My First Wedding - 10 Preliminary Test Shots

[cdifoto]

I'm shooting my first wedding tomorrow. I went to the facility to get some test shots and see what settings I need to use. I'd like some constructive criticism on these (none of that YOU SUCK! stuff - I already know I do. :o ) I'm quite nervous about tomorrow.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b100/nftn/emory/EMORY20051112-001.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b100/nftn/emory/EMORY20051112-002.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b100/nftn/emory/EMORY20051112-003.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b100/nftn/emory/EMORY20051112-006.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b100/nftn/emory/EMORY20051112-007.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b100/nftn/emory/EMORY20051112-008.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b100/nftn/emory/EMORY20051112-009.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b100/nftn/emory/EMORY20051112-010.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b100/nftn/emory/EMORY20051112-012.jpg

[timmciglobal]

Well,


For one, I think you need to nail whitebalance settings or shoot raw for some of the varried lighting areas.

Second would be watch your angels and your edges, for example in the flag shot the leaf and the prevelance of the ceiling tile to me throws the shot off.

The narrow DOF stuff is nice, especially the flute but it's also nice not to do the narrow DOF stuff always on forground subject, pick something in middle like for example the bells I might of focused on the centerpeice and left all the bells out of focus, would of made a nice effect I think.

Remember to keep back enough, you can always crop in but not crop out. You don't want a perfect shot ruined by the fact that you were just a TAD too close.

Tim

[cdifoto]

Well,


For one, I think you need to nail whitebalance settings or shoot raw for some of the varried lighting areas.

Second would be watch your angels and your edges, for example in the flag shot the leaf and the prevelance of the ceiling tile to me throws the shot off.

The narrow DOF stuff is nice, especially the flute but it's also nice not to do the narrow DOF stuff always on forground subject, pick something in middle like for example the bells I might of focused on the centerpeice and left all the bells out of focus, would of made a nice effect I think.

Remember to keep back enough, you can always crop in but not crop out. You don't want a perfect shot ruined by the fact that you were just a TAD too close.

Tim


Thanks Tim. I think I am gonna trash that one flag shot. In hindsight it's quite lame overall...

I thought I had whitebalance pretty good. The walls are actually somewhat yellowish.

Good advice on staying back. I did crop a couple of those...did I take off too much? If so, which one(s)?

[timmciglobal]

Oh and watch the level of objects. The glass behind that cure bridge dragging the groom isn't level and neither is the table, throws off nice shots.

Weddings are a real pain :/ You could free transform those though if you have cropping room.

Tim

[cdifoto]

Oh and watch the level of objects. The glass behind that cure bridge dragging the groom isn't level and neither is the table, throws off nice shots.

Weddings are a real pain :/ You could free transform those though if you have cropping room.

Tim

Ahh damn yer right. That glass isn't level. Oye. Lopsided shooting plagues me. Unfortunately no crop room on that one.

I'm going to shoot RAW tomorrow unless I can carry a small white card with me without it getting in the way for custom white balance. I'm going to try cutting a 4x4 or so out of some of that white foam core board and see how that works. I'll show up plenty early to test it out a couple times first of course.

[aparmley]

For the WB setting, try it some tonight. I wouldn't suggest attempting something new the day of the shoot. You'll have to change custom WB settings for every location of photos - something you might be able to easily forget if you aren't used to doing so prior to the event. Every free chance you get I'd suggest checking your WB - ISO - Metering mode - etc to make sure it was what you want. . . it sucks when the last time you shot you used the tugsten WB and then you peak at a photo or two 25 minutes into something and think - crap they're all blue! WTF ! LOL - I didn't do that at a wedding but I've done it plenty. . .

Relax, it will go better than you plan - once you start shooting - all that other crap doesn't matter.

[Bluedog]

Just forget WB and shoot RAW ... the power to manipulate in your favor... :D

[cdifoto]

For the WB setting, try it some tonight. I wouldn't suggest attempting something new the day of the shoot. You'll have to change custom WB settings for every location of photos - something you might be able to easily forget if you aren't used to doing so prior to the event. Every free chance you get I'd suggest checking your WB - ISO - Metering mode - etc to make sure it was what you want. . . it sucks when the last time you shot you used the tugsten WB and then you peak at a photo or two 25 minutes into something and think - crap they're all blue! WTF ! LOL - I didn't do that at a wedding but I've done it plenty. . .

Relax, it will go better than you plan - once you start shooting - all that other crap doesn't matter.

