Wedding Photography: Tips, Tricks and Ideas for Amazing Wedding Photos

1. Introduction to the course: Hi, I'm Bernie Raffia, professional photographer and teacher based in the UK Now I no longer photograph weddings. I have to admit that as I got older and more feeble, they became a bit too physically demanding for May. But over the years, I learned a great deal about how to capture terrific wedding photos. And in this course I want to share with you that knowledge. Now I'm guessing, but this course might well be unlike any wedding tutorials you might have seen before. And as such, there's something here for everyone, whether you're just a friend of the bride and groom who has been asked to take photos, maybe because you've got a big camera or someone who's just getting started with wedding photography. Or maybe you've got a few weddings under your belt on just looking for some more creative ideas. Whatever your experience, this course is Fio. Before I came to fight photograph my first wedding back in 2005 I went on wedding workshops , read books, watch DVD tutorials. I'd read all about posing the bride and groom on taking formal group photos on what could to use it, etcetera and so on. But even after all of that. Looking back, our fellow wasn't totally prepared for the realities of Wedding Photographer. For example, I remember coming out of the church on the first wedding on being faced with a scene like this, and I thought, Oh, preside me. What the hell do I do now? But as my wedding photography career progressed, I developed ideas. We're getting great shots of each stage of the wedding. I discovered that you could anticipate some of the great emotional moments that occur during the day, and I came up with the concept of great looking, what you might call set pieces that looked natural, relaxed and candid. It took me years to come up with those tips, tricks and ideas, but you'll learn them in no time. On this course, you're learn to tell the story of the day how to anticipate some of the great moments that could occur, how to get great reactions and expressions from your subjects, how to think about what's coming next on how to plan for it. I have to tell you, though, there's nothing in this course about the business side of weddings, on nothing about post processing in light room or photo shop. It's all about the taking of the pictures, and you'll see a huge number of example photos. Every single one of these images showed a camera settings so you can learn a great deal from them. But the emphasis in this course is on the tips, tricks and ideas for getting those great images during the various stages of the day. The blood getting ready, leaving the house, arriving at the church, the ceremony signing the register, walking down the aisle, leaving the church throwing of the confetti, the four Moore's relaxed photos of the couple, the speeches and much, much more. Each section comes complete with a Pdf document containing the relevant images, so you can keep them with you as reminders. After watching this course, you will have the confidence and the knowledge to take amazing photos of any wedding. So why not enroll now on learn how to take amazing wedding photos 2. Bride applying makeup, close up shot: hi again. The set piece I want to show you in this lecture is a specific type of photo of the bride getting a makeup on or even a groom, for that matter, if he is that way inclined. But it's usually the Blyde. On many occasions, makeup artists will be putting on the bride's makeup in front of a mirror. Or maybe the bride will be doing it herself. But even if the bride has already finished putting on her makeup when you're alive, you can still pretend in order to get the shot. By the way, here's a good tip for no upsetting the bride and possibly getting thrown out of the house. Don't look at her and ask if he's had a makeup done yet, because if she has and you couldn't tell, you will be in deep, deep trouble anyway. So this is going to be a close up of the bride getting her makeup done. It's a close up because the chances are she'll have a dressing gown on, or maybe an old T shirt you don't want to see to see too much of what she's wearing, or, at the very least, her clothes should be out of focus to take this show, I would make sure. First of all, she's in a good light. I usually ask her to face a window if possible, because if she's in a dark and dingy area to them and can't move, I might just take a couple of quick shots. But they won't be great, so I wouldn't waste time with it. It's better to do a couple of pretend makeup shorts by window later on. So anyway, this shot, it's no is normally taken from above. So once I'm happy with the light on, my settings aren't stand on a chair or stall and start shooting. I'm looking to get a real close up with a makeup brush and maybe a hand in the shop to give it context. I didn't want much of the makeup artist in the shot as well. Now Brian's often close their eyes when the brush goes near their eyes, and that's fine. But other times they open their eyes really wide when applying mascara. And that's not such a good look. And I didn't take any shots of that are normally crop off in camera that new Marie, the back of the Brideshead, especially if her hair wasn't finished. Technical aspects aren't you with a wide aperture usually have 2.8 or F four, focusing on the newest I I s O. Usually between four and 800 I use the focal length of 78 mil. That's on a crop sensor camera, and that's about it. I would take several shots and just use the best one or two. You don't want to be standing on a chair or stall for minutes on end, taking loads of photos, splaying and playing to get the shot you want. It looks a bit admit, amateurish. Occasionally, for one reason or another, I might not be able to get up higher, so I just take a few shots from my level or just above. I don't think they look quite as good, but it's better than nothing. Obviously, there are opportunities here for other types of wider shots, and I look around for those, especially if there's some beautiful light coming in from a window Bye for now, 3. It starts here: Photographing the dress and shoes at the bride's home or hotel: Hi. This is the first video in the chapter about the bride on her bridal party getting ready. Many brides now like to have photos taken while they're getting ready at a house or in a hotel on. This is a terrific opportunity to take some beautiful photos and to capture some of the more emotional moments that can occur When, for example, the bride's parents first see their daughter looking so beautiful and radiant. When I used to arrive at the house or hotel, it could sometimes be mayhem. You never really know what to expect. I always like to arrive well before the bride got address on, usually while she's getting a makeup or hair done, so the place could look a mess with the bride in her dressing gown and boxes and clutter strolling about the place and lots of people running about getting stressed. You can't just walk into that kind of environment and expect to touch to start taking award winning images. Plus, if you haven't photographed many weddings or just starting out, you're going to be understandably nervous. So here's my first tip. Calm yourself down. Take it slow, get to know everybody and their names and then ask the bride the location of addressing and shoes. This is a great way to stop the dress and shoes. Make a lovely first set piece. Plus it means you can be on your own for a while, sometimes in complete privacy, and start working without rushing. First, though, you need to scout around for a good location to take photos of the dress and shoes. I generally always look for the bed a few feet from a window on, like nearly all of the photos I'm going to be talking about. You want some lovely natural light, definitely no flash. And for these shots, turn off any tungsten lamps in the room. And this is a result of what can happen if you forget to turn off the tungsten lights. As I did once carefully and I mean very, very carefully and with clean hands, we moved the dress from its rapping on. Lie on the bed. Try not to sneeze as you do this. I preferred to lay the dress horizontally so it's more of this parallel to the window and then carefully position the shoes on top of the dress. You can only do this with brand new shoes. For obvious reasons, try different positions for the shoes, but I found that one on top of the other. Crossing over work best if you can remove the hangar and any labels is more important to remove the hangar if it's a cheap plastic one. So then take off your own shoes, stand on the bed and shoot from above. I used to take quite a few shots with the shoes and dress in different positions. Sometimes you can't be sure which images are going to work best with those under your belt . Get off the bed and take some from the same level like these and use a wide aperture to get some lovely soft differential. Focus Images may be of some details on the dress as well. Notice the gorgeous light and shadow on the fabric. That's what you're looking for on a technical. Know I tended to shoot in manual mode at weddings On this particular scene is a good example. Once I would now the exposure, it wasn't going to change. There was no point in using, say, aperture priority because the light wasn't changing and had I use a aperture priority. The camera might have changed settings whenever I would be flamed with slightly more or maybe less of the dress in the viewfinder. By the way, be careful not to over expose here. You don't want to blow and any of the highlights on address on the odd occasion. Unfortunately, the bride would be ready when I arrived. In that case, I'd normally just asked her to remove her shoes on. Hold them new a window like in this image? Another. Any idea that come what Really? Well, it's a place the shoes on a window ledge and shoot against the light. It's a nice, easy photo to take, but it can provide beautiful light and shadow on the shoes. Just make sure the sun isn't streaming in, so that's it. The first set piece. Occasionally, I would hang the dress in front of a window and take images like these usually gives the dress of fragile, translucent quality. Bye for now, 4. Photographing the bride's dress as it's being done up: or this show or type of shot captures address as it's being done up by the mom or the blinds mate. Now, as a man, I would normally disappear out of the room. World obliged. Got address on. But I'd instructor to give me a call when she's decent on when the dress is being done up. Sometimes that forget to call May. So I had to make sure I was on the ball and kept checking with them by maybe Corning out. No, I hasten to add by looking through the keyhole, huh? These dresses cost a lot of money, so I want to make them look good. Really nice, really nice in this shop again. I'm looking for a good light and if possible, and ask her to turn sideways, maybe four or five feet from a window so that she is parallel to it, not too close to the window. Otherwise, they will be a little too much contrast between the lick and the shadow side of the dress. So no closer than, say, a meter. That way, you get a nice soft shadow and beautiful lion across the dress. The light in this shot is just about perfect, whereas I probably got a little too close to the window in this ship in this shot, it's more contrast. E, but not a disaster are. Normally wait until the dress was mostly done up at the back. It doesn't look quite so good when it's completely undone and not zoom in quite close and usually shoot in the portray augmentation. But switching to landscape orientation could also look great to maybe show a little more of the arms and hands. But watch out for clutter in the background. Portrait orientation is a little safer, so I'd get those shots off first. Now you normally have quite a bit of time and taking this shot, so I'd normally wait until the bridesmaids hands were in the shop and actually doing up the dress rather than a dress on its own. That has give the photo the context. Also, Sometimes two people are doing the dress up, and there are too many hands covering up the dress, so I just have to wait for the right moment. Having said that, some dresses just have a zip at the back, which means that there's not so much time, obviously zip so easy, easier to do up on lace backs as regards the light well, you can't always interfere with the position of the bride, or they may just not be any windows in the room. Sometimes you either have to go with the light that is already there or use a video light. As I did in this shot. I just asked one of the bridesmaids to hold it for May on the other side, making sure it skimmed across the fabric of the dress. As in the previous lecture, I wouldn't want to spend a huge amount of time here taking millions of photos, especially knowing that would only ever be showing one or two photos to the bride and groom afterwards. Apart from any anything else, I'd give myself more work to do in the editing phase when I got home once. Once I have the shots I won, I was usually draw back and take a shot of the whole scene. This looks good in an album with a close up on the wide shot on the same page, Bye for now, 5. Photographing other items of clothing as they're being done up: Hello again. The idea is, in this video, a very simple During the getting ready phase of the wedding, there's going to be loads of opportunities for taking photos of people putting things on and doing things up opposite. Everybody needs to get dressed and not just applied. So this is a great opportunity to photograph other members of the family, parents, brothers, sisters, flower girls, page boys and so on. Also, there's always moment so you can capture of somebody in a wedding party helping someone else to get ready, usually an item of clothing or necklace, or maybe even the shoes. If you're pleasant. When the groom and his ushers are getting ready, they usually help each other to do up there cufflinks, cravats or buttonholes. You can often get some great shots of this type of action, the photos on their own, maybe nothing spectacular, but they helped to tell the story of the day, and sometimes they demonstrate the affection between people or even a feeling of slight nervousness, as members of the bridal party made themselves up beautiful or handsome for the wedding. So here's some more examples. It could be somebody helping applied on a blind helping someone else, maybe a page boy or flower girl getting ready and needing. Needing some help. Here's a great charts to get some shots of the mum getting ready, maybe putting on a necklace or maybe dead happily doing up his quiver, or the bride putting on some special perfume that someone has bought as a gift notice that I often like to use a mirror. There's a few reasons for this. First of all, you can get a great composition by keeping just the shoulder in the shop as well as the reflection. Also, you get the flame within a flame type of composition to focus the eye on the person's face . There's a whole