Good shot or not?

[bigsarg7]

Hello everyone, well here's a shot i shot about 2 and a half weeks ago (29th jan). Its obviously of a bride from a wedding I did, for some reason I like it, but I am unsure if the bride will, the room she had at the hotel was atrocious, floors looked they hadn't been cleaned and the walls had chips in them and it just wasn't a nice place to photograph at. But this is one of my shots I liked the most from before the wedding ceremony. Please CC if you can think of anything to say please do. Thanks for looking. ---Please note the bride rarely smiles....i think i had around 4 shots with her smiling, she was 13 wks pregnant and had severe pain all day, so understandable why she didn't smile, but please the one CC i do know is, it would have been nicer with her looking happy!! lol -----

[Mr Darcy]

I think what spoils this for me is the expression on her face.
It is just too much "I hate this whole thing."
I like the concept and execution though.

[gstark]

As well as the expression, I'm thinking that a lower viewpoint might have helped as well.

[bigsarg7]

well greg I think you could be spot on with your thoughts in regards to her facial expression, My assistant and I both thought along those lines for most of the day, it was a very hard wedding to photograph due to this fact! But I was pleased with the concept and execution minus the facial side of things!

A lower viewpoint will try that next time!

[Remorhaz]

To get around the less than stellar carpets, chipped walls, colours, etc - how about some monochrome treatment?

[gstark]

Rodney's suggestion of mono is good.

Also, looking at this at home now, I'm wondering about the wb setting in play?

[bigsarg7]

Gary, here is one with a correction in the WB....let me know if you prefer it or not:



Remorhaz, I've done one in B & W, let me know what you think of it, i think it looks nice.

[surenj]

I believe this is a shot of the dress rather than the bride herself. So I've tried to accentuate it.

[biggerry]

wow, she looks like she is gonna smash someone! groom late maybe?

I reckon surens version has minimised the face and maximised the dress - which as he mentioned, is the primary focus of the shot. I would backoff the vignette just a touch...

I smell a PP challenge here

heres my version - I could not get the BW conversion to look any good, so I just went with trying to maximise the dress!

[surenj]

Nice work with the dress there Gerry.

Also I was thinking that there needs to be a little bit more space to make the bride look less um...space occupying. Like so. /Content aware fill didn't work here so you might need to zoom out a bit.




I also tried the liquify filter to subtly alter the expression but couldn't get it to work...

[gstark]

I think the colour in the revised version is better; the dress now looks as if it's white.


And I like the treatment that Suren has provided. Very nicely done, but still perhaps a little less vignette?

[bigsarg7]

Ok, I think i can see what you're getting at Suren. Here's another version i've had a fiddle with, please suggestions still welcome as I want to get it right. Thanks for everything guys.

[surenj]

Do you have any with her looking out the window? [so we can't see that expression much]

[bigsarg7]

unfortunately no I don't, I wish I had have at the time, but she was regularly sore and made it clear she wanted like 1 or 2 of each shot and that was it. Made the day interesting. I had so many plans afterwards but they wanted it all done in an hr so I got what I could in the allocated time, otherwise at all my other weddings, I take my time more and make sure I get the shots I want. But I'll be seeing them tomorrow, so fingers crossed they'll be happy! I did the best with what I had if you know what I mean. Smiles do make it a lot easier! as does time!

[gstark]

but she was regularly sore and made it clear she wanted like 1 or 2 of each shot and that was it.

So, you've met your first bridezilla?

Who says all brides are beautiful?

The fun part will come when she complains to you that you've not taken any photos with her smiling.

[bigsarg7]

he fun part will come when she complains to you that you've not taken any photos with her smiling.

Mmmmm don't think i'd call that fun! But i'll be as nice as possible about it, and continue to mention and remind her of the pain she was in on the day and how it showed in her attitude and expressions. But shucks I don't think she'll like being told that. But I am pleased with what I had from the day, to date the hardest one done, but I still love what I do.

Bridezilla - seen them on pay tv didn't know they truly existed here, only in the USA!!

[Matt. K]

Suren
Well Done! You read my mind...(or I read yours). I like what you have done and I think it has lifted the image quality a great deal.
Bigsarge.....your shot is essentially pretty good and Suren simply processed it to bring out the best of what you captured.

[photomarcs]

Good Shot (:

Here's an altered version by me. I figured I'd have a go at it, fixing distortion, liquifying...(i'm a sucker for this tool), and a bit of treatment in a desaturated sepia tone. Hopefully it helps in creative juice somewhere.

[surenj]

Hey Marcus, Which parts did you liquify? Couldn't you put a smile on her face?

I see that you have sculpted the arm.

[zafra52]

I think what spoils this for me is the expression on her face.
It is just too much "I hate this whole thing."
I like the concept and execution though.

I prefer the black and white version by bigsarg7. However, surenj's
version with the irregular edges goes a long way to divert the
attention from the bride's face to the frame. Short of using PhotoShop
and changing her facial expression...

[photomarcs]

Haha indeed sculpting the arm, but mores the torso, the laces were what detracted my eye first. Lifting the curves in that section across gave her a softer skin tone losing detail in the skin, while the rest of the image remained. I also pinched her jawlinr towards the nose a smidget.Burning the shadow and midtones softly on the floor gave me control have a more natural looking vignette, a soft "halo" between the dress and floor. Merely creative play.

As for the face, I know for a fact bigsarg did better than what most would have done to a smiling face. So definitely thumbs up for the approach

[bigsarg7]

Hi, re visited this image again, as suggested by a mentor, so i've had a fiddle, darkened the image a little and made a few other adjustments, please let me know what you think of this edit, I am quite pleased but yeah what I like may not actually make a good image.

[chrisk]

i think your reworked image is outstanding. that is some superb post you have done. unfortunately her facial expression is the weakness here. she looks pissed off and fed up, not serious and pensive. i understand why its that way, but that doesnt help the final outcome imho.

marc, personally speaking only, i dont like that much plastic surgery in post. a little tweak here and there sure, but that is imo too much when you significantly change the body shape for a couple of reasons...firstly it could be very offensive to the bride unless she requested it. by performing that sort of edit you are effectively saying to her that she's fat. secondly, i think it makes life difficult for processing the rest of the shoot cos her shape will not be consistent with the rest of the images so will stand out and draw more comments for its obvious photoshopping. just my take anyway.

in saying that, can i just say here that your idea of that lightened strip across the middle turned a little light on for me. ive never seen that done like that before and i'm a little gobsmacked at the elegant simplicity of it. i hope you dont mind me stealing that idea.

[bigsarg7]

Thanks rooz, I appreciate your comments in regards to my PP. I still agree about her facial expression, i'd like to try this type of shot again with another bride next month, so fingers crossed she'll be more then happy to smile and pose for me! Looking forward to attempting a similar idea at a different location. Anyways appreciate your feedback! Lets me know i'm improving on PP'ing!

[Wink]

I like the rework too. My only criticism is that the skin looks over cooked to me.

[paulmac]

I agree with Wink: too much plastic on her skin.
However, the improvement between this version and the first post is huge.
Surenj's version had the windows and her face more over exposed... again featuring the dress.

Can the gurus here show you how to give her mouth just a slight tweak upwards? I reckon that'd change it totally.

I know how you feel. I recently had a bride who hardly smiled too, and when she did, she had teeth some side teeth missing...
Made it very hard work for me to make an album for the couple, but in the end they loved it!