DIY Wedding Photography !

Anyone who takes pictures can do weddings..... true? or false?   Well, in my humble opinion... both are correct.... it just depends on how "good" you are at organising your shots and the people in them, and the backgrounds, and the lighting, and the tea and coffee, and the sandwiches.!... etc..,.. Yes, I have been asked to be the Photographer at a couple of weddings, by family and friends.... I am still part of the family, and I still have my friends... Why? because I refused to do it.... Wedding photography is an area that needs a lot of preparation, and prior knowledge, mainly with your equipment, and your own confidence to be able to pull it off well.... the biggest problem with Wedding Photography is.... you only get one chance to get it right... and if you don`t ..... you are likely to ruin somebody`s "Best day of my life"... event... Having said all that, I was the Mate, on the M.V. Richmond, a trip boat, on the Chichester Canal, for the Wedding Reception... The people who hired the boat, did all the decoration and provided the food and drink, as a normal landlubbers reception would be... the Bride and Groom turned up, with the small guest list, and came on board.... at that moment, their photographer, left the scene.  We sailed as scheduled, and about halfway through the journey, we stopped at a jetty at Hunston, for the guests to stretch their legs, and view Chichester Cathedral from the same vantage point as JWM Turner, for his painting.... I took the opportunity of asking the bride if I could take some pics of them, and the guests, to which she agreed... I wanted to do this for my own "entertainment" as much as anything, so I took myself off and we made some pics.... I suppose I must have taken about 40 in a period of 20 minutes.!.. however, when I got home after the trip, I then started processing them, to get some "good ones". and dump the ones I thought were not worth keeping.... One or two looked as though they might deserve more treatment than a crop or contrast operation.  Anyway, the results are below, and I don`t claim to be anything other than an amateur photographer who enjoys taking pics...

M.V. Richmond - ready to receive Bride & Groom

 

Interior of Richmond waiting for the guests

The Bride & Groom, at the helm.

Bride & Groom, ( taken from the roof of the Richmond)

Top... Original    Middle... Cropped    Bottom.... Given the B&W treatment

Again... the same pic with B&W treatment for "vintage" effect

Now for some "magic!".... the original , below, had too many "onlookers"  in the background, when the happy couple should be the centre of attention, and should be made to appear that way... It took me about an hour to remove the background and replace it with "grass"... using a free program called PhotoFiltre.  First I used the "lassoo" tool to draw from the bottom edge of the pic around the happy couple leaving about 10 or 15 pixels from the actual edges of them and finishing at the bottom of the pic on the other side.... .... then I used the "paste as new image"... which did just that... it left the outside around them white... I used the cut and paste order to bring in some "grass" from the original background, and then by carefully adjusting the brush size I used the "clone" ( stamp ) tool to infill the space,,.. reducing the brush size, and at the same time over magnifying the pic ( 400x in some cases) to be able to touch up to the edges ... I think the result for a "quick job" is not too bad... so I may well be a bit more careful on the next job !...

Original Pic.....

Original Pic ( too many "onlookers" ! ! )

"Onlookers" removed !

"Vintage" Black & White !

Even More "Vintage"  Sepia

And of course, at any wedding, there is the obligatory "group photo".. so I managed to gather everyone together with the Bride & Groom on a convenient bench, climbed onto the roof of the boat again. and took the "group photo"....

After that, there was just one more pic to take, as the Bride & Groom, prepared for their voyage into the future......

                               Good Luck to them, and may they have a long and happy time together.