Fort Worth Stockyard - Bride in the Maze

[PaulP]

I was at the Fort Worth Stockyard on Sunday, when a bride entered the maze and her friend took pictures. She was kind enough to let me shoot some as well so I wanted to share them. I took these with only my 40D, 24-105 lens, and flash (when I finally dug it out).

The funny part is the bride got lost in the maze and no one would help her, we were laughing too hard.

I'd appreciate comments & suggestions for improvement.

Paul








The full gallery is here: Stockyard Wedding Maze

[toverman]

You got some neat shots. That should teach us to have a camera with us wherever we go, huh?

On the closeups in the full gallery, where they're popping above the maze, watch out for the backgrounds. I don't know how wide open your lens was (couldn't retrieve EXIF data from your files), but there's not enough blur to fix the utility pole coming out of her head. Had this been a professional job for you, I'd recommend finding a different angle to get a cleaner background.

Also, the maze and harsh sun posed some problems, but the shots are good enough, I think, to overcome them. It's unlikely that if the bride was a paying client of yours that she would care, because the whole thing screams "fun."

Do you like your 24-105? I've been debating whether I really need something wider first (like at least 17). For weddings, the IS along with the fixed f/4 would probably work well. I'm shooting with 1.6x crop cameras, too. Have you ever wanted something wider when it was on your camera? Sorry to hijack your thread; PM me if you have any thoughts.

[PaulP]

Originally Posted by toverman

You got some neat shots. That should teach us to have a camera with us wherever we go, huh?

On the closeups in the full gallery, where they're popping above the maze, watch out for the backgrounds. I don't know how wide open your lens was (couldn't retrieve EXIF data from your files), but there's not enough blur to fix the utility pole coming out of her head. Had this been a professional job for you, I'd recommend finding a different angle to get a cleaner background.

Thanks, I'm glad I had the camera with me as well

Unfortunately, I didn't get much choice but I think the lady taking the pictures probably has the pole coming straight out of the brides head. Given the obeservation platform is a limited size I don't think I could have found a different angle easily. If this was a professional job, I think I would reserve the maze and have time to pose the shots without having to dodge all the other people in the maze (as well as have someone hold a diffuser to block the harshness of the light).

That particular shot was 105mm at f14 as the bridal shots were not my primary focus. I did blur the background on that particular shot in PS. Looks like it could use more.

I appreciate the feedback. Lots to learn here and apply if I ever do a paid job.

Paul