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Wedding Photography
At some stage you'll be asked to photograph a wedding, it's just one of those rules of photography, people with nice expensive looking cameras get asked to take the official wedding pictures of their friends and family, usually for free.
So the first piece of advice is to beware of friends planning weddings, especially if they offer to go out for a few drinks with you. You don't want to wake up in the morning with that "oh what did I agree to" feeling.
There is an assumption on the part of many an engaged couple that someone who has a nice camera will be able to do a decent job of photographing their wedding. This feeling is further strengthened when they see the price a professional wedding photographer can charge. Be warned, it is not that simple and what your friends are asking you is to work all day under stressful conditions and if it doesn't work out there can be bad repercussions for your friendship, even more so if they paid you.
This may all sound like doom and gloom but we don't want you to be able to say we didn't warn you! There's a world of difference between having your camera at a wedding when another photographer is responsible for the official shots and being the person with that responsibility. So our next piece of advice is this:
If you are not 100% comfortable you can pull this off, decline. The couple may try and encourage you by saying they don't expect too much and that other people will have cameras. Stand your ground, don't be emotionally blackmailed.
Ok, so enough with the warnings and negativity. If you decide to go ahead and photograph a wedding here's some key points to remember. By the way, this article is not so much about the technical photography skills you need, they can be found in the other sections of this book. The key difference between wedding photography and other types of photography is the pressure and the need for preparation.
Planning Ahead
In advance of the big day you must sit down with the happy couple and discuss what they want. This discussion should include:
- Agreeing what will be delivered (number of shots, type of album etc. You don't want them expecting 100 shots if you plan to deliver 20)
- Agree a list of "must have" shots (see below for suggestions)
- Get the running order of events (not all weddings are the same)
- Confirm dates, times, places and reconfirm them (it's fairly important that you're in the right place on the right day!)
- Discuss style (some couples want an informal reportage style, others want the formal portraits)
- Get the name of someone who knows the guests (you can use this person to shepherd the subjects when you need them for a picture - the best man is often quite handy for this). Ask the couple to prepare this person to be asked for help in identifying the victims... err... subjects :)
- Discuss costs where applicable
- Find out as much as possible about location (can you take photos in the church? Can you use flash in there? Can you take pictures during the ceremony? Are there any good spots for a photo such as a nice garden at the location?) Even better, go and have a good look and prepare some shots in your mind.
- Explain to the couple that you might need to be quite assertive (though polite) with some of the guests but that this is only because you want to get the best shots for them
The couple will often be very cooperative at this stage and will promise to give you their undivided attention when you need it, after all they want good photos. On the day it can be very different and they are too wrapped up in the moment to worry about how your day is going so don't expect too much of them.
And one last thing to remember ... a wedding might be the loving union of two people but on the day, the single most important person in terms of photographs is the bride (some say the groom comes about 4th after the bridesmaids and the brides mother). If the bride is happy with the final wedding album, you have succeeded.
Equipment
If you are going to be the official photographer you can't afford to have your camera fail so you need two. Two, DSLR bodies, of the same make, and a few lenses is ideal. If you need to borrow a second camera body then do so but you don't want to be holding a broken camera on the big day with nothing to fall back on. With regards to lenses you don't need to go overboard you can easily get away with a standard zoom, fast prime (e.g. a 50mm f/1.8 for indoor no-flash shots or as a backup to standard zoom) and telephoto (e.g. 70-200mm). You could get away with a single standard zoom but you would be restricted in the types of shots you can get and also risking it all on the lens surviving the day.
You also need to take a flash. Don't rely on the built-in flash you should choose a hotshoe flash which can be bounced. The flash can serve two purposes, a fill-in for outdoor shots and a main source of light for indoor shots. Both of these are pretty much essential.
Other equipment:
- Spare batteries (lots)
- Spare memory cards (4 x 4GB cards is better than one 16GB card)
- Memory card holder (put them face up when empty, face down when full)
- A portable reflector
- An umbrella
- A good quality bag to put everything in.
Always carry your spare batteries and memory cards on you - the last thing you want is to have to return to your camera bag when your card fills up and your just about the get the picture of them signing the register or cutting the cake.