video about flame within a flame on one of my other courses. Thirdly, using the mirror avoids much of the background clutter that you sometimes get in the room. For example, empty boxes, bags, makeup paraphernalia and so on. It's not always possible, but watch out for the best light and use it to create much more professional looking images . I generally preferred not to maneuver people into position for these type of photos. If someone was standing by some night ally it, but facing the wrong direction, I did on occasion, ask him to turn around to get into the better light. As I said, men's buttonholes are quite difficult to put on without help, So watch out for opportunities there. How about a photo of someone helping to put the dry shoes on again? It may not be the most exciting photo, but it looks good in an album alongside other getting ready photos. Well, this was going on. I would sometimes take a wider view of the goings on in of them to help tell the story. But I'd watch out for too much clutter and maybe move it if necessary. By the way, these photos would be spoiled if any of the subjects were to look at the camera. So even though I didn't know in a cloak of invisibility on, they really do know the cameras there, they need to be concentrating on the job in hand and seemingly unaware of the camera. So if any, any time one of them looked at May, I told him to ignore May. Okay, that's it for this video by Fidel 6. Shooting through a doorway or structure for a reportage photo: wagon. The idea behind the set piece I'm Going to show you now is very simple, but it's effective. The thinking behind it is to take a shot that, even though it might be staged, looks completely natural and appears to be a candid, all the airport charged type image. Think about when you last watch the further maybe a film or drama on TV when somebody was in the spot of danger. Let's I do in a house, but they're being watched by persons Unknown happens all the time in various films and dramas and fillers, doesn't it? Now there's a simple trick that the filmmakers used to indicate that the person is being spied upon. And I think when I let you in on the secret, you'll say to yourself, Yeah, that's right. I've seen that. That's what they dio anyway. What they do is to film the scene through a window or doorway or some other framework or structure, and that immediately tells you something about the scene that the person, male or female, doesn't know they're being watched and that they are in imminent danger of being attacked and maybe even murdered. So moving on from that happy note. This set pieces about taking photos of one or more of the bridal party getting ready but shot through a doorway like this. Even though the subject may know you're there, it looks as though you've called them completely unawares. It could be makeup being applied, the dress being done up, maybe a youngster having help getting suit on or doing it himself. Maybe Dad having trouble with his CO. That the groom in the bathroom or just one of the Children in the room, but and this is important, the whole effective spoil. If somebody spots you and looks at the camera like in this shot, it's much better if you catch them unawares. It's a great little technique, and really, it's just a matter of recognizing that there's something going on in a room that's worth capturing on, where you feel that the image will benefit. If the viewer believes that you captured the subject unawares, give it a try. It's easy bye for now, 7. Arriving at the church: Hello again. I'm not going to move on to the actual ceremony on at this stage of the proceedings. It's neither realistic nor desirable to stage photos like you can. When the blood is getting ready, things move along at their own pace. In a preordained fashion on, the photographer becomes more of an observer. But although there's very little opportunity for stage managing events, there are certain things that always happened during ceremonies that I used to be prepared for. And so I was ready when they did occur. I'm talking about simple things, like the bride arriving with a father or mother in the car or them walking down the aisle. So much of wedding photography is in the preparation. So here's a few ideas and scenarios that I used to watch out for. I'll go through them in chronological order, and I'll talk through my thought processes and how I wanted to capture them. So we start with everyone arriving at the church, actually, before that, make sure you know the way from the Bryant house or hotel to the church. Study the route beforehand on, avoid any areas where you might get caught in a traffic jam or road works. I know that's just common sense, but believe may get caught in a traffic jam on your stress. Levels will go through the roof. On arriving at the church or hotel are generally take a simple photo or two of the church or hotel just to set the scene. Sometimes I'd survive even before the groom and his ushers, so I'd keep an eye out for them arriving. And I just try to capture them walking towards a church or hotel. Usually when they saw May that stop on Green imposed with the camera. But I shot out of them to ignore May on just talk to each other while walking is, though, I wasn't there, by the way. I'll use the term church from now on, even though it could be a civil service in a registry office that's a UK term or hotel or outdoors in the Summer House, or even a Las Vegas Elvis chapel. Sometimes take a few shots of guest surviving or maybe in Usher, waiting to hand out the order of service shooting against the light from inside the church . That kind of like gives the photos a nice feel Here's another one shot in a hotel of brides maid waiting on the bride. Sometimes I'd step outside for a few minutes to get some shots of the groom greeting guests as I arrive. If the ceremony was taking place in the hotel them, or an area where the guests still hadn't been seated and sometimes ask the groom to sit down there for a quiet moment on, I'll take a wide angle photo. I always preferred that he didn't look at May in these time for photos in the church environment. I like to catch the groom just waiting for the bride. I used to include the oil in the photo to kind of add context of the image. Obviously, if I zoomed in and taken a portray, the story of the moment would have been lost. I wouldn't spend too much time inside the church in case I missed the bride arriving, and here she is, arriving in a posh car. Sometimes I'd like to catch her looking out of the window as the car draws up. That could look good with all of the window reflections, but you have to be prepared on what quickly to get that shot. Then there's a few standard shots inside the car with Dad or whoever was giving the bride away. Sometimes the chunk would jump out of the car as soon as it had stopped, so I had to remember to get in there quick to prevent that happening. Although I did take photos with them looking at the camera after, After all, that's what they're expected. I always ask them to look at each other, or I'd remind the dad how beautiful these little girl looks just to get a reaction. The photos getting out of the car can be a bit hit. Miss the Blind sometimes looks down to make sure her dresses OK or other people get in the way. Plus, of course, it's all over very quickly. But I'll do my best to get those shots. Sometimes the car draws up some distance from the church on. That allowed me to get some photos of the bridal party as they walked in together on occasion on shoot from behind as they were about to enter the church. But on other occasions on run back into the church to get one of those nicely lit photos from inside notice, by the way, that a lot of my photos were taken quite wide. Now that was a personal choice of mine, just a general philosophy in order to show the context. And I think it worked well. I'm not very keen on seeing loads of close up all traits of weddings because I don't feel they showed a story of the day and could have been taken anywhere on because of that. Most of my images tend to end up attended to end up in the landscape orientation. This is just my opinion, though, on its the way I developed a style of my own. Other people might know agree. So finally, then, in this video here, some of the bride's walking in with their dads again there are imposed would normally have coached a the bride beforehand not to look at May unless I asked her toe. So these are water type of shots I would take before the ceremony as people arrived, and although you can never really tell exactly how things are going to pan out, it's much better if you can have a plan in mind on anticipate some of the action in the next video. We'll look at the ceremony itself by for now 8. Don’t overlook those small but important details: what as time goes by after the wedding and memories of it recede into the distance, it's all too easy for the couple to forget about some of the very small things that helped to make the day memorable. And that's why, during the getting ready phase, and also later on in the day, it's a great idea to capture images of some of the small details that the happy couple, family and friends had taken the trouble to buy or even make. In fact, I would say that throughout the whole day, as a general rule, I would always try to take photos of anything people have spent money on. Its a good philosophy to remember. It has to be said that these types of photos are not usually fantastic award winning images , at least mine arm anyway. But they're great little reminders of the day, and they can look terrific on an album page, maybe next to other types of photos. There's usually cards on a mantelpiece or covered with nice words, maybe also a small gift from the groom, or for the mother or father of the bride, along with a card or message. These things are important garters are popular in the UK Obviously, they look better on legs, but you don't always have that or foot that photo opportunity. So instead, put them in some nice lie on fire, away flowers and the buttonholes. Of course, they'll be long gone in a few days, so I always made sure I captured those. The champagne will also be long gone to, so I tried not to forget those shots, either. If you get a chance but the glasses out nicely near some light. They look better when they're backlit. There's usually some nice jewelry around to now. As a man, I sometimes have no idea what these high items were, but they looked expensive, so they needed to be photographed. There's dresses and shoes for the little ones, plus other items of clothing. Have some significance for either the bride or groom. Watch out for other items, too. Old photographs, maybe the bride's parents on their winning day. Things placed neatly on window ledges, notes or cards of various types. Even post it note on Wedding day reminders his instructions on how to do the dress up. Also some specially prepared sweets and chocolates. They may even be some kind of banner or flowers outside the house. So watch out for those two. None of these shots are very challenging. The very quick and easy to take. So make best use of your time and remember them whenever you feel there's a pause in the action. Okay, that's it for now. See you next video. 9. Photographing the bride and groom on their own in a relaxed mood: wagon in this video, we'll look at the various ways I photograph the bride and groom together in a less formal, more relaxed style. Now I would normally do these sometime after the formals and after the couple have had a chance to wind down a little on relax. Quite often, though, the group formal photos would run a bit late on. I would then have to do the rest of the photos after the mill. But if I thought the mill might drag on a bit and there was a danger of losing the light, I'd suggested a couple that we should pop out between courses in the mill. Most of the photos would be taken using my 72 200 F 2.8 lens, a terrific focal length for these type of photos. But I also use a 12 24 lens for wider shots like the environmental ones that you'll see shortly because there's so many different ways and styles of shooting couples, I've tried to categorize them to make it easier for you to remember well and to make it easier for me to present them. Remember, though, that this is just a sample of the ideas I personally used. There's many more ways of photographing the bride and groom, but there's plenty here to be getting on with. First, let's look at the close ups you'll see as we go through them that very few of them have the couple looking at the camera. As as I said previously, I think it looks more natural this way. I've chosen the backward, the backgrounds quite carefully to avoid clutter. Autumn colors look great, and so I'll seek those out when possible. I like to have interaction between the couple, so I asked them to stand in a particular way and then tell them to just share another coddle. I'm not a huge fan of kissing photos, as it's not really that flattering. I prefer what you might call the close almost kiss. I think it looks more romantic. Plus, it doesn't obscure their faces. Another way of making the shot look a little more romantic is to get one of them, usually the bride, to close her eyes, sometimes for a laugh or two that are supplied to throw her vow over the groom's head. That can result in some great images, but they have to interact as well. No point in them just standing there looking silly with the vowel over them. Notices well that in most of these photos, their faces are pointing in different directions, which I prefer another type of image that like to get with the couple are environmental showing off part of the venue. Now they're paid good money for the venue, so we need to show it off in the photos again. I'd look for some nice lion with a background that shows the whole or part of the venue. I'm not ask them to stand or sit in a certain way. You can see in all these images of the couple are quite small in the fame. If I were using two camera bodies, one with a longer lens, I might then zoom in for the close up. I wouldn't step in close, though, using a wide angle lens. Otherwise they'd be a risk of distortion. Obviously, the more fancy the venue, the easier is to take these types of photos. But even if the wedding is in a smaller, less elaborate venue, there's still usually good locations nearby. This wedding, for example, was in a small local village hall. But next to a cricket pitch, that's the pavilion, this one in a small local hotel. In fact, where Jane and I were married, there wasn't really anywhere suitable for great location photos. So I just walked the couple to the other side of the road, where there was a good looking wall on windows and then directly in front of the hotel on a small green, while wondering around the venue with a couple. I always look out for areas with particularly good light, maybe an area that's backlit or, as in this case, with a break in the clouds on a stormy day that let the sunlight through for a couple of minutes. Top shade light is always guaranteed