Just before Christmas 2011, a family friend phoned to tell us they were getting married in April 2012. Knowing we have an interest in photography, he asked if we could take the wedding photos. The plans were in the process of being organised and it was to be a small family church wedding with a reception afterwards in a nearby hotel. My husband said yes, then gave me the job of researching, planning and learning about wedding photography. As I enjoy people photography, I thought it would be a good learning experience.
I visited our local library and borrowed the only books available on wedding photography. Wedding photography, Mark Cleghorn, 2011, Leves UK, Photographers Institute Press and Wedding Photography Now – a fresh approach to shooting modern nuptials, Michelle Turner, 2008, Ilex Press, Leves UK. Both the books were published in the digital age of photography and both were completely different.
Cleghorn’s book took the little things which matter alot in wedding photos such as bouquets, hats, hands and feet and looked at what made a good composition. It made me reflect back being on the other side of the camera on my wedding day and realise that the photographer we had was not very good at explaining what he wanted people to do. Cleghorn broke the wedding down into manageable sections, such as meeting the bride and groom to discuss wedding requirements, examples of questions to ask, how long to spend in minutes on each type of photography (pre wedding, wedding, reception) and examples of photos that are usually taken. I found the book really helpful.
Cleghorn (2011) P30, explained that basic exposure can be adjusted by +3 or –3 stops when processing in raw files. At this point on the course I was still working in jpeg files only. I was learning about raw and the limitations of jpeg and did not know whether to swap over to raw files because of the amount of memory it uses. Now I am a convert to raw and would agree that it was a useful suggestion.
Another tip Cleghorn offered was to preset the white balance instead of using auto so that all the colours will be the same and can be altered together post processing to save time. I still edit my photos singly because I haven’t learnt to edit several photos at the same time. It is a learning need I still need to address. I do agree, having just completed part 4 on lighting that pre-setting the white balance keeps the colours more similar. I tend to adjust the white balance if the lighting conditions change and I am not sure that I would remember to change the white balance on entering the church because so much is happening at that time. I think one way round it is to have two photographers – both with clearly defined roles.
Turner’s book was very American and covered different areas of wedding photography such as the emotional touches which the bride usually includes, preparation of the bride, standard portrait shots, and different settings and locations. She even included a trash the dress day. In my opinion, her pictures were very cluttered and the fish eye lens was overused. However, I did pick up useful tips such as when shooting a large group, if the photographer starts off with everyone together and then reduces the numbers, you don’t spend time gathering all the fragmented groups together at the end. I am not sure whether this does help save time in the long run, because the waiting around happens in a different place, such as people coming slowly out of the church, and groups have already dispersed whilst the photographer is capturing the last few pictures of the bride and groom leaving the church.
Having decided where I needed to gain experience, I set myself achievable tasks:
- Go out for the day and take photos in raw. Work with DPP (Digital Photo Processing software to see how manageable it was)
- Look at white balance with my camera and overexposing to achieve white colours.
- Read around the difference between partial and evaluative metering
- Buy a bigger memory card (remembering the adage about putting all your eggs in one basket)
- Look up location of church and hotel on internet and previously taken photo’s. Also look at direction and work out position of the sun
- Download wedding brochure for hotel
- Send husband to view hotel and church and take a few pictures for information when working in the area
- Compile paperwork to complete with bride and groom
The planning day was useful. I was able to sort out my list of required photo’s, discuss mode of transport, see what features were important to the bride and look at how much photography she wanted to happen on the day. Access to the church helped ascertain which cameras would be needed inside the church as no flash photography was allowed and we needed a high ISO. As my camera only goes up to ISO1600, it ruled mine out of the church photos.
I came home and drew pictures, worked out timings, planned the sort of shots I thought would happen and who would be responsible for what.
The day came and I led the photographing of the wedding. A month after our practice day the light had altered and I was able to use my camera in the church without flash. It was an enjoyable experience although very tiring and nerve-racking, thinking that I had not achieved a picture of the bride and groom together. I had wanted pictures of the bride herself before the wedding, but the bridal party ran out of time and the weather was very cold and windy outside. I did manage a lovely shot of the bride with her bouquet which I was pleased with.
As the distance between Nottingham and Carlisle was a 400 mile round trip, I set up a social networking page so that the bride, her friends and family had access to the photos as soon as I had processed them. She was able to select the photos she wanted to include in the wedding book before I organised it and had it printed.
I had achieved what the bride wanted, and learnt so much from the experience. I was pleased to have had the opportunity to do something like this. I would change the way I handled some of it now, such as having complete control because occasionally people did not look directly at me, and ordering the amount of pages in the book after the wedding. I didn’t think I would fill a larger book.
If I was presenting the work for my own use, I would not include so many photos.
Sheet 1 shows the bridal preparations. I captured the bride’s Mum’s reaction as she saw her daughter which I was pleased about. I had been looking for a way to portray the 5 year old bridesmaid (bride’s daughter) in a feminine way as she is very tomboy like and the bride had struggled to get her to wear a dress. The wedding ring stands for eternal love and buttonholes symbolised good luck and divine love. I took a picture when the car arrived of the bridal party but it was a bit squashed owing to the nature of the drive.
Sheet 2 depicts the church. I love confetti (and it was permitted) so I had read up on how to achieve a good picture. The bride’s sister (who wasn’t a bridesmaid) was involved with this and I felt it was a happy picture. The two year old bridesmaid gave the bride a horseshoe (a symbol of fertility) and I captured the giving and receiving hands. Signing the register is part of the service and here it took place one at a time. So I didn’t have a photo of the bride and groom both signing the register. I was unaware until it happened. Next time I would phone the vicar if I was unable to make the rehearsal to talk through the service.
For the reception, (sheet 3) I had to reverted to a smaller camera for the speeches and evening do as we were guests. I had been able to look at the table set up before the reception. The speech shows eye line, and I had taken a picture of the bride with her bouquet which I think is a special part of her day.
Having worked through more of TAOP 1 The art of photography, and reached the exercise on a narrative picture essay, I thought it would be useful to revisit and look at what happened if the narrative was an organised trip. We visited Wembley Stadium in London over the half term holiday for an organised tour. My son has a keen interest in football and the stadium was in the process of setting up for the Capital One football cup.
I researched what the tour included, and as my son was so excited, I decided that the focus ought to be about him because I would not be in control of what we saw. I would potentially have crowds infront of me and not much control over lighting situations. Having learnt about the ISO on my camera from the night photography exercises , I thought the noise on maximum ISO would be acceptable without using flash. A big flash would be distracting to other participants.
On reviewing my photos, I decided to present them as if it was a photobook. I had control over the size of the photo and how many photos were on each page. I was able to lay them out and write captions underneath.