Once I get the right white balance I'll be fine...because it's all at the same location. I'll only need to set it once. I tried it here at home already and it did work....except for when I used flash. Turning on flash screwed it all up. I tried setting white balance with the flash on and for some reason it didnt match quite right.

I have 6.5 gigs of memory in all so I think I'll be ok in RAW - at least this time. But I figure I'll try white balance at the event - an hour before hand - to see if I can get it...otherwise I'll switch back to RAW.

Now. If only I could stop shooting lopsided...:eek:

[cdifoto]

I've never shot in RAW before as a serious attempt. I fiddled around with it but didn't learn it because of all the space it takes up on the memory cards. I shot these two of my pooch in RAW and used RSE to convert, then Photoshop with my usual workflow...

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a304/cdifoto/raw/HANKIMG_5849-001.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a304/cdifoto/raw/HANKIMG_5851-001.jpg

How did I do?

[Bluedog]

Looks great ... once I started in RAW my camera hasn't seen the JPEG setting since. The new premium version of RSE is worth it to me. Adds the ability to adjust levels and curves plus a new vibrance setting.

[cdifoto]

Looks great ... once I started in RAW my camera hasn't seen the JPEG setting since. The new premium version of RSE is worth it to me. Adds the ability to adjust levels and curves plus a new vibrance setting.

The only reason I do like RAW is the white balance. I hate that it takes up so much friggin memory...despite having a 4GB card, a 1GB card and several 512MB cards, I feel under-equipped if I have RAW turned on. I feel like I need like six 4 gig cards.

[jamison55]

Whoa guys...CDI, your technique is fine. Your lighting is good, your details are lovely. In a mixed lighting setting it is impossible to match the color of the light unless you gel your flash to the color of the tungsten room lights...

More importantly, is relaxing. You know how to use your camera, you know good composition, now focus on capturing the moments as they happen on the couple's special day. I promise, they will never notice the yellow lights behind the flute or that the table is a bit skewed.

Capture the emotion of the day and they will love the images - mixed lighting and all! Most importantly, have fun!

Also: Don't change anything about your workflow the night before the wedding - if you are not a RAW guy, don't switch now...wait until you have the time to be comfortable with it!

One more thing...be sure to close down the aperture to ensure you have enough DOF. One of the first lessons I learned. Take a couple of "safe" shots at f5.6, then open up to 2.8 for the artistic blurring. My first few weddings had a lot of bride-in-focus-groom-standing-next-to-her-not-in-focus shots... I keep my 17-40 on my primary camera at f5.6 all day, while opening up the lenses on my 2nd body for the short focus.

[Zoinac]

You also have to remember, that even though you want to do your very best. Which is important. The people getting married, are not likely to ever have heard the term white balance. If the room looks a little yellow, well, they'll probably remeber how the wedding was... a little yellow.

Do your best, but, as jamison55 said, just capture the day and have fun!

[cdifoto]

Whoa guys...CDI, your technique is fine. Your lighting is good, your details are lovely. In a mixed lighting setting it is impossible to match the color of the light unless you gel your flash to the color of the tungsten room lights...

More importantly, is relaxing. You know how to use your camera, you know good composition, now focus on capturing the moments as they happen on the couple's special day. I promise, they will never notice the yellow lights behind the flute or that the table is a bit skewed.

Capture the emotion of the day and they will love the images - mixed lighting and all! Most importantly, have fun!

Also: Don't change anything about your workflow the night before the wedding - if you are not a RAW guy, don't switch now...wait until you have the time to be comfortable with it!

One more thing...be sure to close down the aperture to ensure you have enough DOF. One of the first lessons I learned. Take a couple of "safe" shots at f5.6, then open up to 2.8 for the artistic blurring. My first few weddings had a lot of bride-in-focus-groom-standing-next-to-her-not-in-focus shots... I keep my 17-40 on my primary camera at f5.6 all day, while opening up the lenses on my 2nd body for the short focus.

Thanks Jamie. That helps. And before I read your post I took both bodies out of my bag and switched back to JPEG. I thought I'd be better off converting to B&W if they're THAT bad and I can't fix them up a little than to screw with my workflow less than 24 hrs before my first wedding ever.

I did figure on being around 5.6 or so most of the time with the 24-70...I just saw that wine glass there and knew I had to have it wide open for a shot like that. I think the isolation worked pretty well for that one.