to work well, especially for close ups. That's where no light comes from above, only from the front or from the side seam. I become a better photographer course for more info on that, I would have also previously checked out any indoor areas with some nice light coming in through windows. These kind of images can look a little bit more dramatic and creative. Sometimes I'll separate the couple like in this image for a different kind of look on sometimes. Just get the dried to spread out on a sofa. If there was a nearby window, similar type of shot to the one I did a home just after she had got us already. There's another style of shot that's a bit of fun and come work well. The idea is that one of the couple stands a few feet behind the other one, and you focus on the person in the front. So whoever's in the background becomes a little out of focus. As in many of these photos throughout the day, it's important to keep chatting, asking questions on making some light, light hearted quips and so on. In order to relax your subjects and to get some good expressions, remember that standing in front of a camera is not always comfortable for many people, so you have to do your best to relax them anyway. Where was I? Oh yes, the person of the back should look at their partner, preferably with a nice smile rather than straight at the camera. My own opinion is that it looks wrong when someone out of focus is looking straight into the camera and that's all there really is to it. Just make sure they're separated so that I don't actually overlap. Swap them around over after a few shots, so you've gotten got one of each of them in the foreground. On in the background. The violent room walking together always works well because it looks so natural again, with them looking at each other or away. So it seems they're not aware of the camera, like nearly all of the photos of the bride and groom so far, aren't you in landscape orientation? This always worked well because I made sure they were walking, either in an area without too many distractions with a nice clean background or some some kind of interesting area like a nearby vote, you can see it looks good to to shoot a little wider, to take in some nice view or more or more of the venue. And sometimes you can crop an image to panoramic letterbox shape for a little bit more impact. It could also work well to shoot from behind as they walk away, especially if you get in close with a wide angle lens to take him or of the environment In some respects, it looks like they're walking away into a new life together. That's how I used to think of it. But then again, I'm a bit of an old softly. What about putting the couple up against the wall and taking a sidelong shot of them with the lines from the wall leading into them that could look very dramatic. Obviously, you don't want the bride to get address dirty. So put the groom the groom up against a wall with his back to it and have the bride lean into him. The general idea is to get a short along the wall so the couple do have to be positioned carefully at the right spot. You you then lean against the wall yourself and take the shot a longer. Use a fairly wide aperture to blur the to blow the foreground. Some wars come up really well in Photoshopped by increasing the fact saturation. Finally, then here's a quick sequence of shots I might take of one couple. You can see how I've tried to vary the images within a short space of time, but it getting them into various different poses, side by side her in front with her back to him and then facing him, looking in different directions and someone. Then there's a walkie ones. This was a nice spot by the river whose in Bedford, in case you're interested in that type of thing. So I tried to use the river. The bridge is on ball as a dramatic backdrop to the scene. So there you are a few ideas for photographing the happy couple. There's a lot more imposing couples in my general posing course, so please take a look there for more information by for now. 10. The bouquet and bride with a difference: Hello again. Here's in the idea for a photo of the bow. Okay that I used to do very quickly. It's a little bit different and quirky and glides really liked it. Now a couple spend a lot of time, money and effort choosing their flowers on, although I would have taken some shots of the Brok while the bride was getting ready. That would have just been a standard type of shot with the bow okay on its own, this is something a little different. There's usually a few quiet moments during any wedding reception when I would have been close by to the bride while she was maybe chatting to her friends so I would pull away for a minute just to get this one image. What I would do is to make sure she was in some nice light. My favorite, like being just inside an open doorway, turned Turner to one side to get some nice light and shadow going on the bouquet and on address. They're not simply Askar to face May and push the bow K out towards May. I would also ask her just to move her elbows out a little that had the advantage of separating them from her waist, which in turn would accentuate her waistline. Then I would simply set a wide aperture on the camera, get down to the same level as the bouquet and take a few shots in portrait orientation with the top of the frame around her shoulder level so her face wouldn't be in the shop. It's important to have the top of the book a push towards the camera in order to hide the stems. So the positioning of the bow K and this image is not so good. Same as in this shot. Well, I might have been distracted by a couple of things. Solve it. That's not very professional. I couldn't resist a little joke there. Anyway, there's not very much to this one. I said this was going to be very quick, but it usually results in a great image. Bye for now. 11. Photos of family member looking over the speech and other notes: again. This is a neat little idea to help tell the story of the day. So while it's unlikely to lead to an award winning image, it's a nice little sharp to include alongside other getting ready photos, maybe in an album, just to show some of the great care and thought that has gone into the day. So sometimes, when you're the bride, home or hotel, or wherever she's getting ready, someone may be looking over a speech that they intend to make later on during the reception . It's usually the bride's father, but not always. It may be the bride's mother or a really close friend of the bride or even the bride herself. It might not even be a speech, just maybe a blinds mate writing out a card, as in this case, so you might just catch one of them sitting down and nervously going over there knows that they made for the speech. This is another opportunity to get a great, candid shot that helps to tell the story of the day, stand behind the person and focus on the note. They might not be in great lighting. You can you can hardly ask them to move. So just open up the aperture or bump up the I s O as appropriate because the focus is on the note. You don't want to see much of the person going over the notes, usually just enough to recognize them is fine. They'll be blurry. That doesn't matter, in fact, is preferable for this type of shop. I like to include part of the person because it adds context of the image, whereas if you just had a shot of the speech itself, it's not quite so interested. As I've said before. You generally want to avoid flash in most getting ready photos, but that's particularly important for this one. Otherwise, you're just light up the part of the person's body in the foreground, and that would ruin the shop. Okay, Have you like that little idea? Bye for now, 12. Parents seeing the bride for the first time: my good. In this video, I'll describe how I used to capture what was sometimes quite a moving moment when the parents of the blood first see their daughter all made up and looking beautiful in a wedding dress. In fact, it doesn't even have to be the parents. It could be just one parent or maybe a grandmother or sibling. I know when my own daughter got married a few years ago, I almost shed a tear. When I saw her beautiful on grown up my little baby girl would become, I could feel the tears welling up. But fortunately, the famous British stiff upper lip kicked in and prevented me from blabbering on, making a complete total embarrassment of myself to all and sundry. So, first of all, for this type of shot, you have to be prepared. You know that somebody knew has entered the room on there will be seeing the bride for the first time. I used to position myself behind the blood with cameras ready on the lens focal length set to quite wide, maybe 30 mil. Here's some more examples. You have to wait for the right moment. Focus on the pope, people or person looking at the bride? No, on the bride herself. That's important also include part of the bride in the flame. Not too much, just not enough to provide context to the image. She's going to be out of focus, so you don't want to see too much of her if you get a in focus and the parents or whoever is looking at her is out of focus, the whole thing wouldn't work, especially as applied. Probably has her back to you. Sometimes if you're in luck, there might be a hug on a really lovely emotional moment. So watch out for those I never used to orchestrate those. It doesn't seem like if it happens, it happens. Just be prepared. But sometimes things don't always work out as expected. But you could still get some great shots at this time because it really is a wonderful part of the getting ready preparations on emotions, not to mention stress levels of running high. See you in the next video. Bye bye for now, 13. Bride by a window - against the light, featuring the dress: again. Here's another idea for shooting my window. The general idea is to feature the dress that they cost a lot of money on dried. Spend a lot of time choosing them, so a great short of the dress is always appreciated. This is generally, but not always a full length shot from behind the bride on with her just looking to decide so we can see a little of a face. Look for the larger window or patio or French doors that reach right down to the floor and if none are available, just used the largest window you confined. But what you don't particularly want is anything too ugly under the window. If you have time, clear away any small tables, boxes or bottles, and so on again, make sure the sun isn't streaming in. It would just ruin the short and then position a bride fairly close to the window facing outwards. She needs to be doing something with her hands so you can ask her toe, hold onto the curtains or blinds. Always preferred her to have one hand lower than the other one. She can pretend to be closing or opening them, then our sublight to look out the window toe, one side or the other. You don't want a complete profile. You just need to see a little bit of a face. Usually, the light dictates which direction she should look. Whichever side looks better, just step back and take the shot from a few feet behind, choosing a low camera angle and get the whole dress in from the floor upwards to accentuate the train. I generally used portrait orientation for this shot, but sometimes if the lower half of the window was just too ugly or too cluttered, then I would take just a landscape orientation shot of the upper half of the dried. Also attended to use quite a wide angle lens for this shock and also made sure the bride wasn't completely silhouetted against the window. You obviously need to show the detailed in the dress and to show just how gorgeous she locks from behind. So make sure there's nothing sticking out or the miss at the back of her dress. Shooting against the window like this usually create a dramatic kind of look, and that, combined with a great shot of the dress, had a hint. A beautiful light on the bride's face cammiso in a really gorgeous, unusual image. The exposure can be a little tricky. So if you're bit unsure, use exposure bracketing to verily exposes automatically in a sequence of shots. Now you can use the same idea for other members of the bridal party, Flower girls and so on. Plus, a little bit of soft processing could give you a more mysterious, dreamy type of look. But that's not for everyone. You may or may not like that type of effect. Hope you enjoy this idea. See you in the next video bye for now. 14. Bride relaxing on a sofa looking out of a window: hi again. Sometimes, while the bride is getting ready, stress levels are higher. No start kicking in, and so it can be quite nice for the bride. It is to take a breath and just relax on the sofa. For a few moments, this kind of shot sets a nice mood on calms everything down for a short time. You need to find a sofa Freddie close to a window, or you can use bounce, flash or video light. But whichever lighting you use, just be careful not to over light it personally. I always look for window light. There are various poses you can do with the bride. You're sitting on the sofa by, as you usually went for the more relaxed look with the bride stretched out across the sofa , although occasionally on go for a sexier look. If I was feeling brave enough, lay out the dress carefully. When you do this, trying to make it look the best, it can keep it simple and remove any bags, makeup brushes or boxes to avoid clutter. You can take some shots with the bride looking directly at you. I preferred her looking towards any nearby light as I said. Usually a window. I preferred it if the bride didn't smile or laugh. It doesn't really go with the setting. This particular show is all about a lovely car moment with a deep in fort looking pensive and thinking about the day ahead. Well, let's face it, she's probably just wondering what she's doing lying spread out on a sofa. Here's one with the bride smiling, and I don't think it's as quite as good. As far as the pose is concerned, I've normally try to get the brighter rolled onto a hip, resting her elbow on the arm of the sofa sometimes. Oh, that's difficult if the dress is too voluminous in which guys you just have to compromise or the bride may not want to get into that position for fear of creasing her dress. Also, sometimes the arm of the sofa is to hire, and the blue eyes elbow ends up being to hire two, which can look awkward like in this only shot from one of my first weddings. In fact, now that I look at this again, only really needed to bring her in a bit closer to the arm of the sofa. She's just a little too far away from it. And I think it's that which has caused alarm to look awkward. In this case, as with many of these interior shots, avoid direct flash and raise the I S O to bring in some of the beautiful light in the room which obviously keeps the shutter a good handheld speeds. Bye for now. 15. A few tips for taking formal photos of the bride: again. One soldier congratulations had died down would normally suggest to the bride that we take a few for more photos of these are the sort of photos of the parents and grand parents love on normally have famed