Photographing a Wedding

When you are first starting out you shouldn't charge anything for your photography just ask for recommendations if they like your work. A grey card or other method to make sure your photographs are properly exposed. Before the wedding day arrives you need to sit down with the couple and make a list of any pictures that they would like taken, along with the common wedding photographs (do a search for wedding photography lists). Remember on this special day family members that are not seen often will be there so take lots of pictures of family with and with out the bride.

An hour or so before the wedding you would want to set up with the bride to go where she is getting ready and get some candid and posed photographs of her getting ready. If you have a friend photographer you could ask for there help to go photograph the groom at this moment, you may want their help catching extra photos you may miss at the ceremony also. Hurry after catching the photographs of bride getting ready to get to wear the ceremony location you want to be there before wedding party. Set up to catch the bridal party entering the location and walking the isle. During the ceremony there are lots of photographs that should be caught and you should have the list to make sure you catch them all.

After ceremony is over catch the party leaving the building and try to catch some special photographs of bride and groom leaving location, used posed photos if needed, these will make a great ending to the album. When you are done with the ceremony you will need to have a location set up to take the wedding party pictures, either at the location wedding was done or a nearby park or garden depending on time of year. Keep the parents and possibly grand parents around for these pictures with bride and groom. Now you need to rush over to the banquet center to beat the bridal party there.

When the bridal party arrives at the banquet hall you will want to catch photographs of them entering and the bridal table. You need to go around and catch photographs of each table to record the guests for this special day. Now you wait for the toast and speeches that will the next pictures. You have the dances, cutting of the cake (try to get them smearing the cake on each other), dollar dance. The wedding is just the beginning of your job after all photos are taken you need to go through and find the best and do some minor editing. Next you need to decide weather you are printing the photographs yourself or sending to a professional lab. I find that although an extra cost the professional lab is worth the money I use JD Photo lab, or MPix.com both do very excellent job and mail pictures to you. With JD Photo lab you get a free program to upload your pictures and do miner editing this does a great job of making your photographs look professional.