Feedback on some engagement photos

[GoingUp]

Light was garbage for most of the day, pretty cloudy with only occasional sun. Then the skies opened and we had to cut it short.

http://www.cheddarcheesemedia.com/jenny&john/

My favorites are the basketball shot and the rowboat shot of jenny rowing.

 

[quackerww]

Great pictures!

Well with one exception...
The second one down looks more like a ring ad than an engagement picture. (not a good one)

I really don't know if that helps any...
My reality is subjective.

Congrats!

 

[jpeyton]

I like all the variety of poses and situations.

Like you said, the lighting was difficult. It made some of the shots have flat color; you might want to try processing them in B&W, sepia, etc., so see if that adds some depth to them.

 

[soydios]

I like your composition.
People always look their best when smiling.
Some of the photos look a little flat and gray, so in situations where that's the way the light is, I would pump up the colors and contrast in post processing.

 

[Deadtrees]

"pretty cloudy with only occasional sun"

Isn't that best weather for portrait shooting? I'm asking because I'm sure
As said by one of the top wedding photographers(I forgot the name), it's the nature providing giant softlight box or diffuser for free.
The only problem is that you have to think about blown highlights on the sky. In your pictures, I can see it's not even the case.

I don't understand why your colors are far off in that situation. In fact, it should bring out the most natural colors.


BTW, 2nd picture is really a good one. It's the kind of pictures that most of professionals shoot.

 

[quackerww]

Deadtrees... Shame on you. Shame!

I said shame!
I shall not speak to you anymore regarding that subject.

Shame!

 

[Deadtrees]

Originally posted by: quackerww
Deadtrees... Shame on you. Shame!

I said shame!
I shall not speak to you anymore regarding that subject.

Shame!

Just goole 'wedding photography/pictures', there you'll see top wedding photographers taking shots like that like it's a must thing.
The shame is on you, dear.

 

[yllus]

As far as my limited knowledge goes, taking photos in the middle of a bright/sunny day is something to avoid because it inevitably leads to requiring more dynamic range than a camera can handle. Cloudy days are good times.

Here's a version of the rowboat picture that I post-processed in Lightroom 2.0. It's a bit oversaturated, but you get the idea:

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/sully/rowboat.jpg

 

[OdiN]

Originally posted by: Deadtrees

Originally posted by: quackerww
Deadtrees... Shame on you. Shame!

I said shame!
I shall not speak to you anymore regarding that subject.

Shame!

Just goole 'wedding photography/pictures', there you'll see top wedding photographers taking shots like that like it's a must thing.
The shame is on you, dear.

Yup, he's right. Typical picture.

Though I prefer to get a UWA and shoot the rings on their finger from below - distort the perspective so they look farther away than normal - focus on the rings, blur the rest.


Oh, BTW the pictures are pretty good. Decent poses and exposure is close. The lighting wasn't too bad for pictures, though mid-day is the last time I would plan something if I had a choice. I much prefer later in the day, and clouds covering the sun is a good thing! Gives you nice soft light to work with - you don't have to worry about fill much and you get some great photos. If conditions are right all I use is a reflector to get a bit more light in, no flash. I very much prefer available light photography over anything that requires flash.

 

[DrPizza]

Ditto to the reaction on the ring; not that it's not a good picture - just looks more like an ad for rings. Nice pictures though.

 

[OdiN]

Had some time to look a bit more.

#1 - Interesting pose...kinda cool. There is a bit of grass sticking into the sky on the right that is annoying.

#2 - A little addish, but they probably like it. Seems a bit underexposed. Try to take the other people out of the background.

#3 - I like the idea. I don't like all the mucky brown crap in the lake.

#4 - Seems underexposed quite a bit. Needs some fill. She's squinting, not so good.

#5 - It needs some punch - add a bit of saturation, brighten it up. Try to get some more light into her eyes as they are pretty dark. I like the pose though.

#6 - Very good - nice pose and good emotion. But her eyes are still very dark. Again punch it up a bit.

#7 - Makes her look bigger than she is - combination of how her leg is plus how the guy is holding her. Not a very flattering picture IMO.

#8 - Excellent shot. Love it. Punch it up a bit.

#9 - Cool, a different kind of shot.

#10 - Don't like it at all. Don't like the location or anything.

#11 - Pretty good shot. I like it.

#12 - Save the best for last. Really good shot. I only wish he was also looking into the camera. Expression/emotion is great. Only thing is her head would need to be up a bit more or you need to get higher and shoot down a bit as her arm is in front of her face somewhat. But I think because of the expression, etc. it will stand out a bit more.

 

[ZOXXO]

Perhaps the ring photo would look less like an ad if the ring were not in the box.

 

[IGBT]

..:thumbsup:

 

[GoingUp]

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

I use Bridge and Photoshop CS3 to PP everything. What would lightroom give me over that?

Thanks!

 

[GoingUp]

I also think the exposure would have been closer if I would have noticed that my ISO was at 500. I shot the whole session at that damn setting. Wish I coulda dropped it to 100 had I been more observant, so my shutter times in the sun wouldn't have been so fast.

 

[GoingUp]

Originally posted by: yllus
As far as my limited knowledge goes, taking photos in the middle of a bright/sunny day is something to avoid because it inevitably leads to requiring more dynamic range than a camera can handle. Cloudy days are good times.

Here's a version of the rowboat picture that I post-processed in Lightroom 2.0. It's a bit oversaturated, but you get the idea:

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/sully/rowboat.jpg

Looks good! What does lightroom give me that PS CS3 doesnt?

 

[OdiN]

Originally posted by: Gobadgrs
Thanks for the feedback everyone!

I use Bridge and Photoshop CS3 to PP everything. What would lightroom give me over that?

Thanks!

Lightroom has a lot more adjustments than Bridge. You can adjust your exposure, vibrance, etc. Add or correct for vignetting, adjust curves, do a toned B&W, etc. You can rotate and crop, remove red eye, do spot and scratch removal, straighten horizon, sharpen, remove noise...just lots more stuff.

It's a much better workflow tool than Bridge.

With presets I find that I do about 75% of my edits in Lightroom. The rest go into photoshop for more serious work, but they are usually the ones with more effects, cloning work, etc.

 

[soydios]

Originally posted by: Gobadgrs

Originally posted by: yllus
As far as my limited knowledge goes, taking photos in the middle of a bright/sunny day is something to avoid because it inevitably leads to requiring more dynamic range than a camera can handle. Cloudy days are good times.

Here's a version of the rowboat picture that I post-processed in Lightroom 2.0. It's a bit oversaturated, but you get the idea:

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/sully/rowboat.jpg

Looks good! What does lightroom give me that PS CS3 doesnt?

Lightroom is basically the Photoshop image engine, minus layer functions and some other stuff, inserted into a workflow application.