Weddings & "Bad" Light

[C.R.S.]

I have studied your photos and will give you an honest critique.

Watch your backgrounds: I usually ask the minister to step to a side for ring exchange, vows, and the kiss.
Else you end up with an unwanted third party in the most important photos of the day.
If you had a second camera ready to go you could have snapped a shot of the couple's hands only close up in your first photo.
Did you notice the groom has a microphone coming out of his neck in that photo, and the is more detail of the minister than the bride.
The day is all about the bride and secondly about her dress.
Don't recall seeing the eyes of your bride in any of the photos, nor did I see her smile.
I only move the boquet up to the face for a head shot and keep it at the waist for three quarters shots.
You have too much desaturation going on in most of the shots. Did you set a white balance for this setting?
There is also a background problem behind the groom the the BW colorized photo.
Focus problems in the hand/boquet photo, may be your DOF was narrow.
The photo of the church during the ceremony is busy, I see too many folding chairs.
I would have preferred shots from the ailse for the wedding party even if it meant not getting the enitre group.
Some good shots of the audience on the front row close up is usually nice.
All in all you need to study some more work out there and develop a style that you really like.
Good luck

Ask the minister to move. That's so simple. I'll do that next time.

Second shooter, got it. I plan on having one for the next wedding I do. So I'll have her go in and get some close ups of the hands.

I did notice the microphone and would've removed it in Photoshop but I wanted to give you the raw image so you could see the lighting. I'll make sure I move things like that next time as well.

I did notice the minister had better detail than the bride. I have no excuse and will work on that next time.

First priority: Bride. Second priority: Dress.

I had the white balance on auto and like I said, it's unedited but even the edited versions turn out with bad color. It's because of the lights and just the overall quality of light I'm sure. Again, no excuse.

I noticed the bad background behind the groom and will work on that next time.

Now that you mention it I can see a bad focus in the bouquet image. I'll work on that.

Too many folding chairs, yes. I've been finding out how important a clean image is and will work on that.

I actually got some okay images of the wedding party coming down the aisle when the ceremony finished, I just didn't post them here.

Front row audience shots I did not get but makes perfect sense now that you mention it. I'll do that next time.

Study more work and develop style. Yes sir.

Thank you so much for the help! I'll read this again and write it all down before the next wedding. Thanks again!

[iND]

I am glad that you took the critique on the positive side.
Too many times I see false praise when that does you no good to develop and progress.
I will be glad to look at some more of your photos.
Before your next session you can start to work on some of these things.
Realize each wedding is unique and you have to have a master plan before the day starts.
Think if you were the coach of a football team and you had to have a strategy, consider yourself the wedding planner,
who is where and when, how much time will there be for shot sequences at certain times, meet with your bide ahead of time and set up expectations,
go to the rehearsal, don't be afraid to address the bridal party and give them directions (they expect it).
There is so much to this day that you need to consider.
I try to photograph the entire day, I go to the brides house, I get the grooms men dressing, bride ready, the ceremony is a very small part of the day.
Break the day into sessions, Ex: Bride getting ready, groom ready, church before ceremony, ceremony, ..... Have some set shots you want to get at each of these times, then practice them. Practice shots in dark churches, practice taking shots of hand holding (what looks good, study other works, then develop your style)
Know your equipment, the wedding day is stressful, its not time to not know something about your camera or lenses.
Study groups settings that you like, ask yourself what settings and what lenses you would use.
Be glad to look at more of your photos.

Thanks

[C.R.S.]

You're the first real photographer to critique my work and give feedback so I'm loving it.

I'd love to show you more images but I really don't have a very large portfolio at the moment. All my best work is on my website: http://calebroyerstudio.com/ I'm going to a wedding on the 6th and they're going to let me photograph on the side lines (they already have a photographer) so I'd love to hear anything and everything you've got to say about those. How many wedding pictures do you usually give your clients? I real have no idea how many I should keep.

A master plan, yes, I'll definitely work on that one.

Thank you for even more information! It's going to be so much help! I'll try and follow it as best I can. Thanks again!