Wedding photography tips

So, you’ve finally become a photographer and are planning on specializing in wedding photography. Although wedding photography conjures up images of beautiful, dreamy weddings with gorgeous brides and equally gorgeous bridegrooms, it can be quite tedious at first. Almost every photographer knows how to capture a good quality photo of the ring exchange ceremony and the cake-cutting ritual. But, it’s always good to try out new things and make your photographs seem different from everyone else’s.

If you have your first break with the big wedding coming up soon, try and set your photographic copies apart from the rest, with some additional and unusual ideas for the wedding day shots. As a professional photographer you already have a fair idea as to how you’re going to go about doing, but here are a couple of tips to add that little zing factor to the wedding photographs:

• Try using black-and-white photos with a shot of color in them – For all the portraits, you can use sepia-tone prints for that special, antique look. Or, try using hand-painted black-and-white photos that can magically create a richly intense, retro look to the whole picture.
• Try Freeze-framing it – Still-life photographs have the ability to record even the minutest of details of the wedding-day and can even capture the festive mood of the occasion. You can try taking snaps of the bridal gown hanging on the hanger, or old sneakers that are tossed next to the wedding shoes, the wedding bouquet lying on the table, the invitation cards placed in a line, and so on.
• Arrange for special group shots – Take pictures of all the family, right from the relatives to the great-grandmother and even down to the little niece. Or, you can take a snap of the brides or grooms office buddies, their college friends and even the people who were responsible for bringing the two of them together. Take a giant picture or a group shot of the entire gang and you can even request for a ladder for more convenience.
• Take Fun pictures – Set up an interesting backdrop to create a kind of open photo kiosk at the reception hall, so all the guests can have portraits taken or even group photos clicked. Or, you can set up an instant photo booth so the guests can take away these snapshots as mementos.
• Think Creative – Get all the ‘sits’ to come up with different poses. You can have all the guests sitting on the edge of a dock or you can group them together on the church steps. This way, the photos will come alive and will be more interesting.
• Always be Candid – Take additional photographs or instant ones, before and after the ceremony is over. Take candid shots of all the people who are waiting in the line for their turn to come. More often than not, you’ll end up getting more natural photos, smiles and even expressions in these moments.

When the wedding ceremony is over it's time for the next big thing - you will need some good ideas for the wedding reception!