Photoclubalpha

Hi all,

I've been away for what seems to be ages. Sorry about that, life got in the way.

A few months ago I was asked to shoot the wedding of my cousin and his bride. I turned down these requests from other couples in the past as I didn't feel comfortable with my own skills and in turn, was afraid of ruining their wedding photo's. But as time progressed, I felt a little more confident in my abilities as a photographer. After a good conversation with my cousin and his bride about the fact that I do this for fun and could not guarantee anything except doing my very best, they still wanted for me to do this, so I did. I can tell you this was one of the most rewarding things I have done in years. I still feel all warm and good inside when I look at the pictures and remember that day.

Now, after 2 months and with consent of both husband and wife, I can share what I feel are the best images I took that day.

Note: another photographer was asked to document the preperations for the bride, so I'm not able to show these.


Mirror, mirror... by markvanrheenen, on Flickr


Two souls by markvanrheenen, on Flickr

Mom's helping by markvanrheenen, on Flickr


Go! Your bride awaits! by markvanrheenen, on Flickr

Tears of joy by markvanrheenen, on Flickr


Love by markvanrheenen, on Flickr

The bride arrives by markvanrheenen, on Flickr


Ceremony by markvanrheenen, on Flickr

For those absent... by markvanrheenen, on Flickr


Portrait together I by markvanrheenen, on Flickr

Having fun at the party by markvanrheenen, on Flickr

More on my Flickr page.

All shot using:

A580 + CZ 16-80
A350 + 70-300G
Sony HVL-43AM flash

Mark

Mark,
Good job all around. Tears of Joy, Ceremony, Love and Having fun at the party are my most favorite (in no particular order).
One comment on Go! Bride awaits: the cropped head of the foreground gent is quite distracting. I would not have
minded if the person is somewhere in the background but right smack in front of me, it was more disquieting than
distracting, I should say. Hope you don't mind the unsolicited input.

With best regards,
Sury

Well done, especially for your first wedding. I've only done one wedding and that was reluctantly. I was rather overwhelmed with the whole thing and I admire anyone that is able to do it.

The caption for the shot of the shoes is pretty neat. This is not meant as a criticism and I certainly wouldn't have thought of it at the time, but after having that caption bouncing around in my head and enjoying the photograph, all I can think about is I wonder what a his shoe, her shoe shot might have looked like? Anyways, nice job and I really the colors in "Portrait together I."

Love the candid shots Mark. I think knowing the couple and the people at the wedding must help get those intimate shots.

@Sury: Thank you and I can understand the sentiment about the head of the driver being cut off. I tried to guide the eyes to the subject I was trying to depict (the groom) by using a bit of vignetting and brightness added in PP. Clearly it didn't have the intended effect on you. No worries though, they like it.

@the_hefay: Thank you for your nice feedback. I was pretty nervous myself the days leading up to the wedding, but when I finally started shooting the nerves went away and I was focussed on the job I had to do.

@Birma: thanks and yes, it helped knowing the bride and groom and a big part of the family and friends. Access was no problem, anticipating what would happen and when was the biggest challenge.

In all I shot about 600 images from which I selected almost 300 as the best which I processed for the couple. Never had such a high keeper rate. Processing did cost a LOT of time though, as I have not automated much of my workflow.

Mark