I am a wedding photographer and a documentary portrait, based in Phoenix Arizona. I have photographed a wedding now for more than 25 years and I still have many things to learn, I am still practicing and looking for advice. But no matter how difficult one day, it’s still good because I can make photos, and that’s my job! That’s very good.
I am also an educator who has taught thousands of photographers for many years. I have just completed the fundamental of wedding photography where you can follow me at real marriages with real clients.
But wedding photography is a very challenging job. In any job, you are a portrait photographer, a documentary, still life, commercial and architectural photographer. You must be practiced in many fields of photography. And there are no secrets or easy shortcuts. Here are some thoughts about being a wedding photographer who has helped me for years to be the best photographer for my client like malibu wedding photographer
1. Preparation is the same as success – practicing and testing your equipment
Wedding photography is fast and full of challenges. You often work alone or only with a second shooter or assistant. With small staff like that, you have to work very quickly to get the necessary shots and still deal with changes in schedule, client requests and you have to make it look like you do it easily!
Take your camera and lights at least once a week and take a test photo shoot.
Try various lighting settings, positions, and changes and decide which is most suitable for your style and allows you to overcome certain challenges in the most efficiently.
Find at least one beautiful, fast and comfortable method so you can return to if everything fails.
Very comfortable with that so you can reach the shot with your eyes closed! But maybe don’t close your eyes to the wedding photo shoot …
2. Know your equipment – cameras, custom settings, lenses etc.
Knowing your equipment is very important for your success. Reading manually is a good start, but what is more important is to have a good relationship with your camera and lens.
Most new cameras have programmed buttons and menus. Learn how to achieve every important function that you will use and then set the menu quickly or set a button to take you to that function.
Your camera can give you feedback through a histogram and highlight warnings. Recognize your camera and know what he says to you. Run the test on your exposure to study how many latitude you can expect from your camera.
As a wedding photographer, you will find yourself in a very varied lighting condition. Often you are back and forth between three or four exposures, such as during a ceremony in a dark church. Almost every modern camera has an option to make a set of special settings. Use this custom settings to have been previously arranged your exposure to various exposures, flash settings, camera modes, and focus methods that you will need in each situation then just play the camera mode from Custom 1 to Custom 2 and continue to take pictures.
How stable is your hand? Find out how well your image stabilization works for you. The general rule is that when you shoot with a 200mm lens, you must adjust your shutter speed at 1/200 seconds (basically 1/mm of your lens).
3. Master all lighting situations even complicated
Scouting for light or around is best done before you see the client on the wedding day. I like to lurk the day before the wedding if it is possible. But even if it is a wedding day, you can look for lighting and judge what light is on your client without removing the time of the bride who dragged it around the land changed it in this and that way.
You have a few models with you all the time. I like to call him a thumb mother. Hold your hand in front of you with a fist with your thumb outside the fist and observe the light around when it falls on your fist and thumb, which makes the face that is not perfect. Turn and find optimal lighting conditions for the face, then plan how you will add that light with your strobe.
When adding light to the bride or groom, always follow the rules presented to you by the existing light to create a natural compatibility. For example, if the light around comes from the right, turn on your bride from the right. If light is tungsten (warm) light, add tungsten gel to your strobe to match the color of the light around. And if the ambient light is a soft light (like that originating from a cloudy sky) with a soft source of light like 2×3 OCF softbox. Brightly bright daytime light should be matched with a naked head or Magnum OCF reflector to get harder light quality. By matching the existing ambient light with the appropriate converter, your subject will look as if they are included in the scene and that instead of lights up by your strobo, they are lit by the existing light.
The lighting kit all perfect conditions for me are Profoto A1X and Profoto B10 with 2×3 ‘OCF softbox, OCF Silver 2’ beauty dish (with diffuser) and OCF Magnum reflector. This portable, strong, and versatile lighting kit meets 90 percent of my lighting needs.