I'm not really a nervous wreck but I am a little bit anxious. I don't want to screw it up completely. The location of this wedding is going to make it hard to get non-snapshot looking photos though. It's 100% in a banquet facility...no church or anything like your shots...with the architecture and everything providing a great background. Ah well.

[cdifoto]

You also have to remember, that even though you want to do your very best. Which is important. The people getting married, are not likely to ever have heard the term white balance. If the room looks a little yellow, well, they'll probably remeber how the wedding was... a little yellow.

Do your best, but, as jamison55 said, just capture the day and have fun!

Good point Zoinac. I guess I just need to concentrate on getting those facial expressions...those *moments* like Jamie said.

On the plus side...she's not wearing a white dress and he's not wearing a black tux...he'll be in his US Marine Dress Uniform and she'll be in a crimson-ish colored dress to sorta match. None of those blown highlights to worry about! :eek: :D

[jamison55]

The location of this wedding is going to make it hard to get non-snapshot looking photos though. It's 100% in a banquet facility...no church or anything like your shots...with the architecture and everything providing a great background. Ah well.

In a crummy setting, focus on the people. Crop tight on the people and it won't matter how ugly the room is. Look for intimate details, such as the brides hand on the back of the groom's neck while they are dancing. Take lots of really tight shots of the cake and flowers and centerpieces. Keep your 50 f1.8 on your second body @ f2.8. and switch to it once you have the safe f5.6 shot on your primary body. Once you have the safe dancing shots, drop your SS to about 1/10 and pan like you do with your race cars, firing the flash. Makes for some cool lighting effects...

[cdifoto]

In a crummy setting, focus on the people. Crop tight on the people and it won't matter how ugly the room is. Look for intimate details, such as the brides hand on the back of the groom's neck while they are dancing. Take lots of really tight shots of the cake and flowers and centerpieces. Keep your 50 f1.8 on your second body @ f2.8. and switch to it once you have the safe f5.6 shot on your primary body. Once you have the safe dancing shots, drop your SS to about 1/10 and pan like you do with your race cars, firing the flash. Makes for some cool lighting effects...

Hmmm...I must have the makings of a great photographer cuz thats what I was planning to do...stay tight when I can and only go wide on the group shots.

Good point on the 50 though...I thought about using it but mounted my 70-200 instead to try to get some distance-candids. I was going to be bold and use the 50 wide open if I use it at all...since the 24-70 is a 2.8 and almost tack sharp.

Wish I had a second flash...

The wedding party's gonna look at me like I'm on something if I spin around and pan with my flash going! :eek:

[24Peter]

You're gonna do great tomorrow CDI. You've studied hard and perfected your technique over the past few months. Your ability is obvious and I'm sure they'll love your photos. :)

(Plus I'll bet your dog is thrilled you're gonna be out of the house all day tomorrow with that damn camera. ;) )

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

[cdifoto]

You're gonna do great tomorrow CDI. You've studied hard and perfected your technique over the past few months. Your ability is obvious and I'm sure they'll love your photos. :)

(Plus I'll bet your dog is thrilled you're gonna be out of the house all day tomorrow with that damn camera. ;) )

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Thanks Pete. It's not a high paying gig but I do want to overdeliver rather than underdeliver. Hopefully she'll be a great referral.

Yeah...I do think he'll be happy about not seeing me for a couple hours! ;)

I'll probably post a few photos if I didn't botch the job too awful bad...

[Bluedog]

I'll probably post a few photos if I didn't botch the job too awful bad...

You'll be fine and very well might be onto a money making career doing something you seem too really enjoy.

[aparmley]

You're gonna do great tomorrow CDI. You've studied hard and perfected your technique over the past few months. Your ability is obvious and I'm sure they'll love your photos. :)

(Plus I'll bet your dog is thrilled you're gonna be out of the house all day tomorrow with that damn camera. ;) )

Good luck and let us know how it goes!

Couldn't have put it better myself - Well - you should be in action by now - so I hope all is going well.

[cdifoto]

The lighting was so horrible...I went through 3 sets of batteries within two hours. I was using full power flash the whole time...refresh rates were about 3-5 seconds so every 4 shots were dark if I tried to shoot continuous.

