First Post: Shots from a Wedding

[boulderNardo]

Hey folks!
First time posting pictures here... Trying to get some feedback.
Just got back into photography after a prolonged absence.
Setup used for these shots: Canon 20D, 70-200 f/2.8L, 17-55 f/2.8 IS.
Had a low-quality UV filter on my 70-200 which I think messed some of my shots up, plus I think it has severe front-focusing issues and sent the lens to be checked out at Canon.

anyway, feedback appreciated! Thanks
bernardo

1.
http://my.fit.edu/~bfanti/Pics/Photography/IMG_0020.jpg

2.
http://my.fit.edu/~bfanti/Pics/Photography/IMG_0039.jpg

3.
http://my.fit.edu/~bfanti/Pics/Photography/IMG_0043.jpg

4.
http://my.fit.edu/~bfanti/Pics/Photography/IMG_0052.jpg

5.
http://my.fit.edu/~bfanti/Pics/Photography/IMG_0069.jpg

6.
http://my.fit.edu/~bfanti/Pics/Photography/IMG_9832.jpg

7.
http://my.fit.edu/~bfanti/Pics/Photography/IMG_9851.jpg

8.
http://my.fit.edu/~bfanti/Pics/Photography/IMG_9940.jpg

9.
http://my.fit.edu/~bfanti/Pics/Photography/IMG_9968.jpghttp://my.fit.edu/%7E/bfanti/Pics/Photography/IMG_0020.jpg

[jeffreaux2]

These may.....or may not be good compositions. If they were posted smaller, where we could view the entire photo within the thread on a computer screen it would help.

[boulderNardo]

Oops. Sorry about that and thanks for the heads up... I work on 4 huge high-res LCDs at work and didn't realize that 1024 wide pictures might be too wide for some people... I'll get them down to 800x600 asap!

[Seneca]

try 700x500. I too had trouble viewing the pictures. I had to move my slider from side to side.

[boulderNardo]

Ok. I seriously reduced the size now! 640x426!
First time posting pictures in a thread like this for 'evaluation', didn't think it through obviously :D

Higher-Res versions of these photographs still available at http://my.fit.edu/~bfanti/Pics/Photography/HighRes

Thanks for your patience guys!

[Mitchell]

Sorry, but these are all just too soft. I doubt it has anything to do with your UV filter unless it was incredibly dirty.

I hope Canon can fix your focus problem.

[Shay Stephens]

I like the kids shots as it shows what is going on before the ceremony started, but do watch for two things, centering the head in the photo and cutting off feet. When you center the head, often called a bullseye shot, the composition is usually suboptimal, and you can see a lot of wasted space in the photos on one or both ends of such shots. You can usually improve the visual impact of a photo by place the face off to the side and using one of the open sides to show something interesting in the background or maybe foreground that the subject may be interacting with.

With the feet, they usually get cut off pretty close to the feet and it just looks like an oversight. So I like to try and show the feet wholly or get the composition in close enough that the cropping them off looks intentional and visually pleasing. Don't crop at the joints is a good rule of thumb there.

The other thing I noticed with this series, is I don't know what the bride looks like and I may or may not know what the groom looks like. So in the sense that these are supposed to represent a wedding shoot, I am not seeing (or at least recognizing) the stars of the show, only the supporting actors. So from a story telling perspective, the story is incomplete and unsatisfying. But from a wedding highlights perspective, you have some interesting action and detail shots.

[nicoleshilliday]

Looking past the softness factor, i can find a lot of emotion in these shots.

#1~ lots of emotion. I love how close the father and daughter (guessing on that) are talking. You can tell he is talking to her about something very important, mayby "remeber to smile when tossing your flowers". Try cropping the shot. Maybe landscape to cut off the large tree area and the lower body. I know you will still have some distracting areas in the back (the table) but i think it will not be as noticable.

#4, 5, and 6 could also use some cropping. Take Shay Stephens advice above. He gave some great comments.

I think you captured some great shots of the children (and everyone loves pictures of children.) Keep working at it, i am new to this too and know how hard and stressful shooting a wedding can be.

[boulderNardo]

I read all replies and haven't thanked anybody since!
I appreciate everybody's advice, especially yours, Shay, since your "Proposal in the Park" thread was the reason I joined Dgrin!

The points you make are excellent, and although I already knew about the rule-of-thirds and about not cutting off limbs at joints, I did not always pay enough attention to follow those guidelines at that event.

The post wasn't exactly ment to be a 'storytelling' series of photographs (more a random pick of the more emotional shots), but I see how important it is to display a congruent, flowing series of pictures, even for c&c.

Thanks everybody!
bernardo