Ok, I've got to get it out. Don't kill me. I'm posting these here because this forum is my home per say and I greatly value everyone's opinions. These *gulp* were not shot with a pentax. I helped a photographer out with an engagement shoot and he insisted I use his back up a 40D. I had trouble using it as it was the first time shooting with a canon and it felt cumbersome and uncomfortable in my hands. I have no doubt that I could have gotten more and better shots with my K10D. Without a doubt. But, please, I'm looking for honest feedback on the shots and I know in my heart everyone can overlook this disturbing little fact! And I haven't posted in a while to boot! Processed in Lightroom. So, would you kindly?

1.


2.


3.


4.


5.


6.


7.


8.


9.

[Nels]

I like all of the shots, however the last shot is my favorite for composition alone. I think the grass is too saturated, but maybe that is the real color. this last one might also be stunning in B/W.

[dantuyhoa]

Ditto , last one . So Jeff , are you rich now ?

[raz-0]

#1 is pretty nice, but the contrail is distracting. I'd see if you could edit it out. I'd spend some time on it just because it is likely more fixable than #2, and the landscape orientation might fit in an album better than #2.

#2 would be REALLY nice without the contrail. PP works well with the shot. It's sort of a big black blob at the bottom on second look, but that didn't even register on first look, so I wouldn't worry about it much.

#3 not sure the duotone look works here. I think the clothing is probably a bad choice for high contrast B&W or similar.

#4 captures her expression better and has a better crop, but I'm not so sure I dig the PP. Also not so sure I dig the degree to which the postioning affects the height. THere's also something weird about having one person's feet cropped out and the others not. Feet or no feet.. it comes up a lot and there isn't always a good answer. His look might ease up a bit with some less contrasty PP. Has potential. I'd give it a shot with the PP from #5.

#5 PP is still pretty severe, but I think it works better with their outfits.

#6 Meh. It's a picture. As a customer, this would not make the should I/shouldn't I spend money on it cut.

#7 looks like it's a bit too early or a bit too late to get the pose. I'd never pay anyone to put it in an album.

#8 slightly awkward. Will never make the album because she willbe thinking it makes her butt look huge/funny/whatever. The real problem is the way she is hunching over though.

#9 Do NOT like the PP on it. THe composition is nice though. I don't think the pavement is green. BAcking off enough that you can tell that might work better, but dunno without seeing the original.


Overall the main issues seem to be with getting the couple to pose well. IF you were backup and just doing coverage and not bossing them around, then there isn't much to be done about it.

As for the PP, it looks a bit more like someone trying to sell trendy jeans in a magazine that is 90% ads than something I'd want ina wedding album, but I'm not the customer. It's not that neutral, so I would defintiely consult with the customer on it to make sure they are clear it's not the way it HAS to look.

[davemdsn]

The silhouettes and the last one are my faves. All were good. Heavy PP is in these days so I don't think any of them are out of line. In the last issue of Rangefinder (their annual wedding issue) most of the images were heavily saturated, vignetted, and such. Your client is the final benchmark, though. It all depends on their taste.

[axl]

I have to agree with some of the posts above. The last one nailed it...
The rest of them are OK too.

[jshurak]

Thank you all for the comments. I made some edits based on your suggestions, ones that I could do in the brief time before leaving for work!

I like all of the shots, however the last shot is my favorite for composition alone. I think the grass is too saturated, but maybe that is the real color. this last one might also be stunning in B/W.

I never really thought about it in B/W. I tried to avoid straight B/W because I'm not quite happy with my B/W conversions....I need to work on those. I did a quick conversion on the last one. I'll post it at the bottom.

Ditto , last one . So Jeff , are you rich now ?

*checking wallet* Nope!

#1 is pretty nice, but the contrail is distracting. I'd see if you could edit it out. I'd spend some time on it just because it is likely more fixable than #2, and the landscape orientation might fit in an album better than #2.

#2 would be REALLY nice without the contrail. PP works well with the shot. It's sort of a big black blob at the bottom on second look, but that didn't even register on first look, so I wouldn't worry about it much.

#3 not sure the duotone look works here. I think the clothing is probably a bad choice for high contrast B&W or similar.

#4 captures her expression better and has a better crop, but I'm not so sure I dig the PP. Also not so sure I dig the degree to which the postioning affects the height. THere's also something weird about having one person's feet cropped out and the others not. Feet or no feet.. it comes up a lot and there isn't always a good answer. His look might ease up a bit with some less contrasty PP. Has potential. I'd give it a shot with the PP from #5.

#5 PP is still pretty severe, but I think it works better with their outfits.

#6 Meh. It's a picture. As a customer, this would not make the should I/shouldn't I spend money on it cut.

