A wedding defined by the weather.

Blurmore · May 26, 2010

Everyone has had a wedding defined by the weather, it may be snow, rain, storms or even perfect conditions. But I'd venture few have had a wedding defined by WIND. This wedding sandblasted me, we had sustained winds all day of over 30mph, gusts to 45mph and white caps all day on the bay. I felt like I was on the weather channel. I took this wedding as a sub-contract job, because I hadn't shot this venue before, and this weekend I have a job of my own at this venue. It was a very cool wedding with a great couple, but MAN was it windy and I tried my best to embrace and incorporate it in the photos.
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C&C/questions always welcome and appreciated.

liflander · May 26, 2010

Re: A wedding defined by the weather.
Blurmore, nice shots! I like the way you're mixing sun and flash. Can you please explain how you did the lighting in shot 3, looking up at the groom with arms outstretched? Love that shot!
Thanks,
Mark

LiflanderPhotography.com

tenoverthenose · May 26, 2010

Excellent work - especially considering the circumstances. Sounds like this could be a testimonial on why to hire a pro!

I'm not generally a fan of tilting the camera, so some on these I see room for improvement with right away. For example, in #2 if it wasn't tilted the converging lines of the dock would would point right at all of the guys and he shadows would all be complete.

#3 I love the moment - great use of of the wind here!

#5 Not digging this. The exposure looks like you messed with it too much in post and the WB is way off - even though you are shooting in full sun, your subjects are in full shade.

#6 Again WB, I wish the building in the background is distracting. Any chance to get lower to get the shot (maybe by not looking through the viewfinder for a frame)?

#7 Good moment, I love the way the wind is playing with the veil. A CTO or 1/2 CTO gel would really help your flash to blend here.

#8 I like the shot, but next time I would line them up on a third. A it is, the left side of the frame is unbalanced with the right because of the sun. Also the dress is blue.

#10 Friggin amazing! Tons of action emotion & party. Best of all you have a frame where you can see they are smiling!

Blurmore · May 26, 2010

liflander wrote: »

Blurmore, nice shots! I like the way you're mixing sun and flash. Can you please explain how you did the lighting in shot 3, looking up at the groom with arms outstretched? Love that shot!
Thanks,
Mark

LiflanderPhotography.com

Well the details say I shot it in AV and that the flash fired, but I doubt the time listed in the details is correct. Usually I shoot in AV with HSS (focal plane sync) with negative in camera exposure, and positive flash exposure...but honestly this looks just like all ambient, it was really sunny, and I was getting blasted by sand and wasn't really paying much attention to my camera settings. But thats how I usually roll, AV/HSS/-1/3_-2/3 in camera/+2/3_+1 flash compensation. Thanks for asking sorry I couldn't be more definite.

SimpsonBrothers · May 26, 2010

5&6 need the saturation cranked wat down.

3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10 are good

Blurmore · May 26, 2010

Thanks for the critiques...I agree the sat is out of control on a few of these. Everything I shoot as a sub-contractor is .jpg output, so I use a lot of 1 touch processing, just to put these on my blog. My output from my wedding this weekend will be much different, because I shoot all raw and actually edit these. But either way I will take the sat down on these and replace. The one touch is meant to emulate either ektachrome or velvia so yeah it is sat mad. #6 I'm on a beach they are on a seawall, I could definitely get lower, but not sure if I'd want to be that up the nose. The gelling flashes thing is completely foreign to me, but I should really get into it, especially if I'm going to lighten up and use speedlights instead of manual off camera flash (not usable without an assistant or 100lbs of sand bags in this situation anyway). I'm not completely ready to give up my sunpak 622 and brolly box, but I should really get into gelling and practice it on my sub jobs where I have less control of the output in post. Thanks again...

jestoos · May 26, 2010

The wind was your friend on #7. Nice shot!

WillCAD · May 26, 2010

#7 and #8 are awesome shots, though I think #8 would have been better if the couple were centered on the sun rather than having it off to the side.

I also like #3. Very atypical of wedding photos and a refreshing change of pace.

mmmatt · May 26, 2010

Compositionaly I think these are great! I agree with 10's points on the tilts, and the dress shot seems cramped to me. The rest are great though. The last 4 are really good. Great motion in the veil (on many) and I really like your use of the landscape in 8... choppy water, wind blown gown, and the sunset. That's a great shot! 9 is similarly well composed and a good lighting balance. 10 is a great catch for sure.

Matt

zoomer · May 26, 2010

Looks like a fun group.
My favorite is 8, I like them right in the center where you put them.
Maybe from a lower angle so more of their bodies would have been against the sky, very nice as is.

A wedding defined by the weather.

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