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PrintableZombieKitten said: JerseyKRS said: Thanks so much man! 
the glow effect does not sit well with me at all. 
Unfortunately, I don't have a soft focus filter, or the software that I want for effects like that yet, so I had to rely on moving the clarity way down to get a soft focus effect. I'm not a big fan of it at all myself, I should have the software I need by the next event. I was going to comment on that THAT is the only thing that might make your shots look like uncle bob took them and tried to make the photos look "special". Soft focus done with a filter traditionally looks very different to that blur or negative clarity effect. Looking forwards to seeing how you will tackle that in future 
if bride has skin issues, let the photo be regular sharpness and use the patch and spot heal tools on it. Using overexposure recovery too much you get a weird grey halo  I used to use a Cokin in the film days, but sold it on ebay years ago.  | |
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myfavorite said: i agree, you've got a great eye...
thank you  | |
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pippet said: Jersey,
You know I am the flower lady and we do only wedding's and big events... I Love the overview pic of the entire bridal party and the guests...and especially the one in black and white. Really a lovely job....the only thing I am not so keen on is the angled shots....jus' me I suppose but, some of them I like others not so much.... I know you have done this for a very long time before and do fine job indeed... 
I will leave U this link as she is the photographer for alot of our weddings....maybe a lil new insperation for you a well... www.jenkrollphotography.com/# she seems to have a way of capturing some things not expected and out of the ordinary as you do as well. 's and  'shey stranger!!! I will def minimize the off horizon framing in the future. I used to, I'm kind of mad I did it so much here, but it just seemed to be the popular view lately. I will absoulutely check out that website, inspiration is always welcome. 
Thank you so much for the kind words pippet. | |
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Ottensen said: LOVE the the stills and the candids shot with doubles and groups! Now you just need a soft focus filter, and to work on the singles/portraits
You're located in the prime area for a niche wedding photography market, the non-traditional approach should appeal to the folks where you are big time. If you could get a couple more clients to bulid up your online book, after that, it'll just be about marketing, marketing, marketing, my friend. Try to devote some time to making the bridal portraits your strength...and photograph the subjects as softly and lovingly as you would your own wife, even if they are non-traditional and sort of avante...every bride wants to look like she emerged from a dream on her wedding day whether she's in a princess dress or an Elvis sequined suit; if you can do that, you are golden.Guaranteed. yeah, there is plenty work here, always was and always will be. It is hard to convince the penny pinchers that I'm worth more than a couple hundred dollars or outright free as that is what most weekend warriors charge on craigslist, but I don't want them as clients anyway. 
I little background on the wedding, we didn't have much time before the wedding AT ALL to do portraits, that's why just the few you see before the ceremony. After the ceremony, well the sun had set....all I had was a very strong strobe and the ISO of my camera. No multiple strobes, no reflector (tried to buy one last minute, but these lame camera shops here don't stock shit), so I really had to rush those as well. When I say it was nearly dark, and that I did all of them in around 10 minutes, I'm not exaggerating. It sucks that I know I could have provided better shots with a little more time or light, but that is probably ALWAYS going to be the case. 
The bride, groom, and their family all LOVED the photos, so that's what counts. Word of mouth used to be my greatest advertising, and I'm counting on that to happen again. Also, there were more images that I provided to them than just these. Much more candids of the family and friends at the reception, dancing photos, artistic detail photos throughout the day. These just seemed to bloat the presentation slideshow, so I trimmed the number down to a hundred or so. I think I provided them with about 350-400 shots total (out of around 1200 shot  ) | |
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ufoclub said: I like the part where she looks up and then you cut to the birds... like a movie!
I didn't like one photo early on... #12, the portrait of the Bride... too much blur and overlaying! But all the other photos (I have to run, so I can't see them all right now) look great. Very good color manipulation, framing, and most important... a great choice of moments. I like them so much that I want to know more about your process if you can answer and share some of your technique... and what you learned as far as handling digital photos. that totally happened dude! out of nowhere all those birds just started flying above them, everyone was looking...I was glad I got those shots.
