# Rena + Daniel



## elsaspet (Mar 13, 2008)

Hi all.  Things have been busy lately, but I wanted to share Rena's Wedding with you to her handsome hubby, Daniel.

1. The restless groom on a rainy wedding day







2. The Groomsmen






3.  Rena going up the stairs to get married






4. Saddest wedding moment ever-Rena's Dad gave her away, and then couldn't move.  Stood and cried for a few moments, but uncomfortably long time.  Rena and Daniel had no idea he was still there.


----------



## elsaspet (Mar 13, 2008)

5. Daniel remembers what he did with Rena's wedding ring:






6.  Perkin's Chapel






7. Toss boquet






8.  The ladies


----------



## elsaspet (Mar 13, 2008)

9.  The Rings






10. Fun Shot






11.  First Dance part one






12.  First Dance part two


----------



## JimmyO (Mar 13, 2008)

:hail::hail::hail:Im not worthy!

haha

these shots are awesome!

Like number 1 alot


----------



## elsaspet (Mar 13, 2008)

13. Mother/Son Dance. Mom loses it and cries the whole time which tickles Daniel.






14. Rena and her parent's rejoicing by dancing together







15. Rena promised not to smash the bride's cake into Daniel's face. She did. Then she promised not to smash the groom's cake into Daniel's face. She did. Daniel runs after Rena to extract his revenge. He didn't.






16. Daniel goes after the garter.


----------



## elsaspet (Mar 13, 2008)

17.  Daniel busting a move to "I'm too sexy for my shirt"






18.  Rena busting a move with her friends







19.  Rena and Daniel both do an impressive reproduction of Michael Jackson's "Thriller"


----------



## NJMAN (Mar 13, 2008)

Now THESE are FLAT OUT AWESOME!!  

Good to see you're still at it and doing great at usual.  Thanks for the continued inspiration.   

NJ


----------



## elsaspet (Mar 13, 2008)

Thank you so much NJ!!!!

Hey, if you guys want to see all 2000 photos, the gallery is featured as this weeks Collages.Net wedding gallery.

Just go to www.collages.net, and click on "this week's featured gallery".

Thanks again!


----------



## Tennessee Landscape (Mar 13, 2008)

wow, I love the saturation of color....all of them


----------



## Allsmiles7282 (Mar 13, 2008)

JimmyO said:


> :hail::hail::hail:Im not worthy!



Me either.

I love these!  Love the HDR, love the emotion in them, love the lighting and the detail!  

LOVE IT ALL!!!!!


----------



## MissMia (Mar 13, 2008)

Just amazing! Thank you for sharing.


----------



## Deadeye008 (Mar 14, 2008)

Awesome work as usual! Do you use noise software to get the "silky" look that is in your pictures or is it something else?


----------



## bellacat (Mar 14, 2008)

these are awesome as usual. I always look forward to your post.I love them all


----------



## Arch (Mar 14, 2008)

Good going Cindy... im sure they were happy with these 

Just being a bit of a perfectionist, i just wanted to show you how i feel the first image can be improved. Its a great shot and good use of HDR/Tonemapping.... however what always niggles me about HDR shots is halos. You've done a good job so far in avoiding big halos, but its just the small ones on the pillers and tops of trees that distracted me when i first saw the shot....so all iv done here is;

zoomed into the pillers, selected the bright halo area (it was only a few pixes wide) and simply cloned all the way down using the sky from the nearby area.

Then zoomed into the trees, and although there is natural lighter areas there, they were still distracting for me as they have the appearance of halo's even tho they are not!.... so again just clone over them, this time with the clone brush opacity down to around 22%.

The final touch was the saturation.... another problem that HDR causes... however, again, as a whole the image has well balanced saturation... but the sky was a little too cyan for me.

So I selected the sky area and included the tops of trees (notice the high cyan area by the roof top on the left)... then just desaturated it.

I prefer it this way as the image looks more balenced... im not sure if you do, and it is more time consuming... but thought id show you anyways


----------



## elsaspet (Mar 14, 2008)

I see it now.  Thanks Arch.

Hi Deadeye.  I'm running everything through NoiseWare at half of the default settings.  Hope that helps.

Thanks everyone!!!!!


----------



## TCimages (Mar 14, 2008)

This is simply stunning work! You've captured everything in a way that truly makes it look like the greatest day of their lives.


----------



## JimmyJaceyMom (Mar 14, 2008)

My goodness. I have so many questions for you I won't even bother starting because I would never stop. You continue to be an inspiration to me!


