Planning Your Photography
Planning your wedding photography
1.1
Introduction
Most
people agree that the choice of wedding photographer is an important decision.
Hours are spent looking at websites, telephoning and meeting prospective
photographers.
The
choice of wedding photographer is however only one decision to be made of
many. Each will affect your photographs and ultimately, how pleased you are
with the results.
The
good news for the couple is that this means there is much they can do to
improve the probability they will be happy with their photographs other than
spend more money on a photographer. The bad news is that lack of attention to
these areas can cause even the best photographer to produce less than optimal
results.
For
the best results, your wedding photography should be considered during the
overall wedding planning process. There are a number key factors relating to
wedding photography you should be aware of which are explained below.
It
isn't necessary to follow this guide to the letter, part of the skill of
wedding photography is trying to get the best pictures out of the venue,
weather, light and timings the photographer is given to work with, but being
aware of these factors in your planning stages can help influence a positive
result.
If
your short of time, you can skip straight to the Summary
here.
2.1
Light
Photography,
at it’s very heart, is all about light.
Light
has qualities other than the level of brightness, light can also be hard or
soft, warm or cool, it also has qualities of direction and shape. It is the
quality of the available light that is likely to affect your wedding
photographs over any other factor.
2.2
Time of Day / Year
So
how can the properties of light be incorporated into a wedding plan? The first
aspect to consider is the time of sunset on your wedding day. Sunset times are
predictable and are published in many places such as the website link below. http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneYear.html.
|
Basingstoke
– January 2003
|
|
Date
|
Sunrise
|
Sunset
|
|
24
|
7:54
am
|
4:40
pm
|
|
25
|
7:52
am
|
4:42
pm
|
|
26
|
7:51
am
|
4:44
pm
|
It
is worth noting that natural light provides a much better main light source
than photographic flash and wherever possible, should be used. Please also
note that light levels start to fall an hour before sunset, gradually making
photography without flash impossible. It is advisable therefore, to aim to
have the photographs finished at least an hour before sunset where possible.
2.3
Harshness / Softness of Light - How your venue choice affects the quality of
light.
Another
aspect to consider is the harshness or softness of the light. Direct sunlight
is often too harsh, leaving dark shadows under your eyes and noses and causing
you to squint. While it is possible to lessen the effect of these shadows
using an on camera flash, such a small device can not possibly hope to compete
with the power of the sun on a clear sunny day!
When
choosing your venue, look for a venue with Leafy tree’s can be used to
soften or ‘diffuse’ the light. This helps remove harsh shadows and the
appearance of wrinkles and blemishes are removed. Pleasant buildings that can
be accessed from 3 sides, church archways or other man made structures can be
used to create shade. It is often best to avoid flat open spaces devoid of
trees in summer, direct light without cloud cover can cause 'hotspots' on your
dress, an area where detail can not be recorded as the contrast range is
higher than that which can be recorded on film or digital equipment.
2.4 Natural Vs Artificial Light
- Inside your venue.
Every source of
light has a colour 'temperature' which will create its own colour cast on your
images.
We think of
natural daylight as 'white' light, Other sources of
light such as tungsten (household bulbs), fluorescent, sodium and even candle
or fire light have a different colour. Tungsten
produces a strong Orange/Yellow colour cast on daylight balanced film and
Fluorescent lights produces an eerie and sickly Green colour cast. Candle,
fire and sodium light all produce differing shades of Orange / Yellow.
While it’s
possible to correct for a single artificial light source, particularly with
digital, it is not possible to accurately correct for a mix of
different light sources, when both light sources are visible in the frame.
This can also be a problem where the flash is bounced of a coloured ceiling or
walls, the reflected lights takes on some of the colour of the surface it is
reflected from which can affect the colour in the overall picture.
It is best to
avoid artificial light sources wherever possible, and plan to have all of the
photography taken in natural daylight.
Little things
like serving drinks and canapés outside will encourage your guests to gather
in your venues grounds, rather than inside the bar area.
When planning
for wet weather when it will be necessary to shoot indoors, a venue with a
neutral colour scheme is preferable. White is ideal, but failing that a light
cream or magnolia is also fine as the reflected light will take on a warm
colour which can be very pleasing. Venues with Red or Green painted ceilings
and walls can produce strong colour casts.
The worst type
of venue for indoor photography has either very high or very low ceilings and
is cladded in dark Oak. Dark Wood paneling soaks up light, both available and
flash.
Sometimes
working under artificial light is unavoidable, one work around to this problem is
to use Black & White, where colour casts are less of an issue, or choose a
reportage style of photography where a single person can be lit successfully
with an on camera flash.
3.
