This is your wedding and we want you to enjoy your day and the photos which will relive the memories for the rest of your life. There are three ideas which will help you improve your wedding photos if you think of these three as you plan decorations and scheduling for your special day. These concepts are time, light, and background.
Time
The more time available for posed and candid shots during your special day, the more photos you’ll get. All weddings are a trade off between the time for posed pictures and time with guests, unless the posed pictures are done before the guests arrive. If you don’t want to spend dedicated time on photos before and/or after the service, we will concentrate on candid shots.
Some couples do not want to see each other on their special day until the bride enters the wedding ceremony. In that case, most posed photos will be done between the ceremony and the reception or after the reception. If the bride and groom are willing to take photos before the ceremony, they will be less tired and less hurried. A typical compromise we have used is photographing the couple when the groom first sees the bride during a short private time before the ceremony. We are happy to take all the posed photos you select from our checklist, and other poses the wedding participants suggest as we are photo-graphing, given enough time. For a large wedding party wanting many posed pictures, two hours should be allowed. This may be shortened for a small wedding party and small number of family members or lengthened for more participants or a larger number of requested shots. We must take several shots of each pose to get pleasing facial expressions and eyes open for all. There should be time allowed for a break (and a snack?) for all the participants between the posed photographs and the ceremony itself. (The bride may want to bring an apron or plastic tablecloth to wear during the snack time.)
We can cover your ceremony and reception as it unfolds. However, if you give us the order of the service ahead of time, we can anticipate where to be, thus saving time and allowing for more shots. Notes indicating where musicians or a reader will stand, where any other special part of the service will happen, etc. are also helpful. Please give us the anticipated order of the reception events (toast, cake cutting, throwing bouquet/garter, and any other planned activities) and where these will be.
Light
If the light is dim in a room, photos without flash with look more “grainy.” We will have both on-camera and off-camera flashes with us. If your location forbids the photographer from taking flash photos during the ceremony, the photos will be more grainy. The primary camera we use has one of the best ratings for low-light performance; still, it will give sharper photos with more available light.
For outdoor weddings or shots, pray for an overcast day for the best photos. Bright sunlight leads to squinting and “raccoon eyes,” from the shadows of the eye socket area. Bright sunlight may also give dappled patches of sunlight and if the subject is under a tree that does not provide complete shade. For the ceremony, a translucent (white or light colored) canopy or tent will help even out the lighting for the people under it. However, support poles for the canopy are sometimes placed such that they block normal photographic angles, so use caution.
Background
Consider the background behind the bride and groom. A piece of a tree or candelabra in the background could look as if it is coming out of her head or going into his nose. Simple backgrounds are usually better. The human eye sees the main subjects and often is not aware of the background. In a photo, the background becomes more obvious. The less cluttered the background for the cake cutting, bouquet toss, etc., the more pleasing the finished photos will be. If you will allow us to suggest possible locations for the bouquet toss, Tom will select the best background and lighting combination in your facility. We may also suggest a spot for some of the posed photos where background and lighting conditions are more ideal.
The more unobstructed the center aisle is, the less distractions will be in the photos. Adding a chair which intrudes into a center aisle will mean that the person in the chair will be in most photos of the processional, recessional, and even many during the service. A guest in a wheel-chair is often put along the center aisle. Finding another location for the guest to sit and still see the front will improve the photos.
Additional Ideas
Most brides wear a veil. If it is worn throughout the ceremony, the bride’s face will not be seen as clearly. If the bride pulls it back during the ceremony, it often falls forward, obstructing her face in photos. (This is especially true of photographs from the side, as the bride and groom face each other during the vows, exchanging the rings, etc.) If she can look upwards so the veil falls backward, or tuck it behind her ear, the photos will capture her facial expressions more clearly. If the bride or attendants have glitter sprinkled on their hair, the glitter reflects the flash and looks larger in photographs, making it look as if there are spots on the photos. We strongly suggest letting the beauty be in your gown and face, not glitter, but you may do as you wish. We may touch up the glitter flashes in the close-up photos only, and only if they are few in number. Also, remember to limit tanning activities, intentional or otherwise, as the wedding date approaches. Tanning can easily be overdone, leading to a red or blotchy complexion.
It is YOUR wedding and we want you to have it YOUR way. We will give you the best shots we can for the conditions that day. However, the camera does not see exactly as the human eye sees. If you will consider these suggestions, your photos will look better. Knowing that you’ll use the pictures to remember this day for years to come, we hope you will think it is worth the time to implement some of these ideas.
We are looking forward to sharing your special day with you.