I did what I could. I clearly need practice...and a flash bracket. I also don't see myself shooting the entire event in such a poorly lit venue again. My sister's church was like Shea (sp?) Stadium compared to this place. :mad:

Here are a couple of the better shots.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b100/nftn/emory/EMORY20051112-078.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b100/nftn/emory/EMORY20051112-079.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b100/nftn/emory/EMORY20051112-121.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b100/nftn/emory/EMORY20051112-162.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b100/nftn/emory/EMORY20051112-172.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b100/nftn/emory/EMORY20051112-277.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b100/nftn/emory/EMORY20051112-323.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b100/nftn/emory/EMORY20051112-341.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b100/nftn/emory/EMORY20051112-365.jpg

[Bluedog]

Well under the given circumstances I'd say you did very well. That's the beauty of RAW is making the necessary WB adjustments to compensate for poor lighting. Did you capture any in RAW?

[cdifoto]

Well under the given circumstances I'd say you did very well. That's the beauty of RAW is making the necessary WB adjustments to compensate for poor lighting. Did you capture any in RAW?

Since I'm not used to RAW and the required processing that's normally done in-camera, I decided I better stick with JPEG. I'll fiddle with RAW on my own time and see how that does. In the meantime I'm ordering a flash bracket and sync cord from B&H for next Saturday's awards banquet for the race track.

[timmciglobal]

You can do alot with manual color balance adjustments too, not as good as raw but better someones jacket be a little more green then everyone being too red.

Tim

[cdifoto]

You can do alot with manual color balance adjustments too, not as good as raw but better someones jacket be a little more green then everyone being too red.

Tim

Yeah the only shot I did anything with was that last one with selective color. I'll go through them all and adjust the color channels tomorrow or Monday when I'm not feeling so annoyed from today.

I would have shot in RAW but I'm just not comfortable with it.

EDIT: Decided to try to get a good red channel curves action saved. How does this one look:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a304/cdifoto/emory/EMORY20051112-172.jpg

Original is in the first images post above.

[Bluedog]

As good as you seem to be with JPEG's you'll master RAW easily. But be fore warned ... once you do it there ain't no going back.

[Vich]

Congrads CDI! That red channel curves action did the trick.

Might I suggest PSing out some offending background items such as the castle growing from the groom's head on the cake eating shot, stuff like that.

Given the setting, I'd say you did well!

Noticed that the bride wasn't paying attention to the camera on some. Of course; the cake cutting, ceremony, first dance, etc. you're being invisible however, shots where the people in it are posing a would be nice as well. Did you do a posing session?

If you have enough material; you may consider deleting the poorer shots too. IMHO, bad shots just drag the whole thing down - better no have fewer greats - IMHO.

[cdifoto]

Congrads CDI! That red channel curves action did the trick.

Might I suggest PSing out some offending background items such as the castle growing from the groom's head on the cake eating shot, stuff like that.

Given the setting, I'd say you did well!

Noticed that the bride wasn't paying attention to the camera on some. Of course; the cake cutting, ceremony, first dance, etc. you're being invisible however, shots where the people in it are posing a would be nice as well. Did you do a posing session?

If you have enough material; you may consider deleting the poorer shots too. IMHO, bad shots just drag the whole thing down - better no have fewer greats - IMHO.


Thanks Vich...looked ok on my screen too so I saved it and will run it on all the red shots. I did do some posed stuff...just haven't gotten 'em edited/pp'd yet. I'm going to rest tonight and put them off till either tomorrow or monday.

I have a bit over 400 photos so I can delete the truly horrid stuff. I think I can salvage most of it though.

I would try to get rid of that castle...but it's part of the mirror. All the mirrors in the place had those (they're actually Lighthouses - the place is called the Lighthouse Restaurant) so it would be too obvious if I removed one. I'd have to go through and remove it from all the mirrors then & I'm afraid I'm not that skilled.

[timmciglobal]

Replace color to darken the jacket, and a little cyan seems too yellow at first still, oh and got those midtones a bit brighter by shifting levels over.

Will delete the image at your request, just wanted to post it for example sake.


http://pictures.divergentservices.com/testcdi.jpg

Tim

[cdifoto]

Looks good Tim but you lost the pocket in his jacket when you replaced color. Here's my second attempt:

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b100/nftn/emory/EMORY20051112-172c.jpg


Look better?

Here's the first attempt for easy reference:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a304/cdifoto/emory/EMORY20051112-172.jpg

[timmciglobal]

Better :)

It's personal preferance, thats why I in a way hate photoshop, you can spend hours fixing your images :)

Tim

[cdifoto]

Better :)

It's personal preferance, thats why I in a way hate photoshop, you can spend hours fixing your images :)

Tim


lol yeah...I wanted to be in bed an hour ago! Blah.