Planning for time
Many couples
underestimate the amount of time it takes to photograph a wedding, typically
it takes around 3 minutes to arrange each group photograph, the time is spent
in gathering up your guests who are often reluctant to take part or have
disappeared into the bar, their hotel room, or are just unresponsive to
calls. Many will wait until 'everybody else' is ready, causing further delay
as everybody waits for everybody else!
To get a good
body of reportage shots also takes time, as I don't snap away at anything but
survey your guests and capture key events and true emotions as they unfold.
It's rather like editing a home video, you still have to watch the whole tape
in order to isolate the highlights.
It is worth
bearing in mind that you usually pay your photographer to be in attendance
until a certain time. To get the best out of your photographer use that time
to your advantage.
How much time
you spend from your day on photography is a balancing act. Allocate more time
and it is almost certain your will be rewarded with better photographs,
however, you will want to have fun and enjoy the day. One good way to
achieve this balance is have a limited selection of group photographs, for
example around 10 and then have reportage shots taken which do not require active
participation.
Importantly, if
we can only just squeeze in the shots you require into the time frame
available, it does not allow any time for us to delay the group photographs
for 30 minutes in the hope that a rain shower will stop.
4.1
Quality Vs Quantity
Its only logical
that given a set time frame, the more tasks that need to be completed the less
time can be taken per task. It is therefore advisable to limit the number of
group photographs you ask for. While I'm certainly happy to shoot whatever you
request, it only stands to reason that given a smaller number of tasks I am
able to try out different angles and viewpoints and arrangements to see what
works best.
From experience,
where my clients have asked for a mixture of group photographs and reportage,
it has worked best where the number of group photographs has been limited to
around 10. Often I've been asked to do 30-45, which generally means not only are
we unable to change backgrounds and compose the groups carefully, but there is
not sufficient time for properly considered reportage and these have to be
rushed, rather than waiting to capture special moments.
5.1
Your Requirements
The amount of
time actually needed for photography varies greatly depending on your
requirements.
Reportage style
photography will take up less of your time than traditional, as you are left
to pretty much to talk to your friends and the photographer works around you.
It is however always worth having at some formal portraits and group
shots taken as even brides who were are not keen on traditional styles tend to
choose these for their albums and to have framed and enlarged.
In Traditional
Photography it is really the larger group shots that take a lot of time.
Smaller groups including the bridal couple, brothers, sisters and parents work
well but the larger the group, the more the set-up time increases
exponentially as the greater the chance we are left waiting for one or more
people.
A lot of work
can be done with the actual bride and groom in a relatively short space of
time compared to the group type photographs as it is nearly all productive
time. This is worth remembering when planning your requirements.
Bear in mind the
more creative photographs and varied backdrops you require, the longer the
photography will take, moving people around and moving between locations.
A good way to
speed the group photographs up is to:
-
Know exactly
in advance what group shots you want taken and compile a list.
-
Give copies
of your list to the photographer and to an usher from each family side who
are to be responsible for rounding up guests. While I can certainly call
for guests, it's much quicker (and less noisy!) if a family member who
knows the guests by name and sight to round them up. This also allows
guests to be rounded up while I'm organising a group, so they are already
gathered and ready to go once I've finished the previous group.
-
Keep groups
to the bare minimum, smaller groups up to 8 people can be arranged fairly
quickly.
-
Where
possible avoid large extended groups. A popular request is a shot of
everybody from a high window which I'm happy to do, but remember these
take the longest time to set up and with large groups peoples faces are
very small in the final picture they are sometimes only just discernable!
Its also impossible to marshal people into a very tidy grouping from the high
window so we usually just ask for a rough grouping here.
6.1 The choice of venue
Is it to be a
church wedding or civil service? Often the hotels that civil service weddings
take place in often provide a much more photographic area in which to work
than a church which is often on a strip of land surrounded by gravestones.
How does the
vicar or registrar at this venue feel about photography during the service? Do
they allow the throwing of confetti? Some do not even allow photography during
the service!
In the late
Autumn and Winter civil service ceremonies held at the reception venue have
the advantage that the precious before sunset in the afternoon is not taken up
traveling between venues. This leaves more time for photography before it gets
too dark. In Summer with later sunsets this is not an issue.
Generally single
venue weddings are more favorable for photography than multiple venue
weddings. This is because:
-
No time is
left unproductive traveling between venues.
-
There is
generally time before the service to shoot details such as flowers and
table decorations at the venue.
-
Should the
bride be running behind schedule (the norm!) rather than waiting
unproductively I'm able to go away for 15 minutes and shoot guests
arriving, detail shots, the groom before the service etc. This isn't
possible at a multiple venue wedding.
-
Large hotel
rooms generally offer more opportunities than a home which is often
cluttered and untidy in the run up to the wedding!
