So here you are, you own a brand spanking new Digital SLR and your good friend has asked you to photograph their wedding for them. With a breath of reluctance you put on a happy face and agree. "There is no pressure" they say, yet beneath the surface you are terrified! What if I mess it up, what if they hate my photos? To google you head to get yourself some advice, and here you are, lets get to it!
"Don't worry, my wedding will be simple and carefree, no pressure or anything" that was the promise, yet you are met with no relief. The thing about weddings is they never run to plan, people are never on time, the make-up takes longer than expected or bridesmaid Jane Citizen left her shoes back at the hotel. Now this wouldn't be so bad, except that when short on time one of the first means for getting this time back is to borrow it from the allocated photography period. As such being able to work efficiently and under less than ideal circumstances is key to wedding photography.
It is vitally important to know your equipment. During the heat of the moment changing apertures, shutter speeds and ISO should be second nature, to hesitate is to miss a shot that you likely will not be given another opportunity to capture. You need to understand your equipment, know how it functions, have a feel for its metering in a variety of lighting situations. If you do not understand the basics such as aperture, shutter speed and ISO or don't understand how to utilise them you should first grab yourself some beginners photography books or rummage the internet for some tutorials. There is plenty of information out there for free these days.
So, you know the basic principles of photography, or I hope you do, now we must learn to understand such principles in relation to your actual camera. Remember that little white book that came with your camera, yeah that's it, the one you ignored. You may need to refer to your manual from time to time at first so leave it in your camera bag. Now armed with basic technical knowledge, your camera and manual get out and shoot till your finger hurts! Shoot during daylight, at night, indoors and outdoors, with the light source behind your subject, standing on your head. You get the idea, just keep shooting anything and everything all the time being mindful of using your cameras settings, ISO, aperture and shutter speed until doing so becomes second nature, you will gain a solid feel for how your camera behaves under various light conditions and ultimately will look upon your camera is a tool rather than an obstruction.
You now feel confident you can pick up your camera and nail the exposure under any conditions quickly and easily. The next big worry you face becomes posing your bride and groom, you have never had to pose anyone other than Uncle Bob and Aunty May for a quick snapshot, ARGHHH you shout as you pull a small chunk of hair from your head! The first step in understanding posing is to understand what you like about various poses. Once again head to the internet, look at countless wedding photos and keep doing so until you start to notice a style of posing that you enjoy. Some photographers will shoot candidly, others will employ static poses and then there are those who will ask the bride and groom to dip.
With any luck you will begin noticing a pattern in the work that stands out to you, so lets really look deeper into these images to figure out why you like them. What is the light doing, what direction is it coming from and is it harsh or soft? How is it hitting the subjects faces, perhaps it is not hitting the faces directly but rather is coming from behind? Are the subjects standing close together? are they facing the camera? are they looking at the camera? Where is the camera focused? Are the subjects smiling? Are they serious? Now, whilst analysing the details within the photograph start to ask yourself how the photographer may have been able to achieve such a pose, furthermore, ask yourself how you would achieve such a pose given the same set of circumstances. Running through this technique each time you view a photo you like will send you on the road developing your own style and knowing how to interpret and implement ideas rather than being able to work only to a series of steps.
You now know what you like and are starting to feel in control of your photos, you can visualise results right down to the lighting and the pose and you know your equipment well enough to use it as a tool in the creative process rather than seeing it as a limitation. The unfortunate part is, as humans when the pressure hits our minds like to present as black voids, "I'm outta here" Mr Brain says as he jumps in his brain mobile and drives off into the sunset. At this moment a shot list can be a saving grace, a go to reminder of important images to capture and creative ideas you had at a better time in a better place. If you are really 21st century you can make a list on your phone that you can scroll through during the down time, such a list can include photos that inspire you, ideas you wish to try as well as the list of must get shots. This can be a great way to inject some new life into a situation where you are plain out of ideas.
For piece of mind doing a location scout before the day of the wedding is a great way to familiarise yourself with the area you will be shooting in, take your camera and a friends, head to the location at a similar time of day as the wedding so that you can get a feel for the lighting. Now you can simply pretend your friend is the bride or groom and run through some shots with them. By doing this come the day of the wedding you will feel more relaxed about the situation, knowing that when the spotlight is on you, you already know you want a shot by the stone arch, another by the fountain and a group shot by the pine tree.
Lastly, it is important to understand how the day will be timed, what events will occur and the order in which it will run, by doing so you will be better able to anticipate where you need to be next so as not to waste any valuable time. Ask your bride and groom for an order of events and familiarise yourself with it before the day.
Yes, wedding photography can be stressful, even chaotic at times, however the key is to be prepared, anything will and can happen and it's almost certain things wont go to plan but at least you have it in your power to feel prepared and be organised, in doing so your photographs will benefit. Thanks for reading and good luck on your big day, being a wedding photographer isn't as bad as people make it out to be!
