# My first wedding shoot



## DiskoJoe (Feb 6, 2012)

These were actually from a wedding I did back in september but I have never posted the full set. Let me know what you guys think. I was the only shooter. No back up unfortunately. 

The really funky edits were only for my flickr. The shots I gave them were bw or traditional color like seen in the ceremony shots. 

1. Groom getting ready



 groom bw by DiskoJoe, on Flickr
2. outtake



 getting ready by DiskoJoe, on Flickr
3. best men



 best men bw by DiskoJoe, on Flickr
4. brides maid



 brides maid by DiskoJoe, on Flickr
5. Grandma - after the wedding I was told that this shot was a miracle because this woman does not let anyone take her picture. I loved her hat.



6. Father of the groom. He never stopped smiling the whole day. Great guy. 



FATHER of the Groom by DiskoJoe, on Flickr
 grandma bw by DiskoJoe, on Flickr
7. Grandpa - he footed a lot of the bill



 grandpa granddaughter by DiskoJoe, on Flickr
8. The moment we all came for....



 vows bw by DiskoJoe, on Flickr
10. This one speaks for itself



 justmarried by DiskoJoe, on Flickr
9. Its starting to set in for them.



 just married bw by DiskoJoe, on Flickr
11. The bride was nervous and put the ring on the wrong hand. 



 RINGS BW by DiskoJoe, on Flickr
12. I love this one



seize the moment  by DiskoJoe, on Flickr
13. quick shot after the ceremony



smiles  by DiskoJoe, on Flickr
14. The band - Great band!



the singer  by DiskoJoe, on Flickr
15.  outtake - gq pose



gq pose  by DiskoJoe, on Flickr
16. another out take - these two were lots of fun.



Arms Raised to the Sky by DiskoJoe, on Flickr
17. The bride specifically requested this shot



heidi sunset pose by DiskoJoe, on Flickr
18. I wish I had scooted back a bit and got all of her necklace in this shot. Family still loved it though. 



 heidi high key by DiskoJoe, on Flickr


----------



## Robin Usagani (Feb 6, 2012)

Blank


----------



## o hey tyler (Feb 6, 2012)

Sick white photo bro.


----------



## CCericola (Feb 6, 2012)

Pssst. There is nothing there


----------



## DiskoJoe (Feb 6, 2012)

I hit the return button by accident and it posted the thread before I could post the pics. There are pics now. haters! lol


----------



## CCericola (Feb 6, 2012)

DiskoJoe said:


> I hit the return button by accident and it posted the thread before I could post the pics. There are pics now. haters! lol



Please, you know you love us!


----------



## CCericola (Feb 6, 2012)

You definitely have some fill light issues but I must say, you are a brave to tackle a first wedding with no backup. How did the bride and groom like them? Although you have a lot to work on they are not a disaster. #16 is my favorite, I just don't like the processing and soft focus. So know that you have done a wedding on your own how do you feel?


----------



## DiskoJoe (Feb 6, 2012)

CCericola said:


> DiskoJoe said:
> 
> 
> > I hit the return button by accident and it posted the thread before I could post the pics. There are pics now. haters! lol
> ...



i do actually or I would not share my work with you. Had to make some sort opf a crack since I got three messages in less than 3 mins.


----------



## DiskoJoe (Feb 6, 2012)

CCericola said:


> You definitely have some fill light issues but I must say, you are a brave to tackle a first wedding with no backup. How did the bride and groom like them? Although you have a lot to work on they are not a disaster. #16 is my favorite, I just don't like the processing and soft focus. So know that you have done a wedding on your own how do you feel?



I did not have a flash. So I had to work with what I had. This will not happen again. I have good lenses which helped alot but a flash was really needed. After doing it on my own I feel confident enough to do it again but will have back up for at least during the ceremony. I wish I could have got shots from both sides but did not want to be to intrusive and moving around alot during this part. I have an arrangement with a photog friend were he will be my 2nd for future events. The processing was a lot more intensive then I was expecting. This is only a small piece of what I shot that day. This was the real work. It tool me days to do all the edits and tried to get them as close to each other as possible but not as easy as I thought. I have learned many tricks on here since then. So next wedding should be even better. Definitely a learning experience but it was inspiring to know that the bride and groom and many family members really loved them even if they werent perfect.


----------



## CCericola (Feb 6, 2012)

Remeber, fill light does not automaticaly mean flash or speedlights, or monlights. A reflector can go a long way. I ahve even used a white pillow as a fill one time. Now the ceremony pictures are something differant. I think you did a good job. It is the posed shot that you just need to slow a tiny bit down and fill in shadow and meter correctly. Even if the all the groom wants to do is get to the reception and drink, get the bride on your side and make him stand there just a minute longer so you can get the right exposure. (true story)  Looks like the bride and groom you worked with were pretty cool.


----------



## Destin (Feb 6, 2012)

I hope they didn't pay you for this.






.. Couldn't resist.


----------



## Destin (Feb 6, 2012)

The big thing...

Ever think about turning your camera to portrait orientation? People are tall and skinny, not short and wide, after all..

