We're not going to get everything.
You're going to have your dream wedding, you've even selected what your wedding photos will look like via Pinterest, various wedding blogs and Google image searches. So you can have all of this but you may have to spend some time doing during your wedding. If you're getting married you'll want to read this. I'm writing this through my own personal experience. My number one goal is to make a bride and groom happy and also being very truthful with what I can offer.
A photographer can work off a list or just capture a little bit of everything. When you work off a list you are trying to remember what is not important to the bride. In fact the bride may not even know what is the most important parts of the day, this is her first go at a wedding. That’s why I think it’s best to just cover every aspect.
So before the wedding you have loaded up your head with amazing images from Google and Pinterest and featured Buzzfeed articles. You’ve forwarded these links to your photographer and informed them that these photos are to be captured. This is all very doable, but when it comes to your wedding day and you incorporate this into the mix it’s sometimes impossible. So I say impossible, it’s not really impossible; it’s undoable for you as the bride and groom. The photographer can most certainly do this, but he won’t be able to do all of these requests in the twenty to thirty minutes he may have with you following bridal party photos. I can only speak from my own experience in this of course. I would love to recreate photos and make the bride and groom happy but often during a wedding day you're busy with friends and family. Another thing to take into account is that some photos you see on the internet are purely circumstantial or in fact not even from a wedding. Some photographers will have models pose as a bride and groom just to create breathtaking photos. For the bride and groom I really suggest trusting their photographer and let photos take a backseat to being in the moment.
So to follow up and summarize. The photographer is going to do his/her best to capture everything. We want to immortalize your wedding day in photos. We want to provide a seamless, enjoyable experience and not get in the way. If you’ve hired a photographer because you like their work then the best thing to do is trust that they’ll capture your wedding day so you can sit back and enjoy it.
Here's the reality of it.
When you hire a wedding photographer you sometimes have these amazing expectations. You’ve seen their photos, their work, their great attitude. You’re hiring them to capture the one of the most amazing and memorable days of your life. Here’s what he/she is going to be able to capture, not everything.
Another reason to capture everything is you don’t know what’s important to the bride and groom. Sometimes they might not know what was important until after the wedding. Let me give a few examples of this. Let’s say you take the time to get photos of all the cousins, maybe they move away in three years and aren’t reunited until a family reunion in ten years. How about an Aunt and Uncle who come to your wedding that move away the following year. The most common thing i’ve come across is my focus on grandparents. Not to sound morbid of course but we do expire and these photos are a huge trigger for your memories. One more thought, how many times does your family get together. I’m talking about everyone, not just for the holidays which sometimes can be tough with visiting everyone. You have everyone in a room so why not take advantage of this.
Here’s the upside that you can really work with. If you have a great photographer who is willing to be adventurous, persistent and do a little bit of poking and prodding; he/she can liberate you from your wedding reception for a few minutes to take some amazing photos and give you a moment to breath away from everyone. During the formal photos for the bride and groom you’ll also be able to get some of the shots you’re looking for but to reference or have those same exact circumstances to recreate can sometimes be tough. The photographer is going to pose you a bit and move you to different locations. What i’ll do typically is run through all my tried and true poses that work. We only get one shot at getting your wedding photos and I do experiment and innovate but before I do that I make sure to get the memorable photos that you’ll hang on your wall. I only have a short amount of time and it would be selfish of me to ask more of the bride and groom while they’re trying to enjoy their wedding day. The same way a DJ wouldn’t keep asking for suggestions for playlists on your wedding day or a venue wouldn’t be consulting with the bride about sides during before the meal is served on the big day.
Thanks for reading. I've been a wedding photographer for around ten years now and every year means a little more experience and a lot more equipment to play with. I would love to meet with you if you're getting married in 2017 or 2018. 508-471-0069 or www.unitymike.com to see more of my work. Have a great new year.
Building an amazing wedding portfolio
What to include in your wedding portfolio to show your brides and grooms what you're all about. Showcasing your top photos is great but what about everything else, where does that fit in? I go through everything that has worked for me in my portfolio. Enjoy!
