Tips For The First Time Wedding Photographer

Tips For The First Time Wedding Photographer Created by Sandra Rogers

Set expectations with the couple They may be family friends who know you own a DLSR, or you may be filling in for a pro who’s fallen ill, either way it’s important that you clarify with the couple where your strengths are, and that you probably won’t be able to produce an album of the breadth and quality of someone who’s been in the industry for decades. 2

Scout the location People have wedding receptions in all kinds of places. From churches to fields, country houses to roof-top balconies overlooking a city, you’ve got to know where the light is coming from, where the hazards are for your gear, and where you’ll get a great shot. One tip would be to scout wedding photographers’ online portfolios that feature the location you’ll be shooting; you could be browsing for only a couple minutes before having an ‘aha!’ moment. 3

Bring multiples of everything Batteries, SD-cards and even a second camera. You don’t want the battery to hit 0% just before the first dance! And imagine setting up a perfect portrait of the couple only for your memory card to decide it has no available space. 4

Know the day’s schedule Every couple likes to add a little personalisation to the day and do something out of the ordinary. Whether it’s the groom dancing up the aisle to music or the couple wanting their 5 giant pet dogs to be in the shot list, if you’re aware of the plan then you can be in the right place at the right time to anticipate where the extra effort needs to be. 5

Be prepared for rain It’s not necessarily the end of the world if it rains, especially if you’re prepared. Bring a couple of umbrellas – one for your camera and one for the bride. Imagine how much of a hero you’ll be if you hand the bride a white umbrella that ends up creating an incredibly memorable shot! 6

Create your own ‘Ultimate Wedding Photographer Shot List’ One of the worst things a wedding photography dreads is a queue stretching far into the distance of people wanting their picture taken by a professional photographer, and then to have different combinations of people in different shots. To counter that, make it clear to the couple ahead of the big day that you’ll stick to a strict shot list. 7

Picture the small things Rings, menus, flowers, napkin holders, place settings, the back of the wedding dress. These are the photographs that give another side to the wedding album. It’ll evoke memories of picking colours ahead of the big day rather than simply being a book of faces. 8

Be there but not there When you first sit down with the couple to determine what kind of photography they are expecting, quite often you’ll be tasked with taking natural photographs. This will involve darting around the guests and taking pictures of them without them knowing, otherwise it’ll come across as forced or posed. 9

Shoot in RAW Shooting in RAW produces higher quality images because no information is compressed, meaning plenty can be extracted later to produce excellent photographs. If you shoot straight to JPEG, you use less space on you memory card but you’ll allow your camera to auto-compress, meaning you’re not left with much to work with after the shoot. 10

Wedding group shots It’s nice after the ceremony to get everyone involved to herd together for a single giant group shot. But how do you fit everyone in? Go high. If you’re pointing down you’ll photograph everybody’s faces. It’s not uncommon to see a wedding photographer climb a tree, a roof, or navigate their way through a 17th century chateau to hang out the attic window, it’ll be worth the shot. 11

Thank you!