Wedding Photography

Understanding the finer points of light, finding the light, focusing and using the light to your best advantage. I will cover:

• Natural light,
• Indoor Light
•  Window light,
• Not shooting in full sun,
• Utilising reflective surfaces like the side of a white building or a reflector,
• Water,
• Snow,
• Different kinds of reflectors and what the various surfaces do
• Flash, how to use it successfully on and off camera with a few modifiers and bounce flash so as not to make the lighting look flat.

Getting an a well exposed picture is not enough, we use light to create a mood or a feeling.

Pre-ceremony coverage of the bride and bridal party, the groom, his best man and groomsmen before the ceremony. When you first talk to your bride and groom you need to be able to discuss how they feel about each other, what makes a good image and what doesn’t, how emotions can make an amazing difference to an image, the fact that you should not only be able to see a picture but feel it as well. I was asked once were was the best place to make a great picture, I replied I could create a great image in the car park as long as the feelings were there, as long as you can feel the love. I can do 90 percent of the photography, but they need to do the rest, that extra 10 percent. You would be amazed at the amount of couples who just stand there and expect you to do miracles, you need to be able to put them at their ease. I will show you how to light a bride in various ways whilst she is having her hair and makeup done, balancing the light in a room for flash and having to use your imagination in various scenarios, using window light, what lenses I would use and why, how different apertures can change a boring scene and room into something special, how to use flash to create a dramatic portrait and drama in a boring room, bouncing flash off reflectors. Photographing shoes dress and various important pieces, how to find places to photograph various pieces then I would show how I photograph the groomsmen and the groom if they are all getting ready at the same hotel.

Day three covers photography a church or other place of worship. It details etiquette, how you should approach the Vicar and also how to prime the Vicar before the ceremony. There are no set rules to photographing in a church, each vicar is the ruler of his own castle and they make the rules. I always explain to my couples to make sure that they have permission to take pictures before the day, don’t be scared of the vicar and tie them down on what is and isn’t allowed. When you talk to the vicar, make it clear what you would like to capture and see if that’s okay with him, be polite and take his feelings into account. The last thing you want is him to stop the wedding half way through and throw you out. I had a vicar once who told the bride and groom they could have pictures during the ceremony, but what he didn’t tell him was that those images were just of the bride and her dad coming down the aisle and then I had to leave. You need to tell the bride and her dad to walk slowly down the Aisle. Will there be anybody in front of them, if so wait until they are at the end of the aisle before they start, a lot of vicars like to walk in front of the bride and her dad, make sure they are well out of the way before they start down the aisle, make sure they don’t walk too quickly and have their heads and eyes raised, don’t forget to get the grooms reaction when he first sees the bride, be ready for all these things. If you can only shoot from the back make sure the bride and groom turn fully to each other, no 3/4’s and if they forget, well at least you told them and that’s the thing, the most important thing is to tell them to do these things, that way they cant turn around to you later and blame you. I’ll go through he signing of the registrar process and how to not let the vicar or anybody else rush you into making mistakes. We cover how to light subjects in even the darkest recesses of the church and how to do it at speed and how to not let Uncle Bob get to you. Also photographing a couple as they walk down the aisle, changing the aperture as it gets brighter or darker whilst either using an assistant holding a flash at the end of the aisle or staying stationary at the end of the aisle or walking down the aisle with on camera flash.

I never shoot the groom before the ceremony, I always shoot him afterwards if it is at a church, there are too many things going on for him to concentrate properly, so I wait for the end when the nerves aren’t so evident, as soon as the bride and groom come out of the church I shoot some photo journalistic stuff, I will show how I shoot, the lenses I use and the camera settings, I use aperture Priority with a low depth of field and a 70-200mm, shooting with the light all the time rather than against it and how to be aware of what’s going on around you as you are shooting by having both eyes open as you are shooting. I then get everyone to the lich gate for the confetti shot, I will show how I shoot that, the lens’s I use and the important parts to capture, wide angle and close up. I then get everybody to leave and take the groom and his groomsmen and best man back to the church, I will show how I light the groom, where the best places are to shoot him, and how to shoot in full sun with off camera flash, how to shoot in shade and how to be aware of where the light is, framing, what to include and what to miss out, walking shots, Groom and best man and then the couple by the car and then in the car.

This will cover the arrival of the Bride and Groom to the venue, pictures of the car driving down the drive, the Bride and groom in the car by the car, which lens you should be using, flash and settings, outside the car, always looking for the light and then photo journalistic shots of the guests greeting the bride and groom, I would also take them through shooting the room, what to shoot, how to shoot it and what the bride and groom would be looking for, shots in the room with the bride and groom, the bride and groom entering, again which lens to use and balancing the flash with the ambient, looking for different effects with aperture. Also I will cover shooting the speeches, lens lighting, what to look out for, looking for reactions, not only pictures of the speech maker, but the reactions of the top table.

I normally take the couple out for their photography at the end of the meal, just when the light is at its softest. I will show you how to make strong masculine portraits with off camera flash, shaping the light to give an edge to your imagery. We cover finding locations for couple shots, the background and what you leave in or out. We look at lighting the couple so the viewer immediately sees what you want them to see. We go over bridal portraits, relaxing your bride and groom, what lens to use and what lighting, reflector, flash or off camera flash. In addition we look at the cake cutting and how to shoot the first dance.

This is for that little bit extra to offer your couples.  I cover how to manage the light in an evening shoot including:

• Night photography
• How to photograph wire wool,
• Sparklers
• Fireworks
• Challenging long exposure
• Lighting the couple
• Rim lights
• Lighting the background