Ok, so I just did a wedding last night and it took place during the "golden hour"... Overall I am really happy about the wedding...but the shots I was most anxious to see were the bride and her father as he is walking her down the aisle. I am posting these which I shot in RAW and am wondering a couple things...

How could I have shot these better? What could I have done differently to have more definition in the shots so that you can really see their faces AND the nice nice light all around them. (maybe a different angle?) Or...do you like them how they are?

Do you have any processing tips for these to bring out the definition?

These are the most strongly lit backlit shots I have ever done and don't even know if it is possible to have exposed better or anything because it's not even like they are blown out...it's just that the flare takes over.

OR do you like them how they are???

I would love to know your honest critique of these!!! Thank you so much!
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment
Click to view attachment

hmm you could pump up the contrast, clarity, and black levels. But any facial detail is probably going to be pretty washed out. the trick to shooting back lit photos is positioning yourself so that the flare doesnt completely blow into your lens... sometimes moving a touch left or right is all it takes

Cool, I'll try those processing tips.

And yeah, AAHHH I am so mad because my positioning was off. I feel like I kind of blew it, you know? I was shooting like mad and so I have some good ones from when they were a little further away and also some of when they just passed me up and their backs were to me... So those are kind of nice, but MAN am I bummed that I didn't nail it for these ones. It was my MOMENT! sorry to be so dramatic...

The last two you may be able to pull off a artsy look with the suggestions above. I would send them to a pro though. I have been using Photographers Edit and I am really impressed with what they have been able to save. Let us know how it turns out.

Ok, so I took the advice of the awesome Shan Renee and have been playing in camera Raw....
here is what I have come up with so far. Much better! I am still going to be playing around...
Click to view attachment

i have found this to be so true. but it's hard when people are moving, and you just want to get a great shot ... i am sure you will have more chances!

Was it possible to get on the other side of the isle? or do you have shots of them comming down the isle and these were grabs as you were getting out of the way? I don't see anyway these are going to be presentable to the client. even with B&W conversion and noise reduction if you have the comming down the isle shots you can scrap these anyway.

Oh yeah, no I am definitely safe. I have tons of them coming down the aisle...these are the only blown out ones. I was just trying to see if the flare was usable! And yes I could have gone on the other side but then it wouldn't have been backlit and that's what I wanted to try out...

Dude Katie... this rocks in my opinion. Just drop the shadows just a little maybe and you have a image that deserves to be on the cover of an album. I love it.

The edit version of course

A little blue channel luminosity and some curves brings back some facial detail and keeps the blown flarey look.

Katie, I actually LOVE the edited version! You totally didn't BLOW IT, you did a fine job (always room to improve - that's my mantra!) but with some lovin' these will look fantastic!! I would bump up the contrast, bring down the brightness a touch, maybe cool the color temp a tad (although its beautiful so bright and warm)... its up to you.

the expression and the moment are awesome so don't scrap these please!! They are just toooo rockin'!

sorry, hope you don't mind ---

i really like the image and think they could add quite a bit of drama, but I wouldn't overdo it. I'd just pick one to add to the standard shots.

Scrap these? No WAY. I'd pick Katie to be my wedding photographer! There is AWESOME potential here!!!!

I looooooove your tweaked version, and also the one Will did! These ROCK!

Will your a genius!

Love 'em! I really like the edited version, but not a fan of the yellow. Definitely would play with these until they get the right look!

I don't think they are junk. I love what Wil did and I know you will be able to play around with them a bit too. I too, would choose one to show the client (after it is ready). I had the same fortune for Saturday's wedding,... was able to play around with some lens flare and back lighting. It's fun but not for the client everytime.

Great job! Keep having fun!

Flare can be cool but these look about two stop over to start with even if allowing for exposing for shadow side detail. The edited and textured version Wil posted above looks really good considering. I'd really tone down the yellow in raw processing. You may even consider processing the individual RAW files two or three different ways and then blending them together via layers to best regain the detail and color tone you are looking for throughout the image.

Ah! Thanks for all the comments...you all are so awesome and helpful. Will, I LOVE what you have done... I will definitely continue playing around with this-luckily this couple is awesome and they love "different" things...so thanks for the honest tips and critiques all of you... And Jules you are the sweetest ever!

FYI - close down a bit next time - I know we all love shooting wide open, but to get a bit more definition, maybe try f8 or f11. Since you had 3 or 4 shots you could have bracketed, and gotten to see what happens. Once that light begins to bounce around the long glass (I'm guessing that was the 70-200) you get the FLARE!

I like the edit too. Most of the good backlits photos I've seen have been posed. Hard to do on the fly.

That looks really good Will!