#12, same thing, low clarity.....I'm going to be purchasing Tiffen's photoshop plug-in to provide a better soft focus filter.
thank you for the choice of moments compliment, I TRULY believe that is more important than almost everything (aside from composition and focus). my process is fairly straight forward: I shoot RAW files, convert them using DxO Optics (awesome software), adjust whatever I need in Lightroom (fill light, recovery, etc.) I use Noise Ninja for the high ISO shots that need it...very few files need to be opened in Photoshop, I would say 5-10% go there for whatever tweaking I can't accomplish with Lightroom. Shooting digital proved very different. Film was a different monster, because of the latitude of the film, I used to have to get exposure spot on...now I can over/under expose, sometimes by as much as two stops, and still be able to recover detail in processing. The histogram is like a poor mans light meter, so instead of having to stop, take a reading, dial in exposure, shoot and hope I nailed it...now I can just compose, shoot, check the histogram and the shot, adjust if needed and be on my way. Very convenient. I can't rave enough how great it is to not be limited by film either. Because of the costs involved with film, I literally had to think before every time I tripped the shutter. Every shot cost money back then, the cost of the Pro rolls of film and developing and printing made the cost per image pretty damn high, so if I was going to expose a frame of it, I made sure it was a good image. Now I'm not limited by that factor and it seems to make capturing candids and fast moving moments easier. Very big plus there. I always look at your films bro! | |
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Hey Chris....nice job....let me tell you what I see...
When I first started looking at them I came in with the "traditional wedding photo" mentality in that there are the common poses...common pics that are found in a lot of the wedding photo sets that I have seen over the years... What I was struck by with your pics were the candid ones...the bride and groom preparing for the ceremony...especially the solitary pic of the groom getting dressed...that is an important moment in that day when the groom, in this case, is alone with his thoughts...there can be a lot to say with a picture in that moment. I could see you had a great vibe to you in the way the subjects responded to your lens...smiles and joy...instead of "ho hum take the fucking picture"... I liked the "effect" pictures that appeared to be rounded...the 45 degree angle pics were just okay for me...like of the reception...overall...the set itself was amazing...I mean that....we had a total douchebag shoot our wedding....maybe he should have just shot me instead ....that was almost 19 years ago so times have changed and all...but there was only SERIOUSLY like 5 good pictures of my wedding...the rest were terrible....it was a sore spot for our families for a long time after the event....
You have a great eye for the moment Chris...and I think photography in general might be a calling for you...I concur with something Macheala said ,I believe, in that sometimes the pic says enough....beautiful lighting, colors etc, that adding effects are unnecessary...that would be my only advice....not that you needed it... Numerous typos and grammar edits sheesh!  [Edited 2/15/10 6:56am] | |
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OMG Absolutely LOVE IT!
I know I'm gonna forget a bunch I tried to remember my faves. I have no idea what I'm talking about don't know anything bout photography here, but I'll tell ya what I loved. The clouds above the hotel. The ones of the dress hanging. The one of the little girl (flower girl?) holding a basket. The one in the bride in the car...love tha angle, like how you show part of the top of the car, just thought that was really cool. The one of the hands gathering up the brides dree. The one of birds in the sky. The Bible one.... Like I said I know NOTHING, but I'd be tickled pink with it! I've reached in darkness and come out with treasure
I layed down with love and I woke up with lies Whats it all worth only the heart can measure It's not whats in the mirror but what's left inside | |
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I don't know these people and I enjoyed looking at all the pictures.
