Long after your wedding, your wedding photos will serve as precious reminders of this lifetime event. So, it is wise to invest time and effort in choosing the right type of photography to document the big event.
To make the best photography investment, you should know that there are different wedding photography styles, and each of them produces different results.
Hiring a photographer is probably one of the first things you will need to do, this is because some of the best professional wedding photographers book their shooting schedule up to two years in advance. So get searching for your photographer right after you have booked your venue. This will allow you to provide a date and location for them when checking availability.
Seek recommendations from family, friends and your venue.
Wedding photographers who are good at what they do, usually have a track record of success with a great reputation amongst many. This means good photography is not too difficult to track down. Start out by asking for photographer recommendations from family and friends who may have hosted their own wedding or been to one recently. Your friends and family will always have your best interests at heart, so they are more than likely going to recommend a truly fantastic photographer. If nobody close to you doesn’t know of a photographer not all hope is lost. Speak to your caterer or even the venue you plan to wed at. All these places may know someone perfect to capture your big day.
It’s time to pay them a visit.
If you are fortunate to have a list of recommended photographers, it is time to break the list down even further by eliminating particular photographers from your list. First, give them all a call, have a chat about what you require, but do not commit to anything just yet. Use the call to find out how friendly and accommodating they are.
Once you have eliminated a few more from your list, it is time to pay them a visit. Is their office or property nice? Is it well kept and modern? What is your overall impression? All these little things create the bigger picture (no pun intended) as to what you could expect when working with them.
Get judging that portfolio!
When sitting down with a potential photographer, have they offered you a wide variety of wedding albums for you to look over? Have they worked at the venue that you are planning on having your wedding? What are their working hours, do they suit your needs? These are just a few questions you may need to ask yourself before committing to hire a photographer, but most of all, do you love their style?
You may also want videography to be done at your wedding, if you do, this is the chance to speak to your photographer to ask if it is possible. Do they have any video samples to show you? Do they edit their own videos before handing them over to you? How much involvement do you have? Although you may not necessarily want to use the same company for your wedding video, but nevertheless choosing the same company to do both will certainly offer you peace of mind that everything is being handled together.
Pictures are worth more than thousand words, therefore your wedding photos must include some perfect combinations of humorous, serious outrageous and sentimental shots, because they are the ones you will treasure for the rest of your life. Here are some tips you should consider.
For your pre-wedding meetings, make sure you set up some consultations with your chosen photographer at the venue of your wedding because it helps in all cases. Try to organize a consultation with your photographer late in the afternoon because that is the time mostly scheduled for couples’ photo-shoots. You need to make plans with your photographer, especially how the day’s events will unfold. For instance, your photographer needs to know when will the couple walk into the reception hall, and He needs to know where you want your pictures to be taken from. Adequate preparations for timing, and lightning will save you from any likely embarrassments.
You need to book your engagement shoots ahead of time. The quality of photos taken at your engagement will help you work with your photographer ahead of the proper wedding. Engagement photo-shoots can serve as wedding photo-shoot trials and the quality you get can help you determine whether you can hire him for the next phase of your wedding program.
The venue of the wedding must be arranged early so that your photographer can take pictures of the wedding decor earlier in the day, and just before the arrival of your guests. It is almost impossible to get excellent decor photos when your guests are already at the venue. Make arrangements with your photographer and ensure that he arrives not later than 3 hours before the start of the wedding ceremony.
Preparing your venue for the wedding photo-shoots is important. Make sure you choose a large hall with lots of windows to provide natural lightning. Make sure you plan the overall look and feel of the wedding venue by de-cluttering and making the room as neat as possible.
Try to get your wedding ceremonies done at one venue as much as possible, this will save you the hassle of moving your guests from one place to another as such can disrupt the effectiveness of your photographer. This will also save you some money, considering the fact that you are paying your photographer on an hourly basis.
Try as much as possible to keep the total number of your family photos to between 8 and 12 in order to save time and give the lists to your photographer as well as someone in your bridal party who can gather people when they are needed to take pictures.
Once your wedding day is over, it is the wedding photographs that will help you remember your lifetime event. These photos will be viewed again and again, not just by you, but by friends, relatives and even the next generations. You have to look great in the pictures, and making sure you do is not just the responsibility of the photographer, but yours too.
These tips will help you make sure that you photograph well on your wedding day. Check them out.
Relax and remember that you needn’t smile in all the pictures
With hundreds of clicks during the course of a single day, it is unlikely that you will be able to smile naturally through all of them. If there is one thing that spoils a picture, it is an unnatural smile. With jaws and cheeks hurting from smiling, you are bound to end up with a limp smile shortly. It is good if you realize this and do not attempt to keep at it. So, what do you do? Be happy, and let your joy radiate to your eyes. Your happiness is bound to be captured, even without the smile.
Make-up appropriately
The effect of your make-up may look very different when captured on camera. This is especially true if you use bronzer or spray tan. Make sure that you select your makeup appropriately, so you do not end up looking orange or yellow in the pictures. Check out old pictures of when you were in the same makeup and dress for your wedding accordingly.
Be yourself to look your best
Although you may be tempted to put on a Hollywood pose, or fake a smile in the hope of getting a great photograph, remember that you will only love the ones in which you look yourself. Breathe easy, relax your face and look natural; it will turn out great.
Mind your posture
The hectic pace of everything happening around you will cause tension to build up in your shoulders and back over the course of the day. You may find yourself stooping, shrinking or slouching as exhaustion gets to you. Remember that this will be visible in the pictures too. So, focus on your posture always. Pull your stomach in, keep your shoulders taut and chest forward. Relax when you feel tired, but take a deep breath and pull yourself up when it is time to shoot.
Experiment with different locations and times of the day
Make sure you have your pictures taken at various locations, and that you have your bridal photos shot in the day and the evening. You will then have a number of pictures to choose from, and you may even be pleasantly surprised to find some of them better than you anticipated.
While you are busy capturing the biggest event in your life, don’t forget to enjoy the experience. Looking fantastic on your wedding day will help you look fabulous in your wedding photos too. We, at BestforBride can help you choose the wedding gown that will do this for you. Visit us online to see our extensive collection of wedding gowns, and also for valuable wedding advice.
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