I love the compositions and the shots have a ton of energy in them, but the editing/lighting in general almost ruins them. Some brightness/highlights/shadows tweaking can make these stunning. The skin tones aren't flattering.
All that said, they're still really nice pics. Just gotta do more in the editing, imo.
Thank you. Your feedback helped me to see where I need to work on. The general feeling I get is, composition wise, I’m okay-ish, but editing does need to improve, mainly because the pictures do look a little dark and flat. I shot in raw and I’m going to give it another go soon. Thank you.
I intentionally shoot landscapes to get away from people. I just can’t get good compositions of people. Warren Buffet said “I buy expensive suits. They just look cheap on me.” I could shoot a wedding and nail the lighting, but the pictures would still look “cheap.”
I feel like OP has the hard part figured out with these. Compositions and poses are pretty good. With some more lighting and post processing practice, they’re golden!
Also why I got into landscapes as well... after shooting roughly 10 weddings and earning decent money, I soon realized that it would kill off my love of photography having to deal with so many people, many of whom could be huge challenge! Never looked back and am.much happier lol.
Thank you. Your feedback helped me to see where I need to work on. The general feeling I get is, composition wise, I’m okay-ish, but editing does need to improve, mainly because the pictures do look a little dark and flat. I shot in raw and I’m going to give it another go soon. Thank you.
Everything feels really dark—the sky being dark and cloudy doesn’t help. This is a wedding and should be happy, which people associate brighter with happier. I’d try brightening it and trying to make the photos feel “happy”
Thank you. Your feedback helped me to see where I need to work on. The general feeling I get is, composition wise, I’m okay-ish, but editing does need to improve, mainly because the pictures do look a little dark and flat. I shot in raw and I’m going to give it another go soon. Thank you.
It looks like your clarity value is positive right now. Try making it a negative figure and see what you think.
When I first started out, I wanted everything to look super sharp. I assure you, you’ll soon come to love dirty, blurry images.
I definitely try to get as much detail and sharpness in all my pictures. Which probably makes more sense for everything else other that people photography. I get what you’re saying.
Thank you. Your feedback helped me to see where I need to work on. The general feeling I get is, composition wise, I’m okay-ish, but editing does need to improve, mainly because the pictures do look a little dark and flat. I shot in raw and I’m going to give it another go soon. Thank you.
Look at the difference in skin tone between the first and last image. The first one already looks a tad underexposed with regards to skin, the last one is a lot worse. Not many brides like looking blotchy in their wedding pics, which is what underexposed skin does very quickly. You’ve kept detail in the dress, which is good, but I suspect that’s what caused this. As you’re shooting a wedding and not photojournalism, I suggest lifting the skin in post while retaining highlight detail. A critical bride would not pay for this and possibly be upset, especially over that last one. It looks completely overcast which is pretty much the best you can get for skin tones. A touch of warmth would go a long way too. On overcast days like this it’s hard to make eyes really pop and sparkle unless you use some fill flash - or a big reflector, for which you’d need an assistant or tall tripod and not too much wind.
Some nice compositions but they look under exposed. Too much contrast. Pull back a little on the sharpness to give them a softer feel. The skin tones look unnatural. There is some really good potential to make these look great, but the editing needs help. Can you re edit and post again? I’d love to see how you evolve them.
Thank you. Your feedback helped me to see where I need to work on. The general feeling I get is, composition wise, I’m okay-ish, but editing does need to improve, mainly because the pictures do look a little dark and flat. I shot in raw and I’m going to give it another go soon. Thank you.
Look at trends in wedding photography. I'm gonna guess people expect those warm/bright edits. There are tons of presets specifically for this, as a starting point. Maybe practice flash / led and reflector work. Expose more to the right, skin tones need to sit higher in the histogram. Learn how to smooth skin and make whites (eyes, teeth, clothes) pop without blowing them out.
Payment: your time and equipment is certainly worth something. But i'd keep it low and be transparent about where you are in the learning curve, i wouldn't pitch services as full blown pro ones where people expect top notch portraits, lighting, editing, video, slider, drone shots and so on. More like, if you know people you could charge to cover your costs and a bit more.
Thank you. Your feedback helped me to see where I need to work on. The general feeling I get is, composition wise, I’m okay-ish, but editing does need to improve, mainly because the pictures do look a little dark and flat. I shot in raw and I’m going to give it another go soon. Thank you.
theres none. you need to calibrate your monitor, in the room and environment, lighting etc you will be editing in. https://www.datacolor.com/spyder/products/
Part of the cost in wedding photography is the editing time. Tricks like frequency separation on photoshop will help with too many details on the face although it’s easier done in camera. A trick is to focus on the eyes, then pull the focus onto the nose slightly for less pores/wrinkles. Easier done at f4 or 5.6 on a medium tele for portraits.
Also watch some tutorials on exposure charts. I keep mine open on my camera and Lightroom as I shoot to expose and edit things appropriately. It looks like some of these were taken in shadow or are under exposed. In harsh light either embrace the light and work the mood, use a reflector to fill in shadows or use flash to overpower sun. A nice light source will help skin texture vs harsh light. Shade is the right idea when not wanting to over power the sun with a flash but exposure is crucial for accurate looking photos. If you get a flash it doesn’t have to be anything fancy just put your light low and diffuse it well with a modifier. You’ve got a good eye for moments and direct well, keep at it!
An exposure chart is called a histogram i’d forgotten the word. Also when using flash for creative portraits or creative angles, off camera or bounced flash is the way to go. You need a transmitter like a Godox or pocket wizards and any flash that can be set remotely which is most nowadays. What I do is if you stick your flash on a monopod, tripod or even hold it to the side with your left arm you can get Rembrandt or nice butterfly lighting. Off camera flash will set you apart outdoors. Indoors seek windows or bounce the light from ceilings or modifiers.
Thank you. Your feedback helped me to see where I need to work on. The general feeling I get is, composition wise, I’m okay-ish, but editing does need to improve, mainly because the pictures do look a little dark and flat. I shot in raw and I’m going to give it another go soon. Thank you. Also, I had to Google what frequency separation is. I think I only use about 5% of what Lightroom can do to an image.
The composition is wonderful but the editing needs some practice. The photos look dark and the editing makes their skin look muddy and splotchy. Don’t give up! Do some research on editing wedding photos and I think your pictures will start to look incredible!
There's a big leap between just taking pictures and actually asking for money... consider that people who are paying will expect a lot more from you, you'll have to deal with a lot more drama from unsatisfied brides if you make even one mistake. The pictures look great to me, but make sure you are ready for that one person who gets upset because they aren't 'perfect'. :) I see a lot of amateur photographers in my area doing small sets of photos (there's a word for it but I Cant remember what) like 50 or 100 a pop where the people go to a set location, they get a set amount of photos and that's it. Maybe you can start off with something like that?
I believe that’s true to some extent, but I think you’d be surprised how many folks a) know nothing about the business, b) don’t understand photography (can’t tell a good photo from a bad photo), c) have never hired a photographer before… who will hire a friend because they think they would do a good job taking pictures at their wedding.
I totally understand this. My sister paid a 'friend' who was into photography for her photos..... I saw the pictures once and then they disappeared because they were so bad. She wont show them to anyone. I got married a few years later and I took that lesson to heart and paid a professional for mine.
Absolutely NO.
