general, the interior of the worship center is ugly no matter what you can do with the lighting.</p> <p>I always use off camera lighting, and in this case positioned to AB B800's at a 45 degree angle from the center of the stage, and slight behind. Both strobes were gelled with a CTO gel to closely match the stage lights. I had on-camera flash on both camera bodies, as did my second shooter. But with the fluorescents, greenish walls, and dark ceiling, there isn't really anything you can do. I had green gels on the camera mounted flashes, but was getting such crazy results I gave up. I shot with one body using a remote trigger for the AB's, and the other I cranked the ISO up and used minimal flash. I felt like I got a decent balance of "different" photos, and ultimately presented the couple with a nice, even spread of well-lit ceremony photos. They are thrilled with them. As you can see, the couple had various plants and trees used as a backdrop of sorts. My goal was to hide that ugly, ugly blue/purple wall behind the stage! Would love to know your thoughts and comments! Thanks!</p> <p>http://www.photosbybryce.com/blog/kellie-matt-daytona-beach-wedding</p>

<p>Scott,</p> <p>Thanks for your kind words! As you know, everyone and their mother in FL wants some kind of beach something wedding! Always looking for ways to stand out and be different than the norm. Fortunately, the actually wedding didn't take place outside, as it was miserably hot that day! Thanks again and best wishes to you and your business!</p> <p>Bryce</p>

<p>Marc,<br> Thanks for all of your comments and suggestions. I'm grateful for all of the feedback I have received, and plant to put what I can into practice to become a better photographer. Definitely going to pay more attention to lighting the background to avoid that "black hole" look. Now, it's standing out to me in the worst way, and I want to fix it! As far as developing my style, still working on that for sure. I want to stand out and have a uniqueness that sets me apart from all of the photographers in my area. So much of the "same ol' same ol'" here.... <br> I just shot another wedding last weekend, so plan to get that blog post finished up this weekend and post on here for critique/review as well. Thanks again, and I really appreciate your comments!</p> <p>Bryce</p>

<p>Dave…thank you for your comments! </p>

<p>Thuan,<br> Thank you for your comments! I'm definitely going to work on balancing the ambient light with flash to get a more even exposure...simple thing to fix, but I agree it will greatly improve the quality of my reception shots. </p> <p>William,<br> Thank you for pointing that out. Not something that I realized until I read it with that perspective in mind....made some edits to my bio. Thanks!</p> <p>Katrin,<br> Thank you for your comments! Yes, I do need to adjust the temp/color on the ceremony photos. That particular shot, yes, I did focus on the best man and maid of honor...mainly because I wanted something different for my blog post. I do have other "in focus" shots of the couple leaving the church. <br> As far as the reception goes, the room layout was kind of awkward. With the way the tables were setup, that was really the only "decent" position from which I could shoot the wedding party entering the reception. I'll work on the cropping of those. Also, I see what you're saying about photographing of the location in some of the shots. <br> I will take the "directing vs. posing" into consideration when I'm working. See what you're saying by old fashioned...no offense taken. That may be more of my style, but I don't ever want to be stubborn and "stuck" on any one thing.</p> <p>Thanks again everyone, I really appreciate all of the feedback!</p>

<p>Bob, <br> Thanks for your comments/suggestions! I'm definitely going to dial in my exposures with OCF better, as that seems to be an area that needs improvement. I spend a lot of time reading and checking out the work of other photographers for inspiration, and little things I can implement. However, I refuse to copy what others have done, and it bugs me when I see other photographers that do nothing but copy others!</p> <p>Thanks again for your comments, and I definitely appreciate the constructive criticism. After every shoot/event/wedding, I always try to take something, learn from it, and apply it to the next!</p> <p> </p>

<p>Mark, thanks for your comments! I didn't use any modifiers (except for flash head diffusers), and like Aleks mentioned, I would have been better off aiming both strobes up and bouncing off the ceiling (which was white btw).</p> <p>The room was kind of an odd shape, and the setup was a little weird. I had two AB B800's on opposite corners of the dance floor, and used on camera flash for fill w/bounce card (set to manual, 1/4 or 1/8 power...can't remember). I had about 10 mins down time before the wedding party arrived, so after setting everything up I took some meter readings and played with the exposure a bit. The strobes were set to similar power settings....I think I ended up backing both of them down a bit. </p> <p>I've got another wedding in 3 weeks, and the reception location layout is much nicer. Fortunately the ceiling is also white, so I have no reason to not get the lighting perfect! Thanks again for your comments and suggestions. I'm always looking for ways to improve and fix my mistakes! </p>

<p>Aleks,<br> Yes, you're right. Looking at that now, it would have helped. Good to thing to think about next time!</p>

<p>Marcus,<br> Yes, it was probably a little after "Golden Hour" now that I think of it. There were some intense cloud layers obscuring the light, but I like it because it's a more subdued. After shooting the wedding party under a pier in the middle of the afternoon, I appreciated the soft light of twilight! </p>

<p>Hi all...I haven't posted on here much, but wanted to provide a link to a recent blog post from a wedding I did last weekend for some constructive criticism (that doesn't mean be rude, honest, yes). The officiant was the rudest I've met so far, and had a restriction that prevented my second shooter and I from going beyond the first pew...but nothing on flash photography..weird. It's always a shame when you picture a great shot/angle in your head, only to have your dream crushed by a rude officiant! </p> <p>I keep my studio part-time (licensed/insured/yes I pay my taxes ;-), and until now have completely advertised by word of mouth and my reputation. Honestly, it takes a while, but it's worth the wait and is the best kind of advertising. I'm just starting to get inquiries out of the blue, so pretty excited about that!</p> <p>Anyhow, here is the link to my blog:<br> <a href="http://www.photosbybryce.com/blog">http://www.photosbybryce.com/blog</a></p> <p>I'm also curious as to your thoughts on my website and layout. Just this year, I've started blogging my clients shoots, so that's why I don't have a whole lot of posts. Still working on updating my portfolio as well, so I don't have every shot I want on my site at the moment. Seriously though, looking for pointers/tips/thoughts/etc. Thanks so much!</p>