My first wedding

[LauraM]

Hey guys!

I thought I'd share some images from my first wedding. I was a second shooter, but I still wanted to post some. I shot these with an XSi and the only two lenses I had at this time were a 70-200mm 2.8 OS (Sigma) and a 50mm 1.8 (Canon) The main shooter was using a 24-70 and wanted me to shoot closer so I used the 70-200 for 90% of the wedding. I provided the first shooter with about 240 of my best images. This was about 3 weeks ago. I have my second wedding this weekend.

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[arich]

Well, I personally think these are pretty darn good, especially for your first wedding. I feel like you have a very good eye for composition and a personal style that is evident throughout the set. You seem to have done a good job of utilizing the strengths of your long glass by capturing some close ups of moments (cake cutting, hand on the bride's hip, tears, etc) that other novices to weddings might miss.
Well done.

[spluloacle]

I like these a lot. Though I lack the technical knowledge still to critique on things like composition and lighting.

[rusty_tripod]

The bride will probably be satisfied.

[lscottpht]

Not bad for your first wedding! Looking forward to your tagging along with me! You asked for critique, so that's the only reason I'm giving it. Watch your whites and your shadows. The dress is blown out in a lot of these, plus her face is too dark in some, as well, like the first one. These are easy fixes either in camera or in post processing. I like that you got the emotions! Some seem a bit underexposed, and on the cake shot, the focus is on the cake itself, rather the the hands and piece of cake they are taking out. Watch the focus on a few others, too. LOVE numbers 14, 15, 16, and 17, with an emphasis on 15 and 16. I also like number 8. Just out of curiosity, I thought you had a 5d or 5d Mark II. Thought I read that somewhere. Why were you shooting with an XSi? Not that there is anything wrong with that, but the 5d series is more suitable for darker receptions.

Edit: Ok, I knew I read that somewhere. Did you just get the 5d Mark II?

Status: Second/Third/Assistant
Gallery: here
Price: $30/hr $150 minimum (2nd/3rd) And $100 for assisting
email: lmillerphotos@gmail.com
phone: Email me and I'll give you my #

Canon 5D Mark II, 24-70mm 2.8, 70-200mm 2.8 IS, 50mm 1.8

[groovyone]

Great catch on the groom's fist pump!

[LauraM]

Thanks for your thoughts everyone! :)

Leslie, I got my 5Dmkii about a week and a half ago, and I'll get to use it on my second wedding this weekend. (Another second shooting thing.) I'm beyond excited to use it after how much of a pain my XSi was in low light. The noise was out of control on anything indoors (everything but the ceremony) so I had to do a lot of heavy noise reduction, effectively softening everything, so hopefully with better low light capabilities now, I can get a little more detail so if I have to do noise reduction, that it doesn't lose so much detail and sharpness. Also, since the XSi was so noisy, when I tried to fix the exposure in pp, it rendered a lot of images completely unusable. (especially at the reception... they literally turned the lights off. The only light was coming from one light that the DJ had and a mirror ball.) I need to stop being afraid to use my flash. (fun tangent: Lesson learned! My XSi actually stopped focusing half way through the reception and I had to use the primary's backup camera! After this experience, I bit the bullet and bought my new camera the next week. I will never shoot without a backup. EVER!)

I will definitely keep an eye on my whites and shadows. I don't know why but I tend to like really BRIGHT or dramatically dark images, but I need to work on being able to pull that off without ruining the detail in things like the dress as you pointed out. A lot of these that the dress was blown out in, I added brightness in pp, so really I can adjust them so they're not blown out. I will definitely be more mindful of this.

On the cake shot, I agree. I think it would have been better if I had focused on the hand as you said, since it was the subject of the image. I don't know what I was thinking.

I'm glad you like 15 & 16. I was trying to 'take a chance' because I was thinking some might think they were too up close, especially on 16 where his head is cropped. But I thought it would be neat, so I went for it.

I was super nervous, but in hindsight the experience helped me learn more than I can even express. So many little bitty things that you'd never know without experience... so being able to do this was huge for me. In the future I will slow down and take maybe a 1/3 second more to plan the shots. I was so worried I'd miss something, but since I knew the flow of a wedding, I was able to anticipate moments and didn't miss anything. So now I know I can put a little more thought into my images since I know what's coming. I am going to give it my all and do everything I can to get images right in camera. I can't wait to take what I learned and apply it to the wedding I'm shooting this weekend. I left this last wedding feeling sore, (haha) excited, invigorated, and inspired.

Thanks again for your thoughts everyone! Leslie, I can't wait for my tag along either! :)

[lscottpht]

Lol, you should have seen what my first wedding looked like! I think you did much better lol! I totally understand about wanting more drama to the images, but you can def. do that without sacrificing things. It just takes time to learn that. Take a look at some of these photographers' work (it's in Russian, but you can click on the name and just look at the images). They really know how to make "wow" images, yet they don't sacrifice the small details. I just love their images! So creative!

Oh, you are going to love the MarkII!! Don't be afraid to push the iso to 3200. I do it ALL the time. If it's noisy, I just use Noiseware on the default setting and voila, looks great!

It is great to take chances! Why not do it? What could it hurt? You might love the results. As long as you get the safe images, take the time and be creative.

Anyway, you will ROCK this next one, I'm sure of it!

[LauraM]

Aww! You're making me blush! haha

I don't see the link for the Russian photographers work, but I'm very interested in checking it out!

Thanks again for the positive words, I'm extra excited about this weekend! It's at the mediterranean villa, and if it looks anything like the pictures on it's site, I am PUMPED! :)

[lscottpht]

Oops, sorry, here it is: Ïîïóëÿðíûå ñâàäåáíûå ôîòîãðàôû. Scroll down for the more "interesting" ones.

Ahh, I've shot there a couple of times. There's another part of the building where the ceremony will take place that you may not think about going into, but they have some cool couches and bar stools and such. Not sure what it's used for. Have fun!

[LauraM]

Neat! I'll check it out. Thanks, Leslie!

[lscottpht]

Anytime! I could never make it as a photographer in Russia, lol! They are just too damn good and creative!

[LauraM]

They are very inspiring, as are you! Thanks so much for sharing this with me. :)

[arich]

Wow leslie, thanks for sharing the russia link, some fantastic work on there.

I really love this one

[lscottpht]

You're welcome, Andrew! Yeah, some of the work is so different and inspiring! I'm blown away by it!