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Another Formal Group
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Or, water under the bridge, I suppose-
50th Wedding Anniversary this time-
presumably it qualifies in this section?I missed the good light by about a half an hour here-
the time arranged was just a little too late,
and the hazy sun had just dipped behind the trees-Shot on film, 6×9 colour negative-
printed to A3+Any comments welcome-
Still quite amazed that there are no other formal groups turning up here-
I want to see them,
and some of you must be taking them-j
50th anniversary? That’s a lot of water under that bridge.
Two for the price of one. Not only have you managed your formal
group with consumate skill, but that’s a terrific ‘woolly water’ shot, as PTB
might have called it, in the bottom 60% of the frame.I love the composition, and I imagine that the detail you’ve gotten
with that huge depth of field would be best appreciated by seeing the
actual print. Looks like you managed to get everyone looking toward
the camera too, quite an achievement.I may be wrong about this, but on my monitor the greens appear
slightly oversaturated, and seem to dominate the frame the farther
away your viewing position becomes. Perhaps a slight reduction in
contrast would lessen the effect…Rob.
Thanks Rob, you’re much too kind, as usual-
Two for the price of one, as you pointed out-They seem pleased with it, which is the important thing-
a big occasion in their lives-I shot two rolls-
I used a fifteenth of a second at f/8 on a 150mm Symmar-
I’d like to be able to say to capture the water like that,
but mostly it was because the light had gone-A little bit risky with people,
but it worked out ok-I think the contrast is ok when you see the enlargement-
and the saturation seems to work too-
this is a reduction of the one I printed-Thanks again for the comment-
j
Nice shot of a waterfall but does it capture 50 years of marriage…..shows the different “family” groups, the “Grandchildren”, possible “Great grandchildren”, original “Bridal Party”…..?
I may be of the “old” school but…..YOU still have to “POSE” people into “family” groups on an occasion such as this…..
I can see the lady who has been happily married for 50 years getting the “magnifying” glass out for her friends as she points out who is who in her all important family portrait.
Nice technical image of a group of people standing on a bridge over a waterfall which has been shot as to capture the “flow” of water rather than a “family unit” after 50 Years of happy marriage.
Gather the individual “family” units together…Mums and Dads and kids….pose them towards the “main characters”… and lets see their “faces”….after all this is what the main character of the event (the grandmother and to a certain extent the grandfather))wants to show off to their friends and family.
As an image of a group of people standing on a bridge goes, it’s OK!…but if you were told this was an “special” occasion, then you would have a problem knowing what the occasion was….Please,please,please…this is not a criticism of the photographer who took the image but “my” interpretation of how “I” would have approached the same commission…
Jim, I understand where you’re coming from, if you ask me there is more to a event such as this then who was there. I would expect the location was selected for it’s natural beauty or maybe personal / emotional attachments . I think jB7 captured a nice combination of both location and people.
Thanks eas-
This was a last minute commission;
a very famous wedding photographer let this family down badly,
and cancelled two days before-
seems like there was more money in a wedding in Spain, so I’m told-I almost didn’t take it on-
I’m sure everyone would have done it differently,
but as I mentioned earlier, the light had already gone, and was getting worse-
one of the difficulties of trying to organize large groups of people-This is the second group picture I did,
and it was second because it was in a more open location-
the first was in front of a house surrounded by trees-When doing this type of shot, it helps to be prepared-
not in terms of the equipment, its taken for granted that that’s prepared-
but in terms of the picture itself-
a wedding photographer should really know his venues,
and scout them out in advance if he doesn’t.Because of the last minute business,
I arrived at the venue just in front of the other 14 golf buggies carrying the families,
so decisions had to be made quickly-
And in my opinion, given the circumstances,
and the fact that large prints had been talked about,
I think it worked out well-Magnifying glasses are not necessary,
we magnified the print instead-
and the “grandmother” didn’t need any help in identifying everyone-The first picture shows the family in a more standard arrangement-
all its missing is somebody holding a big golden ’50’ to signify 50 years of marriage-
but you have to leave something up to the imagination- well, I do anyway-I put this one up because it might be more interesting to a wider audience,
as with all pictures, its a picture first,
and whether its at all interesting to anyone outside of it depends on its pictorial qualities-I don’t need to defend my pictures-
you can be sure that if the client didn’t like or accept the picture that I wouldn’t post it here-
and I appreciate frank and open discussion-However, comments made on the two Formal Group shots in this section are indicating a trend-
As I keep saying, I’d quite like to see what other photographers do,
we can all learn from that-I’m not so interested in what they would have done-
particularly when they don’t post any pictures themselves-Thanks again for the comments-
j
Just seeing this now – thats an excellent portrait. I love the shadow detail and colours/pallette too. I think it works really well and I am guessing that it looks fine as a big poster sized print in several families homes.
I cant believe you were at fifteenth of a second at f/8 shooting it – that sounds risky alright especially for that many people but like you said it worked.
Just out of curiosity – how were you communicating with the party ? You were quite a distance away and so to keep that many people standing still and in the right place, looking ahead etc cant have been easy.
Ps I would agree with the points you made in reference to the criticism – I think those same points apply to other areas of photography too not just wedding/formal portraits.
This is really nice. I guess you had a few shots as security before you started this mad idea :) Turned out really well and I bet it looks great in A3. Amazing greens, a waterfall, the whole family together, I’d remember on this photo until I live, if I was on it, that’s sure.
Tricky shot, I think you got the story of the bridge and water with the people well JB.
Si
Thanks Gerard-
Thanks Zoltan, Simon-I’m not surprised you didn’t see it Gerard,
you’re never around- :D
You should call in here more often-It was a bit risky-
I shot one 6×12 back, and one 6×9 back,
and got this one shot where everyone was acceptable-Communication was through hand signals,
though the initial instructions weren’t difficult-
Stand on the Bridge-The water made quite a roar,
so the distance wasn’t as much of a problem-Thanks very much for the comments-
j
Just spotted this.
Very clever idea “water under the bridge”, and I’m guessing that a large version of this would look super. As a small image, it the people are too small, but I appreciate you knew it was going to be a big print.
For a last minute, think on your feet thing, top marks! I do’nt think I would have chanced it!
Merv.
Thanks for the comment Merv-
just noticed it now-I suppose it was a bit risky-
I did use two rolls of film,
and only one shot had no movement in it- in the people-This was taken at the time of day when the light was fading rapidly,
so once the decision was made to take it,
it was just a matter of getting on with it-but just a little earlier would have been so much better-
Thanks again-
j
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