There are hundreds of photographers out there to choose from and I’m sure if you don’t have someone already in mind to take your wedding photos, you may get a bit confused. You will probably compile a list of a bunch of photographers and I’m hoping to help you narrow down that list to find who is right for you.
I have developed quite an addiction to watching all of these wedding shows that are now on TV. Say yes to the dress is probably my favorite but I also find myself watching wedding sos, and rich bride poor bride. The one thing we find confusing and disheartening from a photographer’s perspective is the small amount of attention that is put on photography from the brides and from the show. I think there should be a show on TV which follows wedding photographers and shows the importance and differences in what you will get.
In one show, “Rich Bride Poor Bride” the cost of the photographer is lumped into the miscellaneous expenses, almost like it doesn’t matter and you can do without it because as far as I’m concerned if I am trying to cut my budget I will probably start with the miscellaneous items. “hmmm, what don’t I need in here? Well my uncle has a nice camera, I’ll ask him to capture my wedding and save hiring an expensive professional”.
The reason this is so baffling to me is because of how much time and effort goes into planning a wedding and making it the most beautiful day of your life. Watching some of these brides framing in their mind what their reception room is going to look like with all the decorations, table settings, and chair covers; looking through store after store for that perfect dress which compliments their figure and has the right amount of beading and is the princess cut they always wanted and it fits properly and the alterations are done; the invitation design planning becomes a month long event of whether or not to have the ribbons on them. The point is that brides spend an enormous amount of time planning and choosing and making things perfect to the point where for many brides it consumes their lives for a whole year before hand and they deliver a magnificent day, but don’t think about how they are going to preserve those memories.
So my question to you is, how important are your memories to you?
Lighting is of utmost importance in every area of photography as without light there will be no image recorded in the camera. The art of capturing light, and using light to create visually stunning images is very challenging especially when our eyes don’t necessarily see what the camera is going to see.
We can all recognize the most beautiful lighting we see. I remember once I was driving across the prairies and a big black storm had just passed overhead. When the sun finally broke through the clouds and started to light up the golden wheat in the field and behind that beautiful shining wheat was this dark black cloud I actually had to pull the car over to admire the scene which had displayed itself before me. Everybody driving past that scene could see the beauty the right light had created on that normally bland looking prairie wheat.
Unfortunately though weddings don’t always come with the best lighting situations and it’s the photographers job to find areas with excellent lighting and interesting scenes to give the bride and groom the most beautiful photos available in that given time and place. Read the rest of this entry »
Angles are incredibly important. Having a creative or even just slightly different angle then we all expect from a picture can give it a look that is irresistible. However if everything is taken from eye level the pictures usually turn out flat and boring.
For fun (yes this is my idea of fun) if I see another photographer working and shooting a wedding somewhere in public I like to get out of the way and see what they are doing. How are they setting up the couple or group, are they getting creative, are they getting up and down to get better angles? I have seen some who were constantly looking, moving and searching for moments and angles and I have seen some that stood straight up for every shot and took them all from eye level. I cringe a little bit when I see this because there is so much you can do by getting a different perspective on the scenario. Read the rest of this entry »
The fake smile is one of my all time favorites when taking pictures of people. Everybody has what I am going to call a “fake” smile and a “real” smile. The fake smile is the one you have been making all your life when someone holds up a camera and says “smile for the camera” or “cheese” and you are supposed to smile (which actually means look really awkward) and they take a picture. The real smile is probably the one you are making right now while thinking about your fake smile. From the moment a camera is first pointed at us, we are trained to put on this fake smile and look at the camera. By the time our wedding day comes this thought is so ingrained into our actions that without proper guidance all of your photos will include all of the subjects looking into the lens of the camera which means that all the pictures on your wall would be you, looking back at yourself. I don’t think that makes for very good memories or wedding photos.
This is an image/advertisement I came across which I thought was funny, but also rather true.
This is obviously a really bad case picture but unfortunately I have seen similar pictures presented as real wedding photos.
I would like to show you the difference between real smiles and fake smiles in wedding photography. Read the rest of this entry »
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