Wedding Photography Tips

“Help  I’m photographing my aboriginal Wedding!  Admonition me with some Marriage Photography Tips Please!”

It’s a catechism that’s been asked a few times in our forums over the endure few months so while I’m not a Pro Marriage Columnist I anticipation it was time to allotment a few tips on the affair of Marriage Photography.

I’ll leave the abstruse tips of photographing a marriage to the pros – but as anyone who has been asked to photograph abundant accompany and ancestors weddings – actuality are a few suggestions.

Wedding Photography Tips

 

1. Create a ‘Shot List’

Wedding Photography

One of the a lot of accessible tips I’ve been accustomed about Marriage Photography is to get the brace to anticipate advanced about the shots that they’d like you to abduction on the day and abridge a account so that you can analysis them off. This is decidedly accessible in the ancestors shots. There’s annihilation worse than accepting the photos aback and acumen you didn’t photograph the blessed brace with grandma!

2. Marriage Photography Ancestors Photo Coordinator

I acquisition the ancestors photo allotment of the day can be absolutely stressful. Humans are traveling everywhere, you’re blind of the altered ancestors dynamics at play and humans are in a ‘festive spirit’ (and accept generally been bubbler a few spirits) to the point breadth it can be absolutely chaotic. Get the brace to appoint a ancestors affiliate (or one for anniversary ancillary of the family) who can be the ‘director’ of the shoot. They can annular anybody up, admonition get them in the attack and accumulate things affective so that the brace can get aback to the party.

21 Marriage Photography Tips for Amateur Marriage Photographers

3. Scout the Location

Visit the locations of the altered places that you’ll be cutting afore the big day. While I’m abiding a lot of Pros don’t do this – I acquisition it absolutely accessible to apperceive breadth we’re going, accept an abstraction of a few positions for shots and to apperceive how the ablaze adeptness appear into play. On one or two weddings I even visited locations with the couples and took a few analysis shots (these fabricated nice ‘engagement photos’).

4. In Marriage Photography Alertness is Key

So abundant can go amiss on the day – so you charge to be able-bodied prepared. Accept a advancement plan (in case of bad weather), accept batteries charged, anamnesis cards blank, anticipate about routes and time to get to places and get an beat of the abounding day so you apperceive what’s accident next. If you can, appear the call of the commemoration breadth you’ll accumulate a lot of abundant admonition about accessible positions to shoot from, the lighting, the adjustment of the commemoration etc

5. Set expectations with the Couple

Show them your work/style. Acquisition out what they are absent to achieve, how abounding shots they want, what key things they wish to be recorded, how the shots will be acclimated (print etc). If you’re charging them for the event, accomplish abiding you accept the acceding of amount in abode up front.

 
6. Turn off the complete on your Camera

Beeps during speeches, the kiss and vows don’t add to the event. About-face off complete afore duke and accumulate it off.

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7. Shoot the baby details

Photograph rings, backs of dresses, shoes, flowers, table settings, airheaded etc – these admonition accord the end anthology an added dimension. Flick through a marriage annual in a account bend for a little inspiration.

8. Use Two Cameras

Beg, borrow, appoint or abduct an added camera for the day – set it up with a altered lens. I try to shoot with one advanced bend lens (great for aboveboard shots and in bound spaces (particularly afore the commemoration in the alertness date of the day) and one best lens (it can be accessible to accept something as ample as 200mm if you can get your easily on one – I use a 70-200mm).

9. Consider a Additional Marriage Photographer

Having a additional advancement columnist can be a abundant strategy. It agency beneath affective about during commemoration and speeches, allows for one to abduction the academic shots and the added to get aboveboard shots. It aswell takes a little burden off you accepting ‘the one’ to accept to get every shot!

10. Be Adventurous but Not Obtrusive

Wedding Photography Tips 3

Timidity won’t get you ‘the shot’ – sometimes you charge to be adventurous to abduction a moment. However timing is aggregate and cerebration advanced to get in the appropriate position for key moments are important so as not to agitate the event. In a commemoration I try to move about at atomic 4-5 times but try to time this to accompany with songs, sermons or best readings. During the academic shots be bold, apperceive what you wish and ask for it from the brace and their party. You’re active the appearance at this point of the day and charge to accumulate things moving.

11. Learn how to Use Diffused Light

The adeptness to animation a beam or to broadcast it is key. You’ll acquisition that in abounding churches that ablaze is actual low. If you’re accustomed to use a beam (and some churches don’t acquiesce it) anticipate about whether bouncing the beam will plan (remember if you animation off a black apparent it will add a black casting to the picture) or whether you adeptness wish to buy a beam diffuser to abate the light. If you can’t use a beam you’ll charge to either use a fast lens at advanced apertures and/or bang up the ISO. A lens with angel stabilization adeptness aswell help. Learn added about Application Beam Diffusers and Reflectors.

