Wedding Photography Tips for Professional Photographers

Have you ever produced a professional wedding photography album?

The wedding is a very special time both for the engaged couple and for the family. It’s usually one of the most important moments in people’s lives. A wedding is a record of all the emotion of something that has been experienced by a couple. The photos of a wedding day are reminders of all the important moments of the ceremony because those pictures portray a milestone in the life of a couple.

Wedding photographers have a great responsibility because their clients expect the best of this moment of their lives. So the photographer can never miss the key best of the ceremony. In this post you will get tips for creating memorable professional photo albums of weddings.

Let’s see wedding photography tips for photographers to create high quality professional photos.

Have a meeting with the engaged couple before the wedding day

As a photographer, having a meeting with the engaged couple before the wedding day is essential for a better development of the photoshoot. In this meeting, you will discover a little bit about the personality of your clients to help you capture perfect images during the ceremony.

You must have a portfolio with wedding photos to show to the engaged couple in this first meeting with many styles of photos. Another way to show your photography style is to take a portable device (a notebook, a tablet or even a smartphone) with different photos you’ve taken of the moments of the ceremony.

In case you don’t have a portfolio with your works in weddings, you can also get sample wedding photos from the Internet with the ideas you have in mind. It’s important to listen to the photos ideas that the engaged couple may have.

Also, talk to the couple about the weddings guests to understand more about the people who are essential at the moment for ceremony, such as family members, the made of honor or the best man because some of the guest may be disappointed if the final wedding album doesn’t have any photos of a specific moment of the ceremony.

So get an overview of what your clients want as memories of the ceremony. If necessary, you can create a list of all the important instants of the ceremony that the engaged couple would like to see as a photo.

Go to the wedding rehearsal dinner to get an overview of the ceremony

The wedding rehearsal dinner is usually conducted one day before the actual wedding date as a run-through of the ceremony. The engaged couple and the guests can wear casual clothes in the rehearsal dinner instead of the official ceremony clothes. So you can go to the wedding rehearsal dinner to understand the key moments of the ceremony and be prepared to take better photos on the actual wedding day.

If the engaged couple hasn’t set a wedding rehearsal dinner, you can suggest it because the rehearsal dinner doesn’t have to be at the wedding venue. It can be a family country house, a park, a historic city center or anything that has a meaning for the couple. It’s easier to take pictures in small towns because they are more quiet. If the wedding rehearsal is in a public park, it’s better to arrive early because it can get crowded at later times of the day.

If you are taking pictures of couples on the beach, the best time is at sunset because you can capture photos that include the sea and the sun. The best thing is to shoot photos on cloudy days because there is not much interference from the sunlight.

The best time to do the rehearsal is during sunrise or sunset, either in the morning up to 9 AM or and in the afternoon after 3 PM.

Know the order of the ceremony

The marriage officiant is the person who officiates the wedding, be it for a religious or for a non-religious ceremony. You must be integrated with the marriage officiant during the ceremony and know every moment of the event to never miss an important detail. You can talk to the engaged couple before the wedding day to know more details about the order of the ceremony. The photographer’s work begins when the wedding venue is being decorated, before any guests arrive.

Prepare your camera equipment

Make a checklist with everything you must remember about all the camera equipment and other details just so you won’t forget anything in the wedding day, planning is a fundamental step to reassure your work as a photographer in the wedding day

Those are some of the items you can add to your checklist:

• What camera lenses to take to the wedding ceremony?
• What focal lengths to use on the Camera during the photo shoot?
• What extra Camera Equipment will be needed?
• What’s the wedding venue lighting like?
• Will artificial lighting be needed?
• What’s the dress suit for the wedding ceremony?

Hire an assistant photographer for the wedding day

The wedding ceremony has many key moments. So even having all the necessary camera equipment in hands, you may need an assistant photographer to help you. The moments during the ceremony should be photographed from different angles and photos must be taken from family, friends, decorative elements and other details and that is too much work for one single person. Take into account hiring an assistant photographer or even more than one to make sure all the important instants of the wedding will be photographed.

Take photos of the wedding venue before and during the ceremony

The wedding venue is the place where the wedding will happen and it becomes part of the life story of the engaged couple. It was chosen by them with great affection. So, it’s very important that you take photos of all the details of the ceremony location because everything in a wedding venue is organized with great care and both the engaged couple and friends and family will want to have a record of what was prepared as decorative elements for the big day.

Respect the moments of ceremony that require silence

If you will be taking photos of a religious ceremony, it’s important to understand the rules of the religious ritual of the wedding, so talk to the marriage officiant before the wedding day. Knowing how the religious ritual is fundamental because there might be moments that require complete silence as you as a photographer will need to keep a distance and use your camera’s zoom to take photos from farther away. That’s why it’s good to use a Professional Camera.

If you will be taking photos of a non-religious ceremony, it’s also important to understand the key moments that require silence, so you should also talk to the marriage officiant before the wedding day, You as a photographer is there to record the best moments, but it’s important to know the moments of silence to move around with description.

That is why it is important to talk with the ceremonial team and to the marriage officiant to find out if it’s fine to move around everywhere and if there are any restrictions to be followed. Sometimes space is limited, that’s why it’s important to visit the wedding venue before the ceremony day.

Take photos of the key details of the wedding ceremony

Those are some of the key details of any wedding ceremony that the final wedding photo album needs to have:

• The clothes of the couple
• The wedding rings and wedding accessories
• The wedding cake
• The decoration details
• The walk down the aisle
• The little girls and the pages
• The maid of honor and the best man
• The reactions of friends and family to the ceremony moments
• The first kiss of the just-married couple
• The just-married couple departure from the ceremony
• The wedding reception (venue, decoration and interesting moments)

Conclusion

Awesome! Now you know how to create a memorable photo album of a wedding and how to achieve an impressive wedding photography work. So don’t hesitate to put what you’ve learned into practice!

You can also share your thoughts in the comments below!