# First Wedding...



## David84 (Mar 9, 2010)

Hi All,

Before the flaming begins, please note that a friend of mine who is somewhat new to wedding photography asked if I would like to join her as the 2nd shooter. I did and had a lot of fun and learned A LOT! I made a lot of mistakes and unfortunately that cost me quite a few shots. Guess that's why we all start off as 2nd/3rd shooters for a while. Good news: lessons learned and hopefully my second wedding will be more sucessful. 

The ceremony and reception was in fairly low lighting, which caused a few blurry photos b/c of my slower shutter speeds... lesson learned 

Anyway, I would really appreciate feedback on the pictures below. I am looking to grow, and advice is heavily appreciated.

Thanks,

David

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## bennielou (Mar 10, 2010)

Nicely done.  Your white balance is off in several of the photos, but I think you got some really great shots.


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## ghache (Mar 10, 2010)

LOL AT the guy on the right side in #4! i loled hard!

i really like them! keep up the good work!


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## David84 (Mar 10, 2010)

Thanks to both of you on the kudos. 

Bennilou: I agree completely with the wb. I am such a rookie - I had it set to daylight the entire evening of the wedding! Learning experience 

Ghache: I was laughing pretty hard too! That particular groomsmen was funny the entire night. The group clown 

Does anyone have technical advice on what I can do better or adjust for the future?


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## AnotherNewGuy (Mar 10, 2010)

Great job for a first wedding, or even a second or third for that matter.  Until you get down WB settings, I would shoot in RAW.  I set my WB and still shoot in RAW because I will frequently forget to change the setting with change of venue until I have already clicked off a few shots.  I dig your creativity and composition.  Are they wine people or something?


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## David84 (Mar 10, 2010)

Newguy - they are somewhat wine people yes. Their wedding was held at a local winery. Thanks for the feedback. About 1/2 of my shots are in RAW. I will work on editing the wb when I get home this evening. Thanks for the advice!


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## Mesoam (Mar 10, 2010)

they should be pretty happy!

this is my favorite, the softness works so well

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2687/4421891040_7a01a39ae3_b.jpg


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## David84 (Mar 10, 2010)

Thanks Travis!


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## y0aimee (Mar 10, 2010)

I agree about the wb issue, but overall you captured some really great shots!  What kind of equipment were you using?  I too will be a 2nd shooter for a wedding this weekend.


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## clbd39 (Mar 10, 2010)

overall nice shots, but watch what you cut off and what's important, like cutting off an elbow but so much open space in #2 and cutting off her dress in # 8 (atleast in my opinion)

overall classy and i laughed with the guy on the right in the groomsmen


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## KAikens318 (Mar 11, 2010)

The first photo of the groomsman is my favorite. 

I think you did a great job on these!!


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## bennielou (Mar 11, 2010)

David84 said:


> Thanks to both of you on the kudos.
> 
> Bennilou: I agree completely with the wb. I am such a rookie - I had it set to daylight the entire evening of the wedding! Learning experience
> 
> ...


 
Your composition is already really good.  Your candids are fab.  The only advice I could offer is to get a really good program for doing WB.  I use Lightroom, and it's IMO, pretty excellent.  I think they have a trial thing, so check it out. 
Again, job well done!


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## rub (Mar 11, 2010)

Great work - 13 takes the cake for me!


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## bell (Mar 11, 2010)

Great takes. Keep on shooting. You have the eye for it. Your WB problem is easy to fix in Raw PS mode...

Cheers,

HB


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## David84 (Mar 12, 2010)

yoaimee - Thanks, I was using a 5d mk II, and a few lenses, 70-200 2.8, 17-40 mostly.... Good luck when you shoot yours!

clbd39 - Thanks for the feedback... I definitely know what you mean, I have a few others with the enitre dress in the shot... I just like this one more...

kaikens318 - Thanks, I appreciate it!

Kristel and Bell - Thanks for the kind words! I will definitely work on the wb, i had it set to daylight the entire wedding...rookie!


