C&C Wedding edits

So I had my first wedding-shoot almost 2 years ago already. The couple didn't really care about an album back then, but now they want to make an album after all. Since it was my first wedding I went with the better safe than sorry mentality, since I really didn't want to screw up. Anyway I looked at some shots and they really do need some editing. At least some of them to give them a special look. They will probably be printed larger size...8*12 or so?
The car for example was a rental and had some stickers on it with website names, which I don't like at all in a classy album.
Anyway I have done two "bigger" edits(other than pulling some sliders in Lightroom) and here is the result. Please tell me what you think. All comments and critique are welcome.

This shot I have most doubt about. I really didn't like the license plate on the car so I changed it to their initials. What do you think? Click on the image for a 2000p shot.
Original:
http://www.actieinbeeld.nl/tdp/wedding-plate1.jpg

Edit:
http://www.actieinbeeld.nl/tdp/wedding-plate2.jpg

This second shot I played around with adding depth of field. Of course it would have been better if I shot this one the first time at f2 or something, but as I said I didn't take any chances that day.
Original:
http://www.actieinbeeld.nl/tdp/wedding-dof1.jpg

Edit:
http://www.actieinbeeld.nl/tdp/wedding-dof2.jpg

Thanks for looking!

The first one is definitely better when you have changed the license plate but it still grabs the attention too much from the couple. Maybe it could be desaturated a little/even the yellow color changed or something so the plate wouldn't 'pop' so much?

The depth of field blur on the second looks good to me, much better than the original I would say. Is it done with the new blur tools in Photoshop CS6 beta? Maybe even a little bit of a fake miniature feel to it but I like it still. Overall the image is maybe a little greenish? And also it might look better if it was straightened in relation to the manor in the background that is leaning left a bit.

Hope my comments are of some help!

Great pic's. I like the changes on the first.

On the second, I like the first one untouched. I did think it was just a degree or two off being level. The reason I like the first is when I first see the pic I think "a new married couple just getting ready to go in there new beautiful home". Of course I don't know if it is their home or not, but that is the feeling it presents. My second thought is I wish the car wasn't in the pic. Of course this picture is a captured memory for this couple, so my thoughts probably do not apply and it should be edited to give the feeling they would want to see.

If the second were a tighter cropped pic I think the background blur would have worked much better. Too much blur and not enough primary subjects. By keeping the leading line in the pic, the picture naturally draws you to the door of the house.

Hope this helps, if not just ignore it. :)

First pic. Bright front end of vehicle draws my eye. I then look right to the fellow looking at his watch who seems to be in a hurry to go somewhere else. Then I notice the bride and groom after that when I start looking for other objects of interest in the photo. Not sure if that was your intent or not. Like the license plate with the initials. It's a nice touch for the album. Only improvement might be toning down the yellow. The strong colour in the central foreground competes with the bride and groom for my attention. Yes, it brings some visual tension into the photo which kept me looking at the photo longer, but it borders on becoming a distraction from the couple.

Second pic. Interesting angles. Building slightly angled one way, groom more so in the other. How do you balance the two? Like the way the blur separates the subject. Really does make them stand out as the main object of interest. Glad to see the sky was cropped out as well. Blurring the background so much unfortunately makes the bride and groom seem small in the photo. Perhaps more cropping or less blurring?

I agree with the comment about the colour of the licence plate. It draws a bit too much attention, even in the second picture. Otherwise, I like the non-processed version of the last picture best, but would crop out some of the foreground. Also, the roof of the building appears to be tilting. Could it be that the picture needs to be straightened up a bit?

Lars

Much prefer the edited version of the second shot Jan - makes it much more interesting. Good stuff.

Nice work Jan, I really like your edits in both instances, specially the second shot, tighter crop more pop.

I have had couples come to me after 10 years wanting a professional wedding album created. The blur edit looks strange it really looks like minis ? What filter did you use.

I think the licence plate is a really cute feature that they're sure to love... However, I think if you cloned it out completely it would be less distracting. It is cool though! I might also be tempted to lessen the redness in the face of the driver as he seems a little flushed. Blur is always a difficult thing to get right in post but I think you've done a pretty good job.

First off: thank you all for the replies!!!:D I will now read them all and try to reply to all options. Thanks!

I have tried to reply on the different opinions given to the images. I have adjusted shot number 1 a bit(see below). I will try to redo number 2 now.

I'll try to react to photo number 1 first.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by qwRad

The first one is definitely better when you have changed the license plate but it still grabs the attention too much from the couple. Maybe it could be desaturated a little/even the yellow color changed or something so the plate wouldn't 'pop' so much?

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Good suggestion. I rarely add any saturation to a photo, so I guess the overall yellow is ok? I can desaturate the plate only of course.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jrw

First pic. Bright front end of vehicle draws my eye. I then look right to the fellow looking at his watch who seems to be in a hurry to go somewhere else. Then I notice the bride and groom after that when I start looking for other objects of interest in the photo. Not sure if that was your intent or not.

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The fellow at the right side of the car was just waiting for his turn:o
I definitely agree with you that the composition of the shot is not that great now that I look back at it. The presence of the car(details) overshadows the rest quite a bit. Weddings are not really my thing, but since they didn't want a photographer in the first place, and I had to go there since they are my girlfriends brother and sister in law I could just as well take a few shots. I cannot change the composition, so this is the shot I have to work with. If I ever do this kind of photos again I will pay more attention to it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by peterborough_photography

I have had couples come to me after 10 years wanting a professional wedding album created.