BTW...I'm not aiming for perfection on the red channel...I want to run it semi-automatically on as many photos as possible, so if it's close that's fine by me! This wasn't a high budget wedding... I'm not getting paid to spend too many hours at the computer on these pics. They don't even want prints...just a CD.

[cdifoto]

Here are a couple more I got done. My flash didn't fire on the first one :mad: but I saved it as best as I could right now. I'll probably try to go back and do a better job on it a little later though.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a304/cdifoto/emory/EMORY20051112-044.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a304/cdifoto/emory/EMORY20051112-063.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a304/cdifoto/emory/EMORY20051112-173.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a304/cdifoto/emory/EMORY20051112-182.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a304/cdifoto/emory/EMORY20051112-185.jpg

[Vich]

lol yeah...I wanted to be in bed an hour ago! Blah.

BTW...I'm not aiming for perfection on the red channel...I want to run it semi-automatically on as many photos as possible, so if it's close that's fine by me! This wasn't a high budget wedding... I'm not getting paid to spend too many hours at the computer on these pics. They don't even want prints...just a CD.These shots are really looking nice. After some minimal editing (crops, color, some clones, although these are looking pretty good as-is) they'll have reason to be thrilled.

Too bad you can't make a coffee table book or something like that. I suppose they're on a tight budget and figure on doing that themselves.

Its a good start (in the biz). Just curious; how'd you land the job?

Oh, I think you're already too late on the "spending hours" thing.:D That's OK, the first one's gotta be for you as much as for them.

[cdifoto]

These shots are really looking nice. After some minimal editing (crops, color, some clones, although these are looking pretty good as-is) they'll have reason to be thrilled.

Too bad you can't make a coffee table book or something like that. I suppose they're on a tight budget and figure on doing that themselves.

Its a good start (in the biz). Just curious; how'd you land the job?

Oh, I think you're already too late on the "spending hours" thing.:D That's OK, the first one's gotta be for you as much as for them.

Thanks. I'm trying to salvage them as best I can with my minimal PS knowledge.

Yeah...I'm assuming they figure on printing their own...or even just enjoying them on the computer on occasion. I offered to make a DVD slideshow for the TV but she said she didn't want one.

The bride's son's girlfriend was a *friend* a couple years ago. We ran into each other at a high school volleyball game that her younger sister was playing in and I was shooting for the newspaper. She recommended me to her boyfriend's mother. Kind of a friend of the family but not type situation.

Actually I haven't spent a lot of time on them so far. I figured out that curves thing (never worked with curves before) and made 2 of them...one for the ceremony lights and one for the main area lights. I've done about 35 so far and I'll work on the rest later in a semi-batch process - just tweaking the levels/contrast/brightness as needed. I think I have a pretty good set of curves that will work for just about all the shots. I put in about an hour total thus far. My brother in law, sister, and nephew came over so I was spending most of tonight with them.

I'm definitely going to bed now though!

[jamison55]

Congratulations CDI! First wedding under your belt. They all get easier from here!

Great first effort. My flash exposures were so bad at my first wedding that I spend hours in PS fixing them all. Yours are much closer to where they should be. Now let me share a secret. I return from just about every wedding I shoot saying "I suck." and "I shouldn't be doing this." I then sit down and start editing the pictures, and find a few that I like (and start to feel a little better about the day). Then I whittle my shots down to the 500 or so that I give the clients and I feel even better. By the time I'm through with the editing, I'm usually feeling much better about the overall effort. I have talked to several other wedding photogs whose work is far better than mine, and they go through the exact same mental process!

Your shots are well exposed, nicely sharp, and capture moments of their day. They will cherish them.

A few PS tips. In your first set apply a little shadow/highlight tool (highlight +10) to numbers 1,2, and 6. Number 9: I like selective color in some instances, but to me it takes away from the wonderful facial expression in the dancing shot. I humbly submit this version:

(Crop, Curves down, Variations/fine level one/add more yellow, Contrast +50)
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y216/jamiewexler/EMORY20051112-365cr.jpg

[24Peter]

Yeah CDI, I think you did a great job. First of anything is always tough so go easy on yourself. You showed up, got through it - now it's on to the next. I also undergo the mental/emotional process Jamison described with all my creative work. I can definitely be my own worse critic.

Personally, I find your willingness to share your fears and then put yourself out there and face new challenges very inspiring. Keep up the good work.:)

[cdifoto]

Congratulations CDI! First wedding under your belt. They all get easier from here!

