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Wedding Photo - Is it too cheesy?

Otto Haring

New member
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Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Otto,

Theres' no such thing as a generalized "too cheesy" for weddings, as these are fantasy happenings to produce a book that mothers can show each other. It all depends on the "style" they think fits their society image. So this may well be artistic and fun to one person but silly to another. hopefully, the bride and mother picks you because the pick out something from your website or book that they like.

Asher
 

Otto Haring

New member
Otto,

Theres' no such thing as a generalized "too cheesy" for weddings, as these are fantasy happenings to produce a book that mothers can show each other. It all depends on the "style" they think fits their society image. So this may well be artistic and fun to one person but silly to another. hopefully, the bride and mother picks you because the pick out something from your website or book that they like.

Asher

Thanks for your input!
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
Is it too cheesy?



547360_10150854589406577_658543554_n.jpg



This is actually pretty much part of the wedding, offering one to the other, giving gifts, presenting the best looks and so forth. The bride is the fruit of much work preparing her with education, sports activity, socializing and more for marriage. So this is really a public presentation of the achievement of her parents. So yes, this is just right. I love it as it represents the entire idea of what our human societies do on this day in a girl's life, testify to this wonderful exchange of achievement, beauty andy potential.

Asher
 

Mark Hampton

New member
I would try a square crop here.

for me its the eyes - they are closed -

I thought is this really the message you want to convey about entering married life.

then it struck me that this may be when the flowers get chucked by the bride - so she cant see where they are going - i thought of an inappropriate title for that instance - before the toss !

Jerome is normally correct - so i would try as he suggested - also some context would help i guess - when was it what was going on - the image has a kind of strange quality to it..

i dont think what i have written helps !
 

Ben Rubinstein

pro member
I find it uncomfortable, the straight arms are confrontational. Bend the arms or shoot from and angle and it is both more pleasing and more realistic. Imagine that she's holding a pistol rather than the flowers and you will see what I mean.
 

fahim mohammed

Well-known member
I find it uncomfortable, the straight arms are confrontational. Bend the arms or shoot from and angle and it is both more pleasing and more realistic. Imagine that she's holding a pistol rather than the flowers and you will see what I mean.

Bingo!

Ben has identified and put into words why this image disturbed me somehow!
Experience shows.

Best.
 

Lisa Armstrong

New member
I agree as long as the bride loved it then your golden!
I do lie the one with her head cropped out better
nothing against her head just my personal preference :)
 

Tom dinning

Registrant*
I'm with you, Asher. Weddings are a fantasy and the photos often are required to match that perception in the eyes of the bride. As with porn, the groom is just a prop, only needed at the conclusion of all the gyrations for the money shot. It's all about the bride.
Spending some time with the bride and discussing what she wants is absolutely necessary for success, but its often the unusual shot that wins the day. Something different to the girlfriend's wedding shots and something to match the price wedding photographers charge.
The approach you have taken here, Otto, is unusual and somewhat original and would probably please the bride it not the mother of. And that's all that matters.
Personally, I find the photo quite beautiful and symbolic. It combines the stability of symmetry with the dynamics of selective focus with a touch of mystery with the closed eyes and the pose.
Don't touch a thing!
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
I'm with you, Asher. Weddings are a fantasy and the photos often are required to match that perception in the eyes of the bride. As with porn, the groom is just a prop, only needed at the conclusion of all the gyrations for the money shot. It's all about the bride.
Spending some time with the bride and discussing what she wants is absolutely necessary for success, but its often the unusual shot that wins the day. Something different to the girlfriend's wedding shots and something to match the price wedding photographers charge.
The approach you have taken here, Otto, is unusual and somewhat original and would probably please the bride it not the mother of. And that's all that matters.
Personally, I find the photo quite beautiful and symbolic. It combines the stability of symmetry with the dynamics of selective focus with a touch of mystery with the closed eyes and the pose.
Don't touch a thing!


Let me add that to be a successful photographer, one has to know his clients values or else the fantasy you offer has no resonance. It has to start with an interview with the girl and her mother and then a visit to the church, hotel or wherever to find out the physical constraints, the lighting, permission for flash, what to do if it rains. But first of all, one has to have developed some natural empathy with their lifestyles and what they consider good taste and desirable.

