My top tips on the things you can do to get better wedding photos and better value for your money
The the vast majority of my couples have never had the privilege / stress of planning a wedding so it’s fair to assume, I think, that you might be in the market for a few tips. I’m very poorly qualified to give you advice on getting the most out of your caterer, but from my perspective there’s a few things you can do to get the very best out of your documentary or photojournalistic wedding photographer. If you’ve gone fine art then honestly your wedding is now in their hands, do whatever they tell you.
I’ve gone for chronological order so I don’t get in a muddle rather than perceived importance, and in tribute to the hundreds of hours of my life I’ve given to Buzzfeed, here’s a list:
1. Think about the light
If you’ve booked someone to cover one or both of you getting ready, it’s worth giving a bit of consideration to what you can do to improve your photos for this bit. There’s a few practical considerations like the amount of space you need for everyone to comfortably fit in, but something you might not have thought of is how much light there is. The more natural light available, the better and if you can, set up base next to a window. Your hair and makeup artist will also thank you for this.
2. Tidy up a bit
Forgive me for stating the obvious but if it’s on display it will almost definitely appear in the photos and there it will remain for all eternity. Most photographers will be sensitive to choosing angles and blurring out backgrounds but this only goes so far. Have a quick scan before your photographer is due to arrive (get an extra pair of eyes too) and tuck away anything that you don’t want to see in the photos - fluffy dog bed, electric fan, handbags etc etc. On more than one occasion now I’ve had to airbrush out knickers in the background which I hadn’t spotted at the time.
3. Plan a first look
Putting aside our PC hats for a moment, the very vast majority of same sex (and many mixed sex) marriages contain a moment where a bride walks out of a room having just put on her dress which is shortly followed by her father doing emotions. Whether this is planned or not directly impacts on how well your photographer captures this. If you randomly bump into him as you wander around the house then you’re gambling with whether or not your photographer is in the right position (or even the right room) when the moment comes. The same often applies to bridesmaids - the reactions from this can sometimes be absolutely priceless. Arranging it doesn’t have to be a formal affair but it is well worth having a quick chat with your photographer ahead of time so that they have time to make sure this very special moment actually features in your final gallery rather the just the back of your dad’s head through a gap in the door. I promise you as a fellow man, the emotion will likely be fleeting and there will be no second chance. Same policy can be said for your bridesmaids if you think they’re the emotional type.
4. Take your time
On the most exciting day of your life it’s pretty natural to let yourself to rush from moment to moment. From a philosophical perspective better people than me would tell you savour every moment, but as a photographer my motivation for getting you to slow down is actually to get you better photos. The moments where I personally notice this the most is walking down the aisle and confetti throws where people tend to practically leg it from one end to the other. The whole thing’s over in a flash and it makes photographing it well just that much more difficult. I had a wedding last year where the videographer and I hadn’t even got ourselves ready at the other end of a confetti line when the couple just went for it without waiting for me to give them a nod and practically sprinted towards us. Neither of us had our cameras on the right settings for outdoors yet and the whole thing lasted all of 5 seconds. I was still able to deliver a few acceptable photos mostly thanks to my shooter being on the ball, but I very nearly missed the whole thing and the photos could have been SO much better with a bit more ‘relaxedness’.
5. Plan your group shots well
If you’re doing formal group photos, it’s SO important to plan them carefully. If you approach this bit without being properly organised it can easily risk becoming one of the most stressful moments of the day and runs the risk of delaying sit down for your wedding breakfast - something your guests won’t thank you for. I know it doesn’t sound too complicated to just take a few quick photos of your family, but when you have a group of 100 people who are all wandering around of their own accord it can get pretty tricky to shepherd the right people to the right place at the right time. I know that lots of photographers have their own preferred methods of doing these, this is my two pence; Do it right after the confetti throw when everyone’s still in one place and in “photo making mode”. Do the largest group first and work your way down to the smallest. Plan for each photo to take 5 minutes each, or 10 minutes for a really big group. (This sounds obscene for one photo but time after time, without fail, Auntie Maggie is in the toilet when the moment comes and no sooner have you got her back than you realise Uncle Mike has wandered off). Every. Single. Time. Plan for this in your schedule and you won’t over-run or over commit yourself to too many photos and use up your precious time that you could be spending with your guests. Finally, appoint one or two people to act as official fetchers and have them make sure the people needed for the next photo are ready and waiting whilst the preceding one is still being taken. The best choices for this is usually a sibling from each side, or the best man & maid of honour as between them they generally know everyone. No-one wants to hear your photographer just shouting out names across a busy crowd and blindly hoping the right people meander over when summoned.
6. Plan time for portraits
You’re obviously going to feature in a fairly high number of the photos in the final gallery what with it being your day and all, but it’s so much more special to get photos of just the two of you together. Firstly, you paid good money for those outfits, you want to make sure you get the most out of them. Secondly designated time together allows for some slightly more romantic photos of the two of you. You’re much more likely to print something like that and stick it on your wall than you are of the ones of you both talking to great Auntie Gladys. My favourite way to do this as a photographer that specialises in people who don’t like having their photo taken is to go for a walk around the grounds of wherever we are or close by at sunset when the light is at its best. I use longer range lenses to allow me to do the majority of the photos a big enough distance away that you’re pretty much alone (albeit being stalked by the paparazzi). Because you’re alone, you’re more relaxed and because it’s your wedding day you do a bunch of lovey / enjoying each other’s company type stuff that generally makes for good photos. Combine that with a sunset and boom, you’ve got candid couples portraits that look like they’re posed. 🙌🏻
Seriously though. Sunset.
Ok that’ll do for now, this list is huge already. It does bother me a bit that it’s not a nice round number like five but I suppose I can live with six. 🙄🤷🏼♂️
No doubt I’ll think of three more two minutes after I publish this. 🤦🏼♂️ I dunno, maybe check back in a week or two?
