# First "Official" wedding, shot on my own!



## AmberAtLoveAndInk (Jun 16, 2014)

I'm a little nervous posting this here in the "professional gallery" lol but I think I may have earned the title for this one, I can honestly say I am pleased with myself. 
Now feel free to rip it to shreds :mrgreen:  C&C ready, set, GO!


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## sscarmack (Jun 16, 2014)

I love the "Bridesmaids" shot. Seems like every wedding is trying to duplicate that image haha.


"First" wedding? Couldn't tell. Seriously. You did a great job for your first.


Not only did you capture all the detail and 'serious' shots, but you caught the moment while having fun and goofing around.


Nice job


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## Braineack (Jun 16, 2014)

okay. i was trying to figure out why they were posing like that.


fun set!


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## AmberAtLoveAndInk (Jun 16, 2014)

sscarmack said:


> I love the "Bridesmaids" shot. Seems like every wedding is trying to duplicate that image haha.
> 
> 
> "First" wedding? Couldn't tell. Seriously. You did a great job for your first.
> ...



Thank you! In truth this has been my second wedding but I don't consider the first one I did to be anymore than just "shooting around" because the first bride had called me 5 days before her wedding, it was her third marriage and she had little to no appreciation of photography. She refused to pose for pictures, saying she was just too hot and didn't need all of that done (I forced her for 10 minutes and she quit) and to top it off she only hired me for 3 hours at my portrait price vs doing a wedding package with me so I just didn't have the time to nail all the detail shots and incorporate fun ones like above. 

This wedding pictured was booked almost 8 months ago, I got to know the bride and her style well, she was very helpful with projecting ideas and I was hired for a full day (12 hours)


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## AmberAtLoveAndInk (Jun 16, 2014)

Braineack said:


> okay. i was trying to figure out why they were posing like that.
> 
> 
> fun set!



Yes, they were a very fun couple to work with! I only hope all of my future weddings will be as fun and lax as this.


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## spacefuzz (Jun 16, 2014)

Nice work, I like them.  The under the dress walking is really funny.  The look on the (hopefully the groom) grooms face when between her legs is a bit weird.


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## mishele (Jun 16, 2014)

Oh, what fun!! I got a good giggle out of these! Nice job!


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## Derrel (Jun 16, 2014)

I think these show a lot of style and flair! The under the dress walking shot is fabulous made into a collage like that, and I LOVE the bridesmaids shot too. Liked the B&W sepia toned portrait too. Overall much better than I would expect for a first wedding. Much more refined and stylish than I would have expected. More technical control,seemingly more command of posing, and yet more fun and whimsy too, than so many first-time wedding shooters often display. I'm not crazy about the odd hands-behind-the back shot with the veil...that one's a bit...different...but at least you are staging/posing the shots and taking control of the photography. Good job Amber! These are nice photographs.


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## TipTop (Jun 16, 2014)

Very nice work, bet the couple will love them.

Trying to expand my creativity by only using my Iphone. very surprised with the results so far.


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## AmberAtLoveAndInk (Jun 16, 2014)

> The look on the (hopefully the groom) grooms face when between her legs is a bit weird.



I agree, the groom's face looks a bit creepy lol especially since he's coming from under her dress! It was all just happening so fast, that pic was taken when she was coming down off his shoulders, there was about 10-15 of a time window for me to get a clear shot without the bridal party jumping in front of my lens to help or the fabric of her dress falling over his head again, this is the end result. Though his face may be creepy, it is still one of my favorites lol. 




> I'm not crazy about the odd hands-behind-the back shot with the veil...that one's a bit...different...but at least you are staging/posing the shots and taking control of the photography. Good job Amber! These are nice photographs.




Ahh yes, it is a "different" way of behind the back posing lol. I just didn't want to do the typical "grooms hands in a heart on her back" thing, I think the bride wasn't really digging it either lol she wasn't sure what the hell I was doing positioning her arms like that. But thank you for the great feedback and praise! I was pretty overwhelmed during the whole day and had a horrible feeling in my gut that my memory card was gonna lose the images (it was getting jumpy and lagging pretty bad during "the walk") but thankfully all of the images were there and I'm happy with a ton of them! Also, do you think I should brighten up the Bridesmaid pic? Thinking it should match the exposure from the funny shoulder bit now that they're side by side.


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## AmberAtLoveAndInk (Jun 16, 2014)

TipTop said:


> Very nice work, bet the couple will love them.
> 
> Trying to expand my creativity by only using my Iphone. very surprised with the results so far.



That's actually a great idea to get your mind working, I have the Nokia Lumia 1520 and the camera (18 MEGAPIXELS!!) is pretty freakin awesome so when I'm without an SLR I have quite a bit of fun playing with my phone.


