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couple shot
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I really like your work. As you mention on your web…
Modern, fresh approach :)
For my personal taste a bit too contrasty and to hard vignetting.
Overall well done.Cheers
Bartek
Thanks for the comments Bartek,
Looking at it now with fresh eyes, I agree about the vignette being too much. I’l have another go at it. Now, where did I put that RAW file…=)
edit – there’s very nice work on your site too, well done.
eas wrote:
edit – there’s very nice work on your site too, well done.
Thanks a lot. I appreciate your time.
CheersBartek
just an updated version of the photo above…..grads + vignette removed (not added) and a better crop
commentswelcomethanks.
Very artistic and pleasing to the eye. But if I found this sort of shot in my wedding album I’d be disappointed. My requirement for my wedding album is a record of a day when everyone we know is done up like a dogs dinner and a fortune is spent on dresses, make-up (not mine!) and months of weight loss and rapid hair growth (Mine, I wish!). So maybe I’m a traditionalist but I’d like to see that sort of imagery in an album not necessarily the photographer presenting what he can do with a camera and development. And vital to that would be face shots and not symbolic images.
I’m assuming this is for a client? If not please ignore my comments. I do like what you’ve done with it and how it’s presented as an isolated image, just not for an album for me.
Alan
Hi Alan,
thanks for that, an interesting comment.
just to clarify – yes, this is a BnG that hired me for their wedding photography. It is one of 360-370 that would have been presented to them as a whole. If I had to present them with one photo that I thought represented their day, or that they’d like the most – it would not be this one. Although, the cottage on left was the brides nana’s house, so it would have a bit more meaning to her than the casual viewer.
I liked this photo myself for exactly what you said – I find it pleasing to the eye. In the end, as selfish as it sounds that’s my ambition when I go to weddings. Of course there are boundaries and requirements built in, but most of the day I’m producing images for myself more so than for the bride and groom. I’m not sure how this sounds, but I think that’s why I get hired, in an indirect way.
If I was to meet a couple and they told me that the vision for their wedding photography was the same as yours, I’d ask them to look at my portfolio very carefully. I might even suggest another photographer might suit them best.
Anyhow, I’m not sure if this will go into the album, if it did it would be back page or sign off type image. Also, my albums are generally 80-200 page magazine style books, so not restricted to the 40-60 images in more traditional albums.
thanks again for the comment – just out of curiosity, how many photos of guests and their weight loss / hair growth / nice dresses / make up feature in your wedding album?
Well explained Eric, I think I see where you’re coming from-
and the personal information certainly gives more meaning to the picture-leaving aside the effects for a moment-
How long would you usually spend putting together a book with that many images?Do you use a specialist wedding album package, or one of the other ones?
Do the black and whites come out without a cast, or is it safer to tone them anyway?Hi Eric,
Nicely explained and derived answer. I am basing my views on my album of almost 13 years ago when we had 26 images of the most traditional type as you can get. Funnily enough it’s been opened less times than years of marriage so maybe I need to bring my opinions up to speed. Having looked and commented on your other entry I see that the traditional wedding photo now does have artistic merit and looks all the better for it.
Alan
I like the tone and treatment of the first one but not the vignetting, over all i think they are a little too contrasty. Exposure on the dress seems fine but there is no detail in the black of the suit. When you explain the significance of the house to the bride, the shot works as a sort of nostalgic theme or mood as it is how many of the old images appear in our photo albums. It works as a one off shot but i wouldn’t be happy with an album full of this style of shot.
cheers….
jb7
I use either Asuka or Couture Book for the coffee table type books. I use mainly InDesign for laying out albums and such. At this stage I have a good selection of templates that I copy and paste out of a master template file. Time wise it depends, if everything goes well I could do an 80page book in 10 hours or so I’d say.
I’ve used photojunction for another style of album that I’ve put together. You used to have to pay an annual fee to use it, but it’s free now.
