Here's the secret to looking amazing in your wedding photos: Have more fun than everyone else at the wedding. Now this may sound like the advice your mother gave you in junior high when she told you just to be yourself and the boys would like you. Maybe it didn't work at the time, but you might’ve had braces, a bad perm and a body that resembled limp spaghetti.
Before starting my own wedding photography business, I apprenticed to a very experienced wedding photographer as his assistant. While holding lights, arranging veils, and cracking jokes to make people smile, I learned that wedding photography has brought me beyond the mere technicality of art: the pleasant breeze of joy and human interaction.
It was through those care-free experiences of the early days I discovered that the brides and grooms who looked the best were the ones having the most fun, like I was! These couples were not concerned when the table cloths were the wrong color, or when the band played a song they didn't enjoy, or even when a few raindrops started to fall. No matter what happened, these couples were beaming, laughing, and genuinely glowing in a way that makeup and creative lighting can't replicate.
Your wedding is just the beginning; you are embarking on the start of your married life together. Focus on your new life together, and how excited you are to marry this person. The way you gaze at each other will reveal this passion, and it will allow the photographer to capture those moments.
A good photographer who specializes in photojournalism will capture those shared looks, laughter and fun. In theory, such capable wedding photojournalist can make any situation work. However, both the photographer and the bride and groom would have to collaborate: take what happens and make the best of it. These are consistently the pictures that couples love the most and family members rave about.
Be Spontaneous
A surprising incident occurred during a bride and groom photography session. The wedding couple was married at a ranch outside of Bozeman, Montana. We went into a pasture to take photographs. All of a sudden, horses wandered over to examine what was happening, and invited themselves to eating the bride's bouquet - before the wedding ceremony! Instead of panic, the bride and groom burst out to laughers as I captured some wonderful pictures of this memorable moment. The bouquet was rearranged later. Most importantly, their spontaneity overcame the potentially unpleasant incident, as a photojournalist’s moment is created.
Take the Lead in Your Wedding
Try to remember that the bride and groom set the tone for the entire wedding. When the wedding couple begins to dance, or start to laugh and joke about any subject, the guests will gather and follow. If something goes un-smoothly in your wedding, take the lead and change the mood. Distract the guests and maintain a flow of healthy atmosphere.
At a recent wedding at a beautiful mountain resort in Montana the indoor reception had just started when a massive thunderstorm knocked out the power at the reception site. The caterers couldn't finish heating the food, the DJ couldn't play any music, and it was growing darker inside.
Grew anxious at first, the bride and groom became upset. The bride appeared as if she were about to show signs of tears. The wedding guests sensed the couple's mood. They sat down in near silence.
After a brief quiet moment and comforting words with the bride, the groom took the lead and lit a candle. He raised a glass of champagne and made a toast to his beautiful bride. The bride beamed. Other guests took the groom's lead and began making toasts as well. When the lights came back on, the music roared, everyone was already having a wonderful time.
Wedding Photography Techniques & Tips
I use many techniques while photographing wedding couples to motivate them and capture them at their best. During my time with just the bride and groom, I capture some photos of them by standing farther away and using a zoom lens. I tell them just to forget I’m there and enjoy each other - hug, kiss, dance, or take a short walk. This is often their only special time alone together during the wedding day. This technique helps to capture those candid, beautiful shots that show how in love they feel without the disturbance of family members and friends.
Weddings can be very stressful for the bride and groom. Some tips wedding couples can use to reduce the amount of stress they encounter during their wedding to best present themselves for the photo sessions include:
Scheduling a set time for the photo session either before or after the ceremony so that you are not stressed about how much time the pictures are taking.
Hiring a "wedding-day coordinator" or ask a friend or family member to do this. The coordinator would be in charge of all the details for your wedding day with "authority". Inform your wedding-day coordinator that you do not want to have to answer any questions (allow everything to happen as they will). All potential stress related tasks should be planned accordingly by the coordinator to free up the bride and grooms time to interact naturally.
Avoid speaking while being photographed. Wedding couples need to remember to pause every now and then to smile, laugh etc.
Enjoy your wedding: laugh, smile, and gaze at your new husband/wife. Forget about the cameras and flashes.
So when the big day finally arrives, go ahead and enjoy it all - and you'll have the pictures you've always wanted.
About the Author: Meghan Hof - MT, Montana
Meghan had trained with professional photographers from Brooks Institute of Photography and The Maine Photography Workshops. Before starting her own business, Meghan worked for many years as an assistant to some of the best in the business, including Kene Sperry of Big Sky. Meghan’s work has been featured on The Wedding Channel and Pictage.com. View Meghan's full Wedding Photojournalist Bio, Wedding Photography Portfolio, and her Montana, MT Wedding Photographer Index.
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