----------



## schumionbike (Mar 14, 2008)

Damn, you're good, very very creative!!!


----------



## Lacey Anne (Mar 14, 2008)

Holy crap! Your work is spectacular. And what a fun wedding!


----------



## greatestfix (Mar 14, 2008)

those are some great photos, someday i will be able to take great photos as this!


----------



## Mesoam (Mar 14, 2008)

spectacular shots


----------



## elsaspet (Mar 14, 2008)

Thank you everybody!!!

JJCM, ask any questions you have.  I'm here for ya girl.
(But I can't always answer right away).

Greatestfix:  Keep at it my man, all it takes is practice!


----------



## Antarctican (Mar 14, 2008)

TCimages said:


> This is simply stunning work! You've captured everything in a way that truly makes it look the greatest day of their lives.


That pretty much says everything I wanted to say!


----------



## Universal Polymath (Mar 14, 2008)

Yikes!

As the date of my first wedding looms (it's coming up in mid-June), it's work like this that both inspires and scares the crap out of me.  I know I've said something along these lines before, but your work just never ceases to amaze me.  I could only hope for my wedding photos to look a mere fraction as good as these.

Seriously, I think I'm more nervous about this date coming up in June than the bride and groom are!  But thanks for posting, Elsaspet.  I always love viewing your work.

Though as a _very_ (and I can't emphasize that "very" enough) minor nitpick regarding the post-processing, I can't help but feel that the skin is a tad over-worked in some of these.  Just a bit plasticy, maybe.  But that could be just me, though.

:thumbup:


----------



## Feetjie (Mar 15, 2008)

These are absolutely brilliant!!!!!!


----------



## Anelle (Mar 15, 2008)

Wow!  These are breathtaking!  I love the poses and the way you captured some of the special moments candidly without it looking snapshotty!  These are incredible!

Anelle


----------



## wing352 (Mar 16, 2008)

your wedding photos are awesome, i really admire your work. :hail:,


----------



## Stranger (Mar 16, 2008)

i dont even have to say it, i think everyone covered it.

Fantastic work!

what iso were these shot at and how did you light them? and i love your skin retouching, have you ever wrote a tutorial on how to achieve similar results?

 im in awe and i have a reception to shoot coming up. Never done anything like this before


----------



## Alpha (Mar 16, 2008)

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and disagree.

The shots themselves are fantastic. Composition and exposure are absolutely spot-on. 

But the skin retouching is entirely over-zealous- like too much plastic surgery. Blemish removal and moderate smoothing are one thing, but I feel this crosses the line into thoroughly unnatural territory. While it may very well be the case that your clients are satisfied with this look, or perhaps even that you're locally known for it, I think the truth is that you probably have a little ways to go in terms of refining your technique. And the reason I say that, is that if you're pitching a retouch that aims to make your client look like they belong in a magazine, then you ought to retouch as if were for publication, in which case such blunt technique would not be satisfactory.


----------



## N'Kolor (Mar 16, 2008)

Wow, very impressive!!!!  You are an amazing wedding photog!!!


----------



## RowmyF (Mar 17, 2008)

I think you're extremely talented..all your captures are dead on - you capture REAL & BEAUTIFUL moments...which is what being a photographer is about..but I have to agree slightly with Alpha...I feel like some of them are over-processed. 

I think to really focus on a couple shots and kind of take them into interesting & new territories with post-processing to make them EXTRA special is OK..but not if the whole collection is like that. This is just my 2 cents... 

Controversial is a positive thing for art and like someone else mentioned in this threat, you may be known for your techniques..

Keep up the great work!


----------



## GeorgeUK (Mar 17, 2008)

Superb, the couple must be delighted with the results.:thumbup:



elsaspet said:


> Hi Deadeye. I'm running everything through NoiseWare at half of the default settings. Hope that helps.


 
[Ignorant]What does this do? :blushing:[/ignorant]


----------



## elsaspet (Mar 17, 2008)

Alpha said:


> I'm gonna go out on a limb here and disagree.
> 
> The shots themselves are fantastic. Composition and exposure are absolutely spot-on.
> 
> But the skin retouching is entirely over-zealous- like too much plastic surgery. Blemish removal and moderate smoothing are one thing, but I feel this crosses the line into thoroughly unnatural territory. While it may very well be the case that your clients are satisfied with this look, or perhaps even that you're locally known for it, I think the truth is that you probably have a little ways to go in terms of refining your technique. And the reason I say that, is that if you're pitching a retouch that aims to make your client look like they belong in a magazine, then you ought to retouch as if were for publication, in which case such blunt technique would not be satisfactory.