Building a wedding portfolio.
I’ve been working on my new wedding portfolio, it’s tough. My natural instincts tell me to just include the cream of the crop, the best of the best, top one percent. That looks great right?
I think that by only including the best of the best that can be deceiving. We all like Starbucks right, but sometimes not every Cafe Mocha is created equally; the same with photos. Some are going to be amazing, epic, one of a kind and others are of uncles and aunts or flowers and you and a friend who you haven’t seen in years. So that’s why I keep my portfolio varied as much as it is. I’m totally confident in my photography skills and more than happy to show everything. Sometimes when you see amazing photos with a beautiful location and gowns flowing and three or four lights used for the photo, that’s either because they have a team of people putting this together during a wedding or it’s not an actual wedding photo, it’s a couple dressed up as a wedding couple for a shoot.
Some of my portfolio is what I know looks good. These are the photos that I would eagerly show other photographers to get their approval. But there are parts of it though that I know the average person who is not a photographer will see and love. Do you know those photos where everything is black and white and the rose petals are the only thing in color, yeah… we hate that. Huge white vignetting on a photo, that’s another gross thing that we hate.
So I want to reiterate that this is just my opinion. This is what has worked for me. I also have enough photos in my portfolio that by the end of a presentation there is not question about my skill or devotement.
Here’s a summarization of what I include in my portfolio. By the way, I currently have close to eight hundred photos in my wedding portfolio. I’ve been working for a long time to bring it down but I really do love all the photos and memories that are attached to each and every one of them. Okay, here it is….
Messy room photos. It’s going to be a chaotic day, no lies. I want to show that the reality of a picture perfect wedding doesn’t always happen behind the scenes.
Getting hair and makeup done. There’s a path to your beauty, this is how that looks. Before and after is great and is really just for the bride and groom and rarely makes it on social media.
Table shots. Photos of the guests at their table. This is something I capture at the wedding, So I like to show it off here. This is also a great way to connect with each guest and maybe even meet a couple who’s thinking of getting married.
Kids. If someone is hiring me to shoot a wedding and they have kids then I want them to know that they are not excluded from the wedding. Plus the best way to work a room is to play to the kids. Parents, friends and family notice when their shy little kid is all of a sudden enamored with you and your camera and come out of their shell. I also usually will sit on the ground with most kids and let them fire off a few photos.
Parents. I want to include everyone thats present. This is a big day for the bride and groom but sometime bigger for the parents watching their kids grow up. Additionally, who doesn’t mind getting their photo taken, right?
Details. Couples spend a lot of time working on their wedding details and It really makes the wedding look amazing. This is to showcase that but also gives my new couples ideas.
Funny and ugly. Sometimes people make funny faces or horrible ones. These are moments for the bridal couple to look back on and laugh or just have blackmail material for later. These are also the best throwback Thursday photos for future posts.
Cake smashing. It happens and it makes the wedding reception soo much better. It shows that the bride and groom can take a joke and also provides some entertainment and tension at that moment.
Locations / venue. Sometimes I might have a staircase from a certain venue in my portfolio twice. That’s because the bride and groom hiring me may have selected that venue. Seeing how different arrangements on the stairs and also the fact that i’ve been there a few times may make me more appealing to hire.
Group photos. Throughout the wedding day I capture tons of group photos. I want the bride and groom to know that family, friends can get whatever they want for photos on the day of their wedding. I’ve done many family photos at weddings because everyones there together. :)
Rings. You spent a lot of money on this symbol of your love. Let’s show it off and brag a little. I’m also showcasing my skill in macro photography and creativity with these photos.
Table decorations. Someone took the time to put this altogether and somewhere, sometime they might be bragging about it. What phrase would be better heard than “the photography took an amazing photo of it” when referring to the table setups.
Creative lighting. Every wedding I try and do new things with lights. Sometimes it doesn’t work out, sometimes it does. But the average person sees this and knows this isn’t something they can do by going to Target or best buy and getting a few things, it’s special. So I include anything that’s out of the ordinary in this department.