All of my years photographing weddings have taught me so so much. The biggest thing I’ve learned is that wedding photography is less about photography than you’d ever think. It’s about people. A wedding photographer has an interesting and unique position on the wedding day. You’re an outsider, an observer, and yet you have to interact with everyone. All wedding photographers wish we could just hide in the bushes with a huge zoom lens, and that nobody would even know we were there, but when little kids find you (notice I said when not if), their parents are going to look at you weird, and you’ll have some explaining to do.
Heres’ my top ten tips for new wedding photographers. Photographing weddings will train you to handle every possible lighting situation, because you’re going to find yourself in some wild ones.
10. Scout the Location(s)
I remember being so incredibly stressed before my first 50-ish weddings, yes FIFTY!! When you’re photographing a wedding, the pressure is on, it’s a one time shot, and you can’t miss any part of it. When I started photographing weddings, I knew basically nothing about photography or weddings. I don’t scout locations for weddings anymore, but early in my career it was really helpful for me to see the location, get inspired about it, and it also feels like a value add to the couple, and it will increase their confidence in you, and give you something to talk about as you help plan their wedding.
9. Set Clear Expectations
I can’t count how many times couples have showed me photos on Pinterest of photos of light and airy beach ceremonies that they love, and yet their wedding is going to be inside, in the winter in Portland, OR. Portland in the wintertime is the opposite of a sunny beach.
It is SO SO important to set clear expectations on exactly what your couple can expect in every aspect of their wedding, before, during and after. I let couples know that I’ll lead them in posing through the day, I’ll be kind and directive for the family photos and that I’ll be working with them to plan a schedule an a shot list.
8. Find the Deeper Stories
Weddings are a beautiful culmination of two people’s lives, and if you listen well to them, you’ll easily find deeper story lines. A great example of this is a groom I had who mentioned to me that his dad would most likely not attend his wedding. Obviously this is a huge deal, and there’s a lot behind this if someone’s father isn’t attending their sons wedding. I took note of this, and on the wedding day the grooms dad was at the wedding, but he was very distant. I captured a photo of him standing off to the side with his arms crossed, a photo that I’m very proud of and that feels very honest to me. I hope it means something to the groom and shows him something true about his life.
7. Smile at People + Joke with Them
If you’re wandering around with a huge camera, people will naturally feel uncomfortable when you’re pointing it at them. I see this all the time, people are standing in a group laughing candidly, then they notice my lens pointed at them and they become an awkward group of stiff penguins. At that point I lower my camera, smile at them and/or say something like “I should’ve sneak attacked you way better”, they start laughing and I take photos of them laughing and then they’re comfortable with me for the rest of the night.
6. BACK EVERYTHING UP ASAP!!
Yes I’m screaming this, and yes it’s so important. I talk to so many beginning photographers who don’t have a good backup system, and that is asking for trouble. At a minimum all photos should be duplicated on two separate external hard drives, and I’m pretty over the top so I store them on three. You can’t be too careful out there, and i could tell you so many stories of people losing photos, hard drives falling off desks and general chaos out there. I’ve never lost a single image to this day in over 14 years in business, and I credit that to using reliable memory cards (click the link for the ones I use) and backing everything up really well.
5. Shoot for the Light
Photographing a wedding, you’re constantly deciding what to prioritize. Early in my career this was overwhelming, but I learned quickly that if photos aren’t taken in good light, they aren’t going to be the quality I want, so when I’m choosing locations for couples photos or family photos, I choose the light above all else.
4. Go With the Flow
One thing I’ve found discouraging about wedding photography is that I can come up with a huge vision that I’m super excited about, yet it seems that every single time something wild happens, buses run late. car accidents slow everyone down, the bridesmaids are running three hours late, etc…. etc… etc…. A wedding day isn’t about the photographers vision, and I’ve found that going with the flow always gets me the best shots.
3. Introduce Yourself to the Family + Wedding Party
You’re going to be directing the family and wedding party and you need them to listen to you to get family and wedding party photos done quickly. Always introduce yourself to these people right away and do your best to remember their names, this will help you when you’re trying to herd them all up for the formal photos.
2. Trust Your Gut
If you sense something important is about to happen, go with it, wait for it, do whatever you sense. I’ve walked away from every wedding I photograph with beautiful photos of moments that my clients and I love, and it came from trusting my gut.
Let Go
It’s not about you. A wedding day is what it is, it’s imperfect, it’s messy and it’s beautiful. Your job is not to make the day into something more beautiful than it actually is, but to be there, and document two people’s lives coming together in love, what could be more beautiful than that?