 
Hi Alpha,
While I appreciate your opinion, I AM known for this kind of work.  As far as publishing, I've been published on several occassions.  The same techniques used here, were used in the upcoming book "Spectacular Weddings" which will be available in Barnes and Nobels bookstores in a few months.  (I am mearly one of several photographers in the book).
Besides the noiseware on all the photos, there was no additional skin work done.  When I'm processing 1000 photos in a week, there is simply no time for that, however when I have more time....bridals and engagements, the retouching can get extensive if need be.
My work has always been viewed as "more fantasy than reality" by some photographers.  And that's ok too.  It's not everyone's cup of tea.
But it's also something that makes me different than other photographers in my area.  So far, it's worked out just spanky.


----------



## elsaspet (Mar 17, 2008)

Stranger said:


> what iso were these shot at and how did you light them? and i love your skin retouching, have you ever wrote a tutorial on how to achieve similar results?
> 
> im in awe and i have a reception to shoot coming up. Never done anything like this before


 
Hi Stranger,

While some of the ISO is lower (in get ready shots), most of the shots were at 1600 ISO I believe.
As far as lighting, the ceremony itself is no flash from the back of the church.
The rest is done with the flash at full power, shooting BACKWARDS.  It's a very weird thing, I know.  But I love ambient light, and even bouncing the flash is too much flash for my weird tastes.   Just the kooky way I shoot.
As far as tutorials, I plan to offer video tutorials on my blog soon.  I'll let you guys know as soon as I get the time to get them up and running.


----------



## Anelle (Mar 17, 2008)

I've been trying to figure out how you shoot it directly backwards?  Does it bounce behind you then?  If so, on what?  Do you take a white board with you?  Does it work better in smaller spaces?  

Do you mind me asking what camera you shoot with?  It handles ISO 1600 beautifully!  Unfortunately for me I still have a "baby" camera and even if I nail exposure I have some noise even at ISO 400!

Anelle


----------



## elsaspet (Mar 17, 2008)

Hi Anelle,
No problem.
I use Canon 5D cameras exclusively.  They really are great about the noise issues.  I think the lenses I use help too.  My primary lens is a 35mm 1.4.

Yes, when I shoot flash, the flash head is turned completely backwards and rests on the top of my head.  It's a battery eater, so you have to carry lots of batteries when you shoot this way.

Basically, I'm not bouncing at all.  What I do is get very close when possible, and the light from my flash will "spill" on the people I'm photographing.

I used to think I was the lone ranger doing it this way, but have had lots of e-mail from people all over who this works for as well.  

It takes practice, but it makes for pretty ambient, IMO.

Hope that helps.


----------



## Android (Mar 17, 2008)

As always, you have done a great job. No wonder you're always so busy. I love them all.

Andy


----------



## Richard (Mar 17, 2008)

elsaspet,

Thanks for sharing these beautiful images! I always love your work.

FYI, have you check Kubota recently, V4 is finally here! Plus some other goodies.


----------



## elsaspet (Mar 17, 2008)

Richard said:


> elsaspet,
> 
> Thanks for sharing these beautiful images! I always love your work.
> 
> FYI, have you check Kubota recently, V4 is finally here! Plus some other goodies.


 

Woohoo.  I just got the e-mail the other day.  I haven't seen the actual actions yet, but I love the dashboard thingie.  With all the actions I have, that would be a real time saver!


----------



## JimmyJaceyMom (Mar 17, 2008)

Cindy I love that you are always willing to each - what type of noiseware do you use? I was thinking of getting Neat Image but I don't know if there is a better one.
I really cannot WAIT to see your tutorials you plan on doing. You are the bestest!


----------



## crystal_lynn (Mar 18, 2008)

You are the queen!  I bow to your awesomeness!  I look forward to the book and your blog tutorials.


----------



## acaldwell (Mar 18, 2008)

Cindy,
Looks like you had a blast with this one. I am very impressed with your work as always. It makes me smile to see how much fun you have with your work! Thanks for sharing...and inspiring! Rena and Daniel are an extremely beautiful (handsome for him) couple.