4. best location for wedding pictures
Never start a portrait session without gathering a small location first. I prefer to spy on the location at the same time as the event the day before the event, when it was impossible, I arrived a few hours earlier than I expected to get several locations issued. Knowing where to take pictures and have an efficient path to follow will help you get a better image, more pictures, and it will help you keep clients on time. If you get a reputation as a photographer who stores things on time and still get a lot of beautiful portraits, you will be at the top of each vendor list.
5. acknowledge your purchasers and understand their wishes
Your client has hopes {and wishes} and desires for his or her wedding photography, however you will never perceive them if you are doing not have in -depth conversations with them. Finding would like {the requirement} for the pic is not merely a matter of asking “Which pic do you need Maine to require?” raise this question and you’ll get a list that is derived from the bridal magazine with all the standard shots you’d wish to take. Instead, pay time to lift them concerning World Health Organization is that the foremost important person, what they have done, unit of measurement there special things like rings from their forebear. this kind of dialogue offers you a list of photos “must have” that’s method higher to want.
6. nailing the portrait of the epic marriage
Nailing the portrait of the epic wedding requires you to attract, funny, complementary and not too heavy with direction and pose. Here are some tips for getting a shot that will hang on their walls.
Pay attention to his partner. They will find a natural way to interact with each other.
Paying attention to natural light and tracking where the sun will be when the wedding portrait will be taken will give you the best chance to find the perfect background for the epic shock.
Knowing your cameras and lighting equipment through exercise will ensure that you know how to set a shot without wasting time.
When it’s time to shoot, talk to your subject, show them how to stand up, guide them with hand movements and direction that is easily understood.
When a partner has finished their natural pose, you must have everything in the place, background, exposure, lighting, and composition! Praise them, make good adjustments if needed, and shoot!
7. Never miss a moment
Marriage photography is basically documentary and there is no second chance. You must be prepared to get a shot anytime that happens. For example, you just don’t want to miss a picture of a partner walking along the aisle. This means that your attention must be absolute and your staff must be the same -sharp like reptacular ranch. At a minimum, nothing can be on their phone, send messages to their partners or look for weather for tomorrow.
8. This is all about family – this is not your portfolio photo shoot
Marriage is the first and most important marriage. It should look like a statement that is too clear, but so many photographers forget that marriage is not an expanded fashion photo shoot, or portfolio development opportunity. Remember that your client has employed you to do the best for them, which is to take a beautiful portrait and document their wedding day without disturbing the wedding day!
9. Understanding Storytelling Strength – Visual, Metaphorical and Traditional
Tells a story visually requires a lot of thoughts. Appears at an event and only captures what is happening in front of you not tell stories. There is a visual convention that helps move the story and give a rhythm to a story, such as using a shot of establishment, shots of relationships and shots that focus emotionally (wide, middle, and close-up). Pre-planning with a list of shots will help you tell a better story, and I’m not talking about the list of shots from some of the bridal magazine advice columns. Photographers must develop a list of shots based on conversations with marriage partners. They have a background; Photographers need to find out to tell the story correctly.
10. Editing Your Wedding Photos – How to Review and Select Your Image
After you finish photographing a wedding, you are left to hold thousands of images and your work has just begun. Now you need to get it through your postproduction pipe, and the first bottle neck in the pipe is the selection process. The part of this process causes adequate fear of photographers who inspire days or even weeks of delays. Apart from which software you choose to review your image, here are some rules that when followed will make you through the selection process faster:
Comparison Review:
You will make a faster and better selection decision when you compare images as a set than to see them one by one.
Positive Selection:
This is a forgotten conclusion that you will choose to keep a fewer image than your rejection, so don’t use the “Reject” button to delete images that you don’t like, instead of using “select” or “select” or “star” key To mark the image that you will save.
Use your instinct:
Let your instincts become your guide when you choose an image at the post. Don’t bother choosing you and don’t guess your second decision.
Delete Disorders:
You will make decisions faster and better if you delete all disturbances from your electoral environment. Turn off your cellphone, turn off your social media email and bait.
You can finish this faster, and you will make a good decision or better than you have in the past and more independent. Immediately you will choose a wedding in one or two hours instead of the day!
