Great photos take time. Be sure to give your wedding photographer the time to get those amazing and beautiful images that you want from your wedding day.
Successful Wedding Photography – 9 ideas
So you’ve invested time looking at possibly dozens of websites and hundreds of images, interviewed several prospective shooters and have finally hired a professional photographer for your event, now what? Aside from liking the photographer and their work, how do you know that you will get the most from their efforts? Here are 9 ideas that will help couples to help their photographer create better all around photos of their event.
Communicate
1) Be liberal with information about the wedding with your photographer. In a best case scenario, your photographer will benefit greatly by having some information about other vendors, sites, guests, family, schedules and all other details to be ahead of the game. It is also essential for the photographer to understand what each couple desires in their photos. That said, some couples might not have specific ideas, and may just love their photographer’s images and want them for their own, but all of that requires some planning of time and space.
The more you talk with your photographer beforehand to plan your wedding photos, the more your photographer will be prepared to capture not only the essential rituals and portraits but also the spontaneous moments. The time spent planning beforehand will always result in better photos, and more of them – guaranteed.
Keep a (quiet) cell phone handy.
3) Try to have a cell phone with you or ask someone who will be traveling with you to carry one. A wedding is much like a stage production. All kinds of surprises can pop up and it’s good to have a way to coordinate with people, like your photographer. Doing this allows you to be more spontaneous in where you go between the wedding and the reception. Setting the phone to vibrate will help not to disturb anything going on.
Communication between Vendors
4) Ask your DJ to make an effort at coordinating with your photographer. The DJ often acts as your MC and should be serving you by working with the photographer to make sure they are in place to capture your important memories. For example, if you have one photographer, they can’t shoot formal portraits of the guests and the first dance photos at the same time. A quick announcement over the microphone that the bride and groom will be having their first dance not only helps your photographer, it alerts all of your guests who brought cameras and want to take pictures as well.
Lighting your Reception
5) Please consider your photographer and your guests (many of whom will bring cameras) when deciding the light level of the reception. When dancing starts, it’s common for all the lights to get turned off and for only the DJ’s colored lights to illuminate the room. This can be a challenge for the photographer to get great dancing photos. I love shooting dancing photos. It’s the time when everyone finally lets their hair down and cuts loose. But it’s not so easy to catch that priceless photo of grandma getting down on the dance floor when it’s too dark to see what’s going on.
Cameras vary in how quickly they focus in low light, but no matter what camera your photographer uses, the more light they have to work with, the better. I’m NOT suggesting that the lights be turned up all the way. I find that dimming the lights (instead of turning them off) not only helps a camera to focus quickly and accurately, but the ambient light also creates more depth in the photos, compared to the typical black background that’s common with most indoor flash photos. If you’ve ever seen a movie set, you know that filmmakers use a LOT of light to create depth. They go to this trouble because depth is always more pleasing to the eye than the 2-dimensional flatness created by a well-lit foreground and a black background.
Your Stylist Friend
6) Although brides will most likely have a hair/make-up person for the wedding, designate someone from the wedding party or someone of your choosing to help style and adjust clothing, hair, makeup or anything else so the photographer can concentrate on photo details.
Plan for Portraits
7) Most clients these days are requesting that the portrait shots be kept to a minimum. That is not to say, however, that they are unwanted or unimportant, but many people have had the unfortunate experience of having been subjected to a previous painful session. Portraits can be light, celebratory and uncontrived. A few suggestions to ease your portrait pain are: 1. Create a shot list. 2. Pre-select a location or two. 3. Consider a location with ample open shade or soft light. 4. Have only those present that are to be photographed 5. Have some refreshments available. 6. Breath and relax. Remember, this is your day, take it in, take your time, enjoy.
Lending a (Camera-Holding) Hand
Artseed is proud to announce that Robert Stewart has been accepted as a “Littlest Heroes” photographer.
The Littlest Heroes Project is a non-profit based organization founded in January 2008, made up of professional photographers nationwide that provide free photo sessions to our nations Littlest Heroes. This is our way of giving back and taking a stand for these children who sometimes feel forgotten because of their illnesses. We are here to let them know that they are heroes to many, and to share their inspirational stories and photos with the world. Read more at http://www.littlestheroesproject.org
The Site
8) Weddings are about many things, most importantly, the ceremony of the union. Couples put a lot of energy into many of the details surrounding this ritual and having photographs to remember it are essential. When selecting a ceremony site consider the light, background and surroundings, climate, sounds, etc. If using microphones, consider wireless so they will be unseen. It is also helpful if the wedding officiate can step back or aside a little during ring exchanges and first kiss, etc to allow unobstructed shots.
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