gym Loc: Athens, Georgia

I'm finishing a photography program in August, and there are several categories that must be represented in the exhibition. One of these is 'wedding'. I'm thinking about using the attached photo and welcome comments.

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Beercat Loc: Central Coast of California

Some good and some areas that need improvement.

The good is the nice use of a leading line and the exposure/focus is solid.

The are of improvement is you were the second shooter or just hanging around and snapped. This would suggest it wasn't your pose/composition.

Secondly there is some barrel distortion, you can see it on the steps.

Did you compose this picture? If you did you didn't capture when they were giving the attention to your camera, they (all 3) obviously focusing on someone else's camera.

gym Loc: Athens, Georgia

Thanks for the comments. You are partially correct in some of your assumptions. First, it wasn't REALLY a wedding. But it WAS someone else's shoot. It's fun to speculate on what this shoot was about. It was a year ago - graduation at the University of Georgia, and I was downtown ambling around looking for something to photograph. I saw this 'shoot' going on across the street at the UGA Arch. Yes, another photographer was doing the shoot and these lovely ladies were looking down at him as he was positioned low on the steps. The distortion on the steps is partially due to my less than professional post processing skills because I removed him entirely from the photo. Maybe all these ladies were getting married on graduation day, or maybe it was a shoot emphasizing different wedding gowns. We'll never know. And the reason, of course, is not important. Nor is it really important whether it was my pose or someone else's.

I liked the idea of the three 'brides' swinging on the arches and took some shots from across the street with a 70-200 lens. I also liked the idea that the young ladies were smiling and looking away from my camera. For me, it gave a different and interesting perspective and made the shot look more candid and not staged by the shooter. I have other shots, two of which I really liked, including this one. So I was - sort of - a 'second shooter', but the 'first shooter' never knew I was there.

I have amassed a number of more traditional bride photos taken as a 'second shooter' that I've never posted here (remember - I don't accept contracts for weddings.) but I wanted something more non traditional for the graduation exhibit - so I chose this one.

bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

I like that it's not traditional. My concern would be that the assignment should be a shot set up by you. I would guess that if we noticed that you were using someone else's set up, then the instructor will too. It is a fun shot, but them not looking to the camera is a distraction. Just my 2 cents.

gym Loc: Athens, Georgia

Thanks Bkyser. I appreciate your thoughts. One of the things we all know about weddings is that the candid shots are often the ones that are treasured the most. And by their very nature, candid photos are never 'set up'. This photo was taken with that kind of photo in mind. Though the idea of using the arch as a prop was almost certainly the choice of the lead photographer, the models were all moving smoothly through a variety of expressions and positions around the arch, and reminded me of a model on a beach shoot, being constantly photographed as she kept her body in some sort of constant motion. The photographer in charge of the shoot was below them, sometimes shooting in burst mode.

Perhaps it would have been more appealing if I had left the original photographer IN the shot. That way it would have given meaning to the fact that each model was looking down at a particular place on the steps.

The instructor of the class must approve all submitted photos beforehand, and allows us to submit several for approval from which we can choose one. He has seen this photo, knows how it was taken, and the circumstances surrounding it.