----------



## Alpha (Mar 18, 2008)

elsaspet said:


> Hi Alpha,
> While I appreciate your opinion, I AM known for this kind of work.  As far as publishing, I've been published on several occassions.  The same techniques used here, were used in the upcoming book "Spectacular Weddings" which will be available in Barnes and Nobels bookstores in a few months.  (I am mearly one of several photographers in the book).
> Besides the noiseware on all the photos, there was no additional skin work done.  When I'm processing 1000 photos in a week, there is simply no time for that, however when I have more time....bridals and engagements, the retouching can get extensive if need be.
> My work has always been viewed as "more fantasy than reality" by some photographers.  And that's ok too.  It's not everyone's cup of tea.
> But it's also something that makes me different than other photographers in my area.  So far, it's worked out just spanky.



So your processing style, or technique, at least as presented here, consists entirely of running all of your shots through Noiseware? How many chapters do you expect that will take up?


----------



## AprilRamone (Mar 19, 2008)

Awwww....#4 is so sad.  Your dancing shots are always my favorite


----------



## elsaspet (Mar 19, 2008)

Alpha said:


> So your processing style, or technique, at least as presented here, consists entirely of running all of your shots through Noiseware? How many chapters do you expect that will take up?


 

Thanks you guys!  Hey Abby, you cut your hair!  Sooooo cute!

Hi Alpha,
Actually, I retouch each photo individually, but you were discussing skin in general.  I was explaining to you that on weddings, I don't have time for skin above Noise Ware at half of the default setting.

What I spend my time on, is curves/hue layers, and patching out all exit signs, light sockets, and other pesky things.  I amp colors, and occassionally add a texture or two.  That is a whole lot of work to do on a non batch basis, considering I'm also getting the albums done in one week as well as the normal 1800 images from RAW.  

The book, "Spectacular Weddings" is not about me, or the way I process my images.  It's about really killer weddings.  I was contacted about a year ago by the publisher who had been going around to various websites, and the editor liked my photos.  They asked me to contact a few of my brides to see if they might be interested in participating in telling their stories.  They chose 8 of my brides.  Naturally, they needed images to go with the stories.  That's where we came in.  I am not the only photographer in the book, and the same goes for the weddings.  I think there were around 15 photographers total.  Maybe more.

I've been fortunate to have learned a lot in these last four years of doing weddings.  Most of it, tidbits here and there from other photographers about workflow, processing, lighting, and photoshop.  I've taken what I've learned, patched it together, and came up with my own little quilt to make our company stand out in the very cut throat Dallas market.  On the Knot alone, there are HUNDREDS of photographers advertising in my area.  There are only five there, including me, charging what we are charging.

So why would these couples pay what I'm asking?  When they have hundreds of people who would do the job for much less?  Sometimes thousands of dollars less?  It's because they like what they see.  It's because they like what the don't see.  It's because, in this very over crowded market, we are different. 

Put it this way:  (I'm a girl, so I get this.....)
Brides fantasize about their wedding day ever since they are little kids.  They have seen oodles of magazines featuring beautiful brides (models in most cases) in romantic places, put out by commercial photographers.

And then they book venues with big "exit signs" over the door where she enters the church.  She can't afford the $10,000 hand fitted couture gown.  She gets a blemish that day/the guys are running late and they've stopped at the bar/there is mud outside the church instead of beautiful green meadows.

See where I am going here?  I could say, "too bad so sad, but this is how your wedding day was, and I'm only here to document", or I could do the very best I can to make the day, and her, and her husband the fantasy they want to remember their wedding as.

Remember the photo above of the outside of the church?  Here is what it actually looked like.  Who wants to remember brown grass, and a lady walking through the shot?







Or would they wish to remember it this way?






I'm not trying to convince you to like any of these shots, or even to like the processing.  A lot of photographers don't like my ample use of photoshop.  But then again, my mortgage isn't paid by photographers.  (even though about 10 percent of my clients are professional photographers).  My bills are paid by my brides and grooms.  They like the fact that they are getting a bit more fantasy than reality.  That is why they choose us.  And that is exactly the reason that we do things the way we do them.  I don't want to be like other photographers.  I want to be different.

As for the upcoming videos, they will be at no charge to anyone.  I'm not trying to make a buck here.  I'm trying to help people out.  The way I was helped out.  It's one of those things you will either like and use, or don't and won't.

I will tell you though, that I've finally given in to the whole seminar thing.  I never wanted to charge to teach, as I feel it is my obligation to pay back.  But times, they are a changin', and I can't fly myself around here and there on my dime.  We were honestly astounded that people were willing to pay for a class.  Especially since I try to help on the internet for free all the time.  But then again, there are travel expenses, and material expenses.  I'm only telling you guys this because I'm afraid to be viewed as a money grubbing opportunist.....so if you see stuff about the seminars, that's why.  We didn't invent them.  We were asked to do them.  At some point, you can no longer help for free.