12. Shoot in RAW
I apperceive that abounding readers feel that they don’t accept the time for cutting in RAW (due to added processing) but a marriage is one time that it can be decidedly advantageous as it gives so abundant added adaptability to dispense shots afterwards demography them. Weddings can present photographers with catchy lighting which aftereffect in the charge to dispense acknowledgment and white antithesis afterwards the actuality – RAW will admonition with this considerably.

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13. Display Your Shots at the Reception

One of the abundant things about agenda photography is the adjacency of it as a medium. One of the fun things I’ve apparent added and added photographers accomplishing afresh is demography a computer to the reception, uploading shots taken beforehand in the day and absolution them circle as a slideshow during the evening. This adds a fun aspect to the night.

14. Consider Your Backgrounds

One of the challenges of weddings is that there are generally humans traveling everywhere – including the backgrounds of your shots. Decidedly with the academic shots ambit out the breadth area they’ll be taken advanced of time searching for acceptable backgrounds. Ideally you’ll be absent aerial areas and black spots out of absolute sunlight breadth there’s absurd to be a abnormality abundant aunt aberrate into the aback of the shot. Read added on accepting backgrounds right.

15. Don’t Discard Your ‘Mistakes’

The allurement with agenda is to analysis images as you go and to annul those that don’t plan immediately. The botheration with this is that you adeptness just be accepting rid of some of the added absorbing and adapted images. Accumulate in apperception that images can be circumscribed or manipulated afterwards to accord you some added arty/abstract searching shots that can add absolute absorption to the end album.

Wedding Photography picture

 

16. Change Your Perspective

Get a little artistic with your shots. While the majority of the images in the end anthology will apparently be adequately ‘normal’ or academic poses – accomplish abiding you mix things up a little by demography shots from down low, up high, at advanced angles etc.

17. Marriage Group Shots

One affair that I’ve done at every marriage that I’ve photographed is attack to photograph anybody who is in appearance in the one shot. The way I’ve done this is to align for a abode that I can get up top aloft anybody beeline afterwards the ceremony. This adeptness beggarly accepting alpine ladder, application a balustrade or even aggressive on a roof. The adorableness of accepting up top is that you get everyone’s face in it and can fit a lot of humans in the one shot. The key is to be able to get anybody to the abode you wish them to bend bound and to be accessible to get the attack afterwards accepting anybody bend about for too long. I begin the best way to get anybody to the atom is to get the helpmate and benedict there and to accept a brace of cadre to assemblage anybody in that direction. Read added on how to yield Group Photos.

18. Ample Flash

When cutting alfresco afterwards a commemoration or during the airish shots you’ll apparently wish to accumulate your beam absorbed to accord a little ample in flash. I tend to punch it aback a little (a stop or two) so that shots are not destroyed out – but decidedly in backlit or midday cutting altitude breadth there can be a lot of shadow, ample in beam is a must. Read added about application Ample Flash.

19. Connected Cutting Mode

Having the adeptness to shoot a lot of images fast is actual accessible on a marriage day so about-face your camera to connected cutting approach and use it. Sometimes it’s the attack you yield a additional afterwards the academic or airish attack if anybody is adequate that absolutely captures the moment!

Wedding Photography Rain

 
20. Expect the Unexpected

One added section of admonition that anyone gave me on my own marriage day. ‘Things will Go Amiss – But They Can be the Best Parts of the Day’. In every marriage that I’ve alternate in something tends to go amiss with the day. The best man can’t acquisition the ring, the rain pours down just as the commemoration ends, the benedict forgets to do up his fly, the annual babe decides to sit down in the average of the alley or the helpmate can’t bethink her vows….

These moments can feel a little afraid at the time – but it’s these moments that can in fact accomplish a day and accord the helpmate and benedict memories. Attack to abduction them and you could end up with some fun images that sum up the day absolutely well.

I still bethink the aboriginal marriage I photographed breadth the helpmate and grooms car comatose into a Tram on the way to the esplanade breadth we were traveling to yield photos. The helpmate was in tears, the benedict fatigued out – but afterwards we’d all calmed down humans began to see some of the funny ancillary of the moment and we even took a brace of shots afore active on to the park. They were a part of everyone’s favorites.

21. Accept Fun

Weddings are about adulatory – they should be fun. The added fun you accept as the columnist the added airy those you are photographing will be. Perhaps the best way to alleviate humans up is to smile as the columnist (warning: I consistently appear home from photographing weddings with abscessed aperture and cheeks because of of my animated strategy).