Shoot Weddings Like a Pro: There Is No Retaking Wedding Photos. It’s Got to Be Right the First Time!
- The Trick for Low-Light Shooting in a Church
- Getting Soft, Diffused Light with Flash, Part 1
- Getting Soft, Diffused Light with Flash, Part 2
- Use Your Flash at Outdoor Weddings
- Keep Backup Memory Cards on You
- Formals: Who to Shoot First
- Formals: Where to Aim
- The Trick to Keeping Them from Blinking
- Reception Photos: Making Them Dance
- Your Main Job: Follow the Bride
- Formals: How High to Position Your Camera
- Formals: Dont Cut Off Joints
- Formals: Build Off the Bride and Groom
- Formals: The Trick to Great Backgrounds
- Shooting the Details (& Which Ones to Shoot)
- Change Your Vantage Point to Add Interest
- Finding That Perfect Bridal Light
- How to Pose the Bride with Other People
- What to Shoot with a Wide-Angle Lens
- Back Up Your Photos Onsite
- If Shooting JPEGs, Use a Preset White Balance
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Formals: Who to Shoot First
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After the ceremony, in most cases you’ll shoot the formal portraits of the bride and groom posed with everyone from bridesmaids to grandparents. The hard part is rounding up all the people you’ll need to shoot with the bride and groom at the exact time you need them. This can take 30 minutes or three hours—it’s up to you and how organized you are. Here’s a tip to make things move as quickly as possible: gather everyone that will appear in any shot together right from the start. While they’re all sitting there, shoot the formal bride and groom portraits first (you’ll see why in just a moment). Once you’ve got those out of the way, shoot the largest groups of people (the huge family portraits), and then once you’re done with a group (like the grandparents for example), send them off to the reception. So, in short—start with everyone, and then as you shoot them, release them to go to the reception until you’re left with just the bride and groom again. If you don’t do it this way, you’ll wind up standing around for long periods of time waiting for Uncle Arnie, who’s somewhere in the reception hall. The reason you shoot the bride and groom first is that the pressure to get the bride and groom to the reception hall increases exponentially as time goes by, because generally they hold the meal until the bride and groom have arrived. So, everyone is sitting in the reception hall waiting on you—the photographer. You then wind up rushing the most important portraits of them all (the ones the couple will actually buy—their formal portraits). Make your life easy—start big, then get small.