This is the second post in my series on top tips for getting amazing wedding photography. In this post I am going to share with you exactly how I shoot a wedding ceremony and give you all my advice for ensuring that your wedding ceremony photos are exactly what you want. So without further ado, read on!
Wedding ceremonies are, of course, beautiful and poignant and emotional and euphoric, but most of all they are a legal process (unless you’re having a Humanist ceremony, but this is still the first four things). Whether you are having a religious ceremony or a civil service, I will always go and introduce myself to the person leading the ceremony. It’s usually quite obvious from the giant cameras swinging from my hips, but I find this really helps to create open communication between the two of us and allows me to negotiate any rules they may have. As the registrar or religious leader is always the person in charge of the wedding ceremony, it’s a good idea to ask them about restrictions on photography before you book. Every person and location will be different. Some are very relaxed and allow me to move around and photograph freely – which I will always do with the utmost care and respect. Others will have strict rules, like the photographer having to stand in one position and not move, or the photographer only being allowed to photograph only from the back. If you find this information out in advance of booking your service it will both help you make decisions about what you want from your photos, and help your photographer work out how to play it.
To alleviate any worries, my cameras work with a silent shutter function – so no awful clickclickclickclickclickclicking – and I never use flash during a ceremony because it can feel really disruptive. Basically, I try to be as ninja-like as possible! My aim is that you and your guests don’t notice me, and I can photograph your ceremony as it proceeds naturally – all the big, epic moments and all the fleeting ones in between too.
Speaking of the worry of disruptive cameras, unplugged ceremonies are a popular choice, and you may want to consider one. This is where couples ask all their guests to leave their phones, cameras and iPads in their bags and refrain from taking photos. There are some big benefits to doing this;
If you’re wondering how couples enter the ceremony room, I’ve seen loads of variations; some couples come in together, some enter separately and ask their parents to accompany them, some people walk in entirely by themselves, and some choose to be given away (by their father/mother/sibling/dog). There are no rules and you should go for whatever feels right for you. Well, when I said there were no rules, I lied: the only rule is that when entering the ceremony room, you need to leave plenty of space between you and person walking in front of you. I want to be able to get a lovely photograph of you walking in to the wedding ceremony!
Top tips for getting amazing photos of your wedding ceremony :
This content was originally published here.