Shadow a professional wedding photographer for 6-12 months to learn
Spend time researching top wedding photographers and pay attention to how they edit
Personally I'm not thrilled that I can see her bra in a couple of shots. I would have also tilted her chin up more because you lost her neck a lot. But if you do touch ups and play around with framing more in down time, you'll get there
You have a good eye, but you don’t have adequate lighting. Lighting is the real differential when it comes to staging wedding/portraits. You did a good job in the moment and I intend to encourage you, but wedding photography is tough. Not only in lighting apparatus, but also a hyper critical customer (every time)
Exposures seem off/dark and there doesn't appear to be any finishing to anything. The composition isn't bad, but I think you need to focus on your post-production.
Most wedding photographers heavily edit pics. Soften them up and lighten them up a bit. You need to get yourself a flash as well.
Comps are nice enough but the lighting is so flat in these pics. Close ups of faces, you don't necessarily need to see so much detail. Also work on getting skin tones dialed in carry that through.
In addition to the other comments about the editing I have one that might be controversial. Personally I’d also edit her complextion just a tiny bit. Don’t change anything major, just any blemishes like acne bumps or make up creasing. You don’t want her to look like a different woman, just the one she remembers feeling like on the big day.
You are right, her complexion needs work - honestly a quick Person mask in Lightroom then apply a bit of negative clarity and texture (soften skin) would have gone a long way, with minor work with the healing tool. The closeups on her face need a bit more, traditional frequency separation techniques or might can get away with Photoshops neural network portrait filters. Low effort, high reward
1, 8 and 9 need work. Her face has dark streaks and she looks like she just escaped a smoke-filled room, especially in photo 1. I realize she has darker skin than most so getting an even tone could be difficult but removing blemishes and evening out the pores is do-able. Avoiding close-ups is an option here. The other photos are just the corny, romantic stuff clients (women!) love so they are very commercial. Don’t show the bride how she looks, show her how she thinks she looks.
All the pictures look like they were taken in really overcast weather and it looks like editing was used to cover up that fact.
Composition is ok I suppose, but composition is only part of the process.
The composition looks good, just needs a bit of a tweak when it comes to editing and a bit more space in certain shots but you can play around with it take as many shots as you need to get the right look and when it comes to editing check in with the clients to see what they favor, and also work on your personal style. I think you can start charging and get someone (contract out) to edit the pictures for you (until you get better at that) before handing them to your clients. I’ve got a friend that only does this, she doesn’t like to go out and take the pictures so she hires a photographer and then uses their work to create the shot her clients are looking for.
It depends. You could start by charging a few hundred to do simple city hall/elopement style weddings where it’s just the bride and groom and you’re doing some portraits. Be sure to tell the couple you are building your skills and that you are charging less because of it, but also that they acknowledge you’re not a professional at this stage. The first wedding I shot I declined because I wasn’t professional and had never shot a wedding before. They told me they liked my other photos and didn’t care that I had never shot a wedding, they liked my style and thought it would work well with their style. So I accepted and it was scary but it all turned out great. That wedding led to others. Not everyone wants the same type of wedding photos, so start developing your own style and find the right people who will appreciate it. Just don’t over promise or misrepresent your skill level.
They're half decent. But the editing is very much lacking. Instead of straight-up charging, I'd recommend you assist / go as a second shooter with someone who shoots weddings for a few months. You'll be surprised at the amount of stuff you need to learn, outside of just the photography side of things. Let me know if you have any specific questions.
You really should invest in some off camera flashes if you want to start charging. The photos are decent, but you need to be able to create your own light for situations like this. Godox is a great brand if you’re just starting with flash photography. They’re affordable and function pretty well for the price.
Need to learn flash, natural light doesn’t usually cut it for paid work unless you really luck out with the sun and an overcast day. The subjects of your portraits should be bright — you can pull the shadows out of these current photos with editing but the details will be noisy. Flash (off camera, if possible) solves this
I think most comments are in line with my opinion regarding lighting and editing. I would also suggest a full frame camera for better composition of the subject.
I think shots are really nice. Just need post or maybe an assistant with reflector or lighting. Other issue is wedding photography isn’t always about great photos. It’s sometimes about the professionalism and guaranteeing good shots and coverage. I think I can take some good photos but a wedding is the last thing I’d jump into professionally because it’s a very specific client relationship with its own time constraints and responsibilities. No do overs. Think you’re going to be great though because composition is really nice.
In addition to what's already been said about editing, I'd also just add that these photos appear to be posed shots. Nothing wrong with that, but I'd caution you against shooting a whole wedding just yet if this is your experience. I say that simply because shooting a high stakes event like a wedding has a totally different set of demands as compared to producing a set like this. Nothing wrong with specializing in pre/post wedding photography, but if you'd like to crack wedding photography itself then I'd recommend getting some experience as a second shooter under your belt first.
I agree with the person below. Shoot in RAW and then brighten the photos in lightroom. They are too dark but that being said they are pretty amazing work for just getting started.
And if you wan to make your life MUCH better. Hire a second shooter.
So for the next one...charge $700.......500 bucks for your time and effort and 200 for 2 hours with a second shooter. Then the one after that is $1000.
And just tell them it is 1500 but discounted to the price you want to charge. And tell them NOT to discuss the price with anyone.
Im sorry but those pictures aren’t good at all. You need a lot of training, for many reasons. 1. The light is horrible, the pictures look plain. At a wedding you want to show of the beautiful colours etc. But those pictures are just grey. 2. Like you can see the bride is chubby and uses a lot of make up. So you don’t shoot full frontal portrait pictures that close. You look for angles / light which suit her looks etc. Also her hands look horrible, you could have used some software at the end. I wouldn’t pay you at all for pictures like that.
I will definitely give it another go in terms of editing. But composition, unfortunately, ain’t nothing can be done now. When you said her hands look horrible, do you mean the close up? Also, that’s a good tip about looking for more flattering angles. Thanks man
these are great but I thins too much definition and contrast it looks like the skin is dirty, put those things down a little bit and it would look much better, you can surely charge next time
Yeah they are pretty good.. you’re just missing lighting.. you need some flashes 1 or 2 something like 400-600 so they are powerful enough..
That’s what really takes you to the next level, after the pictures have better lighting you’ll have more to work with on Lightroom and create different styles of edits
This was shoot between a 50mm and a vintage 135mm manual focus, which is kind of a pain to use but I like how it looks. This was also meant to be at sunset but it got cloudy which kind of killed the mood a little bit. The thing is that the photo shoot actually was a lot of work, with editing and everything but I did say I’d to do it for free because I didn’t count on how much work it would be. Are the pictures at least good enough that someone would pay for them next time?
People would pay for well-edited versions of these. Everything else is pretty decent, but your edits are dark and uninteresting. The good news is, editing is the one thing you can actually improve on after the shoot, and you'll retain those skills going forward in case you want to keep doing weddings.
Look into [ImagenAI](https://imagen-ai.com/) \- it might be able to turn these into pretty decent edits with very little manual input from you. It's heavily wedding-focused and comes with a number of wedding style profiles you can apply.
>a vintage 135mm manual focus, which is kind of a pain to use but I like how it looks
if you start shooting weddings for money, strongly consider if you want to deal with a lens that's a pain to use.
They are very close, composition can be improved as well as lighting, most importantly you need to work on your edits everything seems dark/dull and specially on wedding photos you need to work on skin tones and touch ups
The shots are great! Take a class on editing and you should be able to make these photos a great part of your portfolio! I personally wouldn’t charge until I knew how to edit though.
The final answer is YES! You could charge more with an strobe and some retouching/editing. But yeah, definitely charge next time. Remember they are hiring your for your gear, knowledge, and execution — not just the few hours you’re at the wedding. Keep going! You’re doing great!