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That's pretty cool. If I look back now after just two years I notice how different I'm looking at some aspects now, so 10 years must be quite a shock:rolleyes:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by w349

I think the licence plate is a really cute feature that they're sure to love... However, I think if you cloned it out completely it would be less distracting. It is cool though! I might also be tempted to lessen the redness in the face of the driver as he seems a little flushed.

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Cloning the plate away will probably help solving the distraction, but also makes it more unreal. I personally don't care about the car, but the groom loved it so in the end it's probably the best to just leave it in. The red in the drivers face is a hard one, because my displays weakspot is showing the reds. On my display it looks great, but I have test-printed these shots and it did look quite red without adjustments. I will reduce the amount of red a little bit as well. Note that the driver also really had quite a red face plus it wasn't the warmest day ;)

Try number 2, I desaturated the plates and the reds a little:
http://www.actieinbeeld.nl/tdp/wedding-plate3.jpg

Alright, this is all about photo numer 2. The reason I took the blur-approach was because I felt that there was too little contrast between fore and background. The neutral look of the groom really matched the neutral look of the building. So I thought I had to make the couple stand out more.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by qwRad

The depth of field blur on the second looks good to me, much better than the original I would say. Is it done with the new blur tools in Photoshop CS6 beta? Maybe even a little bit of a fake miniature feel to it but I like it still. Overall the image is maybe a little greenish? And also it might look better if it was straightened in relation to the manor in the background that is leaning left a bit.

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About the straightening: you are all right that it was a little off. I had orientated/cropped the image while looking at the grass on the left and right side. Obviously I wasn't standing exactlyin the middle of the lane:D Fixed that.

I have done the blurring with CS5. I think the CS6 tools good, but only for flat surfaces. Quick steps in CS5:
- Copy the layer for the background.(Missing pixels etc after selecting and cutting, also filling in the unblurred parts later on)
- Selected the couple and cut them to a new layer.
- Used the content aware fill to fill the gap. If you don't, blurring the image gives ugly halo's around the couple.
- Blur and copy the layer, 1 is for foreground, one is for background
- Mask the areas in both layers which you don't want to be blurred using gradient tool.
- Make sure the order of layers is correct. The selection of the couple should be on top.
- Edit it to your likings.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HDNitehawk

On the second, I like the first one untouched. The reason I like the first is when I first see the pic I think "a new married couple just getting ready to go in there new beautiful home". Of course I don't know if it is their home or not, but that is the feeling it presents. My second thought is I wish the car wasn't in the pic. Of course this picture is a captured memory for this couple, so my thoughts probably do not apply and it should be edited to give the feeling they would want to see.
If the second were a tighter cropped pic I think the background blur would have worked much better. Too much blur and not enough primary subjects. By keeping the leading line in the pic, the picture naturally draws you to the door of the house.

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You made me laugh hihi:D Nope it's definitely not their house. It's actually a small castle:rolleyes: Of course your house may look like this one, who knows:p
I agree that the car shouldn't have been in the picture, but it's hard to change. I added the blur to make a bigger contrast from the background to the couple(who are the most important thing here).
I don't really want to crop any tighter, I have another shot for that. I do agree that the blur might be too much.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by peterborough_photography

The blur edit looks strange it really looks like minis ? What filter did you use.

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I think it might have to do with the blurring boundaries being on the wrong place. In other words too close to the couple. Both fore and background. I've changed that.

So here's edit number 2. I mainly changed the boundaries for the blur. Now there is more unblurred space around the couple.
http://www.actieinbeeld.nl/tdp/wedding-dof3.jpg

And another image I will combine with the shot. This one has a tighter crop already and I haven't processed it yet.
http://www.actieinbeeld.nl/tdp/wedding-dof0.jpg

As you may have noticed, I only quoted unique opinions. I do like to thank all of you who replied!:D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sheiky

You made me laugh hihi:D Nope it's definitely not their house. It's actually a small castle:rolleyes: Of course your house may look like this one, who knows:p
I agree that the car shouldn't have been in the picture, but it's hard to change. I added the blur to make a bigger contrast from the background to the couple(who are the most important thing here).
I don't really want to crop any tighter, I have another shot for that. I do agree that the blur might be too much.

I think it might have to do with the blurring boundaries being on the wrong place. In other words too close to the couple. Both fore and background. I've changed that.

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Well, if I had a house like this I would sell it, buy more camera equipment and use the money to travel. After all why would I need a house like that if I were gone all the time?

Those two pics together will be great.

Pic 1. Like the results of the changes. Like the composition myself with the juxtaposition of the bride and groom on one side and the timekeeper on the other. It makes for some visual tension and creates interest in what is happening. I find myself trying to guess at the details the photo alone can't convey.

Pic 3. Love the hand in hand going down the path leading to a gate.

Jan,

have you thought about cropping the first one a bit more? I think most of the roof of the building can go, maybe even changing it to a wide aspect ratio. After all the couple, the car, and the dude are the main interest.
And maybe it needs a slight rotation clockwise - I feel a little distracted by the question if the picture is not level.

Btw I think it is a great pic to have in the album, because it is not the typical wedding picture. I can imagine it brings back memories for the couple like "Remember that big old car that you liked so much? And the dude could never wait to finally leave?"

Arnt