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The standard shot list are “must have” photographs that the bride and groom want, such as the processional, recessional, the rings exchanged, the first kiss, first dance, throwing of the garter and bouquet and so on. These are easy to photograph, as the experienced wedding photographer knows exactly when they are going to happen, especially as the D.J. will announce the activity during the reception.
There problem is with the other shot list, the secret one. This is the the reception list, and which of the guests need to be photographed together, not together, with the bride, the groom, the bride and groom and so on. These aren’t the formals, in which the guests are shuffled around while the bride stays still being photographed a hundred times. These are the “candid photographs” that the photographer needs to take if the couple desires. The problem is that, other than the bride and groom, the photographer has no real idea of whom is whom. So it’s very important to have a family member that knows everyone work with the bride to create the list and stick close to the photographer to line up the shots.
The photographer may “get lucky” and get all of the desired shots, but using a secret shot list is far more likely to please everyone.
One of the new gadgets features being pitched to photographers is being able to take hi-def videos with the new digital still SLR cameras. It’s an interesting feature that’s misplaced as its like trying to convert a sedan into a pickup truck. Yes, you can do it… but you may as well buy a pickup. But that isn’t the problem.
The problem is that some still photographers may pitch why they are better photographers by offering to use this feature at your wedding, and that you should book them rather than others. Don’t buy it. Here’s why.
On your wedding day the still photographer should be is extremely busy preparing to photograph the different types of images taken during the day. The photographer is, hopefully, skilled at still photography but is not billing himself as a wedding videographer as he doesn’t have the skill set, or probably the desire to do video work.
To take effective video a videographer uses at least two video cameras, or sometimes one and spend a great deal of time lining up video angles which may be different from what a still photographer is looking for. For example, one video camera may be mounted on a tripod to photograph the entire ceremony from a location that would be intrusive if it wasn’t remotely operated.
After the wedding the videographer edits and blends the large amount of raw video into a finished product. They are so more advanced in the skills, techniques and requirements to do this than a still photographer. On the other hand, they would be lost trying to duplicate what a skilled still photographer can do. They mutually compliment each other.
The big problem is that when the still photographer is shooting video, he isn’t shooting still images. That can hurt you for several reasons. The still photographer has to switch gears to think video and then has to fiddle with the camera to generate video. And during that time is not be taking any still photographs and finally have to edit and make the video usable. Wedding ceremonies happen really, really fast. You only have seconds to get the shots.
I’m not saying that video is a bad idea, but your still photographer has enough balls to juggle without adding this one.
Whenever I photograph a wedding usually in metro Atlanta I am often asked to visit the church of venue months before the wedding, and usually at a different time of day. Typically the bride will visit to mentally prepare for the many parts of the ceremony and the reception.
I usually decline, but not to be difficult. I do have my reasons. The most important aspect of a photographers life is light. It’s light that we work with, not big cameras and fancy lenses. So I do visit, but I do it about a week before the wedding and at about the time that the couple will be married. In that way, I can see the light direction at that time or year, and how high in the sky the sun is. By knowing exactly what the light conditions are likely to be I can think through camera angles, best locations from group shots and so on. Visiting the venue two or three months ahead is fine, but it’s far more useful to see the conditions just ahead of time.
I can’t guarantee that it will be sunny, but in Atlanta it usually is, especially during the wedding season – March through October.
So if you hire me three or four months ahead of your Atlanta wedding, I’m not being rude, but just planning to the best possible job for you.
No, I’m not confused. A circle of confusion (CofC) is a description of a part of a photograph that people consider sharp when viewed from about a foot way. For example, if a detail appears blurred then the circle is large, but if sharp it’s small. As photographic images are all rendered a tiny circles, it’s a matter of perception as to how sharp the photographs are.The rapid advances in photographic software will eventually be able to make an unsharp image, acceptably sharp!
These circles are used to calculate depth-of-field. Depth-of-field is a term used to describe just how much of the image is in focus in front and behind the subject. For example, if you take a photograph and everything appears sharp between 5 to 6 feet from the camera and progressively more and more blurred either closer or farther from the camera, then the CofC is small between 5 and 6 feet than closer of farther from the camera. Either closer or farther than this one foot sharp zone circles get bigger.
