You hear it time and again, flowers die, wedding dresses collect dust, tuxes go back to the rental company, but the pictures last forever…..We can’t argue with that! In fact our purpose in this blog is providing 5 simple tips to consider to help ensure that you will absolutely love your pictures!
1. Decide what you want most of your photographs comprised of for your album. It seems simple enough but this is something we try to make sure we touch on with all of the couples we work with. By this we mean, do you want mostly candid photos? Traditional posed photos? Creative photos utilizing the architecture of your venue or surroundings, including different angles? If you’re having a short wedding or elopement, you may only have a few hours and it’s important to let your photographer know the most important moments to you as every couple has different traditions, moments, and particular looks they may value more than others.
2. Meet with your Photographer(s) before the wedding! Take the time to sit with your photographer, get to know each other and ask yourself at the end of it all, “Is this someone I can spend my entire 8 -10 hour wedding day with?” Comfort is key and the more comfortable you are (the more you’re able to be yourself) the more your pictures will thank you for it. Meeting beforehand is also a great opportunity to go over the details of the wedding, and communicate exactly what it is you are looking for and your expectations. This could also include the editing style (natural color? Black and white? Faded looks? Mix of everything?)
3. Get visual! Sometimes it can be hard to put into words what exactly “it” is you might be looking for, but you know what it looks like! Perfect! Send these images to your photographer via pinterest, screen shots, instagram, email, etc. Of course every couple, every venue, every lay out, time of day, and photographer lends themselves to something unique, but the visual examples are another way you can rest assured your photos will turn out exactly how you want them.
4. Take a break, even if you only have a few hours for your wedding, don’t be afraid to let your photographer know if you need a “breather” sort of speak. We’ve seen it, even with good planning sometimes the rush of a wedding, the schedule being slightly off, a moody relative, or even not getting enough water on a warm day can lead to stress and this will show up in your photos. You should be able to communicate comfortably with your photographer you need a minute or you want a quick break and they should respect this. This will allow you to regain your composure, get in a better state and bring a genuinely happy mood to your photos!
5. Lastly, don’t be afraid to give a little (or a lot) of creative freedom to your photographer(s). Their work caught your eye in the process of searching for someone to capture your special day as intended, so let them do what they do best and trust in the process that your photos are going to turn out great. This goes from set up all the way to editing. There have been times when we were shooting from seemingly weird positions or awkward angles, and attracted some pretty interesting looks our way, but in the end, revealed beautiful and unique photos that actually sometimes end up being the favorites.
The take home message for this all is comfort, communication, and trust! If all of these above ingredients are present, we can guarantee you will love your wedding photos! -Jenny & Joe