Best tips for getting camera on your big day
As a wedding photographer, I am often met with many surprises and challenges. You have to be ready for any and all situations, any kind of weather and be able to shoot in places that may even resemble a small prison cell and still make it look good.
Many couples love those “getting ready” photos where it shows the before and after of putting on the make-up, getting the dresses and tuxes on, and all of the candid moments in between. If you would like these photos to be bright and cheery or even full of spacious glamour, my suggestion to you is to think about where these photos are going to be.
Choose a great space
Do you want that photo of your mother and all of your bridesmaids fawning over you and spreading out your dress? or one of you looking out a big picture window filled with light? If so, think about the room you and your gals will be getting ready in. Often times it is a hotel room and the bride may or may not have visited it before hand. We all know what happens in a hotel room full of women trying to get ready, it ends up looking like a pack of hyena’s on a zebra buffet bender. Food, clothes and make-up get strewn from one end of the room to the other. So if you can, try and visit the hotel room before hand and determine how much space it has, does it have any natural light? Will you be able to control the hyena’s and ask them to try and keep the room somewhat respectable? (Hard I know!) If those getting ready photos are important to you, then seek out a bright spacious area.
De-clutter
What if you can’t be in a big gorgeous room, but you still want those vanity fair type photos? Well, the best suggestion I can offer you is that no matter what the size of the space, keep it de-cluttered. Clutter shows up rather easily in photos. Tuck away that pair of socks and undies flung over the back of the chair, toss out those used tissues and potato chip bags, put the beer bottles and half filled wine glasses away. (but keep them close by as I am sure you will need them later.) Often these are things the bride and groom overlook with the millions of things they had to think about when planning the wedding.
Go out-side
If for any reason you and your photographer feel like you are just not getting those shots you want in your tiny, dark getting ready space, it is usually no big deal to go down to the hotel lobby or out in the yard or other spacious room of the house to grab a few shots. Remember, there is usually always a way to make something out of nothing when it comes to photography, but to make your life and your photogs life a little easier try and be a tidy bride/groom and your photos will shine and you’ll be camera ready!
