A wedding is a day to be remembered for a lifetime. It is a day where emotions are super charged and there is a feeling in the air that anything is possible. The photographer's job is to capture this unique feeling at a wedding. Your photos should reflect that this feeling is contagious. This means that you need to have candid shots of not just your wedding couple, but also of the guests at the wedding.
Candid guest shots are proof to the couple that their wedding was a special day to remember for everyone who attended. Imagine how the couple will feel when they see a candid photo of their uncle teary-eyed, or of their college roommate who always seemed so shy but at the wedding he just tore it up on the dance floor.
Obviously the best way to catch candid shots is to pay attention to what people are doing around you. But to take this one step further, you need to know what is going to happen before it happens. This means you need to start to really pay attention to the flow of events so you know what to expect.
To give you an idea of knowing what happens before it happens, lets look the part of the wedding where the priest/rabbi is talking to the wedding couple. Of course you know that you need to get your photos of the bride and groom looking at each other and blushing. But this is just to start. The priest/rabbi is going to keep talking for several minutes, and the pictures you get of the wedding couple will for the most part be very similar. At this point you want to turn around and observe the guests and what they are doing.
But remember it needs to be candid. So what I do is I kind of take a general sweeping look at the guests behind me and face forward again. Nobody knows that I was looking at him or her, it just seems that I was looking around. Still facing forward, I have in my head the image I want to shoot of one guest in particular who I think looked to be in a moment. So I set my camera settings, then quickly turn around and get the shot before the guest realizes he or she is a photo opp.
Another example of knowing what is going to happen before it happens is when the music starts and people are still too shy to get on the dance floor. But you the photographer, because you have this sixth sense for these things, know that all the little kids at the wedding are going to go play on the dance floor. Start setting your camera to a high speed setting and get out there. And remember that kids are great subjects for candids. Know where they are during the wedding, and I can promise you some great candids.
Try these tips at your next wedding. Thanks for reading!
Candid guest shots are proof to the couple that their wedding was a special day to remember for everyone who attended. Imagine how the couple will feel when they see a candid photo of their uncle teary-eyed, or of their college roommate who always seemed so shy but at the wedding he just tore it up on the dance floor.
Obviously the best way to catch candid shots is to pay attention to what people are doing around you. But to take this one step further, you need to know what is going to happen before it happens. This means you need to start to really pay attention to the flow of events so you know what to expect.
To give you an idea of knowing what happens before it happens, lets look the part of the wedding where the priest/rabbi is talking to the wedding couple. Of course you know that you need to get your photos of the bride and groom looking at each other and blushing. But this is just to start. The priest/rabbi is going to keep talking for several minutes, and the pictures you get of the wedding couple will for the most part be very similar. At this point you want to turn around and observe the guests and what they are doing.
But remember it needs to be candid. So what I do is I kind of take a general sweeping look at the guests behind me and face forward again. Nobody knows that I was looking at him or her, it just seems that I was looking around. Still facing forward, I have in my head the image I want to shoot of one guest in particular who I think looked to be in a moment. So I set my camera settings, then quickly turn around and get the shot before the guest realizes he or she is a photo opp.
Another example of knowing what is going to happen before it happens is when the music starts and people are still too shy to get on the dance floor. But you the photographer, because you have this sixth sense for these things, know that all the little kids at the wedding are going to go play on the dance floor. Start setting your camera to a high speed setting and get out there. And remember that kids are great subjects for candids. Know where they are during the wedding, and I can promise you some great candids.
Try these tips at your next wedding. Thanks for reading!
About the Author:
Kevin Heslin is one of the leading Wedding and Commercial Photographers in Costa Rica. Besides commercial and wedding photography, Kevin also specializes in Travel and Cultural Portraits. To see more photo tips click on his blog Costa Rica Photographer Or to see photos of his weddings in Costa Rica, or travel and cultural photography in Central America check out his website Costa Rica Photography. Unique version for reprint here: Wedding Photography Techniques for Novices - Shoot Great Candid Shots.
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