Wedding Pictures: Avoid Expensive Photographers
The best place to start is with your friends and family. Maybe you have a cousin who is majoring in photography in college. Or perhaps your uncle has always been an amateur photography buff. Regardless of who or where, there is usually someone in every family who enjoys taking pictures, and who has at least some experience in lighting and positioning.
Spread the word through the family grapevine that you are looking for something with experience in photography. A college degree and a thick portfolio are not necessary; just make sure that their only experience isn't with a disposable camera.
In most cases, a friend or family member will be flattered that you would consider their expertise, and will jump at the chance to photograph your wedding. You might also run into a little bit of fear - no one wants to be responsible for botching a loved one's wedding day. Just explain that you aren't looking for professional quality photos, but an elegant photographic album of pictures.
Before the wedding, meet with your chosen amateur photographer and discuss how you would like the pictures to look. Don't treat them as you would a professional photographer - they are doing you a favor - but make sure that you are on the same page for how you want the pictures to come out. Discuss places for pictures, backgrounds and positioning, and give them a list of everyone who should be in every picture. Make it as easy on them as possible before the wedding, because you'll be busy on the big day!
An added bonus for having a friend or family member photographer is that he or she will be familiar with your closest friends and loved ones, and will be able to get more meaningful shots throughout the course of the ceremony and reception.
If you are having trouble coming up with ideas, or if you need inspiration for your amateur photographer, here are some ideas to get your started.
1. Location. When you're looking through the pictures in five, ten and twenty years, you'll want some interesting backgrounds. Before the wedding, choose an outdoor location that will most effectively and elegantly capture the post-ceremony glory. Verandas, fences with vines and water shots are all classics.
2. B&W. Have your photographer bring two cameras to the wedding, one loaded with color film and the other with black and white. Black and white shots are very elegant, and can add diversity to your album.
3. Candid Shots. Let your photographer known that not all pictures must be posed. Let them wander the reception and take candid photos of people dancing, eating, laughing and talking in groups.
4. Leveling. Have chairs, tables and other props to help add diversity to your photos. Take a picture with you sitting in a chair and your spouse standing behind you, or one with the bridesmaids kneeling. This will give the photos a professional flair.
5. Close-ups. Some of the most memorable wedding photos are those of small, seemingly insignificant events. Take pictures of just your hands, showing the wedding bands, or of a guest signing the guestbook. Not all shots must include full-body images; some can be of localized themes.
6. Lighting. Not all pictures should be taken indoors. Even if both the ceremony and the reception are held inside, find a location outside in which to take pictures. Natural light can make all the difference in photos.
7. Background. Make sure that in "formal" photos, the backgrounds don't hold any extraneous objects. For example, when photographing the wedding cake, make sure there are no plastic plates or cups in the picture as well.
Published by Kay Reynolds
After earning my Journalism degree, I decided not to apply for jobs at newspapers, as I had planned for five years, but to work as a freelance copywriter. I am outsourced by various agencies and companies, a... View profile
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- Natural lighting will help give your pictures a professional flair.
- Use chairs and tables to add dimension to your photographs.
- Make sure backgrounds are devoid of extraneous objects and people.
16 Comments
Post a CommentEverything you can find for your wedding day that is simple don't just walk but RUN FOR IT!
Wedding day photography is also about an essential technique Ansel Adams called visualization (visualization or seeing the end product at the time of capture) which is developed over time in a photographer's life. The more proficient a photographer is in this process will free them to capture the event and enjoy the people instead of worrying about camera and studio settings. If they don't enjoy people the people will not enjoy them, and if the people don't enjoy them well……………….. You get the idea! There are no two weddings the same but all weddings require love. A professional has minimized distractions through experience to focus on LOVE!
Ramsey Still Imaging understands weddings photography is first of all about your love for each other but it also involves our love and attention to detail to capture the DNA of two people becoming ONE.