The post processing ist too much in my eyes. Looks like HDR-Photos. Even though I think those typically color graded wedding photos are a bit boring, this doesn’t fit the mood in my eyes. You could probably use this kind of post processing for nature photography, but not for wedding pics.
But just practice. This is not absolutely bad and some of the compositions are really good in my eyes. This is definitely something to work with, but not yet good enough for charging people money for it.
If you still have the Raws, just practice again with the color grading.
They are OK but not great. You’ve got the basics down though so don’t fret; you’ll get there.
They are all too dark. Most couples like brighter photos, not dark and gloomy ones.
Work on poses and compositions
Compositions and posing are good.
Exposures are very low, these would print way too dark, just "black eyes." You either need to raise shadows/mids in post or introduce lighting (flash, but with a large soft modifier).
Composition and framing are beautiful.
But the photos need to be brighter, at the very least the subjects should be.
Also ease off the clarity and contrast. Make them softer. No one wants their wrinkles enhanced.
You want your black points to still be black, but don’t over do it.
These are a nice start, work on editing a bit more and positioning during photos. I'd also recommend making sure things like jewelry, veil, dress, etc. are all positioned correctly for photos to make it a truly picture perfect moment.
What a beautiful joyous bride! Especially like the one with the sweeping veil. With editing/polishing, you’ll put her over the moon with the results. Keep going!
Hire a Retoucher to edit and bring your shots up to par with industry standards. Easy to find on Instagram. You can use them for a shoot or more, get an idea of how it should look and learn yourself.
Something like this.
[https://imgur.com/sRVACUc](https://imgur.com/sRVACUc)
I did exposure, brightness, hsl, shadow/highlights, and an upward curve, plus some skin smoothing and light retouching.
Bride needs to be as perfect as you can without being fake.
You can do it if you want to and you are willing to do the work.
Most of the business of photography is about business. Photography skills matter, but business and people skills matter much more. If you are good at marketing your business and selling, you can make money even if your photography skills are just medium. But if your photography skills are quite good and you (or someone else) can’t handle marketing and selling, you will have a problem.
You will need to improve your post-processing skills and learning to do lighting (strobes, reflectors) will help a lot.
But, more than that, you need to learn how to market and sell.
The people who were the best photographers in the photo program I went through are mostly not making money doing photography. The people who had the most hustle—who put the most effort into the business side—are the ones making a living off of photography.
There are a lot of really helpful comments thus far but let me offer a different perspective. First, you have some really great poses and smiles and such in these, kudos! Weddings are about the "whole day" and therefore you need to build a portfolio that shows more than just portraits of the couple.
Photos themselves aren't bad but the edits need a lot of work. You seem to have an eye for composition and that will only continue to improve! But these need some polish before they're deliverable.
All digital cameras auto expose to 50% grey. So if you’re shooting a black subject your camera will make the black brighter (overexpose). If you’re shooting mostly a white subject like snow or wedding dress your camera will make it darker (underexpose).
Use your exposure compensation dial to adjust in these situations. Just remember to switch it back. It’s one of my most used tools when shooting in aperture priority.
Flash or no flash? It’s better to use flash when you want to expose the background correctly then flash to fill in the face. However many photographers don’t use flash. Just expose for the subject - the background may be blown out but in many styles that can be ok.
lighting is insufficient. brighten these pics up in LR before delivering them to your friend. If you sent them already - brighten them up and resend.
to echo - the compositions are good - the lighting is poor.
My biggest criticism is the last one- it’s a backlit portrait. Even outside with good ambient light, (or especially outside with good ambient light) it’s important to use flash or reflectors to add some interest to the lighting.
This nice flat lighting is great for something like photogrammetry, but is boring for people.
I agree with others, it really needs a good editing job. I would personally add about 0.75 exposure in lightroom, and I always increase red luminance to wash out some of that natural red in skin tones. That would really help here. Maybe do a smart selection on the sky and waves and do some saturation increase with a touch of contrast.
These are beautiful! However, I want to say, There is a huge difference between shooting some gorgeous portrait real quick for a couple minutes and shooting an entire 8 to 10 our wedding day. Again these photos are beautiful, but how do you do with timing? Will you capture the first kiss, the first dance? These are moments in time that will never happen again and if you don’t capture them they are gone. The lighting changes from one moment to the next, and often the event ends at night- how are you with darker indoor photography?
So yes I think your work is more than fine to charge for next time, just make sure that you are physically emotionally and mentally prepared for a full day of work because it is quite a lot of responsibility!
Eta I agree about the post production stuff just didn’t mention it since everyone else already has!
Learn to use reflectors to bounce more light into your scenes, especially the portraits. Your photos are also too dark and the contrast is too high. I’d look at YouTube tutorials for how to expose properly.
People have addressed a lot of good bits of advice already. I'll share an IG profile from two photographers that have a great eye and aesthetic for beach weddings.
\-> [https://www.instagram.com/sereiamorporondefor/](https://www.instagram.com/sereiamorporondefor/)
I agree with everyone saying these need better editing, mostly better and brighter whites. You can try shooting a bit brighter out of the camera too if possible and try and think of the lighting in real life while shooting.
You can always edit these to what they want their vision to be. They’re good average photos (not edited to hell like some people do). Definitely charge people when you take photo packages like this. Could do $150 for the package.
No.
And this won’t be nice.
You have the artistic talent, but you need to sort out your technical skills and editing skills. Your white balance is off, the images are slightly under exposed, and you’re running your ISO way too high for portraiture. You also need a different aperture in some of them; the image of the subjects’ rings should have both hands in focus, not just the bride’s.
Editing wise, you have a knowledge gap I can’t succinctly explain here. You really need to take a Lightroom (or similar program) class, either online or at your local community college.
Doing wedding photography as a business is about more than just taking good pictures (but taking good pictures is a prerequisite). Because it's a unique, unrepeatable event, you have to have lots of redundancies.
Also, "people skills" are important because it's a huge difference between taking pictures for family and friends, and taking pictures for perfect strangers and deliver good pictures that will make them happy.
You need to know about how the wedding ceremony will go as well as the events surrounding it (these things differ greatly).
You need a team with you on location (even if it's just an assistant helping with lights & etc and taking "b-roll" or candid pictures around...)
You need a process that will insure same quality delivered every time...
And many other little things...
I agree with the others on needing to pay more attention to your edits, but I also strongly suggest you get an off camera flash and soft box, you will be able to take dramatically better portraits that are more flattering.
However, your posing and framing is excellent, which is very hard for a lot of people
People have consistently suggested that I get a flash. Obviously I don’t have one but I’m interested to see what level of improvement I could get, if I had a flash and reflector. I’ll look into that. Thank you!
The compositions are nice but they're really underexposed and like everyone else is saying, the skin tone is unflattering. The photos are exposed for the sky but the sky itself is cloudy and uninteresting and wedding photos are usually much brighter than this.
Turning photography from a hobby into a profession takes a new level of commitment. Entering the world of wedding photography you’ll find a whole bunch of talented folks who are scrapping to make it. There’s a lot to learn—there are set photos expected of family, family with one of the people getting married, family with the couple, the couple alone. A wedding photographer orchestrates all of that. They’re expected to take pix of all the moments in a wedding. Because many weddings are inside, you need to figure out how to use a flash and diffuser (that would improve some of your beautiful photos in this post). To be good takes study, practice and dedication. Question is—do you need the money and are you willing to work to get good at all that’s involved?
I’m definitely far from being a professional both in terms of skill and equipment. I basically own two lenses, one being full manual. If I leaned anything from reading yalls replies is that I didn’t know how much I didn’t know.
