Every girl dreams of her perfect wedding, and the worst thing a photographer could do is to ruin it for her with bad photographs to remember it with. If you are thinking of going into wedding photography, here are 5 tips that could help you create the picture perfect wedding memory for your clients.
Preparation is key
As the famous saying goes "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." So many things can go wrong on D-Day itself, needless to say wedding photography, so make sure you have back up plans for virtually everything - be it wet weather, a corrupted memory card, bad lighting, insufficient batteries. If it helps, try preparing a task list of scenes and objects to take. This list is in no way supposed to be restrictive, take it as the essentials list and let your creativity flow for the rest. As a value-added measure, ask if the client has any must-have photos of their guests, and ask for their seating plans to make sure you would not miss them out.
Set expectations
The last thing you want from a job well done is a crying bride pestering you about the mismatch in expectations, so be sure to communicate what you can and will do beforehand. A good way to do so would be to show them your portfolio, showcasing your work and style, and set up a contract to put down everything agreed in print, including rates, overtime rates and rights to the photographs. To your clients, what they are purchasing is more than just the prints. They have placed their trust in you to capture the memories of possibly the most important day of their life, so be sure to set things straight from the start to avoid disagreements and disappointments.
Choose the right format for the right usage
Every self-respecting photographer ought to know the difference - the pros and cons - of shooting in RAW or JPEG, but ultimately it is up to personal preference of the photographer. Essentially, RAW files are complete lossless files straight from the camera's sensor -- it is exactly what the imaging chip has captured. What it means for the photographer is that he can manipulate the photo with no image degradation, at the maximum possible image quality.
JPEG files, on the other hand, are much smaller files that are usually ready for immediate use. So if you are intending to display some of the shots at the reception, consider taking photos in JPEG so that you can quickly display some of your best shots to show the guests what they have possibly missed in the morning. Moreover, it's good advertising for your wedding photography business if it's done right!
Expect the unexpected
Like life, expect a wedding to be full of surprises. While you should have a checklist of the bare necessities to capture, you should be flexible and adaptable when the situation arises. Do what you have to do, vary your perspectives, crawl if you need to - be creative when it comes to wedding photography. Leave the deleting when you are sifting through the images at the end of the night, you never know what gems you might be missing in the haste of the moment. Best yet, shoot on continuous shooting mode, because you'll never see that picture perfect stolen kiss photo op coming. Attending the rehearsal would be a good opportunity for you to find out and plan your photographic vantage points.
All that glitters is not gold, but silence is
The only thing that should be sparkling during the ceremony should be the rings exchanged. Ideally, there should be no flash photography during the ceremony, from the time the bride walks up the aisle till the end of the ceremony when the couple walks down the aisle together. Random flashes going on and off during the ceremony can affect the atmosphere. Also, the beeps and camera shutter sounds can also prove distracting, so be silent when the situation requires you to.
Wedding photography is widely known to be strenuous and stressful, but don't let these words daunt you if it is truly what you are interested in. Take a deep breath, pick up your camera, and have fun at your first wedding! After all, the only way to go from here is up.
No comments:
Post a Comment