Great Tips for Wedding photography

So your friend has asked you to take the pictures at his wedding because after all the other expenses, they cannot afford a wedding photography professional but want some good pictures. After feeling flattered that they think you good enough to record their most important day, the worries start to happen.

First thing to do is to talk over with the couple about the shots that they think are the most important for them. These will be the ones that you have to get right. Find out the address of the wedding venue and reception and the times. Armed with this, go and visit the sites so that you will have advanced knowledge of all the suitable places to stage the shots, bearing in mind the time of day and where the sun will be at that time, take some reference shots so you will know where to go on the day. Remember if the wedding is some time away, the sun may well be higher or lower in the sky.

Preparation is the key, make sure that all the batteries are fully charged and that you have back ups. If you are using film, take along at least six extra rolls, if you are shooting digital make sure that you have enough spare memory cards. If you have the expertise, it is best to use RAW rather than JPEG as you will have a better chance to alter things after the shots are taken. You will be shooting at the highest resolution to ensure good print quality so memory capacity is crucial.

To ensure you have all the right people, ask the couple to point out the people who they must have in their photographs, perhaps jot down their names to remember. When it comes to the group shots, get everybody arranged first, then you can gradually discard them, ending up with the happy couple, who may not be that happy by this time. Children should be photographed as soon as possible, whilst they are still in pristine condition.

One of the things often overlooked, is the background, your reconnoitre will have given you the right place but double check that there are no flag poles or other distracting items that can clutter up a picture. You may have purposely chosen a particularly pleasing back drop but it is always worth taking an extra shot using a wide aperture that will just blur the background and make the couple stand out.

People wearing glasses can be a problem especially if you are using flash, the best way of solving the problem is to try to get them to take them off. The trouble with this is that everybody who is used to seeing them wearing spectacles will be saying who is that bloke/girl when they look at the pictures. Far better to ask them to look slightly towards the couple to avoid any flare.

The reception photographs will inevitably be shot inside so you have to use the flash, which can lead to difficult shadowing. There are several strategies to avoid this. Either bounce the flash off the walls or ceiling, taking care that there are no strong colours that might alter the tone or an over high ceiling that will weaken the effect. You may be able to buy a plastic diffuser that fits over the flash or failing that, some thin tracing paper or a piece of plain net curtain over the lamp but always do some test shots before the wedding day.

Finally get your films processed as soon as possible or make sure you down load all the pictures to your hard drive as soon as possible. You may wish to do a quick run through and delete the really bad ones and put to one side those that might be saved with a little photo shop action and burn a selection of the best onto a cd to present to the happy couple. Now you have the taste, maybe you could think of turning a wedding photography pro !

Article Source: http://www.orbitaloc.com/

Before you arrange your wedding nuptuals, check Sean Lambs' wedding photography tips. There are a whole lot more ideas as well as wedding photography for anybody tying the knot.

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