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## Derrel (Jun 16, 2014)

Now that you mention it, I think I might tone down the whites to match the shot of the bridesmaids, rather than lift up the bridesmaids to match the under the dress collage. But you could equalize them the other way too if you want. The bridesmaids does look a little bit dark, but I thought that was fine, and just reflected open shade. I didn't really consider the two shots to be directly related, but actually "separate".


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## AmberAtLoveAndInk (Jun 16, 2014)

Derrel said:


> Now that you mention it, I think I might tone down the whites to match the shot of the bridesmaids, rather than lift up the bridesmaids to match the under the dress collage. But you could equalize them the other way too if you want. The bridesmaids does look a little bit dark, but I thought that was fine, and just reflected open shade. I didn't really consider the two shots to be directly related, but actually "separate".



I over exposed the those shots and have already taken down the whites as best I could without giving it an ugly gray look. I adjusted for the Bridesmaids shot so that the exposure was just right for the wedding dress, I'm liking the "a bit overexposed" look in the funny pics though, probably will bump the Bridesmaid's pic and brush a little extra light on each face while I'm at it.


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## Rosy (Jun 16, 2014)

Really like these Amber - great set!
Congrats


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## AmberAtLoveAndInk (Jun 16, 2014)

Ok one more! Here's the color version of the serious portrait from above, not sure which one I like more! What do you think peeps?


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## Derrel (Jun 16, 2014)

AmberAtLoveAndInk said:


> Ok one more! Here's the color version of the serious portrait from above, not sure which one I like more! What do you think peeps?
> 
> View attachment 77087



I prefer the timeless look of the B&W version of this shot. The beading on the dress, and the leaves of the trees in B&W kind of "mimic" one another...when seen in B&W. In color, the leaves are more of a color distraction than they are in monochrome. In B&W this shot seems more "symbolic", but in color it seems more "representational".


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## hombredelmar (Jun 16, 2014)

Wow!!! Great set!!!
what was the lighting like, what type of modifiers did u use?


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## AmberAtLoveAndInk (Jun 17, 2014)

Derrel said:


> AmberAtLoveAndInk said:
> 
> 
> > Ok one more! Here's the color version of the serious portrait from above, not sure which one I like more! What do you think peeps?
> ...



Ya, I just feel like some people use b&w as an "easy way out" if their WB or exposure is wayy off and they don't want to spend the time "fixing it" so I try to have a color version of every b&w I dom the hubby agrees with you though, says her face just isn't the same in color lol.


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## AmberAtLoveAndInk (Jun 17, 2014)

hombredelmar said:


> Wow!!! Great set!!!
> what was the lighting like, what type of modifiers did u use?



Really just natural light. It was harsh sunlight at 2pm during the funny shoulder and portrait pics and I just happen to find a huge brick wall that blocked the sun. When needed I used a reflector in about 3 poses and my external flash with a softbox attached.


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## pjaye (Jun 17, 2014)

Amber, these are absolutely fantastic.


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## pixmedic (Jun 17, 2014)

the shoe shot is fantastic!
as are the "informal" formals. 
not digging the cropped heads in the last two, and i think the color version looks much better than the B&W. 
did you do any traditional formals?


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## AmberAtLoveAndInk (Jun 17, 2014)

pixmedic said:


> the shoe shot is fantastic!
> as are the "informal" formals.
> not digging the cropped heads in the last two, and i think the color version looks much better than the B&W.
> did you do any traditional formals?



Thanks! The last two images the his head is not cropped but it felt like there was just too much space for it to have that close up intimate feel, and I wanted the focus oj the bride's face, ill upload the original crop a little later and you can tell me which you think is better. 
Yes I did do formal portraits of the bridal party but they're so-so, the sun was blaring down and finding enough even shade to fit a wedding party of 16 is tough lol. We also took family formals at the church.


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## AmberAtLoveAndInk (Jun 17, 2014)

symplybarb said:


> Amber, these are absolutely fantastic.



Thank you!


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## hombredelmar (Jun 17, 2014)

AmberAtLoveAndInk said:


> hombredelmar said:
> 
> 
> > Wow!!! Great set!!!
> ...



Just curiest what type of softbox do u use and is it on camera or off?


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## AmberAtLoveAndInk (Jun 17, 2014)

It was on a bracket on my came an ordinary softbox, Opteka Universal Softbox to be exact, it was like $8


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## pixmedic (Jun 17, 2014)

AmberAtLoveAndInk said:


> pixmedic said:
> 
> 
> > the shoe shot is fantastic!
> ...



I guess i can see what you were going for with the framing...and it _*kinda*_ works with the shot of the brides back...
but the second one with the brides face...there is _*maybe*_ 2-3 inches chopped off his head, and i just cant see pulling back a bit to include the rest of his head detracting much from the intimacy of the photo. As is, it just looks like a nice shot that you missed good framing on.


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## manicmike (Jun 17, 2014)

I think you did a great job.


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