on a sideboard in the lounge. Okay, admittedly, they're not the most exciting photos in the world, but they are expected. And so the pro photographer ignores these types of photos at his or her peril before even starting. I would have already started around earlier for the best location for the formal photos, taking into consideration the likely position of the sun. The most important thing is the light. So my priorities were good light on a good background, ideally some distance away, that was not too dark. Good light is an obvious one, but the background tones is not quite as obvious. It's not quite so important for the bride that should be all in white or at least a black color, but often photographed the rest of the bridal party in the same place to avoid moving people around too much. And if you're not careful, the men's hair and formal clothing can easily blend into the background Also, it helps to stand the bride away from the background in order to get some separation going . Sometimes the problem would be that taking the form wars against the best backgrounds might mean standing people, people in the full glare of the sun. That's a definite no, no, just can't happen so occasionally. It's a compromise, especially a smaller venues. Anyway. Once the location is sorted, it's time to get started with the bride. Are you supposed very simply, by asking her to turn to decide and to place a weight on the leg further from the camera. That's what I call the model powers. There's more information on that in my posing course, but I'm not here to do a sours job anyway. Where was I? Oh, yes, some. Sometimes the bride would hold the bow. Okay, A little high up, which would cover up too much of her upper body. So I'll ask her toe low it whilst also hiding the stem so that I couldn't see it. I didn't see the Boko doesn't look quite as good like this, but I must admit occasionally I'll forget when she was in a good position. I'll take some full and photos, then some 3/4 on occasional close up. Occasionally I'll sit the bride down for something a little different. As with all of the formal photos, I'd keep chatting in a light hearted way to try and get some good expressions. That's very important. Otherwise, people just tend to look self conscious with forced smiles with regard to, settings are generally used an aperture of around, therefore, to make the background a little blurry. Plus, unless I could find some nice top or open shade some people call it, I'd use a little Phil fresh to reduce shadows around the eyes and to give them a little sparkle. I generally dial down the flash power to minus 1.7. I used to shoot mostly in landscape orientation port for the reasons I gave in previous lectures. And yet, even for the fall and photos in the early days, I did do some of the blood photos in portrait orientation. As you see, I made the mistake of dropping off part of the train here, but after a while I stuck mostly to landscape orientation. I figured I could always cropped them to portray orientation if I wanted to impose processing, but I really did bear in mind It's much more difficult to crop a portray orientation to landscape. So that's it for now. See you in the next video. Well, I won't actually see you, but you know what I mean by for now. 16. Bride walking down the stairs: hi again. Here's another idea that usually works pretty well and can provide quite a dramatic looking image. But you do have to be prepared and to be ready when it happens, because it can all be over very quickly. Not quite often, the bride will get ready in an upper bedroom of the house or hotel, and once she's happy with her hair makeup on dress, she'll obviously after walk downstairs at some point. So this shot is about her walking down the stairs. Obviously, it's not always possible due to the lair of the house or hotel. Or she might advise you and ruin everything by descending in a lift or elevator, as Americans say. But if you know she has to walk down some stairs at some point, then you can be prepared for this one because you can get a great image as you take a photo of our from behind. So you need to position yourself at the top of the stairs. Well, obviously, where else would you bay and wait for her to walk down so you can get one or two shots of her from behind as she walks? You don't have to give her much in the way of instruction. Just ask her toe walk slowly, maybe placing one hand on the banister or hand row as she walks. She may ask if you want her to stop and turn around to look at the camera as she walks. That would look rather staged and cheesy. So you know you don't want that as this is going to be a candid report charge type shot with a bride, seemingly not knowing that you're there with the camera. But, of course, that she she does. And even though you can take this in portrait orientation mode to take in the top and bottom of the stairs. If the staircase looks good, maybe have some noise light, then consider using the landscape orientation to take him or off the sides of the staircase . Also, sometimes there might be some great light coming through a door or window at the bottom of the stairs, and that can really add some drama to the photo. So watch for that, too. Some staircases, especially in hotels, allow you to get right above the staircase looking directly down that she walks so that could not great to this particular hotel in central London had a beautiful staircase that I thought I try and make the most off. Unfortunately, on occasions you might be in the wrong place for this type of shot. It may just have happened very unexpectedly, in which case, just take one or two from below, if possible. I don't think it looks quite as good. But sometimes you have to take what you can get. Okay, bye for now. 17. Photographing the wedding rings: Hello again. This short video is about capturing a photo of the rings. I don't really know about other countries, but here in the UK it would be kind of bad form to ask the bride and groom to remove their rings after the Sermanni just so that you can take a picture of them. Some couples might agree to it, but to be honest, I prefer not to ask. It just seemed that it might be a bit kind of jarring to do so. That means that depending on the location of the wedding and certainly here in the UK, there's only a small window of opportunity to photograph the rings before the ceremony. So when I first met up with the groom and his best man, usually at the church, But sometimes before that, maybe while I was getting ready, I would ask the best man to give me the rings to photograph. You have to be very careful here, for obvious reasons. I'm actually a bit of a klutz, always dropping things on knocking stuff over. So I always treated the rings with kid kid gloves and tried my best not to drop them down a grating or drain in the ground. When I first started photographing weddings, I used to place the things in a hand or in the box. Now that was a mistake. It didn't look very good, and I quickly stopped doing that. After a while, a kind of start evolved whereby I would find a good surface in some nice light and then place the bride ring on top of the groom's ring. Sometimes I'd use an unusual surface that I'd find close to the church like brickwork or paving slabs on the ground if I thought it would look interesting. His one I took on the gate outside the church. But generally I found I got the best results When using reflective surface, maybe a tabletop or dish, the reflections can create a lovely effect. But when I couldn't find a surface I liked, I'd look to place the things on the order of service, or maybe a pouch that the rings came in. Kevin Brown, a great photographer friend of mine, is terrific at these type of images. He also used to look for reflective surfaces on, would sometimes take a mirror off a nearby wall or bring along a small piece of Perspex he photographs of beings much closer than I usedto on. Although I hate to admit it. I much prefer he's images. You can really go off people, can you? Seriously, though, he had some great ideas for the placement of the rings. Plus, he used to bore some clothing, for example, Accra Vap from one of the ushers to bring in some great colors that matched up with the theme of the wedding. We both use macro lenses, but Kevin tells me he decided after while not to shoot with a wide open aperture but to close the average it down a bit to get more of the rings and focus. If you're watching this in the UK and know anybody seeking a wedding photographer, take a look at his website. He's brilliant. I know a blatant plug there for my good friend Karen. I hope you don't mind, but what are friends for? So here's a few more examples just to provide some ideas. If the rings have an inscription, it's a good idea to get it in focus, so it's readable. I never worried too much about having both rings and focus. I was happy to have just one sharp, but that's a personal choice. As I said before, time can be limited here, and I was always conscious that the groom was close by. I always wanted to get back to photographing him or back into the church, so I didn't want to spend too much time taking loads and loads of ring shots. Just a few is fine so that I could pick the best one when I got home. By the way, although I would take several shots of the ring, I would only ever showed a couple my favorite one image. In fact, that was true for all of the detail photos, I always felt that showing duplicate images diminish their impact. That's it for this video. Have you enjoyed it? Bye for now. 18. Capturing some wedding ceremony moments – Part I: Hello again. So now we want to the ceremony itself. And needless to say, you can't stage any photos here, try it on. You'd embarrass yourself and probably be thrown out of the church. But generally speaking, it's a quiet time. You need to be discreet if you move around trying not to stomp around or getting people's way. Just common sense, really some things you just can't plan for. But even joining the Sermanni, there were small moments that you should be aware of off or opportunities that you can take advantage off. I've categorized some of them, so let's take a look. This is a pretty obvious one. It's usually but not always a close up on where either the bride or the groom is looking at their partner. The composition depends on where I would have been standing, but I quite like to flame the shot over the shoulder of the person with their back to me. I generally concentrate on the concentrated on the blind, if possible. Let's face it. The day is really all about her, isn't it? The groom is just there to make up the numbers I used to focus on the Blyde on, Watch out for sneaky little looks between the two of them. Sometimes slightly tearful expressions but usually happy and kind of knowing expressions. These looks and expressions air so fleeting. I usually focused with my finger half pressed on the shutter button, just waiting for that special look. Sometimes I'd be disappointed, but usually something good happens again. Notice my use of landscape orientation to show more of the scene and consequently, more context. Portray orientation sensor close in on the couple. If anyone can show just cause why this couple cannot lawfully be joined together in holy matrimony, let them speak now or forever hold their peace. It probably depends on the country and maybe the religion on whether or not that, phrases said. But I've heard that phrase loads of times at weddings, and when I do, I focus on the bride and groom. I'm white. Sometimes they'll turn around and give a kind of little knowing smile to the congregation. So I wait for it and then click. I've got that one little moment, but of course the minister doesn't always. I it also. What I love is that despite the fact that the ceremony is quite a solemn occasion, or maybe even because of it. It is a celebration, and so there's usually some laughter Will do is in this country, anyway. So is great. If you can capture some of those moments quite often, it's as a result of someone making making a mistake during the vows or maybe getting their partner's name wrong. That's always good for a laugh. Or maybe even the minister will say something mildly amusing during a little sermon. On more than one occasion, I've heard a child say something out loud. That was quite funny. But whatever the reason, watch for those little moments on a little. Anticipation helps here, too. On one occasion, the bride dropped the fingers. She was placing it on her husband's finger. You could hear the ring roll along before falling down a grating in the ground. Obviously, all hell broke loose, and it was much scrambling around on the floor. Is the vicar holding up the ring? Having just found it, the couple were able to laugh about it afterwards at this wedding. During the blessing, the congregation started laughing, not something that should normally happen that solemn time. So there were confused, few confused faces all around. But here you can see why the best man had painted some letters on the bottom of the groom shoes H E on one shoe on LP on the other. I think the blind was too amused at that one. It's generally quite easy to stand back with, say, a 72 200 mil lens picking or photos of the bride and groom. You can get some great shots that way, but I was always aware that if I were to take too many of that type of shot, the images as a whole would lack variety. So with that in mind, I used to take some wider photos taking in the congregation on other areas of the church. There's a variety of different ways of doing this. Obviously, you could just take various shots of the congregation on their own just by going white. Or maybe by making use of ability, if possible, that can provide a nice overall photos of the whole scene. Or maybe just pick out a few of the congregation or the blinds made they could be singing or just holding the order of service. That type of shot but could be quite nice from the side, using a shallow depth of field. Also, it's quite common for one or two of the family to become a bit tearful. So if you spot anyone crying into their handkerchief, get a quick show off. I think that's okay. After all, they're tears of joy are like my own favorite type of congregation. Shots were those which included the bride and groom, either from the side or maybe from behind them. Obviously, that's not always possible when including a congregation. It's always a good idea to wait for a good moment, either some laughter or clapping or even some cheering. I split this video into two to avoid it becoming too lengthy. That's the end of part one Part two comes up next. 19. Capturing the groom’s first sight of his bride: Hello again. This next type of photograph follows on immediately from the processional. In fact, just seconds afterwards, I'm from exactly the same shooting position. What I used to do was to move to one side of the aisle to allow the bride and a father to get past May. Obviously, I'd be very careful not to tread on the bride's dress as she went past on a soon as they had gone past our