Friend's Wedding Photographer did not show up....so I did it :/

MichelleP · Dec 17, 2011

The title pretty much says it. I was freaking out when they said I should do it. No time to prepare plus I don't really know what I am doing nearly enough to photograph a wedding EEK...but if I didn't do it she would have had no pictures. I had my camera and flash with me doing some pics of the girls getting ready (which she had asked me to do). It was dark and raining so outside was not an option. So here are a couple from the fiasco.....

tirediron · Dec 17, 2011

Good job! Now send them a bill... for a nice, home-cooked meal.

photo guy · Dec 17, 2011

Nice Job. Hope she likes them. Always nice to have photos on important days.

etnad0 · Dec 17, 2011

Good job for being totally unprepared to do it.

redessa · Dec 17, 2011

I'm sure she will be be thrilled. And how fortunate for her that you were able to step in. Good job.

redessa · Dec 17, 2011

And since it says your photos are okay to edit, I hope you don't mind... I think you did great for being caught totally off guard and it's a minor thing all things considered, but if you have the ability, you might consider brightening her eyes and smile a bit. I don't know what kind of editing software you're using though.

cbride6

MichelleP · Dec 17, 2011

Thanks! It was an adventure that i would never have signed up for but Im glad I could do it and it was a lot of fun since I got the chance. Rodessa thanks for the edit. I use Photoshop elements but am just learning. Not sure how to edit just one part like eyes and smile but I will look into it. You made it look a lot better

redessa · Dec 18, 2011

Hmmm, I have elements 9 but haven't used it in long time. It seems like there was a nice little magic wand or quick select tool with a drop down menu for things like teeth and eye whitening though. And then for under the eyes (where the bride's mascara is smudged) I just painted on very soft, low opacity layers using samplings of her own skin color from brighter areas on her cheeks. I did a bit of brightening and sharpening to this one as well. Both of which can be done in elements as well. And will certainly look better with your original, full resolution files. This is just to give you an example.

cbride9

Sonja · Dec 18, 2011

MichelleP said:
The title pretty much says it. I was freaking out when they said I should do it. No time to prepare plus I don't really know what I am doing nearly enough to photograph a wedding EEK...but if I didn't do it she would have had no pictures. I had my camera and flash with me doing some pics of the girls getting ready (which she had asked me to do). It was dark and raining so outside was not an option. So here are a couple from the fiasco.....

Michelle that happened to me. Brand new camera and I had no idea what I was doing. I was going to play with the settings of my new camera at an international roller derby event when their cameraman didn't turn up. Low light event with girls skating really fast. All I had was my 50mm 1.8 lens and that was not ideal but it was that or nothing. I was surprised by the sharpness of the images it delivered. But being in that situation for your friends wedding would have freaked me out too. You did an amazing job.

Natalie · Dec 18, 2011

Great work!

Your friends are were incredibly lucky to have you around on this most important day. I made a few minor edits to the color shot of the bride, I fixed the smudged makeup (as redessa did above) and also toned down the minor warm spots on her face just get rid of some of the shine.

MichelleP · Dec 18, 2011

Thanks for the tips on editing. This will be a good chance to learn how to do some of these things.

I had so many to edit that I didn't think to do things like that so thanks! The lighting was SO bad at the church I had to edit almost all of them :/ But good practice doing raw as I just started shooting raw.

DiskoJoe · Dec 19, 2011

Churchs tend to have very poor lighting. This is why a good photographer needs large aperture lenses and motors that can handle high iso compensation to get those key shots during a ceremony.

LuckySe7en · Dec 19, 2011

I did my first wedding this weekend too. Totally unprepared. I had no freaking idea what I was doing. But like you, I was called upon at the last minute. I just got my 50mm and quickly learned that it is way too tight. :/