Can’t say I’ve ever noticed any degree of cast in the black and whites with either of the above
irishwonkafan
I like the old vs. new aspect of wedding photography and can appreciate all the angles and preferences, that’s what I find interesting about your original comment. but, yeah I can imagine things have changed a bit since you had your wedding album done.
John
thanks for the comments – not easy getting detail in black suits and white dresses at the same time, particularly not in mid-day sun. To be honest, it’s not something I care about either. I’ll blow whites, blacks and any other color clear off the charts without a seconds thought! :D
I like ’em. Particularly the second. I’d love these in the context of a magazine style album, they don’t really suit the old style 8×10″ per page album of 30 shots but that either makes or breaks it, for the right couple it makes it, for the wrong couple…. I think what settles any discussion is whether the couple chose the photographer knowing their style and seeking him/her out. Seems like thats probably the case here and therefore the rights and wrongs of using a particular style are irrelevant.
I like the fresh original approach with the shots you’ve posted here over the last while, particularly since I’d been preparing for a wedding too. I’d love to pull this kind of thing off but instead went for a safer mix of classical and contemporary posed and casual shots that were not processed in any unusual ways. I just used lens and time effects and did very little pp other than corrections as normal. I went down this route against my more adventurous side, especially after discussing it with Damien Lovegrove at a wedding workshop. I ended up agreeing with him that heavy effects might look fresh and original now but in 5, 10, 15 years time? The years might not be kind to them. Only time will tell I guess. He also made the point that the parents on either side are the second biggest customers so you don’t want to alienate them either!
I do agree with you that being imprisoned by the histogram makes Peter a dull boy, with people shots I feel the fear and blast them highlights anyway :)
I might post some of my own flawed but well recieved shots, there seems to be little middle ground posted here though, they’re either of the highly functional or highly creative variety!
Keep it up I say, it’s quite an accomplishment having people seek you out for a distinctive style than chasing couple’s with a mix of ‘me too!’ styles.
Hi Cian,
You’ve hit on a few good points in you post.
You probably did the right thing for your wedding, if it was your first time out regardless of the reasons you mentioned. I have a huge amount of respect for Damien Lovegroves skills and experiance, but not sure I agree with his logic and approach on everything. The two points he made to you about 1) Photography aging 2) parents being customers.
1) There’s no way around it, an album made in 2009 will more or less always reflect the styles and fads of the day. It happens in music, films, fashion so of course it’s only natural that it’s going to happen with photography. I know some things don’t age as well as others (selective coloring for example) but is alienating a segment of the market worth worrying about what your albums are going to look like in 10-15 years? There are always degrees of how much oomph you do in post or how dramatic you make the lighting. I ‘ve always thought and still do it’s all about ratio. Using the selective coloring example, when done right it can still even today look the business, problem was most people abused the pants out of it. Same can be said for tilt, or zoom/rotate blur. This post is a good example – 1st photo posted was on crack, second one posted just a little tipsy. Neither prize winners by any stretch of the imagination.
I think the important thing to consider here is that if you look back at an album you did 10 years ago, that the album you did last week looks fresh in comparison.
2) Yes, very good point, but Damien’s clients are probably much different than my clients at the moment, in many respects. Having said that in my experience parents want 5*7s and 8*10s. But, hypothetically my bride and grooms would be more likely to buy a couple canvas wall hangings, maybe a modern acrylic. Although I have not entered into that side of the business yet that will be the way I approach it. That’s a sale of 100euro versus a sale of 1000+ euro.
One of my favorite wedding photographers even goes as far as saying “wedding photography your mother will hate” or something like that. http://www.altf.com
Back to what you said about playing it safe, I do too. Most of my favorite shots come from little opportunities between the actual photography, if you know what I mean. The photo above is an example, and these two are some of my favorites of the day. 1st one was a quick grab while waiting on a family member for formals. 2nd was while the couple where waiting to enter for the dinner.
Anyhow, you should post some of your pics up. This section of the website needs some contributions to get it up and running like sport / nature / ……all the rest.
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