lovely event - a few wedding pictures

[bigsarg7]

Hi everyone, just thought i would post a few pictures from my weekend. I had a cousin in laws wedding on the weekend in Melbourne. Never ever had i been to a wedding like it before. The church was amazing, not that i could shoot any photo's due to being crammed in to the point i couldn't move my arms to even lift my camera!! lol And the reception was help in the Plaza Ballroom under the regent theatre in the city. Wow is all i thought when i walked in there, it was very dark, and my attempt wasn't very good at capturing the atmosphere and glamour. I am new to the family and really didn't feel too comfortable taking to many shots with the sb800 flash that jenno lent to me (which i love, i so want to buy one now!! lol) so i didn't take to many shots with it. So bellow are 3 photo's, one of the brides dress - i specifically didn't want to capture her face only the dress....not that she wasn't gorgeous!! lol 2nd is of the Plaza Ball room and the 3rd is my take on their first dance together. CC definately welcome, need a lot of advice!! lol thanks for looking.

kristen

[ian.bertram]

Hi,
Number three is a really nice composition and in my humble opinion works well. With number one I also like the composition but I'd be inclined to play with the curves to bring out a little more contrast in the photo. What do others think?

[gstark]

With number one I also like the composition but I'd be inclined to play with the curves to bring out a little more contrast in the photo. What do others think?

I would disagree, Ian.

This is a white on white subject, and very difficult to capture. My thoughts are that in this image, the exposure has been absolutely nailed. I suspect that increasing the contrast might harden this image, and I'm not convinced that, for this image, that would be the most desirable outcome.

I'm very impressed with the third image too. The composition - and the thought that's gone into producing something different - are very clearly evident, and it works very well. Where this image falls down (for me) is in the heavy magenta cast that I'm seeing on the B&G. Perhaps that's an artifact of the lighting, but I don't know. I would like to see this brought back into more of a neutral colouration though.

[aim54x]

#1 and #3 look great. I would like to see #3 as a B&W just to see if we can get something more out of it, just that it looks a bit grainy and noisy to me.

Cheers
Cameron

[wendellt]

i really like the composition of the 1st and 3rd
you have captured the mood great

the d200 isn't great on noise handling but there is nothing really wrong with noise
good job

[bigsarg7]

thanks everyone so far for your comments, i too like the compositions of the shots, although i think the contrast in the first was pretty good, not sure how it'd go if i touched up the curves. In regards to the 3rd shot, the magnetta thats coming through in the image was from the lighting in the venue, i wasn't impressed when they put a clear spot light on them as well as a red one. Is there a way to touch that up pp ? i only have adobe cs2 and my skills thus far are not the best but i am learning slowly.
I put some thought into the shots as i was looking through the view finder as to the overall look i was wanting and obviously i have cropped them up a little i am pretty happy with them, the grainy look in the 3rd is frustrating but i guess not much can be done, still a lot better then i would have achieved with my old olympus. But i might give it a go in black and white and see if it might look a little better. will post it up on here if it looks any good!!

[bigsarg7]

well i've had a quick fiddle inbetween taking care of some sick kids, let me know what you think or if i have gone a little overboard. i personally like the candle in color rather then b and w but this second touch up to me seems to have lost a little of the wow factor as the candles to me look a little dull.

[Matt. K]

Hi Bigsarge7!
I'm with the others on #1 and 3...but I have to be a bit harsh with #2. It doesn't work technically or aesthetically. It doesn't work technically because it lacks sharpness and it doesn't work compositionally because the viewers eye has nothing to lock onto. When shooting in low light without the aid of a flashgun the first priority must be to get accurate focus and sharp imagery. (There are exceptions to the rule but they are rare). This means choosing a high ISO in most cases in order to achieve a reasonable shutter speed. Yes...you will gain noise, but a sharp noisy image is always preferable to a blurred image with less noise. Blurred, unsharp images have no value unless they exhibit wonderful colours and finely balanced composition. Some would then call them 'art'. PS...A monopod can be a very useful aid in low light.

[bigsarg7]

thanks matt, appreciate your comment. I totally agree with all you mentioned, silly me left the new tripod in the car boot a mile away in the car park, if i had have had it i think i would have manually focused on something. i didn't really want to achieve much with this photo other then to really capture some of the glamour in the room, eg the lighting and the amazing roof.