not stopping at the second hurdle

In the pre-digital camera era, purists would rage about never cropping images, somehow believing that the 35mm format was the perfect aspect.  These purists would claim that they had framed the perfect image before they clicked the shutter in order to produce an immaculate print. 

In the digital era, more images are being taken than ever before and many photographers have adopted this purist approach, unconsciously or otherwise. They look at their images and are disappointed by them. Or maybe they are disappointed by themselves, feeling that as amateur photographers they are incapable of taking outstanding images.

A more positive approach is to regard the image as a rough diamond which needs to be cut and polished in such a way as to maximise its potential. Enhancing images is best be done in Adobe Lightroom; its bigger brother Adobe Photoshop is far too complicated to learn for most photographers.

The photos below demonstrate the polishing of one image. All enhancements were done in Adobe Lightroom under ten minutes.

Wedding photography 101

A weekend in Sydney in the late afternoon, the guests are waiting for the bride to arrive. The light is harsh and sallow.

I walk three hundred metres from the garden to the awaiting bride. This is not the time to be fussy about the light or meticulous about posing her.  All that's important is her happiness and excitement. Any problems can be dealt with after the event. Indeed, given this is the first encounter between the bride and the photographer on her wedding day, it is vital for the photographer to appear to be confident and any fiddling with camera dials will cause the bride to doubt the photographer, and that look of scepticism could contaminate every subsequent photo.

This is the photo as it was shot.

This is the photo after tweaking it.

Before you take any photos, tell her she looks wonderful - she will, but it's nice and a relief for the bride to hear it from the person who is going to record the event for posterity.