Wedding Photography Tips and Techniques

Styles and Techniques in the Art of Digital Wedding Photography

When people get sentimental, they usually flip through albums and look at the pictures depicting things that have happened in their lives. These pictures are not simply pieces of paper with images, for some they can trigger deep emotions.

Emotions vary depending on the memories attached to the photos you're looking at.

One of the memories most people really love to preserve are the events of their wedding day.

For this reason, many people decide to hire professional photographers to capture these important moments of their lives.

However, professional photographers are expensive and if you decide to take this route you will most likely be happy with their work and receive many memorable photos of the special wedding day.

What if you want to be the one doing the wedding photography? Think you're ready?

As with raising children; if you ask what is best, you'll get a different answer from each person. The same is true when asking questions about what you need to know about wedding photography.

The following wedding photography tips and techniques are some of my thoughts and what I did when I first photographed a wedding, it helped me and maybe it will help you.

Wedding Photography Tips.

Photography techniques and styles:

For anyone who wants to capture a wedding event using a digital camera.

• Most photographers employed for weddings have assistants, so grab a reliable friend (one that follows orders well).
• You might be a little nervous so make a list. A list with the poses you; as the photographer, want to take.
• Prior to the wedding get together with the couple and ask them what poses they would like to have you take. Most of the time it will be right on target with your list, but depending on the personality of the couple ... well ... you just never know.
• Before the wedding go to the location of the ceremony, take some pictures - getting a feel for the lighting, where you'll be able to stand/move around taking the pictures.
• Make a list of all the photography equipment you will need to bring with you. Lists are great, aren't they?
• You will want to take the pictures either on your highest JPG setting or RAW setting (if your camera uses this format) so make sure you have a large enough memory card (or two, maybe three) to get the job done! Don't use lower resolutions for these special occasion photos as the new couple will want wedding prints made from them. The higher the resolution, the larger the prints that can be made.
• For the formal wedding shots make sure the background is good and the environment is not very busy or crowded. You don't want to distract from your main subjects.
• Don't be afraid to take shoulder and above shots. You never know what the couple will like and a variety is good.
• Don't be afraid to zoom in or step in. I know you might be thinking you're invading their space - your not.
• Take a couple of shots of each group as someone may have blinked, turned their head, or looking down.
• Think about shooting your camera in continuous mode at certain times during the event. You may just catch a very special moment.
• If you are going to be using a flash and if someone is wearing glasses, ask them if they would like to take them off for the picture. If not, have them tilt their heads a little down or sideways to avoid the glare when the flash is fired.
• Candid shots are great for capturing those unexpected pictures that can reveal so much: a tear, a laugh, a tender memorable moment. And you and your digital camera captured it!!
• Always be alert; at all times, since you can seldom ask individuals to pose again for you when everything is over.

Something you should really try to do is to get the bride and groom away from guests when you take the formal wedding pictures. This way the wedding couple is focusing on you and not distracted by all the activity.

Photography equipment you may want to use:

• If you have an extra camera, bring it. If you are lucky enough to have two cameras and multiple lenses, you can put your favorite lenses on each camera and won't have to worry about taking the time to change the lens. You can just pick up your other digital camera and start shooting.
• Good lenses to use: a fixed lens, wide angle, and zoom lens, it really depends on the look you and the couple are wanting to see.
• Bring your tripod, if you don't have one, maybe you know someone that does have one and will let you borrow it or you can just add to your equipment list and buy one, just make sure it's sturdy enough for your digital camera.
• Reflector(s).
• If you will be using an external flash, think about purchasing a system that allows you to move the flash around (Off-Shoe Cord with maybe a Flip Flash Bracket) and a Lightbox or Diffuser to go over the flash.
• Don't forget to bring plenty of memory cards.
• Back-up batteries for the camera and flash.
• A microfiber cloth for cleaning the lens.

And when you have finished .... have a reliable computer with plenty of available space to store the wedding photos You just took. You should also consider backing up all of the photos to CD/DVD or whatever works best for you.

You will also want to create copies of the photos to give the wedding couple.

Go back and review the photographic work you have done, look to see what you can do better or different the next time.

Open some of the photos in your favorite graphics program and play around with enhancing photos.

Photography is truly a wonderful art. A wedding is a wonderful event. The union of these things will trigger emotions and memories for a long time to come.

Creating A Wedding Story.

These are some resources for the Bride and Groom to check out. Creating a wedding scrapbook is a great way to share some of their more memorable wedding photos. Scrap booking is a great way to make your Wedding Photos even more memorable with this extra personal touch.

How You can Become a Successful Wedding Photography.

So you've done a few weddings and are getting better with each one you do. So what do you do when you either want to start charging for your services or you want to charge more for your services as a wedding photographer.

Now that you've learned the basics and been given ideas to help you through your first few weddings, what do you do to become more successful?