How to Make the Most of Your Wedding Day Photography
Be Organised!!
Creating a wedding photography list is a great way to stay focused on what you want from your photographer on the day and the sort of images you want in your wedding album. This list can act as a guide to help your day flow making sure everyone sticks to times and places. If everything is organised beforehand, everyone knows what is expected of them.
This wedding photography list can then be copied and given to the Best man and ushers, who may be able to help the photographer on the day by getting people ready for the group shots, preventing your guests from standing around waiting forever to have their photos taken. The list also makes sure everyone important is included in the photographs and not left out by mistake.
Visit locations before the big day. A professional wedding photographer should know the local wedding venues so they are aware of where to photograph the wedding party to achieve the best results and how to use backdrops and natural light to the best advantage. This all helps with the flow of photography on the day and again prevents your guests waiting whilst the photographer scouts for the “perfect” location. There is nothing worse than seeing disgruntled guests being photographed with bright sunlight in their eyes.
Always Have a Back-Up Plan
What happens if there is bad weather or a camera fails? Being prepared and carrying spare equipment is the true sign of a professional wedding photographer. They should always have a plan for wet weather so they can still work through the wedding photography list without too much hesitation, and the confidence gained will be noticed by the wedding party who will in turn will be more appreciative of the professionals skills.
The same goes for having a spare camera, lenses, batteries and memory cards. Dropping a camera or smashing a lens whilst working is not a new phenomenon and you never know when electronic equipment is going to fail. So a professional should always be prepared.
Also, they should know how to use their equipment. This may sound an obvious statement but the last thing you want is for them to be constantly checking their camera and hesitating whilst taking group shots! Can you imagine being in a church and during the service all you can hear is the photographers camera bleeping? So again, choose someone who knows how to use their camera and switch the sound off!
Professional wedding photography is not just about the Bride and Groom. It is also about capturing all the details that make up their special day. All the small shots like room layout, flowers, menus, table settings, wedding dress details and even guests interacting with each other. All these detail shots add a great deal to the wedding album and help record the story of the day.
Thinking Ahead to Get the Shot
Capturing people in documentary style wedding photography is a real skill. It relies on your wedding photographer being skilled in the art of human nature. Being able to read people and predict how they are going to react in different situations is a must if they are to capture those special moments that no one else will get. So your wedding photographer should be able to watch people everywhere, learn how they react and move into position to capture the moment before it happens. Quite often these make the best images.
Lights, Camera, Action!
The professional photographer has studied light and will be able to use this knowledge to great effect. Using flash in churches or during a service is a definite no no, so being able to set the camera and move to the right position to get the lighting right all within a few seconds is a great skill, one that will produce the best results. For example, just imagine, sunlight through a window illuminating the brides veil and lighting half her face just enough to make her eyes sparkle – this will be far better than full on sunlight illuminating the whole face and making the bride squint. This sort of skill is learned over time and helps build a great portfolio of wedding photography.
Things Always Go Wrong
Quite often, something will always go wrong at weddings. Expect the unexpected. But the photographer should be there to capture that moment and record it as part of the day’s experience. What usually happens is people will always look back with a smile and happily reminisce at those type of images.
The wedding day can be quite stressful for a photographer as there is so much pressure to get the right images, always be in the right place at the right time and to sometimes manage large crowds, so being able to smile and have fun whilst working is a skill that can only come from experience – which is why you should always hire a professional wedding day photographer.