Anyway, enough of my ramblings.  I just wanted to square a few things up.  Mainly about why we do the things we do.  And why that it seems that sometimes we are selective about feedback.  As photographers, I often agree with you guys.  I do.  But as business people, sometimes we have to go another route.  Our motto, and our client base is that we make the fantasy come true.  We're not so much about "you got what you got".

So now, I am going to insert our motto into our sig line.  "Our photos will always be more fantasy than reality".  It's worked for us, so we won't be changing anytime soon, even though I know that some photogs think it's over the top.  No slam on you guys.  I honestly respect your opinions.  But as a business person, to put myself among the masses doesn't make much sense either.

Hope everyone is doing well, and we really thank you for all the wonderful feedback, both positive and not so positive.  Here's hoping we all have a great 2008-09 season!

Hugs,
Cindy


----------



## elsaspet (Mar 19, 2008)

JimmyJaceyMom said:


> Cindy I love that you are always willing to each - what type of noiseware do you use? I was thinking of getting Neat Image but I don't know if there is a better one.
> I really cannot WAIT to see your tutorials you plan on doing. You are the bestest!


 
JJM,
I'm using a product called "Noise Ware".  It's what PJ's use.  I have Noise Ninja, and it was too complicated for me.    It also overly processed non noise areas.  This one targets noise only.
I hope that helps.


----------



## JimmyJaceyMom (Mar 19, 2008)

yes that absolutely helps.   And dont forget if you ever do a seminar in or anywhere near Pittburgh I am SO there!  I haven't seen posts about that if you have them, I'm going to go check cause htis is the first I have seen anything about it but whatever it costs I can just write it off!


----------



## LizzyQ (Mar 20, 2008)

Wow!!! 

I LOVE #10! I love all of them, lol.


----------



## rickyracer25 (Mar 20, 2008)

wow I have done a few weddings (as a back up, I'm glad too) and can say they are very very hard... I :hail:down!!!!! The problem I have is the low or no lighting shooting even at iso 800 resulted in images that were at best snapshots...(NOISE, resulting in unsharp photos in PP, shallow lit images) Is the 5d the ticket or is it your skills? i have shot with a few nikon D2Xs and it still was a problem.... I have purchased faster lens and hope this will help but I look at these and the only I can say is that I'm in awe!!!!


----------



## elsaspet (Mar 21, 2008)

rickyracer25 said:


> wow I have done a few weddings (as a back up, I'm glad too) and can say they are very very hard... I :hail:down!!!!! The problem I have is the low or no lighting shooting even at iso 800 resulted in images that were at best snapshots...(NOISE, resulting in unsharp photos in PP, shallow lit images) Is the 5d the ticket or is it your skills? i have shot with a few nikon D2Xs and it still was a problem.... I have purchased faster lens and hope this will help but I look at these and the only I can say is that I'm in awe!!!!


 

Wow.  That's a tough one.

I think that honestly, it's a combo of things:

We shoot manual all the time.  It's a bit hard to learn at first, but once you get used to it, I think it really helps.

We use the 5D.  Just an amazing camera for the money.

We also use smoking fast glass.  I pay more for lenses than I do for bodies.  Isn't that crazy?  But whatever makes your life easier, right?

And lastly, these photos have all been worked through hell and back in photoshop.  I honestly think if I had to choose two things in the whole wide world, it would be the fast glass and my photoshop knowledge.

I try to get it right out of camera, but I screw up just like most people.  If you guys saw my out of camera stuff, you would probably say, "ewwww".  "She sucks!"  A little photoshop can go a loooong way.


----------



## rickyracer25 (Mar 21, 2008)

so on your lenses are we talking 1.7/2.8 what mm ranges, how does that affect the DOF, are you shooting a single strobe? sorry to ask so many questions but after seeing work like this I just have to know hahaha thanks so much Ricky


----------



## elsaspet (Mar 21, 2008)

Hi Ricky,
All of the lenses I own are 2.8 or under.  All but two are primes.  I don't have great luck with zooms.
Sure it affects the dof, but not from long range.
I shoot strobe only during formals and there are three of them.
The rest of the time it's just plain old on board flash.
Hope that helps!  Let me know if you have any questions I can answer.
Hugs,
Cindy


----------



## rickyracer25 (Mar 21, 2008)

sorry to high-jack your thread, and thanks for answering my questions.


----------

