Wedding Photography Tips for your First Wedding
As professionals vetted in photography, we are always getting questions about how to handle your first wedding day. To your surprise, we are now back with a detailed guide on how you can improve yourself during the big wedding days.
However, before delving into a detailed guide about wedding photography, let’s go through some of the prerequisites.
How to get good exposure
You do not have to be a master at getting good exposure. But, if you are struggling are a novice, you probably want to slow down on the weddings. You can always start doing portrait shoots or even street photography if you are a Fujifilm camera owner.
It might sound harsh, but people usually pay a considerable amount of money to capture their special day. You cannot simply just sit there and play around with your camera settings, trying to get a good exposure. You need to understand it before going professional.
Be comfortable with your camera
Once again, you do not need to know all the ins and outs of your camera. But, if you do not know how to get to places quickly and change the settings faster, you need a lot of practice. We are sorry to break it to you, but weddings require running around the venue.
Weddings are very fast-paced, and when someone asks you for something, and you’re playing with your camera settings, the moment will pass. So, you need to know your camera and be entirely comfortable with it.
Shoot in raw
You might know why we are suggesting you shoot in raw. The main reason behind it is that shooting in raw allows you to have more flexibility in your edits. Now, we might argue that shooting in JPEG is possible, but if you cannot shoot in JPEG and raw, you should only stick with raw.
Pro-tip: Never ever go into a wedding to shoot only JPEG images.
Keep a backup
Like Thelma & Louise, we recommend that you keep a backup camera as your go-to option. We highly suggest you purchase a dual camera strap system to equip two cameras at a time. It will not save you from a lot of hassle.
We recommend keeping a backup camera because you could need a backup plan at any given time of day.
We are done with the prerequisites. If you do not pass the eye test or tick all the right boxes, don’t go into wedding photography. Take some time to practice it. You can either do a portrait with friends, do engagement functions, or even do street photography.
You would be thinking we are crazy, but in our opinion, street photography is the closest thing to weddings.
Phew! You are done with the prerequisites. Let’s jump into the main part – tips to become a successful wedding photographer.
1. Communicate with your clients
One of the most important, if not the most important, aspects of wedding photography is communication with your clients. You might be thinking that it has nothing to do with your camera, but the reality opposes it. In addition, pre-wedding communication is considered crucial because it lets you know what your client wants for their big day.
If you are not meeting with the couple, if you are not setting expectations with them, you may set yourself up as a disaster artist if they do not know your approach to photography. In an ideal case scenario, you should see the couple at least three times, i.e., pre-booking, the time between the wedding and the booking, and right before the wedding.
People often ask us how our wedding pictures and videos are so smooth. It is because we know what the client has demanded, and we settle on their expectations accordingly.
2. Have a family portrait list
In our personal experience, one of the most stressful parts of the wedding day is family portrait time. Mainly because you want to gather all the family members and squeeze them into the frame as a unit. If you don’t know about anybody from the family, there is a big chance you might end up regretting it.
However, retrieving a family list is not only crucial for group photos. You might also need to capture random photographs of the couple’s family as the day progresses. Ask questions like if they have a special family heirloom or a favorite aunt they want in the camera. So, the family list needs to be very specific with their names.
3. Use a higher f/stop for group pictures
While doing group pictures, make sure to bring your aperture down to 2.8 or 3.2 to keep things nice and sharp. The reason to keep the aperture at such a steady pace is because of the standing sequence in groups. If one family member is standing a little behind the first one, you do not want them to go out of focus.
Final words
You would be familiar with the ins and outs of wedding photography by now. If you take the actionable points in perspective, you could pave the way for a great photography career. By carefully optimizing the points, you can jump obstacles like it is a piece of cake.
Lastly, if you are a married couple looking to hire professional wedding photographers, we are here at your service. We have been consistently shooting weddings for years now. With our service, you can expect etiquette, mannerism, professionalism, and above all, a whopping 15% OFF on your first booking.
So, what is with the wait? Book with us right away to get the photographs you could only have dreamt of.
About Us
Based in Missouri, Bright Focus Photography is a name of excellence in providing excellent photography services. Our exuberant services, dipped with a punch of humor, will be everything you need for your big day. By adding a hint of honesty, kindness, hard work, and fairness to our work, we stand out among many others for the effort we put into our work.