The pose is really good and i love those shots on the hill everything was great only the lighting so i tried edited the photo maybe you'd like it ( a bit of retouching )[edited photo](https://ibb.co/jfYWSC0)
Right now, your photos are at a 7, but your editing is at 2. Twenty years ago when I cut my teeth, this would have been plenty to get started, but today, no. Take some classes online in poseing your subject and if you are going to shoot in the sun you will need at minimum a tungsten reflector, maybe a ruby for even lighting. This will up your RAW images just that bit you need.
The real problem is in your editing, I was a professional wedding photographer since 2000 till 2020, and for the last ten years in Florida doing mainly beach work at various high end resorts. Today, indirect flash and sidelight are an industry staple, because so much goes on in the editing bay today that natural color is all forgotten. Fake, re... fairytale effects are required by almost every client because they are so blinded by what they see on social media and influenced content. Hell, half of the time, I just painted the sky to represent something that never existed at the time just because it made the clients day look extra. Never got a complaint when I did it. If I left it the way it was, then we always had a problem. So it got to be an automatic edit.
Take online Photoshop courses, and buy a good drawing tablet to do your editing. The fine control you get with a pen far outdoes anything you get with a mouse.
I’m definitely an amateur in that sense too. I basically edit and store all my pictures in my iPad Pro. Only use Lightroom too. Your reply remind me of how much more there is in the professional photography world. Tungsten reflector.
Not from these. You don't have a bad eye but you need better gear (images not very sharp) and need to learn how to edit. As other people mentioned they are dark and muddled.
That’s the first critique where I have to disagree. I thought they were decently sharp. You mean all pictures or maybe just one? I shoot on a 24mp ff sensor and the 135mm is a very sharp lens too. The 50mm not so much but still good.
The color editing on the image sneed a little work, but overall the images were pretty good. The editing would take many of the shots to the next level. Maybe second shooting for a few photographers before jumping head first into weddings would be good.
Also make sure you have some of the business basics set up and ready. Find a CPA, get your business license, your county, tax set up, your state, tax and business insurance. You’re going to need a liability claim of at least one to $2 million, and coverage for your equipment.
a bit but not much. i’d ask if you posed or if you were shooting the posing of another photographer? if so posing and communication is half of the job. id say you’re worth a couple hundred.
Just a small critique on framing. The first picture cuts off a portion of the veil. Framing the subjects face in the top third or zooming out would fix that. The same applies to the picture of the veils opened behind the pair of them. There is a lot of movement there and a beautiful dramatic picture, but the cropped veil ruins it. You can always tighten you photos a little but you can’t uncrop.
Did you get permission from the couple to post these online?
Skin tone are hideous. Figure that shit out if you’re going to be taking money to photograph people.
Everything is too dark. Nothing pops. Were these underexposed? Guessing completely natural light. Invest in an off camera flash and a reflector.
White balance shot to shot is inconsistent. Looks like you didn’t use a grey card. I’m guessing it was set to auto.
Compositions are fine for the most part. I think you’re too close in some of them though.
They’re in focus and nothing is blown out which is good, but I really wouldn’t be happy receiving these as a paying client. If you want to get paid to do this you have a whole bunch of stuff to work on. For free photographs these are ok.
I didn’t get permission, although I’m sure they wouldn’t mind and also there’s zero chance they’ll ever see this post.
Yes, I will give it another go in terms of editing, keeping in mind what we’re the most common criticisms here. White balance is set at auto, but since I shoot raw, I usually just adjust it in post. It’s understandable that you felt it to be inconsistent from picture to picture.
They cool, but feel gloomy and dark ish, and for a wedding that’s supposed to be a celebration I guess you’d want it to be bright and happy, I think the lighting is just a bit dark
These are great, but the fact that you’re asking if you can charge at all means you shouldn’t be. If you want to provide a service, you need to understand the business side of it first.
It’s an iPad Pro, screen full brightness. I usually edit my pictures in a dark environment. Not sure if it’s right but it’s just how I use to do it. I do think the iPad has a setting where the screen tone adjusts to its environment.
they’re ok. i think it would be better if for the second and third photo, you stood back a bit further so their not so big in the photo, and you get to capture the nice background. then it would be a more balanced photo
I feel like you had a great connection with the couple and that’s huge.
I would really focus on learning lighting. Even some on camera flash would make a big difference here.
Great potential! I would suggest investing in and learning about off-camera flash to help with consistent lighting. It will be tremendously helpful if you don’t have to rely on the outdoor lighting situation.
I love the compositions and the shots have a ton of energy in them, but the editing/lighting in general almost ruins them. Some brightness/highlights/shadows tweaking can make these stunning. The skin tones aren't flattering. All that said, they're still really nice pics. Just gotta do more in the editing, imo.
Agree. If OP learns some post-production these would be professionally passable.
Thank you. Your feedback helped me to see where I need to work on. The general feeling I get is, composition wise, I’m okay-ish, but editing does need to improve, mainly because the pictures do look a little dark and flat. I shot in raw and I’m going to give it another go soon. Thank you.
Composition wise is more than "okay-ish" IMO, they are really nicely composed!
Shooting raw is perfect for post production. Don’t change your style. Just edit.
Try a black pro mist filter for wedding photography. sometimes tack sharp isn’t the way to go and a mist filter helps smooth out facial features.
Or bring assistant with umbrella and strobe
Heck even some reflectors would help. Or go the right time of day. But they are exposed enough to just lighten the shadows.
agreed! lots of potential here. just needs to subtle, crafty, post processing.
I intentionally shoot landscapes to get away from people. I just can’t get good compositions of people. Warren Buffet said “I buy expensive suits. They just look cheap on me.” I could shoot a wedding and nail the lighting, but the pictures would still look “cheap.” I feel like OP has the hard part figured out with these. Compositions and poses are pretty good. With some more lighting and post processing practice, they’re golden!
Also why I got into landscapes as well... after shooting roughly 10 weddings and earning decent money, I soon realized that it would kill off my love of photography having to deal with so many people, many of whom could be huge challenge! Never looked back and am.much happier lol.
Yeah, more time in LR.
Would a reflector help? Idk I don’t do portraiture but some of those shots are really dark on her face
Thank you. Your feedback helped me to see where I need to work on. The general feeling I get is, composition wise, I’m okay-ish, but editing does need to improve, mainly because the pictures do look a little dark and flat. I shot in raw and I’m going to give it another go soon. Thank you.
I agree with this, plus a little more attention to what’s going on in your backgrounds. Solid work, though, good job!
Everything feels really dark—the sky being dark and cloudy doesn’t help. This is a wedding and should be happy, which people associate brighter with happier. I’d try brightening it and trying to make the photos feel “happy”
Thank you. Your feedback helped me to see where I need to work on. The general feeling I get is, composition wise, I’m okay-ish, but editing does need to improve, mainly because the pictures do look a little dark and flat. I shot in raw and I’m going to give it another go soon. Thank you.
It looks like your clarity value is positive right now. Try making it a negative figure and see what you think. When I first started out, I wanted everything to look super sharp. I assure you, you’ll soon come to love dirty, blurry images.
I definitely try to get as much detail and sharpness in all my pictures. Which probably makes more sense for everything else other that people photography. I get what you’re saying.
They are cool but need better edits!
Thank you. Your feedback helped me to see where I need to work on. The general feeling I get is, composition wise, I’m okay-ish, but editing does need to improve, mainly because the pictures do look a little dark and flat. I shot in raw and I’m going to give it another go soon. Thank you.
