Planning Ahead For Ideal Photos

A little bit of planning can go a long way to help your photos turn out their best! Of course, hiring the right photographer is paramount, so first off take the time to get to know your chosen photographer and make sure their style and personality matches with the style of images that you are looking for. Once you have a great photographer, there are still things you can do to ensure that the photos turn out great. Here is a checklist of things to take into consideration:

Lighting:

The thing that affects photos the most, is the quality of lighting when the photo is taken. There are several things to consider depending on if your wedding in indoors or outdoors.

For indoor weddings: Plan ahead to visit the wedding location and make note of the lighting in the room. Is it fluorescent lighting? Are there any windows? Which way do they face? North, South? Any skylights? Also make sure and look for a suitable dressing room as the “getting ready” photos are an important part of the wedding day. The ideal room lighting is to have a large, north facing window. Although your photographer will probably bring a flash or some kind of lighting, it doesn't beat the soft look of natural light.

If you don't have access to a dressing room with a large north facing window, but do have a window, check what time of day it gets direct sunlight. If you will be getting ready when the sun is directly shining in the window, see if you can get a set of sheer curtains to hang to diffuse the direct sun.

No windows? Be creative with other light sources like candles and lamps throughout the room. See what you can do to brighten the place up!

For outdoor weddings:

Planning an outdoor wedding in Vancouver can be tricky. Even in the summer you could possibly get rain! The ideal lighting for photos when shooting outdoors is a slightly overcast day. Too much sun will give high contrast between the sunny and shadowy areas, so although sun may be great for your guests, don't worry if you get clouds or even rain, as the photos may just turn out better! Plan to bring a large white umbrella, even in the summer. If the wedding is outdoors, you can't be too cautious. If it rains, we can still get some great shots with a white umbrella keeping you dry. And, if it's super sunny, we could use it to give you some shade if there are no sources of shade nearby (such as at a beach).

Timing:

The more time you allot for your photos the more time you'll have to become relaxed in front of the camera and the better the photos will turn out. This is true especially for your romantic couple portraits.

Many times brides plan too little time for photography, or when things run late, the time for photos is the first to be cut down.

If you can afford to allow 2 to 3 hours for your couples portraits that would be ideal. Group shots can usually be done well in about 45 minutes. (For groups of more than 20 this should be increased.)

The best time of the day for your photos is in the morning or the early evening (especially if sunny). This is so the sun is not directly overhead causing dark shadows under the eyes. If it's overcast, the time of day is less important. If you are planning an afternoon wedding, and you have a few hours in between the ceremony and the reception, this could be the perfect time to schedule some time for your couple portraits.

Guest Photography:

We welcome friends and family to take photos during your wedding, but there are some things you should know about that can happen. There is a very real possibility that if you have many guest photographers taking photos along side us that their flashes may ruin a portion of the photos we take for you. Flashes firing at the same time as ours, or while our camera's light meter is reading exposure, can cause over and underexposure of our images. So, while we aren't going to shoo away any of your friends or family, we recommend that you ask them ahead of time not to use their flash when standing next to us (or your hired photographer) and not to use their flash at critical moments when they can see we are about to take a shot, like during the first kiss or ring exchange. These are moments we would like to make sure we capture professionally for you.

If you haven't sent out invitations already, you could add a little note such as “Please be mindful of our hired photographer! Be careful not to use your flash if you are close to the photographer or at a critical time during the wedding.”

Preparing for Group and Family Photos: Creating a list of the photos you want ahead of time is usually a good idea, even for small families/groups. This list can help ensure that we don't miss any important photos on the day. Select a person who knows your friends and family (but is not in the wedding party if possible) and give a copy of your list them. Give them the 'job' of organizing the people for each shot. (It seems logical to give your list to the photographer, but they will probably not be able to recognize any of your friends and family, so they would have to go around calling out names – something most will not want to do!) If you have an outdoor wedding, and our going to have group photos outside, select a place with enough shade for everyone to fit. Partial shade, or broken shade through trees doesn't work well for the images. Flat shade (say, beside a building) is best.

For more wedding planning tips visit TeamWedding.ca - A Canadian wedding planning website.