It's wrong to assume that anyone can do wedding photography even if they have a state of the art camera and gear (studio equipment). First of all experience is necessary. I'll say again; necessary! Why? Wedding photography is most of all about people and people are complex. All professional services offered to people are complex! But now compound that complexity with a service that can only be done one time to achieve the result everybody wants. Experience makes that complicated array of obstacles in a wedding day simple. Simply stated; experience has been there and done it.
A professional knows how to prepare for a wedding day. The complicated (every wedding day) requires due-diligence, or in other words (from a photographer's perspective) people, hardware, and software preparation utilizing a set of polished skills, hardware, and work ethic that can stand up to all kinds of adverse influences. Professionals MAKE the complicated SIMPLE. Everything you can find for your wedding day th
This article is rather vague in directing someone who never photographed a wedding. They state to take photographs outside, but forget to mention to shoot in the shade with a fill flash.
I see way too many times. People feel, just because they own a rebel, they somehow have become this wonderful wedding photographer.
1. I wouldn't trust anyone to shoot my wedding with a Rebel.
2. If you can't afford a Pro camera, you certainly don't have a fast lens.
3. Schooling, along with working with a pro is required.
I could go on & on. I would steer away from this article.
I just read the second page - It seems as though this person attended a couple weddings in the 80s as a guest, and now believes they have the authority to give advice on this important element of a wedding. HAHAahahaha, this article is a disgrace to AC.
Hahahaaha this article made me laugh! Kay Reynolds, I think you need a dose of reality. Did you do ANY research before writing this article? Wedding photography costs thousands of dollars (average being over 2k), and asking a freind or family member to take photos is a DISASTEROUS idea. These pictures are going to be with you for the rest of your life, and if you don't get someone that can do the job, you will REGRET it for the rest of your life. I think the funniest part of this article was "Just explain that you aren't looking for professional quality photos, but an elegant photographic album of pictures."
"Hundreds" for wedding photography? One camera with color film and another for black and white? Who shoots 35 mm anymore? Ok, Ok, Jose Villa, but who else? I think this author is a little out of touch with wedding photography these days. You don't have to have wedding photography at all if you can't afford it, the day is more important than the photos that come out of it. But don't imagine that an amateur photographer is going to be a substitute for a professional.
No, no, no... wedding photography does not cost "hundreds" of dollars, it costs thousands, and for a reason:
http://wedding-planning.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_cost_of_wedding_photography
And I would not skimp in this area. Go with cupcakes and grocery store flowers and do your own mani-pedis, etc. But photos are forever.
Maybe you can bake your own cake, cut the flowers out of your neighbor's garden, have your aunt sew your dress, and have Taco Bell cater the reception. All of those options have a better chance of working out well than having uncle Fred take your wedding pictures. You see, of everything that happens on your wedding day, only the pictures are on display for decades to come. The food is forgotten, the flowers wilt, the cake is consumed, and the dress goes into box to be hoised onto a far away shelf. The pictures, good or bad, survive for generations.
This is a classic case of you get what you pay for. Skimp on your photography and you'll regret it forever. And hopefully after Uncle Bill completely screws up your wedding day photos, you don't hate him.
I have been a photographer for over 25 years now. You article on getting a friend or family member to do their wedding is one of the most Radicals articles I have ever seen. Let me ask you if a bride did ask a friend to do there wedding and the photos did not turn out. Do you think they are going to be friends still? Is it worth losing a freind? There is so much more. What happens if you only have one camera and it breaks down in the middle of the church service? How about lighting does a amature know how to drag a shutter to pick up darknes in a dark church, or would they take family photos in direct sunlight. At our studio do a lot of childrens photos, and one of the things that we hear from people is that they wish that they had spent more money on their wedding photos. So before you write a stupid article like this again. PLEASE THINK. Tell the bride and groom to cut back a things like a limo which can cost hundreds dollars and put it towards their wedding photos, that wil