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First time wedding, some shots and thoughts
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Some photos from my first wedding a couple of weeks ago. Superb location in the Lough Rynn Castle grounds but the weather double crossed me. Forecasts all week were of heavy rain so planned my whole shoot indoors and maybe neglected the outdoor location potential. Day came and the sun decided to show up, in fine style! The B&G really wanted some shots in the walled gardens so coupled with the surprise return of the prodigal sun really put me off kilter. It was defintely a rollercoaster ride, I made loads of silly schoolboy errors (I was never much good with people, photo wise or otherwise!) and on more than one occasion thought ‘never, ever again!’. I’m so used to subjects that don’t move of their own free will and dont have parts that move about in odd and random ways, I definitely had to really concentrate but my inner mantra all day was ‘expression, expression, expression’! I now realise it’s a completely different mentality than what us landscapers are used to. I normally pack up thinking ‘I think there’s a few good shots in there’ whereas in this situation you’ve got one shot and each one has to count.
The ceremony was delayed almost 40 mins because the co-celebrant was very, very late. This pushed us to the very limit with time and the hotel eventually asked if we wanted to put back the dinner for 15 minutes so I could get the family group shots. These were done in a frantic rush and are possibly adequate, certainly nothing more! The hotel wanted everyone to leave the front of the hotel and walk around to the back lawn, there just wasn’t time so I persuaded the concierge to let us through a full length window, luckily my job description means dealing with similar stressful situations and I was just about able to keep my cool!
The couple are relatives of my wife, I’d only met them once or twice a few years ago but from speaking to them and the style of the invites I could tell they weren’t really interested in the ‘dreamy’ or ‘romantic’ standard wedding photography, they made it clear they didn’t want elaborate set ups for the groups or cheesy and contrived ‘moments’. My mental checklist was thus: happy, fun, casual, stylish, fresh, fashion, elegant and timeless. I had the ideas, but no real clue if I could pull it off. I’ll find out soon enough! Feedback so far from friends and family is very positive. As I said, I concentrated almost entirely on expression, there are some bad composition and posing errors in some shots but I was really after the warmth of their relationship to shine through.
These are mostly the ‘couple’ shots, I’ll post some more up later.
Arriving in the rain:
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2.This was taken into the light in a little tower house, the walls behind me were painted white and were thus my refelctor fill
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7.Probably the silliest error of the day, the next two were taken at ISO 3200!! Thank god I was using the D700.
8.
9.Saw this monk’s bench while waiting for the call to dinner and had to get a shot of it:
10.those are top class Cian, you’d think you where at it for years. You obviously did your homework before going.
Number 2 is very nice moment. Thing I wonder about it the center composition (same as no.4). If possible, I’d have maybe placed the couple to one side and attempted to get a key family member or two in the rest of the frame.
Number 7 is excellent IMO.
Number 8 too is excellent. If at all possible/practical I try and get the ring in the shot – You’ve done this for the rest so I assume that getting the shot from the other side probably would not have worked….maybe having her back against the wall with hand extended towards the camera would have done the trick.
9 & 10 I also think are really well executed. each of them have a touch of something else in the frame – number 9 has the chair and number 10 has the sofa/cushion thing on the right..
again, well done. If these are anything to go by, I’d say they’ll be very happy.
summerdreamn wrote:
these are great! i love number 5. can’t wait to see more. congratulations!
me too.
Si
Thanks for the postive feedback eas, summerdream and Si, and suggestions, I’m just relieved I didn’t make a complete mess of the day so I’m not going to dwell too much on the relatively minor aspects for this shoot. It will be great to have your suggestions in mind to put into action next time though!
eas: No. 2 looks like a straightforward case of bad composition but I did think it through and couldn’t really justify putting them anywhere else in the frame, the preceeding shots look less engaging with them off to one side in my own head, and I wanted to vignette a bit to add a little mood and bring out the couple. I like the way they have smiling faces on each side too, re-enforcing the feeling of being at the centre of the occasion. You’re spot on with the others though, they were more reflexive, I just raised the camera and popped off the shot to capture the moment, this will hopefully improve with practice.
On no. 8 I had the ring in mind but there were guests in the background trying to put us off by doing their favourite Saturday Night Fever moves! Am alittle peeved by the reflection of a wanderer in the window to the rear though!
On no.9 the chari was unavoidable if I wanted that framing and I meant to remove it in post, oops! Wont go in the album like that.
With no. 10 I had Damien Lovegrove in the back of my mind again, he suggested always trying to incorporate an open doorway or archway where possible to add a depth and 3-d feel to the image, maybe a bit more of the scene would have worked If I had room but probably not given the garish upholstery!
Thanks a million again for the comments, would appreicate any feedback as well on some further shots later.
Ken
I see what you mean about number 2 – there is a sense of them being surrounded as well. From my somewhat limited experience, it can be difficult to get a nice moment like that during the ceremony. Is that the grooms mother just behind his shoulder?
Yeah, I’m not sure if that’s what Damien had in mind…still a lovely shot though. Maybe having the groom in the doorway with the bride on the garish sofo would have been nice too.
Your experience with the bride being late, and rushing around the venue trying to find missing brothers or uncles is all typical and you’ll deal with the same issues over and over and over, sadly. But, if you can accept the fact that the day as whole is uncontrolled and slightly chaotic, I’d start looking for your next wedding….or hold tight, I’m sure you’ll get offers once these do the rounds.
Number 9 is awfully cheesy…how bad sure :)
Number 7 is a serious winner.. loving it..
Great set, really well done, wedding shots normally bore me to death. These are a nice set of pictures that are well taken and is obvious some thought went into them unlike the normal wedding grabographer types that turn me off this type of photography normally
M
Thanks folks for the comments :)
djbowlz: lol :) No. 9 scores on the low end of the cheese-o-meter though I think, I mean it’s not up there with the ‘groom scratching head and looking at watch’ moment or ‘bride changing tyre/looking into engine with puzzled face on road to church’. Yes, it’s very contrived though on the other hand!
Martin wrote:
These are a nice set of pictures that are well taken and is obvious some thought went into them unlike the normal wedding grabographer types that turn me off this type of photography normally
M
Martin, you’re rapidly turning into pi’s very own Simon Cowell…
Cian, based on these pictures, and your recent writings on the subject,
you’ve obviously put a lot of thought and effort into this-There are lots of good ones here,
and I’m sure they’ll be very pleased with them-Number one is nicely caught, an action shot, not posed,
and you might perhaps have had the rain to thank for the opportunity to see those shoes-Number two, perhaps a fleeting gesture caught, one moment,
again, in the right place to capture it, and split second timing-
perhaps a shallower depth of field might have suited this one better,
but it’s there, and that’s what counts-Number 5 too, great expression, and there to capture it-
you’re to be applauded for your choice of client-
What lens / fl did you use for that one?I like the last one too-
How many did you shoot altogether?
Looks like all your preparation paid off-joseph
You have done really well with these.
Your description of the day you had helped set the scene.
IMO a job like this, like most jobs I suppose, is all about exceeding
or at the very least satisfying the requirements of your client/s.It’s all very well having images that satisfy yourself or other
casual viewers but if the images you produce are not what the
client/s expects then the job has not been done.To satisfy yourself, casual viewers and your client/s would be
some result.If your client/s were happy you would seem to have done it.
Cheers,
John.
Excellent set Ken, well thought out and executed. As has
already been mentioned, number five is a real standout. Your
preparation for the event certainly paid off. My first wedding
was a disaster in comparison to what you’ve pulled off here…
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