Why is this important? For a wedding photographer, he or she must think carefully what settings to use to get the desired visual effect. If they use a telephoto lens, and/or one with a large aperture (the lens opening is large) then these out of focus blurring can be very attractive. All it takes is a little theory to predict the effects. That’s useful.
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Getting married is a complex process – you must plan the different parts of your wedding. It’s not just standing at the front of the church, saying “I do” and then going to the reception/party afterwards. It’s a choreographed work of art. If done properly, your guests won’t notice a thing; if it not done properly they’ll spot all of the errors and be embarrassed for you.
As an experienced wedding photographer, I don’t just take photographs. I observe. I compare one wedding to the next and see what I can do to help the situation if it starts to spin out of control. With a little nudge, or advice to the bride and groom I can help get them back on track and smooth out the bumps.
So rather than just taking photographs, I thought I’d write this brief guide to help. Weddings are one day events that must go right the first time. You can’t have a do-over. Of course, you can’t plan the weather, but you can plan for what to do if it starts to rain. You just have to think through all of the possible contingencies and plan for them, although you hope all will go as planned.
Failing To Understand The Wedding Flow. Although you may have attended a few weddings in the past as a guest you probably have not paid much attention to the structure. After all, why would you?
Here’s my first recommendation. Go to a few weddings as an observer. Watch the photographer carefully and you’ll see how and why he works. By the time you’ve been to three you’ll be able to just tell which of them is better than the others, and that will give you a basis for shopping for a photographer with the knowledge to ask the difficult questions.
You’ll be amazed how much you’ll learn about the right way to do it. Obviously, you’ll need permission to “be a guest” but you should find that other couples have exactly the same concerns that you have and should be sympathetic. Of course, you may notice that some of these weddings have a professional wedding planner who is taking charge and smoothly monitoring traffic flow. If you notice one that is really professional, and is clearly doing a good job get her (usually a her) and talk to her the next week about your wedding.
Failing To Plan. The most significant mistake (other than not hiring me to be their wedding photographer _) is failing to correctly plan not only for the type of photographs you’d like, but the wedding itself. If you don’t plan adequately, you’ll be in for a difficult time.
Of course, the plan won’t be executed exactly but it will follow a process that will allow a smooth transition between major components of your wedding day. For example, the photographer is usually under pressure to shoot the formals quickly as the newly minted husband and wife want to meet their guests.
There is a trend to actually shoot the formals before the wedding, so the transition from ceremony to reception is brief. Some brides do not want the groom to see them in their wedding dress until the ceremony, that will be your decision.
I’m not saying that you won’t plan; I’m sure that you will. But if you think about it you’ll realize that you’re planning for a one-time event for which you don’t have any experience, have never created this type of day long event before, and don’t know the best people to help you. By best people, I mean caterer, bar tender, DJ, photographer, videographer, cake maker, florist and on, and on and on.
No Clear Photographic Plan. There are many important professionals that I can talk about, but I should focus on photography as that is my area of expertise and the part I will address now to help you choose a one photographer, several of us or even more and what you can expect from the photographers.
When I watched the news recently and saw interviews of Californians who lost their homes to wildfires, I also noted that during the interview they were asked what they took in the few minutes they had to pack. They all said photographs, and usually said their wedding album. And why was that? It’s because the only thing we have in life are our memories. Anything that happened from a few seconds to decades ago is recorded in our minds, and are gradually lost to the fuzziness of aging. So photographs are the only way of evoking emotions, and your wedding photographs are the most important of all.
So where does a still photographer come in? Most people will hire a still photographer to photograph their wedding. Some people want two or more photographers as they have read that once the guest list exceeds a hundred a single photographer will not be able to shoot everyone, or physically be in more than one place at a time so will miss typical shots. With the sheer volume of people milling around, the photographer needs to cover both the expected photographs determined by the couple as well as the “photo-journalistic” shots that the couples expect.