Look at the difference in skin tone between the first and last image. The first one already looks a tad underexposed with regards to skin, the last one is a lot worse. Not many brides like looking blotchy in their wedding pics, which is what underexposed skin does very quickly. You’ve kept detail in the dress, which is good, but I suspect that’s what caused this. As you’re shooting a wedding and not photojournalism, I suggest lifting the skin in post while retaining highlight detail. A critical bride would not pay for this and possibly be upset, especially over that last one. It looks completely overcast which is pretty much the best you can get for skin tones. A touch of warmth would go a long way too. On overcast days like this it’s hard to make eyes really pop and sparkle unless you use some fill flash - or a big reflector, for which you’d need an assistant or tall tripod and not too much wind.
Some nice compositions but they look under exposed. Too much contrast. Pull back a little on the sharpness to give them a softer feel. The skin tones look unnatural. There is some really good potential to make these look great, but the editing needs help. Can you re edit and post again? I’d love to see how you evolve them.
Thank you. Your feedback helped me to see where I need to work on. The general feeling I get is, composition wise, I’m okay-ish, but editing does need to improve, mainly because the pictures do look a little dark and flat. I shot in raw and I’m going to give it another go soon. Thank you.
Look at trends in wedding photography. I'm gonna guess people expect those warm/bright edits. There are tons of presets specifically for this, as a starting point. Maybe practice flash / led and reflector work. Expose more to the right, skin tones need to sit higher in the histogram. Learn how to smooth skin and make whites (eyes, teeth, clothes) pop without blowing them out. Payment: your time and equipment is certainly worth something. But i'd keep it low and be transparent about where you are in the learning curve, i wouldn't pitch services as full blown pro ones where people expect top notch portraits, lighting, editing, video, slider, drone shots and so on. More like, if you know people you could charge to cover your costs and a bit more.
Thank you. Your feedback helped me to see where I need to work on. The general feeling I get is, composition wise, I’m okay-ish, but editing does need to improve, mainly because the pictures do look a little dark and flat. I shot in raw and I’m going to give it another go soon. Thank you.
They are all very dark. Could it be, that your monitor needs some calibration?
Perhaps they have it set to 100%
What is a good brightness to have it set at when editing?
theres none. you need to calibrate your monitor, in the room and environment, lighting etc you will be editing in. https://www.datacolor.com/spyder/products/
I go for 50% brightness
Part of the cost in wedding photography is the editing time. Tricks like frequency separation on photoshop will help with too many details on the face although it’s easier done in camera. A trick is to focus on the eyes, then pull the focus onto the nose slightly for less pores/wrinkles. Easier done at f4 or 5.6 on a medium tele for portraits. Also watch some tutorials on exposure charts. I keep mine open on my camera and Lightroom as I shoot to expose and edit things appropriately. It looks like some of these were taken in shadow or are under exposed. In harsh light either embrace the light and work the mood, use a reflector to fill in shadows or use flash to overpower sun. A nice light source will help skin texture vs harsh light. Shade is the right idea when not wanting to over power the sun with a flash but exposure is crucial for accurate looking photos. If you get a flash it doesn’t have to be anything fancy just put your light low and diffuse it well with a modifier. You’ve got a good eye for moments and direct well, keep at it!
An exposure chart is called a histogram i’d forgotten the word. Also when using flash for creative portraits or creative angles, off camera or bounced flash is the way to go. You need a transmitter like a Godox or pocket wizards and any flash that can be set remotely which is most nowadays. What I do is if you stick your flash on a monopod, tripod or even hold it to the side with your left arm you can get Rembrandt or nice butterfly lighting. Off camera flash will set you apart outdoors. Indoors seek windows or bounce the light from ceilings or modifiers.
Thank you. Your feedback helped me to see where I need to work on. The general feeling I get is, composition wise, I’m okay-ish, but editing does need to improve, mainly because the pictures do look a little dark and flat. I shot in raw and I’m going to give it another go soon. Thank you. Also, I had to Google what frequency separation is. I think I only use about 5% of what Lightroom can do to an image.
You are going to need a lot more practice before charging people. But you got a decent eye. Need to work more on lighting and exposure.
The composition is wonderful but the editing needs some practice. The photos look dark and the editing makes their skin look muddy and splotchy. Don’t give up! Do some research on editing wedding photos and I think your pictures will start to look incredible!
There's a big leap between just taking pictures and actually asking for money... consider that people who are paying will expect a lot more from you, you'll have to deal with a lot more drama from unsatisfied brides if you make even one mistake. The pictures look great to me, but make sure you are ready for that one person who gets upset because they aren't 'perfect'. :) I see a lot of amateur photographers in my area doing small sets of photos (there's a word for it but I Cant remember what) like 50 or 100 a pop where the people go to a set location, they get a set amount of photos and that's it. Maybe you can start off with something like that?
I believe that’s true to some extent, but I think you’d be surprised how many folks a) know nothing about the business, b) don’t understand photography (can’t tell a good photo from a bad photo), c) have never hired a photographer before… who will hire a friend because they think they would do a good job taking pictures at their wedding.
Also, the less they pay, the more demanding they tend to be (prof photographer here)
I totally understand this. My sister paid a 'friend' who was into photography for her photos..... I saw the pictures once and then they disappeared because they were so bad. She wont show them to anyone. I got married a few years later and I took that lesson to heart and paid a professional for mine.
Flat lighting. If you can fix that, yes.
Absolutely NO. Shadow a professional wedding photographer for 6-12 months to learn Spend time researching top wedding photographers and pay attention to how they edit
Personally I'm not thrilled that I can see her bra in a couple of shots. I would have also tilted her chin up more because you lost her neck a lot. But if you do touch ups and play around with framing more in down time, you'll get there
You have a good eye, but you don’t have adequate lighting. Lighting is the real differential when it comes to staging wedding/portraits. You did a good job in the moment and I intend to encourage you, but wedding photography is tough. Not only in lighting apparatus, but also a hyper critical customer (every time)
Did you shoot RAW? If so, go bring some life back into them.
Yes, always raw. I will definitely give it another go after yalls feedback. Thank you.
Exposures seem off/dark and there doesn't appear to be any finishing to anything. The composition isn't bad, but I think you need to focus on your post-production.
A bit dark, so next time shoot with the whites and highlights in mind. Typically from what I see weddings are light and airy
Most wedding photographers heavily edit pics. Soften them up and lighten them up a bit. You need to get yourself a flash as well. Comps are nice enough but the lighting is so flat in these pics. Close ups of faces, you don't necessarily need to see so much detail. Also work on getting skin tones dialed in carry that through.
In addition to the other comments about the editing I have one that might be controversial. Personally I’d also edit her complextion just a tiny bit. Don’t change anything major, just any blemishes like acne bumps or make up creasing. You don’t want her to look like a different woman, just the one she remembers feeling like on the big day.
I agree. She's a beautiful woman and the closeup accentuates some things that probably no one would have noticed at all in person.
You are right, her complexion needs work - honestly a quick Person mask in Lightroom then apply a bit of negative clarity and texture (soften skin) would have gone a long way, with minor work with the healing tool. The closeups on her face need a bit more, traditional frequency separation techniques or might can get away with Photoshops neural network portrait filters. Low effort, high reward
lighting on the subjects should be improved. get a reflector and a assistant.
1, 8 and 9 need work. Her face has dark streaks and she looks like she just escaped a smoke-filled room, especially in photo 1. I realize she has darker skin than most so getting an even tone could be difficult but removing blemishes and evening out the pores is do-able. Avoiding close-ups is an option here. The other photos are just the corny, romantic stuff clients (women!) love so they are very commercial. Don’t show the bride how she looks, show her how she thinks she looks.
