The Best Wedding Photography Tips
May 6th, 2008
So your friend has asked you to take the pictures at his wedding because after all the other expenses, they cannot afford a wedding photography professional but want some good pictures. After feeling flattered that they think you good enough to record their most important day, the worries start to happen.
First thing to do is to talk over with the couple about the shots that they think are the most important for them. These will be the ones that you have to get right. Find out the address of the wedding venue and reception and the times. Armed with this, go and visit the sites so that you will have advanced knowledge of all the suitable places to stage the shots, bearing in mind the time of day and where the sun will be at that time, take some reference shots so you will know where to go on the day. Remember if the wedding is some time away, the sun may well be higher or lower in the sky.
On the day, play it like a boy scout and ‘Be Prepared’. Your batteries must be fully charged and you have to have a couple of spare sets handy for all of your equipment. Work out how many rolls of film you need and then add six more rolls. Remember that you need at least two different speeds of film. Those shooting with digital camera should allow for a minimum of two 2 gig memory cards and then add another because you will be shooting at maximum resolution for top print quality. If you know the difference, try to shoot RAW rather than JPEG as you will have a greater flexibility after the event.
Wedding photography is much more than the happy couple, many family and friends come together for the occasion so you must speak to the couple to ascertain who are the most important people to be included in the pictures. The group shot contains everybody and there are two ways to do it. First is to start with the couple and then add to them, the second and the preferable one is to get everybody together do the shots and then start discarding people until you end up with the couple who may not be able to smile at the end of it. Remember to shoot the children as soon as possible, whilst their clothes are still in pristine condition and they are not bored.
Just because you have checked out the scene, don’t forget to look through the viewfinder and make sure there is nothing untoward, like trees or posts that will detract from the picture before taking the first shot. You may have chosen a particularly pleasing background but it is worth doing a couple of extra shots with a wiser aperture that will blur the back drop and make the people stand out.
People wearing glasses can be a problem especially if you are using flash, the best way of solving the problem is to try to get them to take them off. The trouble with this is that everybody who is used to seeing them wearing spectacles will be saying who is that bloke/girl when they look at the pictures. Far better to ask them to look slightly towards the couple to avoid any flare.
Unless it is alfresco, the reception will be held indoors so that flash will be have to be used. This can lead to harsh shadows but there are ways to avoid this. Bouncing the light off the ceiling or a convenient wall is one way, providing that the ceiling is not too high, nor has a very strong colour. The other way is to buy a dedicated diffuser that fits over the flash or attach a piece of net curtain or tracing paper over the lamp. You would be advised to do some tests before the big day.
With the big day over you need to get your films processed as soon as possible. The best, if more expensive solution, is to use a professional laboratory, failing that, take them to a drop in lab that you know and trust. Do not post them, just in case they get lost. Some labs may even provide you with a CD as well. Those who have shot digital should down load their images to the hard drive where the worst ones can be deleted and the best ones can be burnt onto a CD and given to the happy couple. Your wedding photography may lead you to a new career.
About the Author:
Before you arrange your wedding nuptuals, check Sean Lambs’ wedding photography tips. There are a whole lot more ideas as well as wedding photography for anybody tying the knot.