Beercat Loc: Central Coast of California

I just noticed, "and submitting photos for critique or sharing."

Yup, sure ........

Not!

I'll share ideas but there are to many meanies on here to post pictures. Get rid of the meanies or at least place up a few rules so people don't get pooped on by someone with an ego and just maybe we could share a few photos to get critiqued. I for one am pretty gun shy for what I've seen happen over the last year when you ask for critique. Don't have a problem with honesty ......... just don't need to be put down in the process and there are simply to many who like to look down at others, nuff said .........

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

What's the point of posting photos on a photography forum other than to learn to be better? If all you want are Likes there's Facebook for that.

Beercat Loc: Central Coast of California

Oh I get my likes ........... just don't need to be brutalized and that is what some do on here, you know I speak the truth. Frankly I'm surprised more people aren't banned for being butt heads. If some of that would happen I bet things would clean up real fast. Just saying what I experienced when I came aboard and wanted to share, be critiqued and learn from it. Some were helpful and for that I'm thankful but some were real butt heads.

Very sad as I would love to share pictures and get help from seasoned pros. Heck, I started shooting stills because it helped with me getting more videography wedding gigs. There is much to learn, just saying I'm pretty gun shy based on what I've seen happen to others and what I've experienced first hand. Hopefully someone will keep things under control and when I see it's safe maybe I'll share a still or two.

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

I understand what you are saying, but you should find the specialty forums are keep in check by a moderator who has the power to, edit and delete posts, and ban someone if need be. With that in mind, I think you may find it more fun than anticipated to have your photos critiqued by those who love what you do. I find it interesting at least, to hear what others say, and take from it what I can. Sort of like being at a party and letting everyone say their piece. Either way, enjoy! S-

Searcher Loc: Kent, England

The Moderator in this section is Bkyser, and I can assure you he will not tolerate any kind of bullying (that is what you are describing) in this section. Any such posts would be deleted forthwith.

The Wedding Section is one I have nothing (at present) to contribute to (I don't do Weddings), but is a great asset to UHH and needs to be successful. If events as you describe (not rare on the non-monitored sections) were allowed in the Wedding or other monitored sections, it and they would fail. Bkyser will not allow the Wedding Section to fail for that reason.

Beercat Loc: Central Coast of California

Thanks guys .....

I'll keep an open mind, let's see who steps up to the plate first for us to watch and see ..... 8-)

St3v3M Loc: 35,000 feet

There are several already http://www.uglyhedgehog.com/s-118-1.html

greg vescuso Loc: Ozark,Mo.

I think this is the perfect place to have wedding shots critiqued because this is the wedding section and if anyone doesn't like or want the stress of doing wedding photography then they shouldn't be posting in this section. I for one agree with you about the negativity but this section is exactly what people interested in wedding photography need. If it wasn't for all the help I have gotten on uhh I would still be stuck were I was two years ago. The critique section and the people section have been such a great help for me to be able to learn how to shoot portraits that I know the wedding section is going to fill the void for everything to do with wedding photography.

LKincaid Loc: Tampa Bay, Florida

SORRY - I POSTED ON ANOTHER PERSONS THREAD - - Note: I am not a professional wedding photographer. I was a guest at a beach wedding not too long ago and brought my camera for practice. It was a very casual wedding so I thought if I got a few good shots I would have them printed for the couple. This was the first time I shot in RAW and converted to JPEG after PP.

Beercat Loc: Central Coast of California

Not bad at all!

I like the composition .....

I toyed with it for a few minutes in Lightroom and though I don't have use of a high resolution original I did tweak it a bit to add a bit more contrast from the sand. I also pushed the exposure to make overall a bit brighter plus pulled out some shadow areas. When you crank up the exposure you've got to pull down a bit of highlights to give clarity to the roses as it's easy to 'burn' them a bit and lose clarity.

Overall a great job, just a tweak here and there but then again that could just be my taste, someone else could look at it and say they love it exactly the way it is :D

Oops, the above words are in regards to the flower/ring photo ..... I did this before you uploaded the rest ....

OK - now the rest ......

I'm a stickler on not having a horizontal line going through head(s). The second picture has the horizon going through the bride's head. By changing your position with the camera you could eliminate that. Brides typically look best when the camera is slightly above and not the other way around so I would have a 3 foot ladder to accomplish the task but no big deal, the picture still looks nice, just a suggestion for the next time.

The forth picture ........ Hummmmm ...... the bride is a bit on the shorter side but has a nice figure. I would of taken advantage of her curves and not been so sideways in the composition. Give her the classic 'S' curves and WOW! I can see she has the figure to wow the curves ..... Again that's just my take. You know the nice thing about photography is there is no absolute right way, we each have our own way of looking at things, isn't that nice. Great job for the 'amateur' photographer, I'd say you could shoot as a second anytime you feel like it ...... good overall job :D

LKincaid Loc: Tampa Bay, Florida

I am so sorry for posting to your thread, I did not realize I did it until it was too late. I was reading what you typed about getting beat up on posting photos and I have had the same concerns myself on occasion. I re-posted the photos in my own thread. Thanks again for the critique. I was scared to death of shooting in RAW, it was pretty fun to edit them though; you can do a lot more with them that way. I have not invested in a big expensive program, I just used LightZone (free program) on the recommendation of someone in here.

Beercat Loc: Central Coast of California

No problem ....... feel free to share on this thread, maybe others will see and be daring and the meanies will stay away as I've made my point about my own concerns .... good for you to step up to the plate :D

LKincaid Loc: Tampa Bay, Florida

I see what you mean about the horizon right at the bride's head, I did not even think about that. I did shoot one where I was up on a balcony shooting down at them; not sure how I feel about it, I'll post for you below...

Beercat Loc: Central Coast of California

When I say above head level I mean slightly .... like at 10 o'clock :D

I assume you shot this as a black and white but in color you would have contrast from the couple in the background. I would of shot in color with a very shallow DOF to blur the background, a milky contrast background ..... again, just my opinion. Still an interesting shot just my preference ....

skidooman Loc: Minnesota

These are very nice, I'm sure they will love them.

I'm stealing your idea of the bouquet on the beach and the handprints with the rings in the sand. Having said that, I would've smoothed out the tire track and the shoe print in the sand. But it's always easy to notice stuff after the fact. Good work :)

Finally, bullying I am sure will not be tolerated on here. Our moderator has been in the wedding biz for many years, has been a mentor and employer of budding wedding photographers for those years and is nothing short of a positive influence and is willing to both help and learn from others. Any crap will probably get deleted as it does nothing to help. There is a difference between Critique and criticism. Unfortunately some don't know the difference. We must be willing to accept others thoughts on images and think of those as tools. Whether or not to use those tools offered is a personal choice.

We are sure to get a wide variety of CC on our images, and not everyone's vision is the same. Just because someone says they would've done it this or that way doesn't necessarily make it right or wrong if that was the intended vision. We don't always think of the obvious when under the pressure of photographing a wedding, but pointing out basic composition errors or technical aspects may help us at future jobs. That is really the focus of this forum, to help us grow as wedding photographers. We all develop our own style from learned technical skills, bits and pieces of others work and style and our own vision. I say post away :)