9 Tips To Great Wedding Photography

9 Tips To Great Wedding Photography

As a savvy bride-to-be, you appreciate the importance of great photography to preserve your wedding memories for decades to come. We’ve assembled nine valuable tips and bits of advice to make your entire photography experience the best possible.
#1: Start early if possible – eight to 12 months before your wedding. Most weddings take place on a Saturday, and many areas of the country have a “wedding season” – so this leaves a limited number of available dates any photographer has. The good ones can fill their calendars quickly, so the earlier you start, the more options you will have.
#2: Technical lingo: what do you need to know? As you delve into the world of wedding photography, you’ll hear various technical terms such as 35 mm film versus medium format. Mainly, you just need to know what you’d like to do with your wedding photos: do you plan to enlarge any to a size greater than 11x14? If so, you may want to find a photographer that can take some of the formal portraits using a medium format transparency film, which is larger than 35 mm and therefore enlarges quite nicely. Anything 11x14 or smaller will enlarge just fine from 35 mm film.
#3: The advantages of going digital. More and more wedding photographers are using digital cameras, and this can offer several advantages. These include: the photographer’s ability to see the photos immediately after taking them, thus allowing reshoots when necessary; the ability to take more photos in a shorter amount of time; the option of viewing the photos online; and more. The bottom line, however, is ‘do you like their work?’ Would you rather have a bad photographer with a digital camera, or a good photographer using film? You get the idea.
#4: What happens to the negatives? It’s an industry-wide practice that professional photographers retain all rights and ownership to the negatives of any photos they take. (Or, in the case of digital photography – the original files of every photo.) You may want to ask your photographer if you have the option of buying the negatives at some point, or how long they will keep the negatives available. Some photographers allow you buy the negatives one year after your wedding.
#5: Thoroughly prepare your list of formal photos ahead of time! Your day will go so much more smoothly, and you’ll be much happier with the final results, if you take the time before your wedding to prepare a very specific, well-thought-out list of photos you’d like taken. This is especially important with more complicated families involving divorce and remarriage.
#6: Assign a friend or family member to help with the formal photos. While taking the formal posed portraits, it speeds the process along tremendously if you can assign someone the job of rounding up the right people for the next photo. It can be quite time-consuming, and frustrating, to stand around waiting while the search for the best man continues. It helps if the person to whom you assign this task is familiar with most of the people in both families and the wedding party.
#7: Be aware of any photo restrictions. Some ceremony sites have restrictions on photography, such as limitations on where the photographer can be during the ceremony, or limitations on flash photography. Check with your officiant and/or ceremony site manager to see if there are ANY photo restrictions you should be aware of, and if there are, be sure to share these with your photographer ahead of time.
#8: The day’s schedule – when to take the formal portraits? It can be quite convenient for your guests if you take ALL of the formal shots before the wedding, so that the guests can go directly to the reception after the ceremony, without having to find a way to kill a few free hours. You may also find that it makes your day less nerve-wracking if you and your groom can see each other before the ceremony, and spend a few quiet minutes together. Of course, many couples want that exciting moment when the groom sees his bride – in full regalia – for the first time as she starts down aisle towards him. Either way, make sure that you arrive to the reception in a timely manner, not much later than your guests. You two are the hosts – the stars of the day, and your guests want to see you! Quite frankly, it’s blatantly rude to miss the entire cocktail hour, and swoop in just as the meal is beginning. (Or, heaven forbid, after the meal is served!) So take the time to plan your schedule efficiently, and be sure to leave enough time for any posed photos. Your photographer can help you with this.
#9: Capture the details. Be sure to specify on your photos list any special and unique touches you’ve included in your wedding, so the photographer can capture those details on film. Whether it’s an embellished guest book, a custom pillow for the ringbearer, an embroidered handkerchief passed down from your Grandmother or a beautiful pair of shoes on the bride… you’ll want to have lasting memories of the beautiful details that made your wedding unique and personal.