Aaron Downs - Great post and well stated :)
I wish I had weddings that looked this great though.
Joe - Excellent Post - Thank you so much for sharing this!
Jenny Karlsson - This post is awesome! So many helpful tips. Thank you! I just recently found your site and I'm loving it. You're such a generous person sharing all this knowledge.
Alan & Karen Woo - Wow the best ever FAQ ever. Now need to apply lessons learnt!
Avelaine Scyrup - Great tips and write up..thanks for sharing and inspiring!
theresa choi - Melissa, your photos are gorgeous and these detail shots are outstanding! Thanks so much for taking the time to blog this post, it's so helpful! :)
Anna - Hi Melissa- Your pictures are amazing, along with your posts! Thank you so much for your blog; being at the stage you were 6 or 7 years ago, your posts are making me a lot more confident in trying to pursue my photography more seriously. I have 2 questions on your lighting: 1) Do you set your white balance to Auto? 2) What type of photoshop do you use? You might have stated it in another post, but bear with me-- I only discovered you 2 weeks ago!!
Kara Layne - Love your FAQ posts and this one is no different - great tips and fabulous pictures! Thank you!
Melissa Jill :) - Hey Nate -- I have a great post the contains my whole schpeel about why I think it's better to take care of the portraits before the ceremony. This is pretty much the conversation I have with my clients sometime during our initial consultation. You can find it here: http://www.melissajill.com/blog.cfm?postID=476&planning-the-timing-of-your-wedding
I think macro lenses are great but I don't think I would use one enough to let it take up room in my bag. They're pretty specialized.
Tira J - This was an awesome post. So awesome, that I sent it to my hubby to review for our wedding on Sunday! Love ya MJ!
Amanda - Everything about this post was great, and I didn't say "duh" once! Your detail shots are goregeous as always!
Nate at Open Light Studio - Melissa, what a wonderful highlite of some of your fantastic detail shots. Thank you. Also, I have a question in regards to an earlier question you answered...How are you best able to convince clients that doing their portrait session pre-ceremony is the way to go? Also, with details, do you think the macro is worth it? Or is it just an extra lens to carry that's somewhat of a waste?
Gail - You do the best FAQ posts ;) This one is SO great! And I loved oogling all your detail shots. Just gorgeous!
Kelly - Great Information! All of you FAQ's are so detailed. They really REALLY help! Thanks!
Melissa Jill :) - Hey Carolyn -- It works out best if we take care of all the portraits before the ceremony. Then after the hugs after the ceremony I have my 2nd shooter cover cocktail hour and I high tail it to the reception space. Having the room empty pretty much never happens. So you just have to work around the people. For large room shots I’ve had to clone people out before. Hope that helps!
erin harvey - Melissa, thank you so much for this. Details seems like such a simple thing, but the difference between an interesting and not-so-interesting image can be so slight. Thank you for this post!!!
Carolyn Egerszegi - Great post Melissa. Very helpful. I was wondering... when exactly do you shoot the details? I'm trying to figure out when it is during the day that you're at the reception venue, it is all set a ready to go, the room is empty and you're not with the bride and the groom???
Abbey - OMG!!! I thought I died and went to detail heaven! Thank you soo much for sharing your insights. I love, love, love details and this has surely given me a lot to think about the next time I want to capture details!
Mary Serantoni - How do we thank you? Let us count the ways... lunch, lunch, and lunch in the New Year?
Elena - Thanks, Melissa! Very easy to understand and very well illustrated lesson on details!
Brittney - you are awesome for doing this! thank you! love your images!!!
Becky Gawin - Thanks so much for this thoughtful post. It's great stuff!
Sandra - Love this post! The details are one of my favorite things to capture. As a bride, I didn't get to relish those details on the big day. It makes me smile to think I'm capturing those things for my brides so that if they don't get to relish them that day they'll have the photos forever. :)
Regina White - Melissa your just so amazing. I love you did this post. I love you share so much with us. These are all great shots and info. I read it all and just love it. Thanks.
Vanessa - Melissa- I love your work and totally love how selfless you are. The willingness to take the time to share is amazing and shows what a fabulous person you are. :)
Becky Sharrah - You're always so helpful! Thanks for the great advice!
Brienne Michelle - Melissa - THANKS for doing this post! I've been admiring your details shots for a long time and I never seem to get really stunning ones like you do. Thanks for putting into words the things I need to be thinking about (simultaneously)! LOVE it! :)
Rebecca - That was so great! What a lot of work - thankyou so much!
julianna - Thanks for being generous with your talent!
Cathy - Great tips and AMAZING shots! Thanks for sharing!
Martha - Your pictures are as usual fabulous. Thanks for sharing your insight for taking great pictures. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Kate - Wow! How helpful this has been! I find your blog my favorite resource!! Thank you!
Paige Butcher - Melissa, you are awesome. These shots are stunning, and I was wondering about this topic just the other day. Thanks so much for your openness!
Alyse - Hi Melissa! I’m a long-time follower, but first-time commenter! I just wanted you to know how much your work inspires me! I went through all of your FAQ posts last night and learned so much! And this one is an awesome post! Thanks for the advice! :)
Heather Corporan - Fabulous info! Thanks again for your insight MJ. You truly rock!
shawna - awesome! believe me, there weren't too many duh moments in here :O) especially the ideas on different focal points, you gave me some great ideas. weddings are kind of unique in the repetition department. thanks for all the ideas and putting so many great shots into one post!
Tina - Oh my gosh the details at your weddings are SO gorgeous! Thanks for writing out this post - I always find it interesting to hear different photographers' perspectives on shooting details:)
Eunice - Oh my gosh, now I can't wait to shoot my next wedding a month from now! Thanks for the inspiration!
Melissa Jill :) - Hi Deborah -- the whites & colors are a product of all three -- good lighting, proper exposure and post-processing. Most of the time post-processing is minimal but sometimes, if there is a color cast, I can clean that up by tweaking the color balance afterwards. For backlit photos the only thing I do is spot lighten areas that I want to pop using Kevin Kubota's digital fill flash. There is some good info on this in the behind the image posts and a backlight post under FAQ. Hope this helps!
Deborah - sorry one more question! your whites are so white and your colors are so vibrant... is that a product of just good lighting and exposure or its is it a combo of correct exposure and post process?
Deborah Zoe - thank you so much for sharing ALL of this! you're so encouraging!
I had one question about exposure and back lighting. Is there any post process trick you have for cleaning up an image that is backlit? I always over expose just slightly like you suggested but sometimes find my images are not as crisp or clean as I would like.