First "on my own" wedding

[Maleko]

For just over a year I have been helping out a wedding photographer (15 years experience himself), getting experience for myselfetc. This year I have gota few weddings lined up that I have got myself, here are some shots from the one last Friday, typically in the UK it rained, so nice outside shots just weren't going to happen, I have another one this Friday which is ata gorgeous venue.
I'm using a 50D, 24-105mm f4 L, 580EX II
Some wide shots were taken with EF-S 18-55mm (horrible lens, but does the job - needs replacing!)
Excuse the watermarks.


http://portfolio.maleko.co.uk/images/portfolio/weddings/weddings_27.jpg

http://portfolio.maleko.co.uk/images/portfolio/weddings/weddings_31.jpg


http://portfolio.maleko.co.uk/images/portfolio/weddings/weddings_35.jpg


http://portfolio.maleko.co.uk/images/portfolio/weddings/weddings_37.jpg

http://portfolio.maleko.co.uk/images/portfolio/weddings/weddings_38.jpg

[Daniel Browning]

Wow! Fantastic work.

[Madison]

Nice. Although the second pictures is way too gray. There are ways to convert color to black & white and retain more tone.


Other than that I like the pics you put up. I recently did my first wedding as well!

[Gian Luca]

Madison,


Can you give an indication how to convert in BW with more tone. I do it in camera raw, but sometime the tone is not up to my expectation.

[Maleko]

Madison,


Can you give an indication how to convert in BW with more tone. I do it in camera raw, but sometime the tone is not up to my expectation.
<div style="CLEAR: both"]</div>



Would be good to know! I can only guess its down to adjusting the levels on their own? Or saturation?


Cheers for the comments guys :)

[Jarhead5811]

Nice...All of them but I REALLY like the last one.

[Madison]

I use commercial software for conversion. Sometimes I use Silver Efex Pro, but most of the time I use an automated action.


But you may want to look into Photoshop's Channel Mixer. Because converting to greyscale without adjusting color curveslevels behind it is usually no good.





I will post an example here for you (see below)

[Madison]

[EDIT] picture removed [:@]

[Maleko]

Think you have to add people as a friend first? i dunno, lol


the second image or the car one sorry? will get it sent to you later on today :)


edit: see what you did with that file! looks a lot better :)

[Madison]

No need to send me the file: i worked with the one from the post and even from that one I could gain a lot more tonality than your conversion.


So you may want to look into that.

[Chuck Lee]

Nice photos, I really like 3 &amp; 5.


As far as the B &amp; W goes, there a few simple things you can do to help that out.


1) Make sure as you process the raw that your histogram is filled from one end to the other. Slight clipping on either end won't kill you. Dad's shirt collar can be blown out slightly and that won't hurt the overall image. So increase exposure in post until that happens. I treat the exposure compensation as a highlight controller. If the histogram is not clipped at the bottom, there should be a black level or similar slider to stretch the histogram toward the dark end. We'll call that the shadow controller. I'd say by the look of dad's jacket your already there.


2) If you have it, open a curves dialog and push up the straight line in the middle to push up the mid-tones. The image should look overall much brighter but the highlights are clipped where they are. Do this until your comfortable with the skin luminosity.


3) If you have a way to desaturate in raw processing do that. Then change the white balance from one end of the scale to the other and watch what happens to the B&amp;W tones as you do so. This is the way I apply color filters while processing raw.


I hope you don't mind. I downloaded you image and looked at the histogram. I would say due to dad's collar the image was severly underexposed. 1-2 stops. I did a little post in CS3 with levels and some vignetting....


http://www.partsense.com/Photos/Examples/weddings_31B.jpg


Nice shot...good composition...beautiful subjects.....what more could a photographer ask for?

[Maleko]

Thanks for that input guys! Know how to handle B+W Images a lot better now!


No problems with editing the files, shows me what I need to be aiming for now when I process them, many thanks!

[Madison]

It's often matter of taste. For example, I think Chuck's vignetting is too harsh (especially in the upper right corner) and the highlights in the father's blouse are blown. So experiment. It's fun.
The way I postprocess doesn't please everybody either, so it's not a right-wrong issue.
It's a matter of developing a style that you as a photographer feel comfortable with. Everything is possible.

[Madison]

PS: Before you do any greyscale make sure the white balance of the color original is correct. Sometimes people go straight to conversion after shooting tungsten for example and the orange cast will not convert well to greyscale. That sort of thing.

[Maleko]

Thanks for the advice guys, appricated!

[Chuck Lee]

Maleko,


Just for the record.


Madison's a Tool!! [:O]

[Madison]

Tool: stupid, loser, annoying. Okay then.

Don't worry Chuck. You are a far more experienced and better photographer than I am. If you are offended by my critique I apologise. But:
I simply stated two minor things:
- That I think your vignette is a bit harsh in the upper right corner.
- That your highlights are a bit more blown that mine.

I also stated:
- People don't always like MY way of postprocesisng EITHER, and that it is a matter of personal preference.
- That the photographer should experiment and find his own style that works for him.

What is so bad about that?
Honestly!





But you know what? This is not the first time I run into trouble at these boards for simply stating my personal opinion (even adding that it is a matter of taste and not a matter of who is right). I am off. Some people here cannot handle simple critique without feeling attacked. This is not the place for me then. Goodbye to you all and thank you for your kindness, help and tips.

[Chuck Lee]

So much for joking around. [:P]


Man your sensitive. [:'(]


You're kidding me right? You'd quite this awesome board because I called you a tool?


I thought you were cool. [H]


What a shame. I didn't even mean it in a bad way. That's why the suprise smile at the end. [:O]


Dude, I put that example together in less than 30sec. I didin't even know you were posting a response. I was not trying to out do anyone, just showing Maleko what the possibilities were and since I had talked about blowing the whites a little, that's what I did. As far as vignette who gives a rats butt. He didn't ask either of us to post anything much less critique the critique.


Sorry you were so offended. Just ask me next time rather than stomp off.


Chuck