(sorry for stealing your thunder Derrel)


----------



## Robin Usagani (Feb 6, 2012)

You crazy you..  no flash!

Shoothing with no flash is about being at the right spot.  Once you kinda know what is going on, you know whether something will look good without flash or not.  Dont bother shooting it if you know it is going to be bad.  You have to stand where you think you will get good light.  Then when you shoot formal, you make them stand wherever you think will give you the best light.  You control the shots.. you are the boss.


----------



## Bossy (Feb 6, 2012)

omg I love Judge Joe Brown. Listen to him know his stuff!!!


----------



## DiskoJoe (Feb 6, 2012)

Destin said:


> The big thing...
> 
> Ever think about turning your camera to portrait orientation? People are tall and skinny, not short and wide, after all..
> 
> (sorry for stealing your thunder Derrel)



LOL, yes, Darrel would be all over this. Good point. I really should have got more shots in portrait mode then I did.


----------



## DiskoJoe (Feb 6, 2012)

CCericola said:


> Remeber, fill light does not automaticaly mean flash or speedlights, or monlights. A reflector can go a long way. I ahve even used a white pillow as a fill one time. Now the ceremony pictures are something differant. I think you did a good job. It is the posed shot that you just need to slow a tiny bit down and fill in shadow and meter correctly. Even if the all the groom wants to do is get to the reception and drink, get the bride on your side and make him stand there just a minute longer so you can get the right exposure. (true story)  Looks like the bride and groom you worked with were pretty cool.



They were. They are old friends. Bride is my best friends cousin. Ive know both of them for about 13 years.


----------



## DiskoJoe (Feb 6, 2012)

Schwettylens said:


> You crazy you..  no flash!
> 
> Shoothing with no flash is about being at the right spot.  Once you kinda know what is going on, you know whether something will look good without flash or not.  Dont bother shooting it if you know it is going to be bad.  You have to stand where you think you will get good light.  Then when you shoot formal, you make them stand wherever you think will give you the best light.  You control the shots.. you are the boss.



I was bossing them around some. Probably not as much as I should have though. I had a couple group shots after the reception that I did not post. They were trying to tell me how to shoot them and I had to break out the line, "I'm the photographer and not you. Now group togther, smile and let me do my job." No one else try to tell me what to do after that.


----------



## jowensphoto (Feb 6, 2012)

DiskoJoe said:


> I was bossing them around some. Probably not as much as I should have though. I had a couple group shots after the reception that I did not post. They were trying to tell me how to shoot them and I had to break out the line, "I'm the photographer and not you. Now group togther, smile and let me do my job." No one else try to tell me what to do after that.



Way to take control! That's one of my "issues" lol


----------



## DiskoJoe (Feb 6, 2012)

jowensphoto said:


> DiskoJoe said:
> 
> 
> > I was bossing them around some. Probably not as much as I should have though. I had a couple group shots after the reception that I did not post. They were trying to tell me how to shoot them and I had to break out the line, "I'm the photographer and not you. Now group togther, smile and let me do my job." No one else try to tell me what to do after that.
> ...



Schwetty makes a good point. They hired you for a reason. Dont let them forget that.


----------



## Trever1t (Feb 6, 2012)

#11 is the winner for me, it's lacking a bit of contrast but the fact she put the ring on his wrong hand is classic. 


Keep shootin'.


----------



## DiskoJoe (Feb 6, 2012)

Trever1t said:


> #11 is the winner for me, it's lacking a bit of contrast but the fact she put the ring on his wrong hand is classic.
> 
> 
> Keep shootin'.



We had a good laugh about that one. But in the end it really didnt matter. Everyone was so happy for them.


----------



## CCericola (Feb 6, 2012)

Shooting portrait v horizontal was a challange for me at first because I had started in film on a hassy with a square crop. There was an entirely new train of thought when cropping in the camera going from a 6x6 to a 50D then to a 5D.


----------



## DiskoJoe (Feb 6, 2012)

CCericola said:


> Shooting portrait v horizontal was a challange for me at first because I had started in film on a hassy with a square crop. There was an entirely new train of thought when cropping in the camera going from a 6x6 to a 50D then to a 5D.



You started with a hassleblad? No offense but I hate you, lol. Seriously, I hate you. Not really but I do. 

For me I started out doing landscape photography, cityscape if you want to be specific. Get kinda stuck in that mode sometimes.


----------



## DiskoJoe (Feb 6, 2012)

Destin said:


> I hope they didn't pay you for this.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Since these were friends and I really wanted to just see what I could do if given the responsibility I originally offered to do it for just lodging expenses since I had to travel out of town for the wedding. But they loved the pictures so much that they gave me an extra $250 and an old minolta srt-101 that had been sitting around at their house collecting dust.


----------



## CCericola (Feb 6, 2012)

DiskoJoe said:


> CCericola said:
> 
> 
> > Shooting portrait v horizontal was a challange for me at first because I had started in film on a hassy with a square crop. There was an entirely new train of thought when cropping in the camera going from a 6x6 to a 50D then to a 5D.
> ...



