Jim Carter Loc: Momence, Il.

I just learned at a photo conference when doing the jump shoot get as low as possible, even laying down so as to make the jumper look like they ar going much higher.

gym Loc: Athens, Georgia

Thanks for the tip, Jim. The ‘jump’ photo was one that caught me by surprise because the bride and groom suddenly began to dance on the beach, then flowed naturally into that jump. I saw it coming and had just a second to switch to ‘rapid fire mode’. LOL

I agree that the jump photo is a bit of a cliche, and on hind sight I should have posted one or two photos of the dance that preceded it. Here they are. Hope you like them. They obviously had a wonderful time.

MWAC Loc: Somewhere East Of Crazy

Besides what already has been mentioned, they all seem slightly underexposed and your w/b is off (the dress has a blue tint to it).

I don't think I would have been able to pull this off, I'm scared to death of weddings. Two thumbs up for a great try. :thumbup: :thumbup:

gym Loc: Athens, Georgia

The 'blue' is the result of my poor skills with pp. :mrgreen: Here's the original with some cropping.

MWAC Loc: Somewhere East Of Crazy

Good job on removing the beach chair, I would never had guessed something was even there.

gym Loc: Athens, Georgia

Removing the chair was the easy part. Having a 'gray' day was both a blessing and a curse. Colors are all subdued, and when I try to pump them up in PSE, the affects are questionable at best. But then my knowledge base is very limited in PSE, so..............

tilde531 Loc: Seaford Delaware

A very respectable series of shots... and if the bride and groom are happy, then you can certainly consider it a successful endeavor!
The first one is a bit dark.. and you've gotten tons of other suggestions regarding minimal tweaks that might improve them (and most of all tricks for next time!).

Kudos and admiration to you on a fine series! :thumbup:

angler Loc: StHelens England

yes,these photos are spot on for me.I was asked to do a nieces wedding last year,i could'nt refuse they where on a tight budget.I had only been using my new camera for a few months,i was worried sick.I left the camera on auto and clicked away.RELIEF.They where delighted with the finished product.The photos where far from perfect but i had made someone happy.Thats what photography is all about.I hope the couple on this post have a very happy marriage.

gym Loc: Athens, Georgia

Thanks to everyone for their comments and suggestions. I'm still 'tweaking' the photos as I learn more about PP. Obviously I have a lot to learn, and though the destination is always the goal, it's the journey that has all the fun.

Weddingguy Loc: British Columbia - Canada

Jim . . . Firstly let me say that the problems here are not from you lack of skills in PP. These problems should be corrected in camera . . not in PP.
The blue is a result of the cloudy day and the fact that you were using auto white balance . . . should have been set at "cloudy".
A bigger problem is that all of the images are underexposed. Under exposure by one F/stop lowers the image quality by 50% and throws off white balance . Here are a few suggestions:

1) Under all circumstances set the camera's white balance to the type of light (cloudy, sun, incandescent, florescent, etc.) Try to get out of the habit of auto white balance unless your shoot is presenting quickly changing light conditions. With auto white balance, even the color of the clothing people are wearing can cause the camera to choose a different setting. At least when you choose a fixed white balance setting like "cloudy", all the images will be the same and make post processing much easier.

2) Expose for the subject . . . not the scene. The underexposure here is caused by the bright sky and the bright white dress, telling the camera it had too much light. Under these circumstances you should be shooting with your camera set to manual. Take a shot up close on the bride's face in TV mode with the shutter set at 1/200th second. Check your histogram to check exposure (don't rely on what you see on the LCD), then set the camera to manual with the same aperture that gave you the best exposure and the same ISO and shutter speed. You are that way basically using the camera as a light meter.

3) Fill flash always helps as it adds sparkle to the subjects eyes and fills shadow areas. Set the flash exposure compensation down just far enough so that you can't tell it has flash (so it doesn't look flashy) Usually about - 2/3rds will do fine. This situation, where the sky is so much brighter than the foreground, makes it impossible for the camera to capture both extremes. No digital camera, or film camera for that matter, has that ability. Without flash, to try and light the subject to the same brightness as the sky, you have to decide if you want the subject properly exposed, or the background/sky properly exposed. The camera cannot do both. Since it's the bride that's paying, I would favor her.

4) Always shoot in RAW so that you have 10 times the chance for correcting white balance, over exposure and under exposure, etc.
I did a little tweaking here. . . white balance, white point, black point :-D

AlthaeaTrout Loc: Spokane WA

Now I think the photo is too light!

Weddingguy Loc: British Columbia - Canada

Are you using a calibrated monitor? LCD monitors have a tendency to have too much contrast and blow images out.

datsmar Loc: minnesota

verfy nice job they look nice ad they should love them
dave