How To Photograph Weddings

Many photographers start their business by photographing a few weddings, thinking that it’s the easiest type of photography. In reality, its one of the most difficult, strenuous types of photography.

With weddings, you get one chance at getting the best images possible. You are one of the few vendors that will spend most of the wedding day with the bride and groom. Therefore its imperative that you love photographing weddings, and that you understand how to handle the day in the easiest, most professional way possible. To make sure you you’re ready for the big day, work your way through this How To Photograph Wedding Checklist before each event.

* Have ample equipment with you. If you were scheduled to spend six hours at an event and only bring along one camera body, what would you do if that body broke one hour into the event? Having backup equipment is mandatory for wedding photography. Not only can accidents happen (like dropping a camera) but you never know when two cameras will be of benefit in the middle of the action.

* Study wedding photography before the day of the wedding. There are many photo books on the subject of wedding photography, and you can get several from your local bookstore that will provide you with hundreds of samples. Choose some specific poses that you want to emulate, and bring a copy of the photo with you to the wedding to use as your posing guide.

* Talk to the bride and groom before the wedding, and get a list of special photographs they would like from the wedding. You can create your own list of standard photos, such as the bride with her mom and dad, but talk to the couple about special poses that you may not know about. The bride may have her sorority sisters at the wedding, and want a special photo of that.

* Have the entire day scheduled as much as possible – also realize that schedules can never be cast in stone. Work with the couple before hand to lay out the events of the day. They’ll appreciate having a timetable, and it will make your job much easier.

* Photograph one wedding at a time, and learn from your mistakes. The only way to get better is to keep practicing. After each event, spend a few minutes writing down what went well, and what needs improvement. Use this as a guide for your next event.

The next time you’re wondering how to photograph wedding, hopefully you’ll feel a little more comfortable with the process.