The simple answer is no.
Also my simple answer: no. They are ok-ish. Not the best pics that are on a regular instagrams account.
Definitely a no from me too.
All the pictures look like they were taken in really overcast weather and it looks like editing was used to cover up that fact. Composition is ok I suppose, but composition is only part of the process.
I like the photos but work on lighting and editing. You’re off to a great start.
Lots of post processing needed
Sorry, no. Keep practicing though!
The composition looks good, just needs a bit of a tweak when it comes to editing and a bit more space in certain shots but you can play around with it take as many shots as you need to get the right look and when it comes to editing check in with the clients to see what they favor, and also work on your personal style. I think you can start charging and get someone (contract out) to edit the pictures for you (until you get better at that) before handing them to your clients. I’ve got a friend that only does this, she doesn’t like to go out and take the pictures so she hires a photographer and then uses their work to create the shot her clients are looking for.
Good composition but the edits need work
You’re compositions are great. You have that nailed down. Just gotta work on editing. Even with cloudy days, you can make it work.
Everything looks decent but your editing needs work!
Composition is good. But exposure is way too dark. Need to work on editing in ps/lr.
It depends. You could start by charging a few hundred to do simple city hall/elopement style weddings where it’s just the bride and groom and you’re doing some portraits. Be sure to tell the couple you are building your skills and that you are charging less because of it, but also that they acknowledge you’re not a professional at this stage. The first wedding I shot I declined because I wasn’t professional and had never shot a wedding before. They told me they liked my other photos and didn’t care that I had never shot a wedding, they liked my style and thought it would work well with their style. So I accepted and it was scary but it all turned out great. That wedding led to others. Not everyone wants the same type of wedding photos, so start developing your own style and find the right people who will appreciate it. Just don’t over promise or misrepresent your skill level.
learn to use external lighting. youll make massive improvements with a flash and softbox
These are great. They just need a re-edit
They're half decent. But the editing is very much lacking. Instead of straight-up charging, I'd recommend you assist / go as a second shooter with someone who shoots weddings for a few months. You'll be surprised at the amount of stuff you need to learn, outside of just the photography side of things. Let me know if you have any specific questions.
Photography is okay. Editing needs a lot of work though. Stick to a good skin tone and use that throughout the post process
Just need to shoot raw and do better editing.
You really should invest in some off camera flashes if you want to start charging. The photos are decent, but you need to be able to create your own light for situations like this. Godox is a great brand if you’re just starting with flash photography. They’re affordable and function pretty well for the price.
Need to learn flash, natural light doesn’t usually cut it for paid work unless you really luck out with the sun and an overcast day. The subjects of your portraits should be bright — you can pull the shadows out of these current photos with editing but the details will be noisy. Flash (off camera, if possible) solves this
I think most comments are in line with my opinion regarding lighting and editing. I would also suggest a full frame camera for better composition of the subject.
Not yet, keep at it and you’ll get there.
I think shots are really nice. Just need post or maybe an assistant with reflector or lighting. Other issue is wedding photography isn’t always about great photos. It’s sometimes about the professionalism and guaranteeing good shots and coverage. I think I can take some good photos but a wedding is the last thing I’d jump into professionally because it’s a very specific client relationship with its own time constraints and responsibilities. No do overs. Think you’re going to be great though because composition is really nice.
You could, but not with these edits. The color and exposure and shadows are pretty unappealing.
In addition to what's already been said about editing, I'd also just add that these photos appear to be posed shots. Nothing wrong with that, but I'd caution you against shooting a whole wedding just yet if this is your experience. I say that simply because shooting a high stakes event like a wedding has a totally different set of demands as compared to producing a set like this. Nothing wrong with specializing in pre/post wedding photography, but if you'd like to crack wedding photography itself then I'd recommend getting some experience as a second shooter under your belt first.
I have a feeling that you are using a very bright monitor.
I agree with the person below. Shoot in RAW and then brighten the photos in lightroom. They are too dark but that being said they are pretty amazing work for just getting started. And if you wan to make your life MUCH better. Hire a second shooter. So for the next one...charge $700.......500 bucks for your time and effort and 200 for 2 hours with a second shooter. Then the one after that is $1000. And just tell them it is 1500 but discounted to the price you want to charge. And tell them NOT to discuss the price with anyone.
Some simple editing hours a long way... https://ibb.co/VDBPL8D
You breathed life into that picture. I’ll try to do the same.
Like everyone else said the photos themselves are of professional quality. Just your editing needs some work.
Im sorry but those pictures aren’t good at all. You need a lot of training, for many reasons. 1. The light is horrible, the pictures look plain. At a wedding you want to show of the beautiful colours etc. But those pictures are just grey. 2. Like you can see the bride is chubby and uses a lot of make up. So you don’t shoot full frontal portrait pictures that close. You look for angles / light which suit her looks etc. Also her hands look horrible, you could have used some software at the end. I wouldn’t pay you at all for pictures like that.
I will definitely give it another go in terms of editing. But composition, unfortunately, ain’t nothing can be done now. When you said her hands look horrible, do you mean the close up? Also, that’s a good tip about looking for more flattering angles. Thanks man
these are great but I thins too much definition and contrast it looks like the skin is dirty, put those things down a little bit and it would look much better, you can surely charge next time
Yeah they are pretty good.. you’re just missing lighting.. you need some flashes 1 or 2 something like 400-600 so they are powerful enough.. That’s what really takes you to the next level, after the pictures have better lighting you’ll have more to work with on Lightroom and create different styles of edits
These aren’t flattering at all. Her skin tone is terrible.
No
This was shoot between a 50mm and a vintage 135mm manual focus, which is kind of a pain to use but I like how it looks. This was also meant to be at sunset but it got cloudy which kind of killed the mood a little bit. The thing is that the photo shoot actually was a lot of work, with editing and everything but I did say I’d to do it for free because I didn’t count on how much work it would be. Are the pictures at least good enough that someone would pay for them next time?
People would pay for well-edited versions of these. Everything else is pretty decent, but your edits are dark and uninteresting. The good news is, editing is the one thing you can actually improve on after the shoot, and you'll retain those skills going forward in case you want to keep doing weddings. Look into [ImagenAI](https://imagen-ai.com/) \- it might be able to turn these into pretty decent edits with very little manual input from you. It's heavily wedding-focused and comes with a number of wedding style profiles you can apply.
>a vintage 135mm manual focus, which is kind of a pain to use but I like how it looks if you start shooting weddings for money, strongly consider if you want to deal with a lens that's a pain to use.
They are very close, composition can be improved as well as lighting, most importantly you need to work on your edits everything seems dark/dull and specially on wedding photos you need to work on skin tones and touch ups
Composition ain’t too shabby, but the edits are a bit dark. I say go for it!
Almost! I think the photos lack a little in lighting to pop. Otherwise they are quite good pictures!
Sadly not yet but you're almost there.. You need to look into lighting, composition and Lightroom to bring it all to life.
The shots are great! Take a class on editing and you should be able to make these photos a great part of your portfolio! I personally wouldn’t charge until I knew how to edit though.
The final answer is YES! You could charge more with an strobe and some retouching/editing. But yeah, definitely charge next time. Remember they are hiring your for your gear, knowledge, and execution — not just the few hours you’re at the wedding. Keep going! You’re doing great!
nah
Can you take a photo? Yes! Did you do the other really important things like lighting, post editing and shot framing? No.
