How to Make the Most of Your Wedding Photography Time

July 3rd, 2009
by Robin Buckley

Everybody wants beautiful photographs of their wedding. They also want to have maximum joy and smooth logistics. Communication with your photographer will go a long way with making it all an easy process for everyone involved.

When people fail to plan out the wedding photography plan, it can lead to disappointment. Not getting the images that you were hoping to get is painful, and you can not go back and change it. So planning out the day with your photographer can help make to most of the time and good light available.

Communication is the key. Start off on the right foot from the very beginning. When hiring your photographer, get the relationship off to a good start. Discussing the photographers style, and approach to the wedding day will give you a lot of insight to the photographer as a person. You will of course want to evaluate their work as you view their images.

There are many things that will influence the look of your wedding pictures. The shooting philosophy of the photographer, the time of day, the venue, the style of the event and quite a few other factors will contribute to what the photographer will be able to capture.

You will greatly assist your photographer in getting the best wedding images possible by carefully considering the attributes of the venue with respect to layout, lighting problems, and overall atmosphere. Make sure to share these things with your photographer.

A wedding photographer will want to work with natural and ambient light as much as possible. Consider this when picking your venues. A dark church can make the photographer’s job pretty stressful as many churches will not allow the photographer to use their flash during the ceremony.

It will be very important to speak with the person who will perform your wedding ceremony and find out if they have any restrictions that will affect the photographer’s job. Be sure to inform the photographer of any challenges that they might face.

Often times in a church or synagogue, there will be resistance to the photographer. It stems from the fact that in order for a photographer to get the much desired shots, the photographer must move around and that is considered a distraction. Many photographers will offer packages with two photographers shooting photos and this is a great situation to utilize the photography team. With two photographers you are going to get an additional prospective and this will also reduce the movement from the photographer.

When planning your wedding day, you will want to work with a realistic schedule, especially if the events are spread out across multiple locations. Whenever possible try to make things closer to each other rather than farther. You will need to take into consideration the traffic in the area where your are getting married, as well as the time it will take you to get to your transportation. With the dress, flowers, veil and wedding shoes you just might need a little extra time maneuvering in and out of the car.

If your wedding is in a location that you are unfamiliar with, talk to someone locally to get a real feel of what it is like to get around the area, as well as the parking situation.

Many couples today choose more of the photojournalist, documentary style of wedding photography. But even still, as a wedding day is a part of family history, you will want to plan some time for family portraits. Start by talking with your family so that it is clear what they want in the way of portraits. Then communicate with your photographer to plan for this session in a way that will not interfere with the flow of the wedding.

If you as the bride and groom do not wish to see each other before the wedding, that is just fine. There is so much photography that can be done with each of you separately, before the guests arrive. This of course leaves far less to be done after the ceremony which eliminates the problem of everyone waiting for the bride and groom to be done with the photographer.

Let your photographer know what you want in the way of formal portraits. Plan it out and communicate with all family members who will be participating what time they will be expected to be ready for the photographs, and let them know were the session will take place.

If you’re expecting guests who aren’t particularly fond of one another, for example, divorced parents, inform the photographer in advance as to not create an uncomfortable situation that would be reflected in the photo. If you want to assure that you get photos of elderly family members, or perhaps those with serious health problems, make sure your photographer is informed and can identify them as well.

With a little communication, you will be able to relax when the wedding day comes. But do remain flexible. Anything can happen. It could rain, or you could stumble upon an unplanned location. The key here is to have trust in your wedding photographer. Give them room to get inspired.

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