Category Archives: Wedding Photography Tip
Great Read About Booking Vendors for Weddings
http://www.onewed.com/workbook/article/order-of-operations-for-booking-your-vendors
Wedding Photography Tip #3 – Engagement / Lifestyle / Getting to Know You Session
As a wedding photographer, I’m often asked what I enjoy photographing the most. Of the wedding day, I’d say it’s the time between the ceremony and reception and/or the first dance.
If a person has booked a wedding package with me, they will receive a complementary engagement session (this is sometimes called a “getting to know you session” or a “lifestyle session”…among other things). This is truly the most fun I probably will have with the couple and is the session I enjoy the most. Why, because there are no rules. Usually there is no time frame, usually there are no boundaries and I get to losen the couple up and get them to just have some fun.
I, as a photographer, have an ulterior motive. I want to learn how far I can push the couple, how they interact with each other and quite probably how they will interact with each other on the wedding day. I am very upfront about my objectives and tell the couple what I’m looking for and what I expect from them at the beginning of the session. The guys usually roll their eyes, the girls usually say, “we ARE going to have fun.” In the end I’ve only had one guy, in over 100 engagement sessions, ever say he thought it was a lot of work. Mission accomplished…some super fun photos for the couple, a learning day for me, a day I get to experiment and push my boundaries a little and in the end a couple that will be happy they spent that 1.5 hours with me…getting to know their photographer.
Wedding Photography Tip #2
should always talk to the parents on both sides to make sure they get the formal photos the PARENTS hope to get at the wedding. It is always easiest to get formal or group photos immediately after the ceremony. See yesterday’s tip.
Have each set of parents put together a list of photos they wish to get. Have them include, in the list, each person or family that should be in the photo. Don’t forget about godparents and people who are special to the Bride and Groom.
After the ceremony, assign a person to help organize the people who need to be in the photos. The bride and groom have too much going on to be responsible for this and the photographer or photographer’s assistant won’t know who family members are.
Although the special day is for the bride and groom, it’s also a time that family gets together. Often wedding day pictures are looked on as pieces of history years later. Don’t let great aunt Mildred slip by without being included in the family photo.
Wedding Photography Tip
Advice for couples who are planning their weddings. Allow enough time for formal photos after the ceremony.
Relying on grabbing family photos at the reception is something I’ve seen fail more times than I can count.
Brides…do you have some “must have advice” for couples planning their weddings?