If a bride thrust a book of pictures in my face that looked like these I would ask her who did them and I would later suggest to other soon to be brides to use this photographer. My cousin is getting married in August and if you were in tha area I would deffinately suggest that she get you to take her photos. I think the pictures of the groom and of the children were my favorite. There came a time when the risk of remaining tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. Anais Nin. | |
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JerseyKRS said: ZombieKitten said: I was going to comment on that THAT is the only thing that might make your shots look like uncle bob took them and tried to make the photos look "special". Soft focus done with a filter traditionally looks very different to that blur or negative clarity effect. Looking forwards to seeing how you will tackle that in future
if bride has skin issues, let the photo be regular sharpness and use the patch and spot heal tools on it. Using overexposure recovery too much you get a weird grey halo I used to use a Cokin in the film days, but sold it on ebay years ago. damnit!!!!!   | |
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Great stuff. You don't need my advice.  "What's 'non-sequitur' mean? Do I look it up in a Fag-to-English dictionary?" | |
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JerseyKRS said: Okay, so long story short...for some stupid reason I want to get back into the overbloated wedding photography business. (I did this somewhat professionally some years ago)
This was my first paid gig in at least 6 or 7 years. On top of that, it was my first job working fully digital, in the past I was purely film and prints. It took nearly a year for me to understand the differences in the actual exposure and processing of digital files. Sooooo, what I'm asking for from you fine bunch of message board geeks is this: Take a look at the slideshow, tell me what you like, what you hate (not me I hope!)...any and every comment you have on the images. I need feedback from people that aren't my clients or family. If your friend showed you these pictures, would you think they had a good wedding photographer or would you think they were taken by some Uncle Bob with a digital SLR at the event? Just be nice, I'm sensitive. 
(for the record, the sun was pretty much set at the end of the ceremony, so if those images look a little rough, it's just because I had to bring so much of the detail out in post processing...not much I could do there. )
http://www.flickr.com/pho...5222/show/ You fuckin asshole. I hate you!
Ok, Imma go look at the pretty pictures now.  | |
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OK, just watched:
-312 and the following pic were lovely! -the 1st of the wedding dress pics...love-ly. -pic#13 made me think she was holdin her crotch to keep from pissin her dress.
-LOVE LOVE the color saturation! -The flower pics...excellent. -Groom/Best men shot..Excellent! -Flower girls (basket crop shot)....WORRRRRK! SO lovely! -The B&W from behind....eh, nice but not as strong as your other work on this IMO. -COLOR and detail shots are your strength!!!! 
-The hand shots...
-The couple with bridesmaids (fuscia and orange)...damn STRONG! -The closeup of the cake-cutting is so lovely!! | |
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Jers! I logged in just for you! Been a while....here goes....
I agree with Johnart. There were a few shots of the reception that I did not like. It was the fuzzy effect that threw me. Can I just say that although your work is beautiful, your clients were a bit beastly. Telling the truth here! With all your attempts and effects you did, it did not help. Make up could not help with some of the shots. Bless your heart for trying! LOL The group shot of the wedding was nice. Overall, you kicked ass with what you had to work with. I am surprised. I didn't not know of your skills. Good job! Wanted: Virtual Sugar Daddy to help me buy stuff on Farmville and move up the ranks. Use of Viagra not authorized. Get your two minutes and go! | |
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personally, going through the slide show, I experienced a feeling of happiness coming from the pictures. The bride and groom were VERY happy..the photos showed me that. the colors were brilliant.
one of the photos of the bride (maybe in a limo) was not the most flattering, but no photographer takes 100% perfect pictures. I didn't like the first couple of pictures of the bride with her dad, but the third and fourth one were great. I especially liked the bride and dad photo'ed from behind. you did a great job. | |
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all bullshit aside, I think they look great...
I'm gonna hire you for my next photowhore pic.... | |
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oh my goodness do you have any business cards? I love love love your shots, I love the non-traditional approach towards photographing weddings. I love the colors, the angles, the imagery, everything. It's just my style. How much do you charge for weddings if you don't mind me asking? I'd love to hire you whenever I get married (I'm estimating should be in the next couple of years ). I hope you don't mind traveling to Central Virginia  I will forever love and miss you...my sweet Prince. | |
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