swivel round to get a shot of the groom watching his beautiful bride as she walks down the aisle towards him. Remember that, at least here in the UK, he seeing her in her dress for the very first time, so it could be quite an emotional moment. The idea was to get a shot of him looking back at the bride, but flamed between the out of focus heads of the bride on her dad. Now I thought this was a great idea in theory, but I have to hold my hands up and admit that the reality was that it hardly ever worked out as well as I wanted. There was only a split second where the groom's face was visible between the bride and I died on most of the time. I just wasn't quick enough to get a good, clean, sharp image. Sometimes, of course, the groom wouldn't even look back. Or for that split second it look elsewhere, burning the shop, which I thought was very inconsiderate of him. So here's a few examples of what I was trying to achieve. I'm although two couples like the images, I was never really that pleased with them for obvious reasons. As you can see, sometimes I missed the moment but still got a shot of the groom. Looking back here is my favorite one with a terrific expression from the groom as he sees his bride. This couple will always laughing and joking around together, so it kind of reflects his personality. Now I've learned from my mistakes here on. If I was doing this again, I'd use a second camera body, all set with manual exposure settings on manually, pre focused on the groom. That would give me the best chance of getting a great shop. Well, you live and learn, but don't let my failures put you off, giving it a try. If you ever get the chance. Nothing ventured. Nothing gained by for now 20. Capturing some wedding ceremony moments – Part 2: another shot not to be missed is the exchanging of the rings. Now for this, your abnormally tried to position myself in the aisle behind the couple in line with them. Here in the UK, the minister tends to ask a couple to face each other on would. That obviously makes it easier to photograph. I used to zoom in to try to get a close up of the hands and Ming's. It's great if you can get a clear shot of the ring, but sometimes one of their hands would obscure the ring. If that would have case, I maybe zoom out to get a wider shot of them both. That way all my catches, a nice expressions. So it's not too much of a problem if the ring is obscured. In fact, if I felt I already had a good close up, I'll zoom out and take some more photos anyway, just to add a bit of variety. If I was in the right position, I tried to include the congregation in the flame to finally, here's one I took during an outdoors wedding. You don't get too many of those in this country as the weather is a bit inconsistent. I was in a good position in front of the couple for this shop. So what? We're on the subject of hands and rings. I still like to get a shot or two of the couple holding hands during the service. Very easy to do, of course, but it can not quite effective. I wouldn't ignore other opportunities, either for some close up hand shots, maybe a family member holding the order of service. Here's another. The idea for a creative looking image from the back of the church. This type of photos great for showing off the scene as a whole and looks especially good if the church has a beautiful Lyle with flowers on the end of the pews. I used to zoom out the lens for a wide angle field of view, and then I would kneel down to get a love angle perspective. This would give me quite a dramatic composition with the end of the pews forming leading lines right down to the couple, who, of course, would be quite small, but that wouldn't matter, even worked reasonably well in hotels or non church. Seven many rooms, in fact, wherever and I'll has been created right away. This was a wedding where everyone dressed as pirates. If I heard our Jim lad once, I must have heard it 100 times. It was a fun wedding. Now this is a cake, anyway, I digress. There's a few more examples of that type of shop. The great thing is, you don't need to rush, so you can try different angles. That's plenty of time during the ceremony to position yourself and get the white shop on because you're at the back. You're not disturbing anybody. You could then move forward to get other shots as necessary. While I was in that position, I'd also used the opportunity to focus on any flowers or ribbons at the end of the pews or chairs. Remember that someone has gone to a lot of trouble and spent money to make the church or seven. Many room look nice, so it's worth getting those type of photos. I think that can The low angle composition looks good, too. You may now kiss the bride or words to that effect. Or maybe those words are spoken until I know that some people believe it's become something of a cliche that rather it wasn't said. But regardless, there comes a time after they've been pronounced husband and wife that a celebrate every kiss will be forthcoming. Your problem is that you won't know whether it will be a small peck taking about half a second or or a full blown snog lasting for 30 seconds. You just don't know. So if you're busy photographing other things when they kiss, there's every chance you're Mr Shop. So the most important thing about getting a shot of the kiss is to have a good idea when it's about to happen and be ready. If I was allowed to move around during the seven, many would often find myself at the side to get a clear view of the bride. But when I knew the kiss was coming up, I would move to a position, usually to the back behind them. But sometimes it a from again, like with some of the previous ideas, I wouldn't go for a close up, like in this very early wedding I photographed, preferring instead to bring in some of the scene on maybe even include the smiling congregation. If I could get into the right position. It's probably subjective. I know when I keep banging on about it. But I just feel that many wedding photographs work better as wider environmental type images rather than those close ups. Others may disagree. Sometimes there's a lovely moment or two after the actual kiss with a couple are laughing or cuddling. They know the hard part of the sermon is over, and they commit acts a little, So be prepared for those moments. Don't just put the camera down immediately after the kiss. So there's a few ideas, along with some of the precious moments toe watch out forward during the ceremony. It's really just a matter of anticipating what's coming next and to plan accordingly, se you in the next video. 21. Walking the aisle - Photographing the processional and recessional: Hi again, the bride walking down the aisle with her pardon, Father or mother hope whoever was giving her white. What a wonderful part of the day that is. I mean, it really is. It's very emotional. There's joy, sometimes tears. Okay, maybe I'm just old softy, but yes, it can be very moving all eyes on the bride. She's the center of attention, the guests usually happy and smiling. These are great moments that just cry out to be photographed in this lecture. I want to show how I tackled photographing the bride, walking down the aisle both during the processional at the start of the ceremony and also after the ceremony when the happy couple walked back down the aisle. That's the recessional. Most important, you have to be aware it's about to happen and to be prepared, don't let it take you by surprise. That's a recipe for disaster. So here's how I prepared the camera settings. Typically, the light in the church would be fairly constant, so I stay in my usual manual exposure mode. Mostly, the light levels were quite low, so my eye so would often be between 2000 and 3200 maybe even higher. But bear in mind, I gave up weddings a few years ago when sensors hadn't yet reached the dizzy heights of today's ones on noise at Higher SOS was more of an issue or try for an aperture around, therefore, but sometimes that to go wider. If the light levels were very low, that would often result in a shutter speed of between 125th 2 3/20 of a second. I would obviously prefer to shoot a high shutter speed, but I knew the couple would be walking very slow, so I didn't forget about it too much. I forgot to say I would never use flash for these shots. Now I would use a continuous focusing, focusing modes alongside dynamic area focusing. That's a nick on term equivalent to cannons. Focus born expansion are generally used nine points of focus on start off using an off centre higher focus area, which I try and keep on the bride's face. Also, I'd use the continuous shooting mode, sometimes called burst mode, so that I was able to take around between seven and a dozen pictures while they walked. So they're the settings I like to try and position myself in the center of the aisle on love myself. Just a little to get a better perspective that would normally give me a clear view as they walked toward me. Sometimes. Unfortunately, the minister would walk just in front of them during the processional, and I would have to move to one side, which, of course, couldn't be helped. But if the plan was to have the little bridesmaids walk in front, I would have already told the bride beforehand to leave plenty of room before walking behind them so it actually wouldn't be obscured. As a couple got closer to May, I would zoom out a little and continue shooting, but it was always careful not to get in their way. As I mentioned in the previous video, I tend to shoot Maurin the landscape orientation. And that was especially true for the processional you can see by. These images aren't include the guests in the frame. I felt this was important. It showed the context on helped to increase the emotional impact of the images. Unfortunately, guest sometimes watch the proceedings on their mobile phones or even their tablets. I never really like that to be honest, but hopefully that's a practice that will eventually die up. Who knows? I could have called shot in portrait orientation like this, but I'm just included more of the eye or the church. But they're not have lost some of the guests smiley faces. So landscape orientation was always my preference. Anyway, I hope you found these tips useful Bye for now. 22. Signing the register / marriage license: hi again. After the ceremony ends, the bride and groom will go to a side area with the minister or fish here on two witnesses and signed the wedding register, As it's called in the UK, I believe in the US It's called the state Issued Marriage License. But whatever it's called, this is another opportunity to get some lovely photos. I always had certain ideas in my mind about the shots I wanted your in the subs doing a signing. The 1st 1 was a close up of the document being signed. Now, sometimes the minister won't allow it, so you have to be careful to find out first. Sometimes if they said it wasn't allowed, I'd be a little bit more insistent. Respectfully, of course, on promise I wouldn't get any of the writing in or to make sure it was blurry. Sometimes that worked in, the minister would relent if no, I might take a pretend photo afterwards, but with a blank page being signed, it obviously didn't look quite is convincing that Short would have been been taken, are higher I so wide aperture image without flash on Nagy's pretty much the same settings for the next, short of the couple from a bit further away now in this one last one of them to pretend to sign and the other to look down as well. So it would appear to be a report charge time image with them, seemingly unaware of the camera immediately after that show on Switch the flash on, which would be in the TT all mode and change my camera settings to approximately I. So 800 125th of a second F four give or take, depending on the light. And that would provide a more four more type of well lit, grinning at the camera type of a safe image that people expect me to take are then used the same camera and flash settings for the next short with the witnesses. By the way, it's a good idea to have the bow K or flowers on tables and to include it in the flame. Although admittedly sometimes I'd forget. The signing procedure takes a few minutes. So if there's something going on with parents or witnesses, what a scene. Just look nice with some beautiful light that you often get in churches. I'll take a few wide shots to show the general scene. The minister usually asked the congregation afterwards, If they'd like to come up and take photos now, I would normally back off during this photographic frenzy. But sometimes if there's a youngster taking photos, there's another opportunity here for a good shop. So there's a few tips for the signing. How do you like them? See you in the next video. 23. Bride and groom kissing to cheering friends: hello again. At some point during the group photos, the chances are a couple will request a photo with all the family or all of their friends. And I would normally take these in the same way as all of the other four more group photos , although are trying to add a bit of fun to the proceedings, especially for the photo with all of the friends. But while taking these photos, I always had it in mind another type of shot that I could do at the end before they all walked away. The idea was to get the couple kissing with everyone cheering in the background. Now maybe you're looking at this photo thinking, Well, there is a bit cheesy for those not familiar with the term cheesy. Here in the UK it means trying a bit too hard and ending up with something maybe unsubtle and not very authentic. So I hold my hands up here and say, Yes, this idea is a bit cheesy. Okay, I can do cheesy if I so wish I'm allowed, but I think it looks great. It's fun, and couples seem to like it, so it's worth showing it to you When I first started doing this shot, I simply asked a couple to kiss him for the guests to clap or or punched the air. I turned out okay, but nothing special. After a while, though, I refined the composition and direction to get better results. First of all on us, a couple to take a few steps forward. That worked well to put the emphasis on them and to separate them from the guests on. Then I would shout out something like, Okay, John and Mary, a going to kiss like they've never kissed before on that in itself would sometimes get a few laughs. But I'd instruct the guest to cheer or clap when I kissed. And very importantly, for them not to look at the camera, only to look at a couple. Needless to say, some of them living ignore that and just smile at the camera. I will. So anyway, in taking the photo, get fairly close to the couple and no attempt to get all of the guests in. You only really need a few people in the background for it to look good. I quickly take the same shot from a different angle to get different guests in the background. If I wasn't happy for any reason, I would say something like, You call that a kiss? Come on, let's see a bit more passion this time. Funnily enough, they never complained about that. And I'll get another chance for the great photo sometimes. Oh, it's a few moments after the actual kiss, which provides the best expressions bearing in mind that people with their mouth stuck together is not really the most flattering of looks. So no, everyone likes it. Anyway, I hope you like the idea. Say you in the next video bye for now. 24. Drinks on a tray - get in quick before they go: Okay. Hi again. Here's a quick, simple idea for an image that goes down quite well in an album alongside other reception type photos. Now, typically, when the couple on guests first survive at the reception venue, drinks are normally all laid out and set up on a table. The guard glasses usually look really nice, all set together. There's a small window of opportunity just before the guests get their hands on the drinks to get a photo of the drinks. So this is a detail shop. Remember what I said earlier? Anything that a couple of paid for is fair game for a photograph. I needed to be quick, but if the bride and groom were nearby and they usually were, I'd get down low next to the drinks and take a few shots, focusing on the glasses. But using a wide enough focal length to get the bride or one of the bridal party blood are in the background. The best results would occur when the glasses pick up some reflection from a nearby window or light. Okay, Admittedly, this type of image isn't going to win any awards, but it's a little creative on as I said before. It looks quite nice alongside other close detail shots at the reception. That's it. See? I told you it was quick. See you in the next video. 