Shots
Each wedding will be different, not only are the participants different but the traditions and customs can differ too. Therefore there won't be a definitve list of shots you absolutley must get. You should write a list with the bride and groom in advance of the day and stick with it as you don't want to have the "didn't we ask for a picture with Aunty Mary" conversation after the event.
Some couples will want you present from when they are getting ready until the very end, others will only want you for a shorter time. Make sure this is all understood and agreed in advance. If the party is set to stretch into the night and they want you there fore the duration, make sure you know this in advance.
Some suggested shots:
- Bride and bridesmaids getting ready
- Groom and Best man waiting for the bride
- Bride arriving, photograph the bride being helped out of the car (often by father)
- Bridesmaids helping bride into church (or other venue)
- Bride walking down the isle
- Shots of couple during ceremony (if permitted)
- Bride and Groom kissing (now married)
- Signing the register
- Bride, Groom and witnesses gathered around the register
- Leaving the church (or other venue)
- Throwing the confetti
- Bride and parents
- Groom and parents
- All guests together with bride and groom in centre
- Other key players on their own (Bridesmaid, flower girl etc)
- Bride and Groom with Bride's family members
- Bride and Groom with Groom's family members
- Shot of wedding rings
- Bride and Groom alone in scenic location (e.g. venue gardens)
- Bride alone
- Cutting the cake
Their are many other shots you can get. Frequently the couple will ask to have a shot of themselves with various family members such as Bride with grandmother, Bride and Groom with brothers and sisters and so on.
Try to be creative with the poses. Don't line groups all in a straight line see here for ideas (link to protrait (group) article). A good tip for posing a bride and groom together is to have their bodies facing one another and their heads turned towards the camera. Position the bride's hands on the grooms chest and the groom's hands on her waist. Other poses to consider:
- Bride sitting with groom behind her and to one side with hand on shoulder
- Close cropped shot of bride looking out of frame (contemplative look)
- A shot of bride and groom from a high vantage point
- Shot of the bride by a window - look around in advance and find the spot in the room with the wonderful natural light streaming in.
or even some non-people shots ...
- Wedding invitation
- The guest book (after some guests have signed it)
- The brides bouquet
- A close up of the wedding dress (showing a fine detail)
- Champagne glasses
Tips for the Big Day
- Prepare for rain, snow, or any kind of storm. (Your carefully scouted location may be waterlogged on the day, you might have to take all the photos indoors, be prepared for this)
- Be methodical (work through your list of shots and tick them off, you can't go back to get ones you forgot about. Once you've got the key shots you can be creative)
- Be polite
- Dress smartly (Just because you're not in the photos doesn't mean you don't have to look professional. It's extremely unlikely that you'll be overdressed!)
- Be assertive but not aggressive (make sure you get people's attention when needed)
- If you encounter resistance or rude guests just politely explain that you're trying to get the shots that the Bride and Groom have asked for and that you're just trying to do the best for them.
Shooting the Formal Shots
I've you've planned ahead and know exactly what you are needing to shoot then this should hopefully go fairly smoothly - but here's just a few extra ideas that might help with this.
- Gather everyone you are going to need together right at the beginning so you are not having to go searching for Auntie Bettie when she is needed.
- Get the bride and groom shots done first. As time goes on, all the guests will be waiting for them to turn up at the reception so you don't want to feel pressured to hurry the most important shots of all - so get them done first.
- Then gather together the largest group of people (the big family group pictures). As you are finished with people, you can send them off to the reception. This prevents a lot of the guests standing around for long periods of time.
- When shooting the large groups, make sure everyone is in focus by using a small aperture (f/11 should be about right), and focus on the bride and groom.
- With big groups, someone is bound to blink on the picture so have everyone close their eyes and then open them when you count "3, 2, 1, open!" - count one more in your head and shoot.
- If shooting the formal shots outdoors, it's quite likely that they will be in beautiful surroundings - medievel castle, waterfalls, exotic plants etc. All these will just distract from the main subject. So keep backgrounds as simple as possible. You can always get a few nice informal shot of the bride and groom in the surroundings after the formal photos are done.
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Photographs
This is a site about photography so I'm sure you are expecting to see plenty of pictures.
For now, why not take a peek at the flickr galleries belonging to the two authors of this site.
Colin's Flickr Page
Phil's Flickr Page
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