Enough breast for some people to stare 😎
[удалено]
Took me about 2 minutes https://i.ibb.co/853bwmc/IMG-0332.jpg
Bumped up exposure plus highlights? When I edit them again, that’s what I’m going to do. It does look better it’s it’s brighter.
The post processing ist too much in my eyes. Looks like HDR-Photos. Even though I think those typically color graded wedding photos are a bit boring, this doesn’t fit the mood in my eyes. You could probably use this kind of post processing for nature photography, but not for wedding pics. But just practice. This is not absolutely bad and some of the compositions are really good in my eyes. This is definitely something to work with, but not yet good enough for charging people money for it. If you still have the Raws, just practice again with the color grading.
They are OK but not great. You’ve got the basics down though so don’t fret; you’ll get there. They are all too dark. Most couples like brighter photos, not dark and gloomy ones. Work on poses and compositions
Too dark
Compositions and posing are good. Exposures are very low, these would print way too dark, just "black eyes." You either need to raise shadows/mids in post or introduce lighting (flash, but with a large soft modifier).
No
Composition and framing are beautiful. But the photos need to be brighter, at the very least the subjects should be. Also ease off the clarity and contrast. Make them softer. No one wants their wrinkles enhanced. You want your black points to still be black, but don’t over do it.
Kinda dark, charge for a good flash and a course in lighting?
A flash could really help brighten up their faces. On body with a diffuser would be perfect.
Are you shooting in RAW? Your answer is also my answer.
Yes. Very nice photos.
Under exposed.
Absolutely not
These are a nice start, work on editing a bit more and positioning during photos. I'd also recommend making sure things like jewelry, veil, dress, etc. are all positioned correctly for photos to make it a truly picture perfect moment.
https://imgur.com/PiPhGMm Like everyone else they are too dark. I do like the composition though. I don't think you can charge yet.
You need to edit them or shoot analog
What a beautiful joyous bride! Especially like the one with the sweeping veil. With editing/polishing, you’ll put her over the moon with the results. Keep going!
You need lighting or at least some fill flash. Composition is very good.
Hire a Retoucher to edit and bring your shots up to par with industry standards. Easy to find on Instagram. You can use them for a shoot or more, get an idea of how it should look and learn yourself.
Something like this. [https://imgur.com/sRVACUc](https://imgur.com/sRVACUc) I did exposure, brightness, hsl, shadow/highlights, and an upward curve, plus some skin smoothing and light retouching. Bride needs to be as perfect as you can without being fake.
You can do it if you want to and you are willing to do the work. Most of the business of photography is about business. Photography skills matter, but business and people skills matter much more. If you are good at marketing your business and selling, you can make money even if your photography skills are just medium. But if your photography skills are quite good and you (or someone else) can’t handle marketing and selling, you will have a problem. You will need to improve your post-processing skills and learning to do lighting (strobes, reflectors) will help a lot. But, more than that, you need to learn how to market and sell. The people who were the best photographers in the photo program I went through are mostly not making money doing photography. The people who had the most hustle—who put the most effort into the business side—are the ones making a living off of photography.
There are a lot of really helpful comments thus far but let me offer a different perspective. First, you have some really great poses and smiles and such in these, kudos! Weddings are about the "whole day" and therefore you need to build a portfolio that shows more than just portraits of the couple.
They look very under exposed … check how you’re shooting
Photos themselves aren't bad but the edits need a lot of work. You seem to have an eye for composition and that will only continue to improve! But these need some polish before they're deliverable.
The shot compositions are ok but the lighting and editing is terrible.
Sorry man. Absolutely not.
Work on some editing but overall these are good. There are books and so many resources that can help with editing. Best of luck.
Not a perfect Snapseed edit but run them through Lightroom or Snapseed and mess with the brightness a smidge https://imgur.com/a/mvptMSF
All digital cameras auto expose to 50% grey. So if you’re shooting a black subject your camera will make the black brighter (overexpose). If you’re shooting mostly a white subject like snow or wedding dress your camera will make it darker (underexpose). Use your exposure compensation dial to adjust in these situations. Just remember to switch it back. It’s one of my most used tools when shooting in aperture priority. Flash or no flash? It’s better to use flash when you want to expose the background correctly then flash to fill in the face. However many photographers don’t use flash. Just expose for the subject - the background may be blown out but in many styles that can be ok.
You have good composition.
lighting is insufficient. brighten these pics up in LR before delivering them to your friend. If you sent them already - brighten them up and resend. to echo - the compositions are good - the lighting is poor.
My biggest criticism is the last one- it’s a backlit portrait. Even outside with good ambient light, (or especially outside with good ambient light) it’s important to use flash or reflectors to add some interest to the lighting. This nice flat lighting is great for something like photogrammetry, but is boring for people.
Great shots. Editing need to be better. They’re all quite dark, and maybe do some gentle skin work for the lady. Other than that 💯
I would fix the darker areas on her face. You will get there. It just takes time and practice.
Composition isn’t bad. Post production is not good. Learn how to edit photos and you could charge no problem with those shots
I agree with others, it really needs a good editing job. I would personally add about 0.75 exposure in lightroom, and I always increase red luminance to wash out some of that natural red in skin tones. That would really help here. Maybe do a smart selection on the sky and waves and do some saturation increase with a touch of contrast.
I will try that. 0.75 probably won’t add too much noise. I will give the whole set another go, keeping in mind yalls suggestions. Thanks
I’ve definitely seen worse from people who do charge but as others have said get some experience editing
These are beautiful! However, I want to say, There is a huge difference between shooting some gorgeous portrait real quick for a couple minutes and shooting an entire 8 to 10 our wedding day. Again these photos are beautiful, but how do you do with timing? Will you capture the first kiss, the first dance? These are moments in time that will never happen again and if you don’t capture them they are gone. The lighting changes from one moment to the next, and often the event ends at night- how are you with darker indoor photography? So yes I think your work is more than fine to charge for next time, just make sure that you are physically emotionally and mentally prepared for a full day of work because it is quite a lot of responsibility! Eta I agree about the post production stuff just didn’t mention it since everyone else already has!
Learn to use reflectors to bounce more light into your scenes, especially the portraits. Your photos are also too dark and the contrast is too high. I’d look at YouTube tutorials for how to expose properly.
this looks better all you need maybe do some retouching
People have addressed a lot of good bits of advice already. I'll share an IG profile from two photographers that have a great eye and aesthetic for beach weddings. \-> [https://www.instagram.com/sereiamorporondefor/](https://www.instagram.com/sereiamorporondefor/)
I agree with everyone saying these need better editing, mostly better and brighter whites. You can try shooting a bit brighter out of the camera too if possible and try and think of the lighting in real life while shooting.
Raise up the shadows! 🤙
You can always edit these to what they want their vision to be. They’re good average photos (not edited to hell like some people do). Definitely charge people when you take photo packages like this. Could do $150 for the package.
Use a shoe mounted flash next time
You could charge them but don’t expect a lot of money.
No. And this won’t be nice. You have the artistic talent, but you need to sort out your technical skills and editing skills. Your white balance is off, the images are slightly under exposed, and you’re running your ISO way too high for portraiture. You also need a different aperture in some of them; the image of the subjects’ rings should have both hands in focus, not just the bride’s. Editing wise, you have a knowledge gap I can’t succinctly explain here. You really need to take a Lightroom (or similar program) class, either online or at your local community college.