25. Photographing informal photos of the groom: hello again. Although, as I said earlier, the day is all about the beautiful bride. The groom does play his own small parts well, so obviously you need to take some photos of him on his own. My own preference, though, was not to do for more photos of him like I do with the bride. My groom photos were far more relaxed and casual. I just think that's a better look for the men. After all, they don't have a beautiful dress to show off like that drives. So I used to keep the groom photos very informal and to try and show some of their personality. Many of these images were taken before the ceremony. I like to do some men because at that time the groom could be a bit stressed, and it was a good excuse for for him to get away for a few minutes and relax. I didn't like to venture too far from the church, and Katie was needed, and so you can see that many of them are by the church wall, or at least close by the seven, many of them generally speaking, my approaches to chat and have a laugh with people, and I think you can see that reflected in many of these images, it's just a matter of talking to them, asking them questions and not necessarily about the wedding. I might ask where they're going for their honeymoon or might joke about their suit. Do they do it in your size or might joke that they could at least about a shave before the wedding? You know, Come on, for God's sake, please make an effort, man, but they'll always know it's just playing around with them on a zoo. Long as you're on good terms with the groom, you can usually get away with that type of joking around on Mickey taking, especially in the UK I'll say that it's kind of our culture here, but it may not go down too well in other countries, so that's something you have to make a judgment on. As well as opposing is concerned, I mostly just ask the groom to put their weight on one leg or the other, and if they were close to a wall or pillar, I'll get them to lean on it or at least put their hand up on it. Men, especially like to lean on things. It makes for a far more real, exposed on for four lengths shots leaning on a wall and crossing the legs works pretty well , too. As always, I tended to shoot mostly in landscape orientation. My preference was to pick a spot with a nice, clean background, and so I was able to include plenty of negative space. He's a sequence of shots of the same group. You can see how I've tried to bury the images with different styles on a different background. So don't just take one short or even to many of the same pose. Try different angles, different focal lengths and some smiley, some more serious expressions. This is a good time as well to get the best man involved, and I'll discuss the photos of the groom and his best man in the next videos. Bye for now. 26. Capturing the hugs and kisses immediately following the ceremony: Hello again. Here's a question for you. What should you do? Soon as the ceremony is over and you exit the church? What photo should you be trying to take? Well, of course, there's no right off Mansa, but I remember my very first wedding. I've been doing a lot of study beforehand. You know, the usual stuff, like technical aspects, how to photograph for mode for Moore's, what to do in the church, how to pose the bride and groom and so on. But despite that, nothing really prepared me for the absolute mayhem that ensued on leaving the church. There were people everywhere hugs, kisses, fine and jokes, loads of photo opportunities, most of which I sadly missed. I was too wrapped up in getting my gear together. I'm working out how I was going to drag the couple away for the for more photos and generally worrying about what to do next. So I didn't do as well as I should have done. And so for subsequent weddings, I decided that I would just leave well alone for a few minutes after the ceremony and not try to rush the couple into for more photographs. That was a good decision because the warm congratulations immediately following the ceremony is an important time. Like I said, lots of people hugging and kissing and smiling and laughing and just generally enjoying themselves on savoring the moment. So this is a great time to capture some more authentic emotion. Also, like to go wide with shots of the general scene. For this one, I found a higher location, which worked better. So here's a few more examples. There's an old photographer saying Expression over perfection, and I think it's very relevant here because some of these images were taken very quickly in order to capture the moment. And occasionally part of the face may be obscured in the hug. But does it matter? The emotions come through loud and clear, and that's what I try to capture. I personally don't like it. If anyone looks at the camera like in this image, I think it spoils the candid look of the image. Sometimes you can capture friends or family, just looking back at the dried with some great expressions. In this type of show, it's important to get at least some of the bride in the flame to show the context. And it's not just the women. Obviously, despite the famous British stiff upper lip asked, Men do sometimes get emotional, too. Bye for now. 27. Throwing of the confetti - always a great action shot: hello again. You can get some wonderful, vibrant images during the confetti throwing. But on my first wedding, I missed it completely. I had in my mind that eventually someone would folk, um Fetty, but wasn't really prepared for it. And sure enough, while I was taking photos of other things, not paying attention to the bride and groom way. All of a sudden, confetti is flying everywhere, and I sadly missed it with confetti all over, the couple went on the ground. You can hardly ask the guest to throw to stuff again. So after that disappointment, I decided next time I'd planned more carefully. The important thing is to take control, make sure people who are standing around with little boxes of confetti No, not to throw it until you give the word. So when getting ready for the confetti shot, as always, I'd look for good light to keep the sun off the bride and groom's faces. And, as I like to shoot, the confetti throwing from a love angle. Also try to avoid too much white sky in the background as the confetti pieces come blend into the sky. I'd also guest to line up on two sides. And then I tell the bride and groom toe, wait at the other end of the line. I'd also have worked out the exposure beforehand in manual mode, as I didn't want to keep people waiting already to throw the confetti while I fiddled around with the camera settings. Generally speaking, the flash would be switched off our dues burst mode so that I could take maybe a or nine photos or more and continuous focusing mode to track the couple as they walked. It's worth using the burst mode to take several shots because you never really know how the action will pound out. And also, sometimes the confetti will cover one of their faces. So when I was ready in order, guests were ready. I would say something like Wait for it, Wait for it. Okay, go. As you can see, I always use landscape orientation for these shots so that I could include the guests and their arms up in the air, throwing confetti. For me, the images would not be anywhere near as good. In portrait orientation, here's a sequence of images. Sure, the groom's face was covered a bit, but it's fun and tells a little story in this one of my daughter, Lauren and husband, Lawrence. I've run across processing action on the image in photo shop to accentuate the colors and make it more vibrant. Finally, these guests used a powerful firework type device to project the confetti. Sadly, the devices were so powerful that much of the confetti flew past the couple on. Missed them altogether are. Well, that's life. Okay, bye for now. 28. An idea for a strong, dramatic photo of the groom: again is an idea for a dramatic looking image of the groom on his own. I found that the couple usually really like this type of photo, and many would choose it for their album across the whole page. It works best against a good looking church or building wall, the groom looking moody, or maybe with a little smile on with his back to the wall. So here's what I used to do to get a photo like this. First of all, find a good wall that's out of the sun now. That's important, because even if the small area that the groom covers is in the shade, the photo would be spoiled. If any other part of the war was in the sun, that area would just be too bright, and so it would be a distraction in the final image. Having said that, sometimes that's the only good wall available, and you have to either take the short as it is or not. That's not at all because I used to use may need the church wall. Obviously, I had to try and get this shot before the bride and groom disappeared on departed for the reception I'll ask the groom to lean against the wall, sometimes with his feet crossed, and then I'll take the short using official islands. I like the powerful look of the fisheye, but occasionally I just use a wide angle lens, especially if the war wasn't that long on using official, I would mean that I'd run out of wall. I'll take several photos, mostly without the groom smiling, but one or two with a smile. With very wide images like these, it's important not to put the groom to fall over to one side otherwise would be to distorted. But I still used to put the groom's over towards 1/3 with plenty of negative spice. Nice blue skies also look great in this type of shop. Cloudy or over scar overcast skies don't look as good. So in that case I try to avoid getting too much sky in the frame. The same is true. If I were shooting towards the light, I knew the sky would be bleached out a little. So again, I tried to avoid getting too much sky in the shop. It might not look it, but because of the fish I or wide angle effect. I'm really very close to the groom, just about a meter away, and I'm shooting from a low angle. My own preference was for the groom to be looking away from the camera, not smiling. But sometimes the couples would prefer the ones within, looking cheerfully at the camera. It's obviously subjective. In keeping with the strong look of these images, the colors have been changed and accentuated in photo shop. This effect is known as cross processing. There's no specific rules for cross process coloring. You're free to experiment with different color shifts. Key to the technique is the curves command, which gives you control over the red, green and blue color channels. Look up cross processing on Google. You should find plenty of information. So why, for now, see you in the next bill? 29. Creative idea for a cake shot, with bride and groom in background: it's fair to say that the couple will want a photo of the wedding cake on these air easy enough to take preferably using some nice side lighting if possible. Art occasionally use a video like off camera speed, like if the lighting was too flat. But in this video, I want to show you a new alternate there, I say, more creative way of taking a photo of the cake, which also includes the bride and groom. I should say that I always made sure that I had a normal safe shot. The cake first. That's what the couple would be expecting after all. But this is something a little different. The idea is to get a close up of the cake with it and focus, but with the art of focus, bride and groom in the background. Now you don't have to get the whole cake in. Just a good proportion of it works well, so I would start by asking a couple to sit off, stand a few feet back from the cake Now, quite often, the cake is by a wall or window, so I would have to find a space for this to work. Usually There's no need to move the cake. You could just shoot from the side, but on the odd occasion, it meant having to move the cake on. If that would a case, I'll get somebody held else to help me very, very carefully move the table into a good position. Needless to say, you don't want to risk ruining the cake by letting it collapse all over the floor, so I wouldn't attempt to move it on my own. So anyway, with the couple in the right place, I'd ask them to have a little kiss and cuddle in the background, which, funnily enough, they never seem to mind doing and to continue to cuddle while I take the photo. I told them not to look at the camera, but if they did look at the camera, the shot would be ruined, so I would remind them again to ignore me. Then I just get close to the cake and frame it. So it was on 1/3 give or take on with the couple in the background. It's a very easy shot to take, and as I said, it looks a little different, so it's quite effective. So how do you like that idea? Bye for now, 30. Course Conclusion: Well, that's the end of the course, folks. I hope you enjoyed it and learn lows from it. You now have the knowledge of the types of photos that a couple will love from each or at least most stages of the wedding day. But you know, no wording course come really provide you with that essential ingredient on that is experience. If you've never photographed a wedding before on our just a guest, then there's no pressure, as you can cherry pick some of these ideas to get a few great images that, crucially, are going to be different from those of other guests. Another possibility is that the couple of asked you to photograph the wedding in place of a pro photographer. In that case, take the responsibility seriously, as a couple might have been planning the wedding for a long time. So do make a plan on Remember the chronological order of events. I don't fixate on the gear. Plus, you should really have a backup camera body and flashed a hand. If you're just starting out in weddings, the more you do, the better you'll get. Pick out the ideas that you like best from this course you won't remember them all, but you can build up the ideas as your career progresses on. Finally, if you're already a seasoned professional wedding photographer, you may have well known must much of this information. But remember, they're just a few of these ideas will increase your repertoire and add more strings to your bow. Thanks very much for watching and goodbye. 