Surprisingly, it does not matter much if the delicate whites in the veil do not show up, or if the grooms black silk lapel on his jacket is the same tone as the rest of his suit. What does matter is that one can get the shots they expect and make everything happy magic and treasurable. The whole idea is to create a book that the mother can show her friends. It's permanent proof of what good parents they were!

Asher
 

Robert Watcher

Well-known member
Your question as to whether this is a cheesy shot?

As a long time professional wedding photographer (since 1979) who has seen all of the phases of cliche and corny wedding images - and who over the years has made every attempt to refuse to include shots that may be considered cheesy (ones requested over and over by brides because they have seen it and think it is something they want) - - - I'm sorry to inform you that the outreached hands with the bouquet, is considered a cheesy shot.

Does that mean you shouldn't take such a shot? NO. Does that mean your bride won't be thrilled? NO. Have I ever taken shots that are classified as cheesy? YES, but only once so that it is never something that I myself would repeat by having it requested by another bride.



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Tom dinning

Registrant*
Your question as to whether this is a cheesy shot?

As a long time professional wedding photographer (since 1979) who has seen all of the phases of cliche and corny wedding images - and who over the years has made every attempt to refuse to include shots that may be considered cheesy (ones requested over and over by brides because they have seen it and think it is something they want) - - - I'm sorry to inform you that the outreached hands with the bouquet, is considered a cheesy shot.

Does that mean you shouldn't take such a shot? NO. Does that mean your bride won't be thrilled? NO. Have I ever taken shots that are classified as cheesy? YES, but only once so that it is never something that I myself would repeat by having it requested by another bride.



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Only a wedding photographer would see their wedding photos as non-cheesy. Browse through the Internet and have a look at how many claim to take the relaxed informal shots. No cheesy stuff here. Yet what do we find when we wander through their galleries? Cheese of all varieties. Same old, same old, like a prescription for cheddar or Wensleydale. I'm not criticising, just observing. Yes, I'm afraid even your stuff doesn't differ much from the norm, Robert. Cliche after cliche. In half an hour of casual looking I found at least a dozen collections of groomsmen trying to look casual, a cluster of brides upside down in a seemingly prone portrait, People walking happily to no-where and fathers with their brides endeavor ring to put aside the increased mortgage payment he has to suffer as a result of the wedding and grinning painfully at his daughter.
No matter how hard one might try to take control, its ultimately up to the mother of the bride to be appeased. This event is not about the photographer and his artistic integrity. This is business, and big business at that.
 

Asher Kelman

OPF Owner/Editor-in-Chief
No matter how hard one might try to take control, its ultimately up to the mother of the bride to be appeased. This event is not about the photographer and his artistic integrity. This is business, and big business at that.

Does it really matter? When one gets to the pearly gates, uncle Peter is not going to say, my gosh, Joe, you made cheesy wedding pictures and I your compositions sucked! Instead, if you made the mothers happy, they'll be rushing up to Peter and offering up testimony and everything they possess to get him to give you a place up there with a deluxe tricked-out cloud!. Weddings, like engagement rings are part of a fantasy. They have nothing to do with real life or the ultimate ability of the couple to be happy and stay together.

I respect any photographer who has survived even 10 years of weddings. It's one of the most exhausting jobs I can imagine! But "Art" hardly ever. Most of the work is by a pattern and a system to get through a routine. Still, there are some wedding photographers who do not seem to tire and produce wonderful work that I admire.

Asher
 

Tom dinning

Registrant*
I respect any photographer who has survived even 10 years of weddings. It's one of the most exhausting jobs I can imagine!

Asher

On the same level as Capa and Parer no less.
One good photo album and three good marriages in a life time is enough for most people.
 

Aashika Kansara

New member
hey.. i don't think it is cheesy... its just a feeling that you want to portray. When you focus only on the flowers having eyes shut, for me, its the feel of magic while one gets married and enters an entirely new life..
 

Sydney Rester

New member
I still see a version of this shot at every wedding. Check any blog. You'll see the flowers in front of the dress, cropped tight, without the bride's face.

A couple people already mentioned the posing is just not quite right. Bend the arms, bring the bouquet down to bust-level or a little lower, and shoot from above with a wide aperture (but not too wide. I usually use about 2.5-3.2 because I want a lot of the bouquet in focus.

This particular shot looks like there are some strange post processing issues going on. Like the flowers are super uber sharp and bright and the dress almost looks like a blur has been run over it.

A recrop and revision, and I think you have something totallu ususable.
 
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