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Hi!
So… A few days ago I shot my first wedding. I was hoping y’all could tell me what ya think. Critique anything, literally ANYTHING. I feel like there’s sooo many things I need to improve!! Here’s a just few of the billions of photos!! 🙂 I was shooting with my Nikon D610, and 50mm 1.8 lens most of the time. It was super low lighting, so all the photos turned out pretty blurry with a lot of noise. Any advice on how to shoot in low light situations would be very much appreciated. 🙂 I shoot outside a lot, so indoor lighting is not something I’m used to. Thanks! 🙂Attachments:
Wow, you did a good job on your first wedding. The ones you show here are sharp, so that’s a good thing.
I assume these are your favorite shots? At what times during the wedding were you struggling the most, where you weren’t getting favorite shots?
Here’s a blog post you might find helpful with some ideas on the low-light question: https://www.lenspiration.com/2019/09/dealing-with-low-light-situations/ And here’s a comprehensive, 24min video that explains all the little details about How To Take Great Photos In Low Light: https://www.lenspiration.com/lesson/explore-7/
There’s a lot that could be said about the many photos you submitted, but here are a couple thoughts:
* Don’t forget to keep the “horizon” level, unless you intentionally want it to not be
* It looks like there are lights off on the stage. Was that intentional? Do you know if it would have been worse/better if they were on?
* My favorite is of the couple on stage, from behind with the auditorium behind them. The train is beautifully shaped… excellent; don’t trim it off if at all possible. I’d have tried getting lower so their heads were not close against that busy part of the background, and the angle would be more dynamic. Edit out or cover up with one of the couple that projector. B&W is a nice choice for this.
* Some of the others, just double check white balance in post. They look a little warm. The one of him carrying her down the isle seems perfect, to me.Thanks so much!! All the tips are super helpful!!
Yeah, I’ll admit, these were the better photos!! At least, the less boring ones! 😄 I had the most trouble as they were coming up the aisle. I think that’s where the lighting was the worst. Also, I think my camera like buffered or something (idk if that’s the right word) because for one of the couples my camera would not take the picture. 😩 That or I suppose it was a focusing problem, but somehow I don’t think that was the case. 🙁
Yes, there were lights off on the stage. They were actually live streaming the entire wedding, and they said the lights were interfering with that. To my and the videographer’s disappointment! 😒 I did ask if they could turn them back on during the family formals though, but idk if they did or not!
I will definitely try and edit out that projector! Some of these photos definitely feel too warm, good point! Thanks so much for all your help!
I agree with James that you did pretty well for your first wedding!
Also, I think my camera like buffered or something (idk if that’s the right word) because for one of the couples my camera would not take the picture. 😩
How many frames per second were you shooting? 🙂 You should be able to get in ~20 shots before the buffer is full, and even then it shouldn’t stop shooting unless you have a very slow SD card that can’t clear the buffer fast enough. I think it’s much more likely that the AF couldn’t lock on, and prevented you from getting the shot. The combination of moving subject and changing light can definitely cause the AF to struggle.
The 2 shots that you posted of people moving in the aisle are good and sharp; great job! I think a bit of good post-processing with sharpening and noise-reduction and horizon leveling will make them even better!
Perhaps it’s my low resolution screen, but many of those pictures look kind of soft when they’re scaled to fit my screen… When I zoom in I can see that they’re sharp, but “normal” viewing feels soft. If you’re using Lightroom, consider setting some export sharpening. That should improve the “default” look for someone who doesn’t pixel peep. 🙂
I’ve attached an example of how I would edit and sharpen the first photo you posted.
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Thanks! Yeah, probably my AF, then. 😒 Lol! Before hand I practiced that part, telling my little brother to walk towards me while I took his picture. 😂 But yeah, probably between the subject moving and the low light… Oh well. Something for me to figure out before next time. 🙂
I LOVE the edits you made!! I’ll definitely try and sharpen them some more, like you said.
Thanks so much!!
After not being on these forums for a couple years (too busy and forgot about it) I’m coming late. @abbygeorge In my limited experience, (and I’m sure this varies a lot) some cameras seem to struggle to focus or at least take longer when the battery is lower (not saying ‘low battery’, but at 1/4 or 1/3). My dad had a Nikon point-and-shoot that did that especially badly when in lower light or with a moving subject. Put in a fresh battery, and, presto, the AF works perfect in the same environment. I think my Canon 80D does the same thing, a little, with my 70-300 lens being slightly worse than my 18-135, I think. Anyway, just something you could experiment with sometime. Put in a half dead battery and try some low light, high ISO photos and see how the AF behaves. You don’t need a moving subject, just swing the camera at different objects and see how quick it will focus. Repeat with a fully charged battery and see if there is a difference.
Hadn’t thought of that, @westona. Would be curious if you find anything out in your own experiments, @abbygeorge!
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