31. The bride and groom standing and sitting in the car or carriage: hi again, sometimes typically in hotels. The whole wedding, including the ceremony, will be held under the one move. But if the wedding ceremony is at a different location to the wedding breakfast, the couple were usually travel by car or courage to the next venue, and that provides another opportunity for some more photos. The transport is often fairly elaborate, you know, like a posh car or horse drawn carriage, so you'll want to get photos of that. I used a variety of different styles that a traditional one with the bride and groom standing close to each other and showing off pretty much the whole car ID usually adjust the position or posing to had a bit of a variety on. So I'd have several shots in that style to show the couple. I'd also try other angles, usually showing off various bits of the car. If the background wasn't to my liking or was a bit cluttered, would switch to portray orientation. But usually I shoot these in landscape orientation. After I had the safe shot, I try something a little different, maybe getting in close, focusing on a particular detail, with the couple standing behind slightly out of focus. Here's one folky focusing on the ribbon tied to devote voice, the couple looking longingly longingly at each other behind his one, with couple resting on the door for a slight variation in the pose. My daughter hired an old fashioned boot master double decker bus for transport. So here she is, hanging off the platform on something different again from inside the car. I never really minded if the guests were in the flame, either. I didn't really like to usher them out of the way, but I would on occasion. So there's some standing up ones by the car. Then, shortly after, the couple will get in the car to say they're Fairhope farewells before heading off to the reception venue. Hostal like taking these mostly from the outside, looking into the car, because that's really where the stories, you know, they're leaving after the ceremony and saying, See you later to their friends and family. So if you take photos of them in the car like this, although the photos can be very nice and happy, you kind of lose the context of what they're actually doing in the car. Having said that, I would still take some like that, though if possible on I'd usually shoot with a wide angle lens. But generally I wanted to capture the bride and groom saying goodbye. The problem is that when they're sitting inside the car, there's quite a difference in the light between the bride, who's usually by the window on the group is further inside. So to get around that, I would ask the groom to come. Why over to the window? You generally get a terrific light on their faces like this because of the top shade effect of no light coming from above. It's all coming in from the side, obviously, in a convertible car, you don't have that problem differing light levels. Another problem might be that many of the guests might have been thirsty and would have already left for the wedding breakfast to get a drink or to use the toilet, the bridegroom might well be the last ones to leave, in that case, are tell them to pretend to pretend the guests were still there, and I just joke around, pretending to make noises from the non existent guests to keep the pretence up. They obviously had to look out away from the camera. After I take in those photos, I'd sometimes ask them toe wind the window up in order to get some nice reflections going. That was a bit hit and miss, but it's worth a try also, especially if they're still guests around. I'd go wider and take photos of the general scene and maybe of the car actually leaving if it was a convertible open carriage. I told him to put their arms out to wave as I drive off and take one from behind. Finally, here's one always loved. This couple were married in a church by golf course where the reception was taking place, and they're just heading off here in their golf cart. Notice I didn't zoom right in. I tried to pick up the various diagonal lines leading off to a vanishing point. It also better shows the context of the scene. Bye for now, 32. Ideas for photographing the groomsmen and bridesmaids: hi again in this lecture. I'll show you some of my ideas for capturing the groomsman on the blinds Might. Let's face it, there's loads of different ways of photographing these groups, so all I can really do show you some of the ways that I approached it. As always, it's important that everyone is in a good light on not facing the sun. Otherwise, they'll have horrible shadows on their faces and clothes. There'll be squinting, their eyes will be dark and light clothing will will be blown out. Also because of the general nature of groomsmen and bridesmaids, I think it works much better most of the time, anyway, at least to get some really good laughter going and consequently some great expressions. I'll start with the standard style off, just lining people up in a row. It's a very traditional formal kind of style, with everyone facing inwards and heart arms hanging down. Shame about the tree drunk in the middle or knew it was there and wanted to avoid it. But this was the best location I could find. Another, quite formal one. Unfortunately, lack of space determined the location, but great expressions, which helps to lift the image. Also notice that just as in the first image, people up the sides are turning inwards, this time with the hands in pockets with the some with the thumbs up. Similarly, with the bridesmaids and friends all facing inwards and leaning in as well to get their heads closer together. These bridesmaids and friends are also very close together and this time looking at each other, which is how I got some great expressions. Notice it's shot against the sun That can be a bit riskier, riskier if the sun is low due to the possibility of lens flare. But if you get it right, then you do get a beautiful room light around the hair and shoulders, which helps to separate them from the background. Here's a little sequence of the blinds. May's first more formal, holding the bow K's looking at the camera, then looking at each other, which generally makes for more natural looking expressions and then finally less for more without the flowers when they all had their arms behind each other on sometimes till the bridesmaids that on the count of three, they were to squeeze the bum of the person next to her that would sometimes result in some great laughter to get a less formal look. I used to ask people to turn in different directions, or at least to do something different, maybe also looking in looking in different directions. I would say that makes the images a little more relaxed looking. Men, especially feel more relaxed when leaning on something, so having them lean against a wall or pillar works well. I noticed there in different positions, same here in this image with them firing their jackets nonchalantly over their shoulders. Another trick I used a lot was to have the groom stand some way in front with the ushers or groomsman at the back, laughing and joking, maybe slightly out of focus. What was really after here was to get them relax and laughing. Sometimes they're just be some general banter on. It would be quite easy. Other times I ask the groomsmen to give me an exaggerated force laugh. Yeah, I asked him to look at the groom and pretend to laugh. Not typically there due to fake laugh, which would actually look fake and so not very good. But then, when that subsided, did start laughing and joking naturally and then snap. That's the picture I wanted, by the way, when bringing the groom forward on, make sure the ushers moved to decide to avoid the groom, obscuring one or two of them. Another option is to have them stacked behind each other with the groom sharply and focus. I'm not quite so keen on this style, because I think it looks odd when people that are out of focus are looking directly at the camera. But you know you might like it. Silliness sometimes worked well with the groomsmen lifting the groom. Okay, it is a bit of a cliche, but it's fun. Couples like it. Sometimes the bride gets involved, too, and people make great faces. Another idea is to put the groom in some good light and have his groomsmen turn and face him. There's always going to be some laughter when you do that. One other idea with possibilities is for the groom to lean against a wall and have a couple of ushers walked past him now. I only ever tried this one, so I couldn't find a blank wall to use, so it didn't turn out as well as I hoped it would it be better with a clean background. I use the slow shutter speed to blur the ushers and told the groomsmen to look away. And then, of course, there's the walking ones Reservoir Dogs style. This is quite a popular style amongst photographers, so you've probably seen these before, but I think I look great, quite easy to do. I use continuous focusing along with burst mode to take several photos and usually just lined everyone up and ask them to walk to walk towards May. I know that I say this a lot, but I might prefer it when they're looking and interacting with each other rather than looking on. Smiling at the camera just seems to look more natural to May. Plus, the expressions are generally better. For some of shots, I would occasionally get down low to bring in some blue sky. That always adds a nice touch to the image it blinds made to involved on. Sometimes ask him to lock arms. That way, they will stay together on. That works especially well when youngsters air involved as they sometimes get left behind if one youngster runs faster than another. Also, if they decide to run. It's better if they're hanging onto each other in some way, putting the guys into a V shape. Also, I works world with the groom is the leading man. Obviously, you've probably noticed I tilt the camera. Sometimes I tended to do that. If there were no strong verticals in the background, it helps to create a diagonal line from the line up. When asking the blinds to walk towards May, I would ask them to pretend to be models and swing their hips around on. Then, to everyone's amusement, I showed him exactly how to do it. Sometimes it works well and puts their bodies into a sexier shape. But even if they can't do it, they tend to have a good laugh, giving it a go. And on that happy No, I'll say bye for now. See you in the next video 33. The formal group photos - the families will always ask for these: hi again. Now we come to the fore more group photos, although these are important and will be requested by the families. I never did like to spend too long taking loads and loads of them. It just wasn't really what I personally wanted to offer in the way a professional wedding photography, and the couple would have known this when they originally booked May. So in the run up to the wedding, I would have asked the couple to provide a list of the must have group shots that they wanted and on politely request that they kept the numbers down to no more than, say, a dozen or so. I felt that any more than this, and there would just be too many photos of people lined up looking at the camera, just a record of who was there and what they were wearing. But this was my own way of doing things. Everybody is different, and most couples do like at least a few group for Moore's, so I would always do them when requested on. I would tackle them in pretty much the same way as the bride. For most as always, the most important thing is the light. So my priorities were good life on a good background, ideally, some distance away that was not too dark to avoid. Hair and men suits for blending into much with hedges and the trees if the sun was shining on, prefer to put the groups in shade. But sometimes a background wouldn't be suitable on, so I choose into the sun with some fill flash. Although the light on their faces would be smooth with a nice swim line, it's a little more risky. I'd have to be careful not to let the sun shine directly into the lens, obviously more difficult with a low sun, but perfect if I could stand in some shade myself. Generally, I would just lined people up in a bow or several those for a larger group, the bride and groom in the middle with people turn inwards towards them. If chairs were available, I'd get some people sitting down, which it looks a little more relaxed, but it really helps with posing larger groups because obviously you can see more of the people behind. If I had plenty of time, which was admittedly a little bit unusual, I might do something a bit more fancy by spreading people out, having them sit or lean on things. This can look good, but I always take the lion up time shot as well, just to be on the safe side. Once I was done, some of the other guests would continue to take photos, and I'd usually come on to decide to get a shot from a different angle. That's a bit of variety for larger groups. You need to get higher up to avoid people at the back disappearing altogether. I'd quite often go to an upstairs bedroom and hanging out the window or use a step ladder is a photo of me jokingly barking orders before taking a group shot. By the way, this is know how I usually dressed. This is my daughter's wedding. It can be difficult managing large groups. Not everyone plays along, and it can take a while to position everyone. And even then, some people stubbornly refused to move, so you just have to do the best you can. Each one of them is going to be very small in the photo anyway. One last word about the settings are generally used, an aptitude of around F 5.6 or F A for the smaller groups and F 11 for the larger groups. That way you get a wide depth of filled, ensuring their ward in focus, but also use a small amount of fill flash generally dying the flash down to maybe one point minus 1.7 power life now. 34. Bride by a window – flatter her with soft light: hi again, the timing's and logistics of weddings very, quite a bit from one country to another. But here in the UK, once the bride is ready and her hair and makeup look beautiful and she has a dress on quite often she's now planning a little late for the church or so many of them. Now. That means from the time she's decided she's ready until she leaves the house or hotel them , there's often very little time to take photos in other countries is possibly more time allowed. And I think I'm right in saying that in some countries the dried can even