"Don't worry, my wedding will be simple and carefree, no pressure or anything" that was the promise, yet you are met with no relief. The thing about weddings is they never run to plan, people are never on time, the make-up takes longer than expected or bridesmaid Jane Citizen left her shoes back at the hotel. Now this wouldn't be so bad, except that when short on time one of the first means for getting this time back is to borrow it from the allocated photography period. As such being able to work efficiently and under less than ideal circumstances is key to wedding photography.
It is vitally important to know your equipment. During the heat of the moment changing apertures, shutter speeds and ISO should be second nature, to hesitate is to miss a shot that you likely will not be given another opportunity to capture. You need to understand your equipment, know how it functions, have a feel for its metering in a variety of lighting situations. If you do not understand the basics such as aperture, shutter speed and ISO or don't understand how to utilise them you should first grab yourself some beginners photography books or rummage the internet for some tutorials. There is plenty of information out there for free these days.
So, you know the basic principles of photography, or I hope you do, now we must learn to understand such principles in relation to your actual camera. Remember that little white book that came with your camera, yeah that's it, the one you ignored. You may need to refer to your manual from time to time at first so leave it in your camera bag. Now armed with basic technical knowledge, your camera and manual get out and shoot till your finger hurts! Shoot during daylight, at night, indoors and outdoors, with the light source behind your subject, standing on your head. You get the idea, just keep shooting anything and everything all the time being mindful of using your cameras settings, ISO, aperture and shutter speed until doing so becomes second nature, you will gain a solid feel for how your camera behaves under various light conditions and ultimately will look upon your camera is a tool rather than an obstruction.
You now feel confident you can pick up your camera and nail the exposure under any conditions quickly and easily. The next big worry you face becomes posing your bride and groom, you have never had to pose anyone other than Uncle Bob and Aunty May for a quick snapshot, ARGHHH you shout as you pull a small chunk of hair from your head! The first step in understanding posing is to understand what you like about various poses. Once again head to the internet, look at countless wedding photos and keep doing so until you start to notice a style of posing that you enjoy. Some photographers will shoot candidly, others will employ static poses and then there are those who will ask the bride and groom to dip.
With any luck you will begin noticing a pattern in the work that stands out to you, so lets really look deeper into these images to figure out why you like them. What is the light doing, what direction is it coming from and is it harsh or soft? How is it hitting the subjects faces, perhaps it is not hitting the faces directly but rather is coming from behind? Are the subjects standing close together? are they facing the camera? are they looking at the camera? Where is the camera focused? Are the subjects smiling? Are they serious? Now, whilst analysing the details within the photograph start to ask yourself how the photographer may have been able to achieve such a pose, furthermore, ask yourself how you would achieve such a pose given the same set of circumstances. Running through this technique each time you view a photo you like will send you on the road developing your own style and knowing how to interpret and implement ideas rather than being able to work only to a series of steps.
You now know what you like and are starting to feel in control of your photos, you can visualise results right down to the lighting and the pose and you know your equipment well enough to use it as a tool in the creative process rather than seeing it as a limitation. The unfortunate part is, as humans when the pressure hits our minds like to present as black voids, "I'm outta here" Mr Brain says as he jumps in his brain mobile and drives off into the sunset. At this moment a shot list can be a saving grace, a go to reminder of important images to capture and creative ideas you had at a better time in a better place. If you are really 21st century you can make a list on your phone that you can scroll through during the down time, such a list can include photos that inspire you, ideas you wish to try as well as the list of must get shots. This can be a great way to inject some new life into a situation where you are plain out of ideas.
For piece of mind doing a location scout before the day of the wedding is a great way to familiarise yourself with the area you will be shooting in, take your camera and a friends, head to the location at a similar time of day as the wedding so that you can get a feel for the lighting. Now you can simply pretend your friend is the bride or groom and run through some shots with them. By doing this come the day of the wedding you will feel more relaxed about the situation, knowing that when the spotlight is on you, you already know you want a shot by the stone arch, another by the fountain and a group shot by the pine tree.
Lastly, it is important to understand how the day will be timed, what events will occur and the order in which it will run, by doing so you will be better able to anticipate where you need to be next so as not to waste any valuable time. Ask your bride and groom for an order of events and familiarise yourself with it before the day.
Yes, wedding photography can be stressful, even chaotic at times, however the key is to be prepared, anything will and can happen and it's almost certain things wont go to plan but at least you have it in your power to feel prepared and be organised, in doing so your photographs will benefit. Thanks for reading and good luck on your big day, being a wedding photographer isn't as bad as people make it out to be!
About the Author:
Samuel Burns is a Sydney wedding photographer combining contemporary photojournalism with quirky flair. For more tips and tutorials visit his website, Samuel Burns : wedding photography Sydney
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