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## red1013 (Mar 13, 2010)

Nice job!!! While I agree that the WB is off it actually works for some of the shots. Sort of gives them an old retro feel. #10 for instance has that retro look but #7 is way to yellow. I think you did a good job!!!


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## templatephotoshop (Mar 26, 2010)

Definitely what everyone else said.  White Balance, shoot raw, especially at a wedding, it will save your butt every time.  Try for a few more natural spontaneous interactions between the bride and groom.  They looked a tiny bit forced and he looked like he was having a ball with the guys.  But for a first effort A+  Great job.


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## mr sussex (Mar 29, 2010)

Yup, only the white balance issue which you can fix.

I'd be happy to have taken these shots for a client, they should be happy too.


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## Diana G (Mar 30, 2010)

Great photos! As was stated the WB is off, but an easy fix if shot in RAW. I think 4 is my favorite. Candid shots are the best


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## mwcfarms (Mar 30, 2010)

Great job on the pics. I hope the bride and groom love them.


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## matteahmb (Mar 30, 2010)

I completely agree with most of the comments above.  Great job for the first time out!  The location is wonderful! So much contrast and texture.  WB is something to work on and defiantly shoot in RAW.  You get a great advantage shooting as a second photographer.  Sounds like you picked up a lot of good info and you seem to have a good eye!


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## kdabbagh (Apr 20, 2010)

For your first wedding, you did a great job  I especially like #1, 9, 13. For #9, *I* would have shot it with the couple centered within the frame of the door behind them, and tried to make the b&w pop more. For #13 I would clone out the man's arm on the right hand side.

Try to shoot in RAW when you don't have much light to work with. 
Most importantly, keep shooting, keep making mistakes, and keep learning from them! cheers!


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## bennielou (Apr 20, 2010)

David84 said:


> Thanks to both of you on the kudos.
> 
> Bennilou: I agree completely with the wb. I am such a rookie - I had it set to daylight the entire evening of the wedding! Learning experience
> 
> ...


 

Everyone does it differently, but here is how I handle Wedding WB.  I shoot everything on auto WB and worry about it later.  We have three shooters at every wedding, normally swinging two cameras a piece.  Both of my thirds use Nikon, and the WB is very different.  At the end of the day, I need to make all six of these cameras come out the same.  Shoot RAW and then deal with it later.

Many solo shooters use gels or custom WB, and that is cool if only one camera is involved.  The trouble with that however, is that in Weddings, you are bouncing around from the bride's get ready room, to the groom's room, to the outdoors for formals, and then back into a dark as hell church for the wedding.  Then outside again for the church leave, and then ever dimming light at the reception.  Who has time to dicker with their settings back and forth?  Auto wb will save you from all of that.  Yes, it's more work on the backend, but you won't have the b&g standing around waiting on you to set your camera correctly, or miss something because the lighting situation just changed in a nanosecond.

I hope that helps.

And congrats again for a job well done.


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## JLEphoto (Apr 20, 2010)

If you shoot RAW remember you can change the WB after the fact with no ill effects on the image. Just FYI.  Nice shots btw!


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## Nikkor (Apr 22, 2010)

Wow, you did a great job! Congrats on the first wedding! It gets easier as you go! Really well done!


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## AMANDA VAZQUEZ (May 24, 2010)

One wedding has nothing to do with the other. You give the gift that you can afford and want to give. It should not be conditional based on other past events.


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## ivomitcats (May 24, 2010)

I disagree with the white balance comments, honestly. But I prefer warmer colors in shots so that's just my opinion. Especially during a wedding. A lot of wedding shots are bright and contain a lot of white. Weddings are warm, gentle events. I think the tone suits. I think they're great shots.


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## Browncoat (May 24, 2010)

Mesoam said:


> they should be pretty happy!
> 
> this is my favorite, the softness works so well
> 
> http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2687/4421891040_7a01a39ae3_b.jpg




I agree...#13 is by far my favorite of the group, though they're all nice!


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