see the groom before the so money. That doesn't happen in the UK it's meant to bring bad luck. So if you have more time, that's great. But this particular set piece idea on the next few in the house can be done very quickly and without taking up too much of the dried stein. So with that in mind, I used to have to plan ahead on what quickly, once the blyde was ready. First I would ask her to sit or stand while large window. I love window like it's a large light source so provides a lovely soft light. And that's really key to this idea, a beautiful soft light that will really flatter the blood and address. Now I'd make sure that sunlight wasn't streaming in. Sits on a sunny day. I choose a south facing window ID, usually positioned, applied about three or four feet from the window. Not too close. Otherwise, would be too much contrast between the lips side on the shadow side of her face and dress to avoid the detail in address getting blown out, I turn her body away from the window by about 30 45 degrees. Now, in doing that, the light will fall across the dress, bring out bringing out the texture in the fabric. In this position, her face will go a little darker. She may be facing into the room, so to get a lovely light on the face and to put her body into a nice position on, ask her to look out the window or turn her head slightly towards the light. One problem with any poultry is what the subject should do with their hands. Usually, I prefer, if the blood was resting on something or holding something so in this post are normally suggests she pretends to fix her earrings or hold of okay, or or maybe even the Ravel. Sometimes I might close the curtains or blinds so that it was just a small gap between them , producing a kind of narrow shaft of light, and then move closer to the window to get a more contrast, e or moody Look. As you can see, that could look very effective. In the majority of these photos, a bride would be looking toward the light and I wouldn't need a reflector. But for this shots, where she looked straight at the camera, argues a reflector, or are somebody else in the room toe? Hold a reflector for me just to provide some feel like the position of deflector should be to one side and underneath. Don't position it right opposite the window. Otherwise it will just light up the shadow side of her face and create a flatter light. So that's it. Very easy to do as we got exposure on this one. I'd always exposed for the lips side of her face so as not to blow out any detail. When I had the bride on her own near some nice light, but sometimes just take a few quick, close up shots that these could look really great, especially if she had a vow that she could place over her face. Close ups on the bed with are lying down on a fun can also provide a great look. I usually made sure to remove any clatter or boxes that on the bed, and sometimes I shoot for my high angle for a nice effect, Bye for now. 35. Photographing the first dance: hi again. I used to charge her weddings on the basis of the amount of coverage on the type of photo album the couple required. Now not being a youngster anymore. I didn't exactly encourage couples to book the coverage to include the first dance, and that's because by the time the music started, I was starting to feel a bit exhausted. So because of that and because of the extra cost involved, photographing the first dance wasn't something I did regularly. But we're not. Did do them is how I approached it are set up one speed light on a stand high up off to one side of the dance floor, on towards the back, pointing towards the dance floor. No modifier. Just a bare flash on my camera would use a flash set on low power just to open up the shadows a little from the front. What I wanted to avoid was blasting the area with light, which would have the effect of turning the photos into simple snapshots. The flash on the camera would also be set using Nickens Creative Lighting System CLS system to fire the remote flash, and I could change the power of the remote flash from the camera position, if necessary on the camber, I'd use a higher I so to bring in some of the ambient light, because I wanted to show some of the surroundings, but not for the surroundings to be too bright. So typically the camera settings would be something like aperture F four s 0 800 shutter speed, 60th of a second. Our experiment with the remote flash power before the dancing started To get a rough idea of the correct power setting, I'd ask a friendly usher to keep close by the light stand to stop people tripping over it, especially, as is often Children running around at the time. So that was a set up. It was a little hit and miss. I never really know what I was going to get, but I'd usually capture a couple of good images, at least sometimes more a lot, depending on how the couple danced on their position on the dance floor, you can clearly see the effect of the remote flash. What I was looking for was that lovely kind of room lighting around their hair or hint of light on their faces. The on camera flash was just enough to lift the light on their faces without them being over lit. Sometimes the less you like something, the more interesting if it becomes bye for now. 36. Photographing relaxedphotos of the groom and his best man: hello again in this video. We'll take a look at how I approach photographing the groom and his best man. I found that a good time to take their photos was immediately after taking the groom on his own. In fact, quite often the best man would have been standing next to May. Well, I did those shots on. He may even have been helping May to get good reactions from the groom, so it was easy to then just say, Okay, let's get the both of you together now. I would normally start off by just getting them to stand together, facing inwards on putting their weight on one leg or the other. Usually, the expressions wouldn't be great right off the bat, but would continue to chat with them on, joke around a bit, maybe ask the best man a few questions about the groom. How long have you known each other? Who do you think is more handsome? Who would win if you had a fire? I know it's like I'm seven years old again, right? But I don't really care. I'd make myself look silly to get a reaction on may be a laugh, just asking them to look at each other sometimes gets good reactions. They usually make faces at each other straight away, on on Click away, knowing that I'd be deleting those images later. But once the real silliness subsides subsides, there's often some great natural smiles and some laughs. I was feel your capturing Maura people Israel personalities when they're interacting with someone else and not the camera opposing them a little further away from each other could not good to maybe have them lean against a wall or against pillars. On the odd occasion, I'll ask the best man to go much further back and take a close up of the groom with the best man slightly out of focus on the back that create a completely different type of look . If I hadn't caught a walking toward me when they arrived, I might just ask them to give me a quick walk just to pretend not caught them unawares. As they arrived at the church. The one show I always avoided was with them shaking hands and looking at the camera that was just too cheesy for my taste. Although having said that, I did have one taken of myself with my own brother at my wedding. Oh, dear boy, for now, 37. Photographing the wedding breakfast speeches: hi again. I used to really enjoy taking photos of the speeches. There's plenty of time to get it right. And of course, they can be great fun, depending on the light. Levels are normally used a high I. So between around 816 100 with maybe a touch of fill in flash bounced off a wall. Just Azzan the rest of the wedding. I will shoot two speeches in manual mode, usually with an aperture for the work speeches around F four on a shutter shutter speed of around 125th of a second. Give or take, the light doesn't usually change, so once you get the get to the correct settings, you can generally leave them there. Obviously, you'll want to check them every now and again to make sure all is OK. I never did do anything elaborate, like setting up off camera flashes to get a more dramatic light or anything like that. For one thing, you never really know where where people are going to be standing, but mainly because, for me, the speech is all about capturing the emotions, usually laughter but sometimes solemn moments. And it's not just the person who's making a speech but also capturing the reactions of the guests. So here's some examples. Sometimes I'd get in closer to whoever was giving a speech, but I really ever photographed them on their own. I'd prefer to get in at least one other person who was maybe reacting to the speech. Generally speaking, aren't you wider to take in other people's reactions? I'd wait with my finger half pressed on the shutter button, just waiting, waiting for the right moment. It wasn't difficult because obviously, I could hear the speech myself and so I could judge the times when a good reaction was about to happen. On when it did, I was ready. Click. It's also quite easier this thing, this time to move around and shoot from different angles. If you stay in the same spot, then there won't be too much for a variety between the images to show some of the atmosphere in the room, but also photographed the guests laughing and clapping again. You have to pick your moment. It's also a good idea to get to know which guests are closer to the couple on, get some shots of them. Otherwise you end up taking photos of a distant cousin I haven't seen for years and was only invited to invoke to avoid any arguments. Here's one with the groom's grandparent's. I know he loves that shot because Ben's my stepson and his granddad is sadly no longer with us on many occasions. The top table, as we call it in the UK that is a table with the immediate family on it is a long table rather than around one. For a more dramatic photo, I put on my fish islands, which, by the way, is that Nick on 10.5 lens and I position myself just two or three feet in front of the speaker. The family on the table would not realize they were going to be in the photo, so they wouldn't bother looking at May or playing up for the camera. This was a great way of getting some really natural reactions of everyone at the table all at once. Obviously, the straight table would appear semi circular, but that didn't matter. It's a good idea to have two camera boarded here with different focal lens that allows you to add variety to the compositions. Still using a fish, I would place the camera in tow live mode so I could flame the shot via the LCD on the back , raise the camera above my head and take a few shots from a higher angle on from different vantage points. Every down again, usually, but not always. During the Best Man speech, someone will bring out an object of some significance. It might be a large photo of the groom is a youngster or, as in this case, the groom in a sexy man, Keeney, complete with Afro wig. Here's a life sized cardboard cutout Ben when he went out dressed as a flamenco dancer on his stag night in Barcelona. So if someone brings out a special object, it's important to catch that moment. As you know, it might be fleeting, so there's not too much more to say about capturing the speeches, wait for those great moments and be ready for them when they arrive, as they surely will include more than just a speaker. But getting close for the old photo to add variety. Quite often, there's a tender moment. Just a za speech comes to its conclusion. The bride or groom or brother or sister may get up to hug the speaker. It's quite common, but it's generally over in seconds. So if you have, if you have to start fiddling with camera settings, you'll have missed it. So anyway, I hope you liked a few of those tips. Bye for now. See you in the next video. 38. Dramatic image of bride and groom in the church doorway: Hello again. My in this video. I want to show you a simple idea for getting a wonderful dramatic image. Just that is the couple are leaving the church. The general idea is to stop them in the doorway of the church. Justus, they're about to leave and get a shot of them from behind shooting towards the light. Now the difficulty with this show is getting in the right position in the first place. Maybe it was just a particular weddings I went to, but I had to be quick and made sure I was directly behind the couple as they were about to leave the church. Sometimes the congregation would follow them very quickly down the aisle, and I would be stuck behind the crowd. So careful planning was required just to ensure I didn't have to barge my way food a crowd , by which time the couple might have exited the church. Now you often see photos like this of the bride and groom in front of the church door in a four more time. Oppose. That's the kind of photo they would normally expect. There's two problems with this type of photo, although the light on their faces will be lovely due to them being in open shade. The background is likely to go quite dark on blend in with the groom suit. More importantly, there will be people milling around in the background, and that will sport a photo a little. So when I first did this shot, I just asked a couple Just stand in the doorway. I was. I was pleased with the light, but not in the static way they were standing. So for my next weddings, I got the couple toe hold hands on, look at each other or kiss lightly. That pose looks a lot better on more relaxed. Just look at the beautiful light you can get by shooting them from behind towards the light . Sometimes, if you're lucky, you can get a great light on the doors on on the ground to sure the background will go very white and you could rectify that. But using exposure, bracketing to take several photos and maybe do some HDR processing later on. I never did, though also I was always conscious of the fact died half the congregation standing behind me at this point, just hoping that I would hurry up, so I didn't want to spend too long in this short messing about with camera. Settings are chewed fairly wide on from a low camera angle to make the most of the bride's dress. And to get a more dynamic perspective, I always ask them to face each other slightly. That way I would often get just a hint of light on the edges of their faces, which adds to the overall look. Exposure for this type of image can be a bit tricky. As with all that light coming in, Just using aperture planete could give you wildly varying results, depending on how you find the image. So when I first arrived at the church, I used to take a few sneaky test shots of anybody who happened to be standing there just to get some ballpark settings in my head. Then, as always, our Jews manual mode for the proper shots. Even if the light had changed between times, I still had a good starting point for the settings. Anyway, I hope you like this idea. There's still plenty more to come, so stay tuned. Bye for now,