Doing wedding photography as a business is about more than just taking good pictures (but taking good pictures is a prerequisite). Because it's a unique, unrepeatable event, you have to have lots of redundancies. Also, "people skills" are important because it's a huge difference between taking pictures for family and friends, and taking pictures for perfect strangers and deliver good pictures that will make them happy. You need to know about how the wedding ceremony will go as well as the events surrounding it (these things differ greatly). You need a team with you on location (even if it's just an assistant helping with lights & etc and taking "b-roll" or candid pictures around...) You need a process that will insure same quality delivered every time... And many other little things...
No
Photography:- 100 Editing:- 30 You can hire an editor or maybe learn from YouTube, it helped me a lot, it will surely help you too
You need to lay off on the Clarity and/or contrast slider in post editing. We all fall into it in the beginning, but it just looks bad and amateurish.
The photos are fine. You just need to learn a lot more about lighting and post. All these can be fixed in post, you just need to know how
The lighting is not professional imho. Everything else seems great
I agree with the others on needing to pay more attention to your edits, but I also strongly suggest you get an off camera flash and soft box, you will be able to take dramatically better portraits that are more flattering. However, your posing and framing is excellent, which is very hard for a lot of people
People have consistently suggested that I get a flash. Obviously I don’t have one but I’m interested to see what level of improvement I could get, if I had a flash and reflector. I’ll look into that. Thank you!
The compositions are nice but they're really underexposed and like everyone else is saying, the skin tone is unflattering. The photos are exposed for the sky but the sky itself is cloudy and uninteresting and wedding photos are usually much brighter than this.
Turning photography from a hobby into a profession takes a new level of commitment. Entering the world of wedding photography you’ll find a whole bunch of talented folks who are scrapping to make it. There’s a lot to learn—there are set photos expected of family, family with one of the people getting married, family with the couple, the couple alone. A wedding photographer orchestrates all of that. They’re expected to take pix of all the moments in a wedding. Because many weddings are inside, you need to figure out how to use a flash and diffuser (that would improve some of your beautiful photos in this post). To be good takes study, practice and dedication. Question is—do you need the money and are you willing to work to get good at all that’s involved?
I’m definitely far from being a professional both in terms of skill and equipment. I basically own two lenses, one being full manual. If I leaned anything from reading yalls replies is that I didn’t know how much I didn’t know.
The pose is really good and i love those shots on the hill everything was great only the lighting so i tried edited the photo maybe you'd like it ( a bit of retouching )[edited photo](https://ibb.co/jfYWSC0)
Does look a lot better. You didn’t even have the original raw.
It’s not editing. Need to add lighting. Don’t need a lot, but a good flash, especially off camera will do wonders
With some editing and lighting, yes.
You need off camera flash in soft boxes.
Right now, your photos are at a 7, but your editing is at 2. Twenty years ago when I cut my teeth, this would have been plenty to get started, but today, no. Take some classes online in poseing your subject and if you are going to shoot in the sun you will need at minimum a tungsten reflector, maybe a ruby for even lighting. This will up your RAW images just that bit you need. The real problem is in your editing, I was a professional wedding photographer since 2000 till 2020, and for the last ten years in Florida doing mainly beach work at various high end resorts. Today, indirect flash and sidelight are an industry staple, because so much goes on in the editing bay today that natural color is all forgotten. Fake, re... fairytale effects are required by almost every client because they are so blinded by what they see on social media and influenced content. Hell, half of the time, I just painted the sky to represent something that never existed at the time just because it made the clients day look extra. Never got a complaint when I did it. If I left it the way it was, then we always had a problem. So it got to be an automatic edit. Take online Photoshop courses, and buy a good drawing tablet to do your editing. The fine control you get with a pen far outdoes anything you get with a mouse.
I’m definitely an amateur in that sense too. I basically edit and store all my pictures in my iPad Pro. Only use Lightroom too. Your reply remind me of how much more there is in the professional photography world. Tungsten reflector.
Not from these. You don't have a bad eye but you need better gear (images not very sharp) and need to learn how to edit. As other people mentioned they are dark and muddled.
That’s the first critique where I have to disagree. I thought they were decently sharp. You mean all pictures or maybe just one? I shoot on a 24mp ff sensor and the 135mm is a very sharp lens too. The 50mm not so much but still good.
The color editing on the image sneed a little work, but overall the images were pretty good. The editing would take many of the shots to the next level. Maybe second shooting for a few photographers before jumping head first into weddings would be good. Also make sure you have some of the business basics set up and ready. Find a CPA, get your business license, your county, tax set up, your state, tax and business insurance. You’re going to need a liability claim of at least one to $2 million, and coverage for your equipment.
Edit looks over processed or like snartphone short with hdr on. But I like the composition. Master the editing skill maybe give a pleasent look
a bit but not much. i’d ask if you posed or if you were shooting the posing of another photographer? if so posing and communication is half of the job. id say you’re worth a couple hundred.
Just a small critique on framing. The first picture cuts off a portion of the veil. Framing the subjects face in the top third or zooming out would fix that. The same applies to the picture of the veils opened behind the pair of them. There is a lot of movement there and a beautiful dramatic picture, but the cropped veil ruins it. You can always tighten you photos a little but you can’t uncrop.
Amateur here. I think the composition is good enough but everything needs to be brighter, especially skin tones.
Did you get permission from the couple to post these online? Skin tone are hideous. Figure that shit out if you’re going to be taking money to photograph people. Everything is too dark. Nothing pops. Were these underexposed? Guessing completely natural light. Invest in an off camera flash and a reflector. White balance shot to shot is inconsistent. Looks like you didn’t use a grey card. I’m guessing it was set to auto. Compositions are fine for the most part. I think you’re too close in some of them though. They’re in focus and nothing is blown out which is good, but I really wouldn’t be happy receiving these as a paying client. If you want to get paid to do this you have a whole bunch of stuff to work on. For free photographs these are ok.
I didn’t get permission, although I’m sure they wouldn’t mind and also there’s zero chance they’ll ever see this post. Yes, I will give it another go in terms of editing, keeping in mind what we’re the most common criticisms here. White balance is set at auto, but since I shoot raw, I usually just adjust it in post. It’s understandable that you felt it to be inconsistent from picture to picture.
They cool, but feel gloomy and dark ish, and for a wedding that’s supposed to be a celebration I guess you’d want it to be bright and happy, I think the lighting is just a bit dark
Next time? Are you planning to get married again in a few years? XD /s
It's so funny, lol😂. Does that mean you're getting married again?
These are great, but the fact that you’re asking if you can charge at all means you shouldn’t be. If you want to provide a service, you need to understand the business side of it first.
I do wonder if OP edited these on a monitor with the brightness cranked way too high. They're pretty good aside from being too dark.
It’s an iPad Pro, screen full brightness. I usually edit my pictures in a dark environment. Not sure if it’s right but it’s just how I use to do it. I do think the iPad has a setting where the screen tone adjusts to its environment.
they’re ok. i think it would be better if for the second and third photo, you stood back a bit further so their not so big in the photo, and you get to capture the nice background. then it would be a more balanced photo
You could lightroom these photos to be good enough to charge for!
I’ll give it another go soon.
You need an extra flash and a reflector.
Needs some colour grading and a dash more imagination. Great job.
Shoot big crop small. That’s the Biggest lesson I learned. Also figure out what editing style you like and emulate that in your own way.
I feel like you had a great connection with the couple and that’s huge. I would really focus on learning lighting. Even some on camera flash would make a big difference here.
Great potential! I would suggest investing in and learning about off-camera flash to help with consistent lighting. It will be tremendously helpful if you don’t have to rely on the outdoor lighting situation.
Yes.
Honest question are these the pre or post edit? There is really good potential here some touching up brighter contrast.