Today one of my brides asked me about her December wedding timeline. She asked if it was ok to plan her beach wedding during sunset. A really great question! As a photographer, I like to figure out lighting and try and plan the wedding and my shots accordingly. The month of December is right smack dab in the middle of the winter solstice, which means days are shorter. During the summer solstice sunset can last for hours, but during the winter they’re very short. Meaning if your heart is set doing a winter sunset wedding you should seriously consider doing all formal photos before the ceremony or not at all. If I could I would make sunsets that last for hours all year long. Another thing to consider is it’s going to be very cold on the beach in December. Finally, if you’re planning to do a December sunset wedding you’re going to have to spend a lot of time make sure your timeline allows for delays. In December the sun sets so fast that if you run behind even a little your ceremony will be in the dark.
Can My Guest Take Photos?
I get asked this all the time.
Oh course they can! Will they get in my way? Probably. Do I mind? No.
I have no problem walking in front of a guest, or asking them to move. At the end of the day, my photos are going to turn out better and I’ve been hired to be there. The only thing I tend to have problems is the Cake Cutting. All of the guests stand behind me and take photos. Their cameras admit a focusing light that shows up on the cake or the bride and grooms face. The light shows up in the photos as a red or green light. Since I tend to have this problem I over shoot the cake photos, which means I always get the shot.
Wardrobe Malfunctions
I give advice on my blog for a couple reasons… Unlike a lot of other wedding vendors I actually witness first hand every single thing that goes on during a wedding. I use my blog many times to point out things that could go wrong and seem somewhat obvious if you were to sit doing and think about it but because a wedding is so hectic and has so many moving parts people don’t have time to really consider the minor details.
Wedding wardrobe malfunctions… Happen all the time. Rentals never fit properly. People should try them on before they leave the store? I can’t tell you how many times the rental measurements have been wrong. If you’re planning to wear a veil for an outdoor ceremony the veil needs to longer than hip-length or weighed down somehow (maybe crystals) or sew the veil into your hair (I’ve seen it done), otherwise the wind will cast the veil during your ceremony. The thing is when things go wrong with your wardrobe on your wedding day it usually goes wrong when no one can help you. I always ask my brides to cut out the inside straps, that people use to hand their dress on the hangers. The reason I ask my brides to cut the straps out is because they sneak their way out. They tend to come out during the first dance, which is a moment when I can’t come up and help you. Plus you can always sow them back in if you want. Shoes… I love gorgeous wedding shoes but I think it’s a smart idea to bring a comfy pair as a backup.
Being Camera Ready
In general, I find there are two types of people when it comes to getting their pictures taken. There are those people that are simply natural at taking photos. We all know these people they are our photogenic friends that can’t take a bad photo. Many times I find it difficult to get candid photos of these people because they track the camera, and as soon as I go to shoot they look and smile. Then there are the normal people that don’t know their angles, aren’t used to taking photos. I always suggest that these people book an engagement session. Only because if you’re not used to getting your picture taken you might not know what your angles and you might be doing wrong. If a photographer gets the opportunity to photograph you before your big day they will know how to photograph you before your event. I always say engagement sessions aren’t for engagement photos, there for the wedding photos.
Camera Distortion
We’ve all had our picture taken and thought I look fat….
When I think of camera distortion I take into account two things my lens and posing. Some lenses can make you look tall and skinny and others make you look short and fat. A good photographer will know which lenses are appropriate to use.
Posing is a little tricky… My basic rule of thumb is whatever is close to the camera looks bigger. That being said if you hate the way your arms look you want to pull them back, so they look smaller.
Here is a video that will go more in depth into posing.
Advice for the Moms
Finding the right dress can be difficult especially for the mothers of the bride and groom. Often times The Moms are as much a part of the as the bride and groom and it’s important to find the right dress. I find that most moms find it comforting to bring someone with them to help find a dress. Below are a couple examples of the dress I see most often. This style comes in lots of colors, so you can find colors that both complement you and match the wedding theme. One thing that’s really nice about this dress is it comes with a matching jacket. I find that most of my moms are self-conscious when it comes to their arms.