Well, in my defense it wasn't mine. It belonged to the studio I worked at. We also did school photos with a gigantic roll camera and 100 ft rolls of medium format film. I had some nice guns for awhile carrying all that crap around everyday. Girls, if you want to loose the flabby arms, go into school photography! Alas, Digital has made me soft


----------



## DiskoJoe (Feb 6, 2012)

CCericola said:


> DiskoJoe said:
> 
> 
> > CCericola said:
> ...



Cool. I have all new respect for school photographers.


----------



## APHPHOTO (Feb 6, 2012)

Am I the only one who has issues with the horrible white balance.


----------



## DiskoJoe (Feb 7, 2012)

APHPHOTO said:


> Am I the only one who has issues with the horrible white balance.



I am open to suggestions about how to get a more cohesive feel over all. 

But if you are referring to the color photos that might be tinted green or blue this is not an unintentional mistake. Some of the photos have been edited using cross process filter techniques.


----------



## CCericola (Feb 7, 2012)

I recommend an expodisc for white balance. If you are shooting raw you can adjust the WB using the expodisc image after the fact. Or you can set the custom WB on the fly after you take the image of the expodisc. I set it on the fly but only because I can do it fast after a lot of practice. I set it on the fly because during the meal, I set up a slideshow from the small jpegs (shooting RAW+jpeg) and I want them close to the final product SOOC.


----------



## DiskoJoe (Feb 7, 2012)

CCericola said:


> I recommend an expodisc for white balance. If you are shooting raw you can adjust the WB using the expodisc image after the fact. Or you can set the custom WB on the fly after you take the image of the expodisc. I set it on the fly but only because I can do it fast after a lot of practice. I set it on the fly because during the meal, I set up a slideshow from the small jpegs (shooting RAW+jpeg) and I want them close to the final product SOOC.



I've heard a lot about people uing the grey cards to set the white balance. This is something I will need to practice more. Ive never actually done this before.


----------



## RauschPhotography (Feb 7, 2012)

Not a fan of most of these. PP is not the greatest--too low on the contrast and poor use of lighting. Shot of the grandpa could have been a lot better, considering he flipped the bill for a lot of the wedding. Looks either too soft/OOF or like someone went overboard with noise reduction. I'm glad the bride knew what she wanted though, it's probably my favorite shot of the bunch.


----------



## DiskoJoe (Feb 7, 2012)

RauschPhotography said:


> Not a fan of most of these. PP is not the greatest--too low on the contrast and poor use of lighting. Shot of the grandpa could have been a lot better, considering he flipped the bill for a lot of the wedding. Looks either too soft/OOF or like someone went overboard with noise reduction. I'm glad the bride knew what she wanted though, it's probably my favorite shot of the bunch.



The shot of grandpa was a crop. The original was not that pleasing so I cropped to get a closer view. As a result the quality is degraded somewhat. This is another thing I learned from this shoot. A higher mp motor would have been handy for shots I needed to crop. 

Any tips on using the lighting better? These are all natural light. No Flash. I need flash.


----------



## rexbobcat (Feb 7, 2012)

I don't mean to sound vicious or hateful but....I don't really like any of these photos. Glistening foreheads, uber-harsh shadows, motion/camera blur, dark faces, weird focus, unnecessary cross-processed look, midtone b&w images.... I'm sorry, they just don't do it for me on the professional level of wedding photography.

I don't mean this with spite. It's just a summary of my observations.


----------



## Destin (Feb 7, 2012)

DiskoJoe said:
			
		

> The shot of grandpa was a crop. The original was not that pleasing so I cropped to get a closer view. As a result the quality is degraded somewhat. This is another thing I learned from this shoot. A higher mp motor would have been handy for shots I needed to crop.
> 
> Any tips on using the lighting better? These are all natural light. No Flash. I need flash.



Honestly, you CANNOT be a good wedding photographer without being very, very good at using flash. That's pretty much the single most important thing in wedding photography, in my opinion/experience.


----------



## DiskoJoe (Feb 8, 2012)

rexbobcat said:


> I don't mean to sound vicious or hateful but....I don't really like any of these photos. Glistening foreheads, uber-harsh shadows, motion/camera blur, dark faces, weird focus, unnecessary cross-processed look, midtone b&w images.... I'm sorry, they just don't do it for me on the professional level of wedding photography.
> 
> I don't mean this with spite. It's just a summary of my observations.



Its okay. It would be weird if everybody was touchy feely and just patted me on the back. I know there are problems and more of them then I would see on my own. But this is why I like to share here. People will give me a honest opinion.


----------



## DiskoJoe (Feb 8, 2012)

Destin said:


> DiskoJoe said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



This will probably be my next purchase seeing how I have been needing this for a while.


----------



## matthewo (Feb 8, 2012)

Put the subject between you and the sun, and get in shade.  Yeah i feel the same way on contrast on these.

You dont have to use flash for most of it, just control your light better.


----------



## DiskoJoe (Feb 9, 2012)

Bought a sony hvl-f42am flash and some diffusers today. Questions will be coming soon after it arrives.


----------