Some expected “safe shots” may include – bride arriving at church, bride getting dressed, groom getting dressed, key people including flower girl entering church, processional, first look, giving away of the bride (I know, I know but that’s what it’s still called), the ceremony including the first kiss, the recessional, the formals, the first dance, the first dance with both parents, the cake cutting, the tossing of the bouquet and the garter. There are lots of
expected photographs but these are most common required ones.
Not working with your photographer so it’s very clear what photographs you want can be a big problem. It doesn’t matter what the photographer wants, it’s your day and you hired the photographer. If you’re clear about what you want, and have a key member of the wedding party work with him or her, you’ll get better results.
Most couples just hope that the photographer takes all of the magic pictures they want, but never tell them what exactly they are. Be bold, outspoken and start sending emails to your photographer to create a dialog to create the rapport needed to make your wedding photographs outstanding. You cannot re-shoot your wedding.
One of the difficulties in photographing a wedding is knowing who is who, who should be shot together. The mistake most couples make is not having a liaison. Of course, your photographer will know you and your fiancé but won’t actually know anyone else. He may be introduced but with a large volume of people it’s hard to remember the relationships. Not having a liaison is a key mistake that many couples make.
If you want a better, smoother and more memorable experience find someone from your wedding party, who knows all of the key people and assign that person to help your photographer. In fact, encourage a lunch, so that you, your liaison and your photographer sit down and discuss your wedding, first as an overview, second in more detail, and third in a lot more detail. Then everyone goes back to their computer and sends the others what was discussed in detail and the photographic resolutions.
You’ll be amazed how much better your photography will be, or perhaps not. I say that as you’ll have no reference point. You can hire an excellent photographer or a lousy one, and as they won’t both be there you’ll never know how different they were.
The best you can do is to talk to reference couples, look at proof (not albums) sets and look for photographer who can clearly describe what they are doing, and why. To clarify, you’ll learn a lot more about a photographer’s abilities by looking at the online proofs, rather than an album. Even a lousy photographer will occasionally take a nice picture so individual photographs are not as valid as a thousand in a proof set.
I know it will be dull, but actually look and analyze them as good, bad or fair. If eighty percent aren’t good to excellent, go elsewhere. Keep in mind that during the ceremony, photographers cannot use electronic flash, are required to stay in certain areas and are otherwise constrained. You may find that an outside wedding is better for you, as you’ll likely get better photographs for two reasons – lighting in churches is notoriously bad and points of view are very limited.
Not Acting For The Camera. Keep in mind that the most intimate photographs are taken when the subject is looking into the lens. If they are distracted, or don’t care and don’t pay any attention to the photographer the pictures will really reflect that. I have shot weddings where the couple takes direction and receives wonderful photographs in exchange for the few seconds of time needed to allow for focusing, framing and pressing the shutter release, versus distracted couples who get plenty of “photojournalistic” style images, but without the warmth of eye contact. Posing isn’t bad.
Photographers who aren’t comfortable getting in close and personal, and are afraid of their subjects and people’s opinions love photojournalism. It let’s them stay back and observe from the distance. I prefer close and intimate. My photography reflects that, and is much edgier than 99% of what other photographers shoot. A little “photojournalism” goes a long way.
Here are some tips –
Eye contact, or more accurately – your eyes, my lens.
Take direction from the photographer, and pause to get the shot.
Remain conscious that the photographer needs to get the photograph. As an example, when the couple exchanges rings they should make it a show to display the ring to the guests (and the camera), and carefully place it on the finger being aware not to shield the ring with their hand. A moment’s practice will get it right. It makes all the difference in the world.
Some of the best photographs are shot during the party, when the drama and tension has past. Go ahead, dance for the camera, I dare you to. I like to use what I call V-Spread lighting which creates a sense of drama in the party images. It makes a world of difference if the guests are facing the camera, so notify your guests. I was amused, the other day to watch an episode of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: Self Made Man and saw some party scenes where they actually used my lighting technique (which I’ve never seen used elsewhere) and I really liked the drama associated with it. If you want to see what V-Spread is, watch this –
http://www.tv.com/terminator-the-sarah-connor-chronicles/self-mademan/episode/1236330/summary.html?tag=ep_guide;ep_title;9