*Since this is the Brides day… Don’t wear a dress that is any shade of white. While the Bride might not care, you don’t want guests to get the wrong impression.
Woohoo Party!
Sometimes trying to decide if you’re going to do an open bar for your wedding is more than simply “can we afford to pick up the bar tab at the end of the night?” There are reasons to do an open bar and there are reasons not to. Sometimes if your crowd is a little more reserved having an open bar can mean the difference between having a fun wedding vs. a boring one. On the other hand, if your guests are heavy drinkers it could mean the difference between a drunken slosh feast and a beautiful wedding. One thing I suggest is not to serve drinks until the cocktail hour. I’ve been to a couple wedding where they served drink before the ceremony and you could here glasses clanking during the ceremony. Plus it starts people drinking earlier, which means they get tipsy earlier and leave your reception early. These are suggestions that people don’t usually consider when planning their wedding but I’ve been to several weddings where people drank too much. If it were me I’d do a full bar during cocktail hour, beer/wine during the reception and a cash bar for those that want their cocktails.
How many photos do you take?
When someone asks me “how many pictures do you take?” I reply as many as I can. In general after the event, I will narrow the images down to about 1000. During a wedding, I try and capture everything from several different angles. I know a lot of photographers try and limit the number of photos they take so they have to do less editing after the event. In my opinion, it’s more important to capture the event. I typically overshoot, because there is nothing worse than not capturing a moment. I also don’t know what my clients will deem important. One client may want lots of detail shots, while another may find guest photos to be more important. I overshoot so I can sleep at night knowing that I’ve got it all covered.
Support from an Insider
Whenever a bride complains to me about her family or bridal party. I always say weddings are emotional for a lot of people. Weddings symbolize the beginning of a new family. Moms and dads hand over their little girls and boys to another man or woman. Couples say goodbye to their best friends and join with their soul mates. Lil flower girls look up to the brides and want to be them some day. Grandparents get to see their lives come full circle. The singles wonder when they’ll meet their soul mate and often times couples recommit to each other, At the end of the day a bride needs to make herself happy and not worry about everyone else.
My work flow
Many times people think a wedding photographer simply shows up at a location, shoot for a couple hours, burn a disk and the jobs done; which is far from the truth. No matter how big or small the event is this is what is involved.
The day before every wedding I spend a lot of time getting prepared. I always start by charging batteries, which is a process that takes most of the day. Then I go through all my gear cleaning, testing, syncing camera times and formatting cards. I pack up all my gear. I also review timelines, shot-lists and locations. I plan my gear and my shots around the location and the timeline. What I bring for an indoor wedding, is very different from an outdoor location. Finally, I map all locations, and layout my clothes. One the day of, the only thing I want to think about is getting all those amazing shots. Getting prepared to shoot a wedding takes up most of the day before the wedding.
On the day of I run around for hours with 40 pounds of gear strapped to me in order to capture all those memories. A groom once called me a ninja, I wear all black, I sneak around and I draw cameras like weapons.
After the wedding, I download everything online in case of a fire, on 2 external hard drives one to back up the other, two computers, all the cf cards don’t get reformat until images are done being edited and burned to discs in case the hard drive fails. Archiving your memories is just as important as capturing them. I’ve actually had several brides loose their images and come back to me year after their wedding and I was able to send them new discs.
On a typical wedding, I shoot about 3,000 images per event. I probably go through each event about 5x. The first time I go through an event I edit out the obvious bad images. The second time I check focus. The third time I color correct each image individually. The fourth time I get rid of all unnecessary images (I tend to overshoot and edit later) finally I double-check my color corrections. I upload the proofs to an online gallery and release the gallery to my clients. Typically I give my clients 800-1000 proofs to go through. After my clients pick their final proofs I recheck their final selects and export them as high-res jpegs, burn a disk, package everything, and mail it out.
Each event/wedding is actually days of work.