#7 looks like it's a bit too early or a bit too late to get the pose. I'd never pay anyone to put it in an album.

#8 slightly awkward. Will never make the album because she willbe thinking it makes her butt look huge/funny/whatever. The real problem is the way she is hunching over though.

#9 Do NOT like the PP on it. THe composition is nice though. I don't think the pavement is green. BAcking off enough that you can tell that might work better, but dunno without seeing the original.


Overall the main issues seem to be with getting the couple to pose well. IF you were backup and just doing coverage and not bossing them around, then there isn't much to be done about it.

As for the PP, it looks a bit more like someone trying to sell trendy jeans in a magazine that is 90% ads than something I'd want ina wedding album, but I'm not the customer. It's not that neutral, so I would defintiely consult with the customer on it to make sure they are clear it's not the way it HAS to look.

Thanks Raz, I took the trail out. I think they look better. The photographer and I actually had a conversation about the feet. An earlier shot, Ben's feet were half chopped off. We came to the conclusion that if you start the feet, you better finish the feet. That being said, if you look at the fourth shot, her feet were blocked by a step anyway!

I totally agree with you about the 6th shot. Why hire a photographer? Their mother could have taken that shot! This shot was discussed afterwards, maybe could have been improved by having Ben look at Samantha instead of the camera.

overall issue with PP?! Couldn't tell!! Luckily, this is just my PP. After the shoot, we downloaded all the RAW images onto the photographer's Mac and he made copies of the nones I shot. Any print or Hi Res the costumer receives will be with the photographer's PP.

The silhouettes and the last one are my faves. All were good. Heavy PP is in these days so I don't think any of them are out of line. In the last issue of Rangefinder (their annual wedding issue) most of the images were heavily saturated, vignetted, and such. Your client is the final benchmark, though. It all depends on their taste.

Heavy PP is in today and its so difficult to critique it. You love it or hate it. Its all subjective! I am noticing the heavy saturation and vins too. Probably why I chose to process them like so.

I have to agree with some of the posts above. The last one nailed it...
The rest of them are OK too.

Thanks axl! I really wanted to get the rest of that curve in there, but the photographer was lying on the path just out of frame!

I'm glad you all liked this one (compositionally!)! It was basically the last shot I took and I had a huge grin when I looked at it in the LCD!

[Nels]

Jeff, I think that conversion looks great! Good job. IMHO

[egordon99]

Hey, I know where that is! (pretty much down the road from where I'm sitting now )

Nice shots! What lens(es) were you using?

I know what you mean with getting used to the 40D, the little grip in the front seems to stick out more than the K10D. The K10D/BG2 combo was a bit more comfortable for me than my gripless 40D (haven't picked up the grip yet, will soon though)
Basically, working the 40D is a combo of remembering (1)Where each button is on the top for ISO/EC/WB/AF and (2)Remembering whether it's the front wheel or back wheel to make the change. Tough at first, but after awhile your muscle memory makes it seem effortless.

[jshurak]

Evan,

I used a sigma 18-50 2.8. I was excited to use this one (and the next one for that matter!). I had looked into purchasing this lens for my K10D. It got great reviews from popphoto.

I used that for the two silhouettes. I have more shots with it, but got home too late to process most of them. It was nice. Being used to pentax's built in SR, I lost a couple shots I would have normally been able to get.

For the rest of the shots I used *drum roll* the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM. What a lens! Its a beast! That was fun to use. I don't think I lost any shots to shake with that one.

[raz-0]

Definitely like the walking away shot better in B&W.

My problem with the PP mostly had to do with their outfits vs. the PP. When they are wearing black, denim, and something light, you start losing detail drasticly with something that saturates the blues and bumps up the contrast. THat's why I liked #5 better for the subjects.

The only one I think was actually bad was very green walking away shot.

[jshurak]

Definitely like the walking away shot better in B&W.

My problem with the PP mostly had to do with their outfits vs. the PP. When they are wearing black, denim, and something light, you start losing detail drasticly with something that saturates the blues and bumps up the contrast. THat's why I liked #5 better for the subjects.

The only one I think was actually bad was very green walking away shot.

Thanks Raz. I'm proud to admit that the processing in #5 is a home brewed preset. The other two in that series were downloaded presets, slightly tweaked. (Ben's face in #4 way considerably darker)

[gawan]

I really like the first five of these, the fourth and fifth being my favourites.

[rparmar]

The first silhouette is great. And the last photo is very nice in b&w. I am not sold on the other ones, not because of your work, but because there's something a little off in the expressions in each. He could possibly look a little happier, y'know? (Or maybe it's shyness.)

[Techiechick]

The last one is my favorite for the symbolism alone. The green is a little much. I like the B/W version also.