Great first effort. My flash exposures were so bad at my first wedding that I spend hours in PS fixing them all. Yours are much closer to where they should be. Now let me share a secret. I return from just about every wedding I shoot saying "I suck." and "I shouldn't be doing this." I then sit down and start editing the pictures, and find a few that I like (and start to feel a little better about the day). Then I whittle my shots down to the 500 or so that I give the clients and I feel even better. By the time I'm through with the editing, I'm usually feeling much better about the overall effort. I have talked to several other wedding photogs whose work is far better than mine, and they go through the exact same mental process!

Your shots are well exposed, nicely sharp, and capture moments of their day. They will cherish them.

A few PS tips. In your first set apply a little shadow/highlight tool (highlight +10) to numbers 1,2, and 6. Number 9: I like selective color in some instances, but to me it takes away from the wonderful facial expression in the dancing shot. I humbly submit this version:

(Crop, Curves down, Variations/fine level one/add more yellow, Contrast +50)
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y216/jamiewexler/EMORY20051112-365cr.jpg


Hey I like that. I tried to do that but couldn't get the dang contrast right. I either had it blown out or too dark. That's why I went with the sorta colorized skin & selective color. I'll have to get the original as close as I can to what you did. Thanks! I didn't think to crop it either...good move!

Thanks for the support...I didn't feel frustrated too bad while actually shooting but I was a nervious wreck until I got there. I was irritated by my flash not recycling very fast though...causing me to miss a lot of shots...so that didn't help any. Maybe some day I can afford the 580EX and a hip mounted battery pack.

I wish I had enough to wittle down to 500...I only have 400 to start with. They're getting a CD as I said though...so I think if I can get 150 good ones that should be plenty. It's not like they'll have to choose from proofs to get prints - ~150 pics to print anytime they want should be enough.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that feels like a failure at the end of the shoot...I guess a little PS goes a long way. And the more I look at some of the fixed ones, the better I feel.

[cdifoto]

Yeah CDI, I think you did a great job. First of anything is always tough so go easy on yourself. You showed up, got through it - now it's on to the next. I also undergo the mental/emotional process Jamison described with all my creative work. I can definitely be my own worse critic.

Personally, I find your willingness to share your fears and then put yourself out there and face new challenges very inspiring. Keep up the good work.:)

Thanks Pete. My family was saying I was too hard on myself when I showed them the results last night via the AV out cord (I plugged it into the TV and gave them a slideshow of the pics while they were still on the camera). They said they were good...but you know how family is. They'll tell you a snapshot with direct flash hotspots and no background is good. ;)

[ReValveiT]

Don't be so hard on yourself. Ain't not'n wrong with those, good job!

[cdifoto]

Don't be so hard on yourself. Ain't not'n wrong with those, good job!

Thanks. I finally got them all processed. I did some better than others. I was able to salvage some where the flash didn't fire as well. Since they aren't getting prints, I figure 128 good shots for the CD ought to be enough...it's not like I need to provide 500 proofs for them to choose from.

Here are a couple more that I did:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a304/cdifoto/emory/EMORY20051112-072.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a304/cdifoto/emory/EMORY20051112-116.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a304/cdifoto/emory/EMORY20051112-121.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a304/cdifoto/emory/EMORY20051112-273.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a304/cdifoto/emory/EMORY20051112-301.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a304/cdifoto/emory/EMORY20051112-308.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a304/cdifoto/emory/EMORY20051112-310.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a304/cdifoto/emory/EMORY20051112-335.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a304/cdifoto/emory/EMORY20051112-343.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a304/cdifoto/emory/EMORY20051112-386.jpg

(Hopefully my screen doesn't need calibrated...they look pretty good on my end!)

BTW you can see them all here:

http://photobucket.com/albums/a304/cdifoto/emory/

[bklassen]

I just read through this thread, and am actually in need of some advice myself. First off, I will say that CDI, your pictures look excellent (if an amateur's opinion means anything). I share much of the same concerns and anxiousness that CDI had... You see, a good friend of mine just asked me if I could be the photographer for her wedding (next Spring sometime, just got engaged). The thing is, I JUST got my Nikon D50 over a month ago and haven't spent much time with it. I'm getting the hang of things, but definitely have a thing or two to learn about SLRs! (I have a decent knowledge of photography prior to purchasing this particular DSLR - check http://brendon.fotopages.com for some of my "work") She says I don't have to feel obligated to accept her request, and I haven't given her the affirmative just yet, but I have a feeling I have lots of learning to do in the coming months if I decide to go for it (it'll be my first wedding as well) :o ...