Photography Question?

Question

I am going to be the photographer for a wedding in a month or so and I have never done it before. Any tips or suggestions would really help. Thanks.

Answer 1

See these tutorials on wedding photography: http://www.net-art.it/photomonitor/html/teoria_tecnica/ripresa-tecniche/matrimonio-cerimonia-e.shtml
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Answer 2

A good resource is www.photo.net. Go to the wedding & social event forum and click on first timers and newbies. That will give you lots of informative reading.

Every one has to start somewhere. You don't mention how much photography experience you have. I hope you are at least in the "advanced amateur" catagory. At this stage, don't even think of charging for services. It would be ok for the couple to pay for their prints. One thing you should think about: If the wedding couple are friends of yours, can you stand the loss of the friendship if the photos aren't good? I know, I know, they say "Anything you get will be fine, we aren't picky" but reality may be different. So be prepared. If they are clients, rather than friends, you have another can of worms to handle. If your pics aren't up to snuff, they can sue you. Better get a contract in place before the event.

If you decide to go ahead, you need a backup camera. It doesn't have to be the same as your main camera, it might be film or digital, but you need two cameras and two flashes. Extra batteries for everything. Twice as much memory and/or film as you think you need. And you need to be familiar with the operation of both cameras. Weddings move fast and there is no second chance. You can't be fiddleing with some setting trying to figure it out while the bride and dad walk down the aisle, or during the first kiss.

Google wedding photography and look at pro wedding sites. A great one is Monte Zuker. Also Bambi Cantrell, Marc Williams, Nadine O'Hara. See what makes a good wedding photo and think of how you might duplicate the look. When posing, turn bodies at an angle. Don't let the girls hold their bouquets at chest level, have them hold flowers near the waist. Watch your backgrounds. Don't let a tree or cross spring out of the groom's head. Try to take some outdoors. Use the flash. Try to find open, but not speckled, shade.
Take a variety of poses. Make sure to get several of the bride alone and the bride and groom. Use a tripod for the ceremony if you can't use the flash. Go to the balcony if possible. Anticipate the next event. Have someone who is familiar with the families in charge of rounding people up for the formals. Start the formals with your biggest group and work down to just the B & G. Do all the formals you possibly can before the ceremony. Ask if there is a special photo the bride wants taken. Attend the rehersal if you can. You can make test shots and get familiar with the key players.

I hope it goes well for you, good luck!

Answer 3

First....
Get a contract that specifically spells out what you will do and for how much. Get at least a 50% non-refundable deposit to save the date.

That is just the beginning of the business side of weddings.
It is very important that you and the client agree on just what services your are going to provide. Are you creating an album? Will the photos be available on-line. Do you take credit cards? Can people other than the bride order prints?

Are you looking to make this a business? You MUST determine your cost of doing business. If you shoot all day, post-process the images and give the client a disk of images for $400 you won't last very long. Consider the amount of time you will spend on the project. Show before the wedding....bride prep shot.....groom prep shots....overalls of the church decorations.....details unique to this wedding. Then add the ceremony, possible group shots, travel to the reception, the reception and the good-byes at the end and its a LONG day.

But you want some tips....
I try to make sure that if there are any of the "Traditional" group photos that need to be taken I get them out of the way before the vows. This normally means that the groom will "see" the bride before the ceremony. Each couple is different.....some don't care, some do. I try to stress that if I have to do every combination of relative and wedding party it will take away from the time I normally use to do the bride/groom portraits. If that doesn't work then I try and make sure their is someone appointed to ride herd on the crowd to get them where they need to be after the ceremony.

Make sure you keep your eyes open for those little moments that don't include the couple. The old friends that haven't seen each other since college....the father of the bride calmly reading the newspaper at the back of the church.

Be prepared to work a little more on the post production of the images if they are digital. A trend at this time is to use spot color in B&W prints. This takes a little photoshop skill and a steady hand. (ie. just cake details in color and everything else in black & white.)

Know your equipment....don't fumble around with flashes or lenses. I would suggest a 17-35mm f/2.8 lens for the bulk of your work. Make sure you have extra batteries and what ever digital medium you need (CF, memory stick, SM) . Shoot at the highest quality the camera can provide. If you are comfortable with RAW files, great.....they make if a lot easier to correct mistakes. If not jpeg.

If you are not shooting digital I will make one suggestion that will drive some crazy......
IF you are still shooting film factor your film cost, add a base fee, and just hand them film......(THIS IS BAD BUSINESS) but let me just say that if you are doing this as a job with an eye on the future you need to go digital. If you are doing this as a favor to the couple you don't want the MAJOR PAIN that comes with film and proofs and reorders and color correction and.........

I really enjoy weddings.....I work hard to get unique photos...for a price that I think is fair. If you are interested in doing more weddings....have some business cards made so you can hand them out if anybody asks....ONLY if they ask.

Hope this helps.

Answer 4

Ok,

modern weddings have a number of arranged options for photographs to be taken, so talk to the couple and the wedding planner to get all the specific details.

Also don't be afraid of those candid moments. I am not sure if you are planning to use film or digital for the photographs, but even if you use film for the main photos, a digital camera can capute or the candid moments, especially those of little kids (flower girls acting cute).

If the wedding area and reception is nicely decorated get some photos of the decorations as they can be used in the wedding album as decorate or inserts.

What you want is one great photo of the bride, one of the groom and one of them together. This will be in their living room for (we hope) the rest of their lives. Those 3 photos are the ones you have to get right. Have an assistant there to adjust the bride and grooms clothes and hair to make it perfect.

Answer 5

I've done several pre-post weddings photos and small wedding ceremonies but never tackled a "church" wedding.
I would suggest getting to the location early for perhaps a few pictures prior to the ceremony. Keep in mind that you want to capture the emotions of that day from the bride and groom as well as the whole wedding party and families involved. Take candid as well as the traditional shots and also view wedding pictures online to get some ideas. For instance, I like to get the traditional photo with the groom's back to my camera and the bride facing it with her arms around him, holding a copy of their marriage license in one hand and giving the "okay" sign with the other. Take lots and lots of images so you will have plenty of good ones. Remember to take the pictures from different angles, so move around. Have a backup camera or batteries with you in case of an emergency. Take shots of the cake, invitation, decorations, etc. as well as the car the couple will be leaving in. It's the bride's special day so in many of your pictures she should be the main focus.

Research wedding photographers on the internet to get more ideas....

Answer 6

Make sure you bring back up batteries for you r camera. Also take the pictures of the wedding couple before they tailgate to the reception (dress tends to get messy along with the wedding party!)

Answer 7

You need to be up close or have sychronized remote flash slaves for your camera. If you don't know what a flash slave is then take the time to learn. If you are using a film format this will be important. If you use a digital camera just stick to being within flash range. This is usually limited. The flash distance limitations are your biggest obstacle in addition to position of the photos. Stick to the safe bet on short distances within around eight, nine or ten feet with a regular flash. Flash devices have distance limitations.

Answer 8

focus on the bride....brides are egotistical at best so make sure to take mass pictures of her and remember to keep her from squaring off to the camera (causes her to appear bigger) i would google or find stock photos of brides to give you an idea of what to do...you should be fine

Answer 9

People get very disappointed if their wedding photos are no good...don't do it unless you know what you are doing.