My first tag-along, CC please

[dmcantrell]

About a month ago I went on my first tag-along in an effort to try to learn about wedding photography. I processed the images this weekend, and here's 6 of them.

Please let me know if I'm on the right track. The EXIF data is in tact. Thanks in advance.

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

[CaptainTom]

In wedding photography it is:

1- all about the Bride
2- all about the dress

looks like you are definitely on the right track.

Remember that a wedding photographer must get a LOT of great shots and not just a few. (if it took you an hour to decide which few to show us, you are on the right track). If these are the only great ones then more practice and experience will help you get all great ones.

[dmcantrell]

Originally Posted by CaptainTom

In wedding photography it is:

1- all about the Bride
2- all about the dress

looks like you are definitely on the right track.

Thanks so much, that is helpful.

Remember that a wedding photographer must get a LOT of great shots and not just a few. (if it took you an hour to decide which few to show us, you are on the right track). If these are the only great ones then more practice and experience will help you get all great ones.

Being my first time, I was a little trigger happy. I took ~1100 shots. I pared that down to ~250 that I considered "usable". I pared that down to 25 that I feel are "keepers". These 6 are my favorites from the 25. It took me a month to complete this sorting process.

[ngoduyviet]

You are definitely on the right track.

[Tom]

Photomechanic is a great tool for sorting. I use it to sort/delete before I ever edit an image.

I also move pictures to separate folders based on the content.



My wife does a really quick 50-100 image best of. This is called PENELOPE'S PICKS

Then I sort everything and we have these folders:
DETAILS
BRIDE BEFORE
GROOM BEFORE
CANDIDS BEFORE (generally everyone except the B&G)
PROCESSION
CEREMONY
EUCHARIST (if applicable and if they want me shooting during it)
RINGS/VOWS
KISS
RECESSION
FORMAL PORTRAITS
FIRST DANCE
WEDDING CAKE (Cutting the cake+detail shots of cake; detail shots are also in the details folders)
TOASTS
FATHER-DAUGHTER DANCE
MOTHER-SON DANCE
GARTER/BOUQUET
RECEPTION CANDIDS
DANCING
SETTING (Wide shots of church, dressing rooms, reception location - all indoor and outdoor as applicable)
EXIT

After I sort, I tag favorites and delete the bad ones. Then I import them all into lightroom to begin the editing process.

[bryanlindsey]

Please take this for what it's worth - one person's opinion.

1. Sustain: Interesting facial expression. Good exposure.
Improve: The background is distracting. Consider cropping in way tighter. Sure, you'd lose the doorway as a frame, but I think it would be worth it.

2. Sustain: Great capture! Focus is sharp, nice smile. Lighting on her face is tough, but there's nothing you can do about that (assuming no flash allowed during ceremony). This is my favorite of the set.
Improve: Not much to improve. Perhaps lighten her face/eyes a bit in PP

3. Sustain: Again, nice capture.
Improve: There's a light directly overhead that's putting some funky shadows on their faces.

4: Sustain: Creative angle and composition. I like the shallow DOF
Improve: There's just too great a difference between the foreground (arm and hand) and the background (bride and groom).

5. Sustain: Good exposure. Comp is not my style, but it is interesting/different.
Improve: Can't put my finger on it. The photo just seems cluttered. Not sure what you could have done differently as a second shooter tho.

6. Sustain: Hmm. Trying to put this as nicely as possible - just like it was hard for me to come up with bad things to say about #2, it's hard to find good things to say about this one. It's not bad, it's just not good IMHO.
Improve: Subjects are underexposed. They are obviously looking at someone else who is taking their picture, so this image has little value in your portfolio. I guess the point could be made that they are "looking off into the distance" but her facial expression doesn't fit that theory. This is going for the classic staircase-type shot, but this is a crummy staircase IMHO - I would crop in much tighter.

Overall, nice exposures and decent comps. Great start!

[lyncca]

Coming from someone that also started fairly recently with tag-alongs and then 2nd shooting; I think you did a great job! When you are working around 1-2 other photographers and you get the 3rd best angle, it is much harder to get great shots than if you are primary or even second shooter. I don't care for the last one just because they aren't looking at you, but I know that they are of course looking at the primary shooter.

I typically avoid the formals all together and just help the primary with positioning people or holding cameras etc. and for the shots of the bride/groom, I work on creative angles that don't involve their faces or I make it look like they were posed deliberately not be looking at me if that makes sense. It helped alot in my creativity thinking that way.

[dmcantrell]

Thomas, Viet : Thanks for the feedback.

Bryan : Thanks for the pros/cons, I really appreciate this kind of feedback and I thank you for taking the time to type it all out.

Lyncca : Thanks so much for your words. I know exactly what you mean. I have a ton of shots of the bride (and groom) looking "somewhere else". I do have enough images to make an entire set of "just hands" images as a timeline throughout the preparation, ceremony, and reception. I actually thought about that long and hard before I made this post. Maybe I'll get to work on that -- I decided against it because I thought it might be too cliche.

[msabas]

Originally Posted by Thomas Campbell

Photomechanic is a great tool for sorting. I use it to sort/delete before I ever edit an image.

I also move pictures to separate folders based on the content.



My wife does a really quick 50-100 image best of. This is called PENELOPE'S PICKS

Then I sort everything and we have these folders:
DETAILS
BRIDE BEFORE
GROOM BEFORE
CANDIDS BEFORE (generally everyone except the B&G)
PROCESSION
CEREMONY
EUCHARIST (if applicable and if they want me shooting during it)
RINGS/VOWS
KISS
RECESSION
FORMAL PORTRAITS
FIRST DANCE
WEDDING CAKE (Cutting the cake+detail shots of cake; detail shots are also in the details folders)
TOASTS
FATHER-DAUGHTER DANCE
MOTHER-SON DANCE
GARTER/BOUQUET
RECEPTION CANDIDS
DANCING
SETTING (Wide shots of church, dressing rooms, reception location - all indoor and outdoor as applicable)
EXIT

After I sort, I tag favorites and delete the bad ones. Then I import them all into lightroom to begin the editing process.

This is a great list to follow to kinda keep youon track on what you need to shoot as well

[PhotoDude79]

Only thing I would say is don't try to fill the frame with the subject all the time... back up a lil and you'll see there are some things that will add to the image.. I.e. lines, symmetry.