My First Shot at Engagement Pictures

[miyukisarah]

Some close friends of mine (that I set up!) are getting married this summer! They wanted me to be their wedding photographer but unfortunately I won't be in the country (sniffle sniffle) so they asked me to do their engagement pictures for them. This is my favorite shot from the set. It was taken around 7pm in a park right on the coast of California.

EXIF:
Camera: Canon EOS Rebel t1i
ISO: 800
Shutter: 1/60
Aperture: f/5.0
Focal Length: 45mm
Flash: Off

Editing:
- Levels adjustments
- B&W
- Vignette
- Some burning to reduce highlights on their faces

Is it a successful engagement picture? Does the crop work? Does the lighting work? Does the B&W and vignette work? Any other feedback is certainly welcome

[kleidascope]

Can u post the color version and maybe uncropped? Maybe a bigger version, it might be too hard to get a good critique on this small version.

I am by no means an expert, but I am assuming you want other's opinions. The B/W conversion to me just looks really really dark, not enough contrast.
She kind of looks smushed (if that's a word) in his arms, like he's holding up her breasts and she really doesn't 'fit' there. ???? The arms being cropped off is kind of distracting me too

[miyukisarah]

I cropped it with the camera so this is the only crop. If you click on the image it'll pop up bigger. And here is the original, unedited.

I think the cleavage was more from her hands on her knees in the picture, so it's the way her arms are placed. She kinda has a lot of cleavage in general though haha.

[kleidascope]

I kinda figured that the starting point had a lot of 'cleavage'.

I'm looking at it on my home monitor now and the b/w still doesn't look right to me. Can you try to brighten up the original some, then try to convert. There are a few spots on her arm that you could burn out too.

I am kinda liking the original compared to the b/w - brighten it and adjust the white balance a little?

Interested to see what others might say

[miyukisarah]

Here's the edited version in color. I added a little bit more light. I'm assuming the spot you're talking about is the one on her left arm. I thought about burning it out, but it's her birth mark so I'd rather not do that, since it's a part of who she is. Not like a pimple or something like that.

[kleidascope]

agree with leaving the arm spot if it's a natural spot for her.

The original lightened up is much better.

[GadgetRick]

Lightened up is much better but still a bit dark. The crop on the shoulders also makes them look even more smushed. I like the idea of the shot, just need a better exposure and, more importantly, less tightly-cropped.

[irishmuth]

They both have great smiles and seem very happy - so the capture of the mood is perfect for an engagement picture - but I think the pose is unflattering for her arms. They look quite large and I'm guessing larger than they really are.

Below is my edit for exposure and some ever-so-slight skin smoothing and dodging of the eyes. Also took a little bit of redness out of their faces.

[miyukisarah]

What about these ones?

[mmjk84]

Originally Posted by miyukisarah

What about these ones?

The first one is fine with great composition, but as or the 2nd one the left side is waaaaaay too blown out causing the picture to be off balanced and takes the focus away from the couple. I would crop a little off the top and the left side just enough for the highlights to be controlled.