City - Tehachapi State - CALIFORNIA Country - United States
About
OH... MY ... GOSH! It was sooooo hard!! The conditions were really difficult. I was pressed for time, space, and the lighting was TERRIBLE!
They basically wanted me to show up and take some pictures... there was no plan or extra time set aside for me to do my thing. The wedding was at a house, an average sized house. There wasn't a lot of space, the lighting inside wasn't good at all and the wedding took place mid-June, mid-afternoon which caused horrible shadows.
If I were a more experienced photographer I might have known how to handle the situation, but I'm not. Rather than letting it all get to me and stress me out I did my best with what I had to work with and kept telling myself that if the wanted full-on professional work they wouldn't have asked me to do it, they would have hired a professional!
Oh, and I forgot to add that there was some guy from the groom's side of the family that did not realize I was the photographer and was all up in the way taking his own photos and video... which only contributed to making it difficult to get a good shot.... what can ya do??? LOL
Anyhoo... I am posting a few shots from the wedding. I am not THRILLED with any of them, but some came out pretty decent. I guess I had high expectations of myself.
crisp whites, satiny blacks even in the harsh noon day light. handled yourself like a pro. Paul is right about the fill flash...keep shooting your own style.
melanie... congratulations on your first job! good for you. event photography can be nerve-wracking. i think i will always be nervous when i am shooting events. to me it's like shooting in a warzone, except that if i'm lucky no one is shooting at me. so much to think about and so little control of my surroundings. if i may give one piece of advise after looking at your wedding photographs: don't loose touch with the background. be aware of what is behind everyone and move yorself to then move them to get things where you want them... again, congrats!.. david
I don't have any idea when there will be another! They actually approached me about this out of the clear blue. I haven't really advertised myself as a photographer!! I also did the bride's hair and makeup which only added to the stress because I am super anal, so I was all about trying to make sure everything was in place!! LOL
Melanie, do not worry, it is a good picture with a great background. Unless they(the couple) know somethings about photography, then they will not even notice any of the things that you are critizing yourself over. Give yourself a pat on the back, you did great work. Congrats on the BIP too. Keep them coming.
This isn't bad at all Melanie. I'm sure they'll love it. I just finished my 3rd wedding in 3 days! I must be a nut. Anyway, I'm sure you did fine and as you said they can't expect 'professional' photography from someone who has never done a wedding before even though you are a talented and creative photographer. Photoshop can be your friend to make something out of nothing as I'm sure you know. Bright sun is challenging but you did well with filling it in. Turning their backs a bit more to the sun may have helped with shadowing on the faces if possible. Weddings are not easy and there is a reason we charge what we charge!! :-) So when's your next one??
LOL! Yes, weddings can be hard work, whether you're still photo or (even harder) video guy.
In these circumstances, I'd go for a journalistic bent, not worrying so much about poses, but catching the little moments that occur. Shoot as much natural light as you can. If you must, use a little fill-flash (like in this shot).
These days, the only weddings I shoot are when I'm invited to a friends' gig, which makes really enjoyable. I always disliked spending my entire day...feeling like I'm crashing a stranger's party. ;)
And of course, with a 20D and 580 Speedlite, even the hired photogs tend to scoot over and give ME a little room to shoot from. :)~
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{K:88111} 7/3/2005