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Wedding Photos for Beginners? |
some friends of mine have asked me to do their wedding photos at the beginning of next year, but the thing is, although I took a photography course a few years back, im still only learning about photography. I want to advance in photography to help in my career choice and it would be great for my portfolio. I have told them that I鈥檇 like to do it, but im real nervous that I鈥檒l screw them up or do something wrong, and wedding photos need to be perfect. The engaged couple and all my family believe that I can do it, and reassured me that I will be taking lots of photos and there is no chance that I can screw them all up. That case aside, it鈥檚 still really scary to be doing something which will be so important. is there anyone out there who is a photographer or knows a bit about photography that can give me some pointers and tips about doing these types of photos, and what type of things should I make note of when taking the shots. It would be great if you can help! You are right! It is a lot of pressure, and a big challange! Having said that, the first weddig pictures I took were of a Mexican guy who had only one arm. But they worked out just fine! Is this a friend that loves you no matter what or a casual acquaintance? If it's a casual friendship, I would probably decline. But...a good friend will understand your feelings and try to help you succeed. So get her involved. Start looking online at other people's work. And then enlist people to help you get the posing down....particularly the bride and groom. It's not impossible, but it is something that you should do some homework on before the big day. Research where you are going to shoot and find shots that will be fabulous. Testing it with the bride and groom will help you figure out what errors you can avoid on the big day. (I took a beautiful engagement picture of a couple when I started shooting. It was amazing...except that there was a yellow fire hydrant that looked like it was coming out of his nose!) Second, use a digital camera. Profesional quality is good but not absolutely necessary to get a great frame. Shoot LOTS of pictures. You can always delete and edit later. Third, if you can do bride and groom shots before the wedding (and the night before the wedding an hour before sunset is magical) do this! There is so much pressure the day of the wedding and as the photographer, you're going to have so many things to capture. It's nice to have an hour or so alone with the couple, while they are all "sparkly" before the stress of the event. Also you can get your couple shots without moving Aunt Matilda out of the way. Okay...so with the couple, if they are heavier, shoot down on them. DO NOT shoot up on them. Standing up a bit (get a little ladder) gives a flattering angle and minimizes things like bellies and bums. Of course, if they are skinny minis, then you can shoot whatever angle you want. Experiment a bit with this before, if you can. Definately take pictures of them looking at each other, especially in close-up. (Ahhhh!) Have them kiss under her veil. Do some full-length to get her whole gown. Something that looks fabulous is having her back to you, with her shoulders turned a bit to look at you. Have her show off her bling to the bridesmaids.Have the bridesmaids do kind of a funny pose. And have the groomsmen pick up the groom like they're carrying him to the altar. Have them "waltz" or have him do the "Cinderella" thing where he's putting her shoe on her foot. If there are children in the wedding party, do them first and get them out of the way...kids have smaller attenion spans. Heck, I'm 32 and can't sit through church! This is where Aunt Matilda is a big help. Have her stand by you and make funny faces and funny sounds. Don't forget about the flowers. Have the bride look at her bouquet. Have the bridesmaids bouquets by the train of the dress. Have her show off her flowers to the flower girls. I hope that this makes sense and helps. Good luck, you will do great! You talk about a portfolio. Portfolios are usually what commercial photographers use to get work and they usually do not include wedding photography. Wedding photography has very little in common with advertising, editorial, sports and photojournalism except that both use cameras and usually different cameras. What are your career goals? Where do you see you and your camera in five years? Freelance or staff? Location or studio? Making photo prints or having your images published? Walking around with a DSLR and a gazillion lenses and CompactFlash cards or with a 2-1/4 film camera with flash? Once you answer those questions you will have a better idea which path you will be taking. Back to the wedding photography for your friends. Don't do it! It takes years for the professional wedding photographer to hone his/her craft. They usually spend years as an assistant to a successful local wedding and portrait photographer before the shoot their first wedding alone. You friends need to spend the three or four grand and have a pro shoot the wedding and spare you the grief. You may want to offer to shoot candid鈥檚 during the reception for a second point of view (the pro will be doing the same thing). If you still want to get your feet wet shooting weddings, pay attention to what the pro shoots. This will be a great leaning experience without running the risk of loosing some dear friends. Editorial, sports, industrial photog Are you using a digital camera??, if so take hundreds of photos and just remember the basics of composition, lighting and exposure. As long as you get nice clear photos youn can enhance (soft filter, vignet etc) on the computer afterwards. Dont be nervous and enjoy the experience. Try having a look in mags or on the net for wedding pics to give u inspiration and positioning of subjects, remember, try to get natural shots and try to capture their expressions and lust in their eyes. Good Luck and maybe post some pics on the net for us to see!! What I would recommend is that before you shoot a real wedding on your own, see if there's an experienced photographer you can shadow. I've been approached by friends as well to do a wedding and didn't feel up to such a responsibility. True, if you take a lot of pictures, there are bound to be some good ones. If they are good friends, however, I'm sure you want to do a nice job; after all, they only get one wedding and one wedding day. Another thing a pro can show you is how to get good shots and stay out of the way. There are lots of books on wedding photography you can find at Borders or Barnes and Noble that go over basics (equipment, the must have moments, and selling pictures/albums). You'll want to have a camera with, at the very least, an external flash that you can bounce off ceilings and walls. Perhaps you could follow your friends' photographer around and take pictures in addition to the "official" ones. I had this happen at my wedding and ended up liking a lot of pictures my friend took over the photographer. However it works out, don't do something you're not comfortable doing. Reason says that you'll take better pics if you're confident. I've included some good wedding photography how-to sites in the source list. http://www.montezucker.com/content.html?... http://ezinearticles.com/?wedding-photog... http://www.associatedcontent.com/article... http://www.basic-digital-photography.com... Fhotoace - look up the definition of port folio. As for the question, yes, the short answer is take lots of photos. And if you have nerves biting at you, focus on capturing everything rather than achieving fancy angles. With nerves, if you focus on too much you end up missing too much. Just follow the bride and groom and take photos of everything. Take photos of the crowd too. And close ups of parents etc. I don't know what camera you're using but if it's fairly new, you can just set it to program mode (or auto mode) and let it do all the thinking for you. Once upon a time wedding dresses were too much for a camera to handle but most cameras now expose wedding photos almost perfectly. |
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