-
Single
Wedding venues usually have much more photogenic grounds than churches.
-
Registrars
are usually more tolerant of photography than vicars and priests who are
often very anti-photography, banning it all together during the service in
some cases.
When choosing a
venue, look out for Light and neutral coloured rooms, dark wood paneled or
heavily coloured rooms tend to absorb the flash and natural light, resulting
in poor photographic conditions. Lots of window light is a real bonus, as is
an area that can cleared and lit to take photographs indoors should it be
raining outside.
Ideal venue:
-
Beautiful
grounds close to house with different architectural/landscape features,
fountains etc.
-
Mature trees
to provide shaded areas. Shade is very important.
-
3 beautiful
sides rather than a nice customer facing side and then the rest ugly. This
can be useful in finding shade, particularly in autumn and winter when
trees have no leaves.
-
Separate
rooms for the service and meal, so that should the weather be poor, the
service room can be cleared and group photographs taken indoors if
necessary.
-
White or
neutral coloured decor, slightly 'warm' colours such as cream or magnolia
are also fine as these reflect natural light and flash well without
imparting a distracting colour cast on to the light. Avoid venues with
strong colour schemes in Green and Blue as these can colour reflected
light adding a Green or Blue cast to your pictures. Red is probably the
lesser evil of the three primary colours, as a 'warm' colour the cast
sometimes produced is not unattractive. While often these colour casts can
be filtered out and corrected, at least to a large degree, it is better to
avoid them if possible.
-
Large
windows flooding the venue with wonderful natural and directional light.
-
Consistent
lighting technology, all tungsten, halogen or sodium rather than a wild
mix.
-
Ceilings
between 10 and 20 feet high, painted white.
Poor Venue:
-
Little or no
grounds.
-
Little shade
available.
-
Single room
for service and reception, leaves nowhere to shoot indoors if weather is
poor.
-
Dark wood
paneling and ceilings and walls which looks great, but can absorb a lot of
light and impart a colour cast to light reflecting off it.
-
Little
ambient light.
-
Small
windows.
-
Mixed
lighting, tungsten in some places, halogen somewhere else.
-
Dark, Green
or Blue colour decor.
-
ceilings
under 8 feet and over 20 feet high.
In
Perspective
It should be
stated that the above ideals are just that, ideals. Many wedding venues are of
the old barn or period hotel and in that era they often were built with small
windows and wood paneling and its usually still possible to shoot in them in a
similar way to the ideal venue. Usually its just a case of having to use a
shallower depth of field (the depth from front to back an image is sharp,
which I usually choose to be quite shallow anyway) and a higher ISO. At very
high ISO's more 'noise' can be evident in the pictures, but modern digital
cameras have gotten incredibly good at handling noise now and even moderately
at moderately high ISO the noise is perfectly acceptable, around the same
level it was for average ISO's only a couple of years ago in fact!
Occasionally,
and very rarely, if lots of the factors above come together and
transpire it may be necessary to shoot using a different style, such as using
additional lighting or a tripod, which doesn't suit the more informal style of
photography.
7.1
The Dress
The human eye
can see a wider range of tones than can ever be represented in a photograph
due to the limits of film and digital sensors.
A brides
brilliant White dress combined with a grooms jet Black
suit can result in a sufficient range of tones that film or a digital
sensor is unable to retain detail in the groom black suit while still
retaining details in the brides dress.
This contrast
can be lowered by the groom wearing a Grey, rather than Black suit.
8.1
The Car
Bearing in mind
that as a photographic print produced either digitally or using film can
simply not display as many colours as our eyes see, many shades of a
particular colour are ‘compressed’ into fewer shades.
With the above
in mind in order for the bride to stand out against the wedding car it is
advisable to avoid White cars if you want photographs beside the car and our
wearing a white dress..
In summary there
is a lot the couple can do to influence the look of their wedding photographs
other than by choosing a particular photographer.
As light is the
single most important aspect of photography and light varies by the date and
time of time of day, one of the single most important factors a couple can make in
relation to wedding photography is the date and time of their wedding.
The choice of
venue will also have a large bearing on the quality and quantity of light.
Always try to plan to
have your photographs taken in natural light.
Couples can also
significantly improve the quality of their wedding photographs by allowing the
photographer time in which to work. There is no point in hiring an expensive
photographer and then not utilising the time you have paid for or forcing them
to rush and not use their creative talent.
The choice of
venue is also important. A photographer can only work with the location he is
given. When choosing a venue, it is a huge bonus if the venue has a
conservatory or a well lit room that could be used to photograph should the
weather be poor outside. It's important to have shady areas outside to lower
contrast and prevent squinting on a sunny day.
Copyright: Brian
Parkes 2003-2007