Wedding photography is one of the most diverse sub niches in the industry. There are many different styles and it’s important to know what each one entails.

For example, some photographers will request that the officiant announce a large group photo of all guests present after the ceremony. This is an easy way to save time and ensure that everyone is included.

Capturing Details

A wedding is full of small details, and these are often the photos that tell the story of a couple’s special day. Couples spend a lot of time and money on things like their flowers, cake, and shoes, so they want professional images to remember it all.

Photographers should plan their wedding day timeline to ensure they have time to shoot all of the details. This requires thinking ahead about the location of the ceremony and reception and understanding the layout of the venue. It also means making sure they have the right lenses and camera body for a specific shot.

When shooting details, photographers can create a more interesting image by including the human element. For example, instead of photographing a bride’s flower bouquet on a table, have her hold it and pose with it. This will add a personal touch and make the photo more memorable. Also, when shooting in manual mode, be careful not to overexpose your images.

Lighting

A camera records light, either on an alogue film or on a digital sensor, but the image it produces can look different depending on the type of lighting that is used. Wedding photographers need to know how to use flash in a variety of situations to improve their images. They can use it to fill in shadows, add a rim light or reduce distractions. It can also help them when it is too dark to expose a scene without using flash.

Leeann explains that a photographer should always have a plan for lighting. She suggests saving your camera’s settings to a custom bank (or in manual mode) so that you can quickly return to them when required.

Weddings take place outdoors and indoors, and they can be affected by weather and natural or artificial light. By understanding how to use different types of light, a photographer can create stunning images. This may include using a reflector, off-camera flash, video lights or anything else that can help achieve the desired outcome.

Capturing the Guests

In a rush to get everyone in for group shots it can be easy to miss guests who are seated away from the rest or a little bit obscured by table décor. Taking the time to look for these guests and making them feel included will have you with a more complete picture of your wedding day.

Table visits are a great way to capture the reactions of your guests, but they can also be quite chaotic and time-consuming. To make it a little easier, have the DJ announce each table one by one to come up and have their photo taken with the couple.

Guests have unique mannerisms and quirks that can be captured with a fast burst mode on a camera. Using this mode allows the photographer to take a series of frames and pick out the best ones later on. Guests are also often more willing to strike a pose than professionals, which makes for some heartwarming candids.

Getting Ready

Many brides and grooms choose to have photos taken of them with their best friends and family before the ceremony. This is a great way to memorialize the day-of-wedding celebration and it also makes for a nice photo album for the couple to look back on.

Be sure to take photos of the groomsmen and bridesmaids in their coordinating robes or outfits and be sure to have them face towards some greenery or pretty background. Having a photographer for just this moment can be helpful as it can keep things organized and prevent people from getting in each others shots or squinting because of sunlight.

Make sure you have backup cameras, extra memory cards, and batteries with you on the wedding day. The last thing you want is to lose all your images because your camera died or a file was corrupted. You can even use a cloud storage system like ShootProof to upload your photos right after the shoot so that couples (and their families and friends) can easily purchase prints or digital files from you.