Practicing Photographer - 2nd Wedding

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gohan2091

Senior Member
Almost a year and a half ago, I knew nothing about Photography. I'm a practicing photographer, i'm by no means a professional and I have a lot to learn. I shot my first wedding in February this year and I've recently shot my second wedding. Both couples knew I am not a professional but responded to my advertisement and wanted photos for an affordable price. I've been asked to photograph 2 more weddings, one this year and one next year and would like critiques on my previous wedding jobs. My portfolio contains a small sample of the wedding photos.

I can take criticism well and would use it improve my photography. During the second wedding, I was not allowed to use flash during the ceremony and a small amount of photos were shot by my sister (who isn't a photographer) Some flaws I see in the wedding photographs are:

Not using fill flash outdoors (first wedding)
Shadows cast on walls (both weddings)
Some poor composition (both weddings)

I appreciate both positive and negative comments. Thanks so much for any replies and here is a list of my gear:

Nikon D7100
Nikon D5100
Nikon 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX ED VR
Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.8 G
Tamron SP AF 70-300 F/4-5.6 Di VC
Nikon SB-700 Speedlight
 
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wud

wud

Senior Member
Its very hard to give critique when there are so many pictures, and its on another site. But - I notice that you tend to have too much air on top of the persons heads, you gotta crop that out.

And you will have to make more attention on the background, maybe use an aperture which can blur the background out a little bit.

Oh, and there is one picture where the bride lowers her head because the girl she is standing with, are lower - thats not so good, makes the bride look a little weird :)

When you make your pictures black and white (or, you use a brownish tone), I think you are lacking some contrast. They look a little too flat, imo.


Like the pictures where the bride and groom look at each other and smile. And you got the sharpness and the lights, you'll be good with more practice!
 
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gohan2091

Senior Member
Thanks Wud, I do appreciate there are a lot of photos to look through. The photo you commented on that you said is nice is an HDR photo which I made black and white. The "too much headroom" I have to agree and I didn't really consider this while cropping, which I should have done. I only do general editing when I process the photos, I would imagine if I select a few good photos, I could really edit the hell out of them and they could come out amazing.

About background blur. I don't have fast lenses (with exception of the 50mm 1.8) so blurring the backgrond can be difficult. In the second wedding, I had the 16-85mm lens which is F5.6 when fully zoomed in so the background outdoors isn't going to be as blurred as I would like. With the telephoto Tamrom lens though, the backgrounds I find are creamy outdoors. Oh really? More contrast? I shall look into this, thanks very much. I think I know why, I am worried about underexposing my images too much so I tend to over-brighten the blacks. Certainly something to pay attention to! Is it ok for some parts of the image to clip in the blacks? As long as it's not too much?
 
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wud

wud

Senior Member
About the blur, I ment inside, some of the interior are not so photogenic, if that makes sense, so if you blur it out a bit/move the people further away, it wont seem as such a big part of the picture.

If you cant get more blur with your zoom, then you'll just have to move closer. It okay to get 10-15 pictures of the same, with some different settings, because what you see through the camera are not the same as the picture you are getting.

And - if your not already doing it - take 1-2 pictures, stop, look at the camera. Very important. If it looks good, your settings are right, THEN you are ready to capture that special moment.


Lucky you with weddings :) Must be so fun and special to do.

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gohan2091

Senior Member
With the second wedding, I did do some indoor posed shots but 90% of the time, I shot candid so I had to shoot where the people were. We were only allowed in one room so not much choice with the background. I understand that background plays a bit part of an image and I shall move closer in the future if the background isn't so great to create more blur but during the ceremony, I had no choice but to keep back. Your comments are very useful, thanks for taking the time. Weddings is not what I would like to do but it's a good time to gain more experience and boost my confidence.

By the way, love your photos! Especially the dogs! I am a big dog fan, those are excellent.
 
wud

wud

Senior Member
Sorry, what does "I shot candid" mean? English arent my first language, and I dont know this frase?

Experience are the best :)
 
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gohan2091

Senior Member
Oh the phrase "candid" = A candid photograph is a photograph that is captured without creating a posed appearance. This is achieved by avoiding prior preparation of the subject and by either surprising the subject or by not distracting the subject during the process of taking photos. Thus, the candid character of a photo is regardless of the subject's knowledge or consent as to the fact that photos are being taken, and regardless of the subject's permission for subsequent usage such as distribution, but related to the apparent absence of posing.
 
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