Wedding Photos

I posted pictures previously of bridals I took for my friend. I also had my camera the day of the wedding and took pictures at their reception as well as before the wedding when the bride was getting ready. I was one of her bridesmaids so I did not take any pictures of the ceremony. Let me know what you think of my first attempt at a wedding. It was difficult lighting to deal with since it was a very bright afternoon and the reception was in a dimly light room that extended to covered patios.
1. Bride and the flower girl

2. The bride

3. The newlyweds

4.

5. The guys (all of which are great friends of mine, and one is my husband)

6. On the bridge

7. Goofing off

8. Happily married

I like the faces in the first one, but would crop it tight to get rid of the background. On most of the others, you needed fill flash.

Clayton Lofgren said:

I like the faces in the first one, but would crop it tight to get rid of the background. On most of the others, you needed fill flash.

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Clayton,
Thanks for your comments. Strangely enough, I never considered cropping the first one. I'll play around with that at see what I can get.
I was using a flash to try to avoid the amount of shadows I got, but it didn't work quite the way I wanted it to. I wish I had a reflector with me to add more light to the faces. I really need to invest in one.

Flash

If you were using on Camera Flash, that would not give you enough power to avoid the shadows. You also would need a diffuser or bracket to make the most of these.

The inside photo of the Bride and flower girl is the best of these but needs cropping and some basic color and sharpening to be finished.

Kathy Rappaport said:

If you were using on Camera Flash, that would not give you enough power to avoid the shadows. You also would need a diffuser or bracket to make the most of these.

The inside photo of the Bride and flower girl is the best of these but needs cropping and some basic color and sharpening to be finished.

Click to expand...

Kathy,
I was not using the flash that is on the camera. I had a flash attached and tried to point it so that it would get rid of the shadows. As I said, it didn't work the way I wanted. I was trying to light the people without blowing out the background detail. I'll have to try some lighting like this again and play with the flash more to find out what works best.

I'll play around with the first picture later this week to see if I can get something better.

Jessica,

These are wonderful pictures. All the critiques are valid. I, however, would like to take a different set of rulers out of my pocket!




So what does the bridesmaid do? Get a personal viewpoint for oneself and the bride. So one would expect these would be fast and informal. The Formal Wedding Photographer's job is to preserve and create magic for the future years, to look back as a memento for how beautiful and fabulous we were.


The bridesmaid gives that without needing to stage anything.

Now if one really wants the backgrounds removed and the shadows gone, it's simple to have a retoucher correct everything for a few dollars per image, however, to me it's not really needed. These are wonderful photographs, the series is personal and works as a bridge of friendship to the bride.

Asher

Asher Kelman said:

Jessica,

These are wonderful pictures. All the critiques are valid. I, however, would like to take a different set of rulers out of my pocket!

Jessica Eldredge Bride and the flower girl​

So what does the bridesmaid do? Get a personal viewpoint for oneself and the bride. So one would expect these would be fast and informal. The Formal Wedding Photographer's job is to preserve and create magic for the future years, to look back as a memento for how beautiful and fabulous we were.


The bridesmaid gives that without needing to stage anything.

Now if one really wants the backgrounds removed and the shadows gone, it's simple to have a retoucher correct everything for a few dollars per image, however, to me it's not really needed. These are wonderful photographs, the series is personal and works as a bridge of friendship to the bride.

Asher

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Thanks Asher. There was a formal wedding photographer there for the actual wedding, but not for the reception. I did what I could to capture the informal affair of the reception because I didn't want them to be without pictures for that. I know that getting pictures of the bride and groom together along with the groomsmen (who are all very close friends with each other and me) was something the bride really wanted to have. She's seen the pictures and loves the informal appearance of them (although I did kind of stage a few of them). To me, it was important to capture people's personalities and the fun we were all having. I have to share two more pictures from that day that I love because of the fun of them.
1. Best man and one of the groomsmen attempting to throw the groom off the roof

2. The bride wanted pictures on this bridge so all of us went out there. It rocks and sways very easily and the guys of course made it move a TON on purpose. I had difficulty even taking pictures since I was in heels (which I am already bad at walking in), but it was fun.

Jessica

I also really like the very natural and catch of genuineness in these photos-
what a fine and happy day you have given them to remember!
My wedding shots are all very formal-long time ago stuff-
these are treasures!

Charlotte-

charlotte thompson said:

Jessica

I also really like the very natural and catch of genuineness in these photos-
what a fine and happy day you have given them to remember!
My wedding shots are all very formal-long time ago stuff-
these are treasures!

Charlotte-

Click to expand...

Thanks Charlotte. We had a lot of fun taking these pictures.

Jessica,

With your pictures, one enjoy them as is, even though we do not know the people we feel the joy. So they work well beyond the family. Your pictures are suffused with all the right energies to allow us to experience what you were part of. So they are a success.

Also, if you wish you can take the best, say just 12 and have them finished by a retoucher. You will be amazed what will be achieved for almost nothing.


Asher