Bridal Photography: What’s So Different From The Bride’s Point Of View
Choosing the correct photographer for what is constantly touted as the most important day of a woman's life is important because the photographs will be second only to memories in reliving that special day. For the most part, the success of the wedding photographs is out of the hands of the bride, but there are a few things the bride-to-be can do to ensure proper photographs for the sake of posterity.
Pre-wedding - Make It Sparkle!
A pre-wedding photo shoot will have the most influence on the success of her wedding photographs, and consequently is the most important activity to put in the preparation agenda. This is because, while the photographer so carefully selected is completely comfortable on his or her side of the camera, the bride is usually a novice as being the subject of countless images.
This being said, the more time the bride-to-be spends in front of the camera, the more comfortable she becomes with being the object du jour. The stronger the rapport is between photographer and subject, the better the pictures will be on the big day. The bride will be more relaxed during the practice run because it does not carry the stigma of being the most important day of her life.
The bride-to-be needs to have fun, relax, laugh, act crazy and let the photographer observe her charms and quirks through his or her viewfinder. The better the photographer knows the true personality of the bride, the better he or she can gauge when to take the most meaningful pictures, which are the ones that do not take hours to set up, and only happen once.
Finding The Right Pose
Any professional photographer worthy of capturing precious wedding memories should be able to pose the bride, as well as any other subjects in the frame, in an attractive and expedient way. There are many different contortions the subjects in photographs are required to perform and they all have a perfectly logical reason.
Tilting the chin up will reduce, if not banish, any undesirable double chin. Similarly, the bride's torso width appears reduced and her bust accentuated by holding her elbows away from her body. Another posing trick is to have the bride shift her weight to her rear foot so her hips align in a way that gives her a sexy, curvaceous figure.
The aforementioned tricks are but a smattering of the numerous posing requests that a photographer can pull from his or her bag of tricks. By listening and following the directions of the photographer, the bride will be posed in ways most flattering to her and the other subjects in the photos. Trust the photographer, because the results will be well worth the seemingly endless routine of contortions.
Hair and Make-up!
The wedding rehearsal is a necessary activity that is designed to familiarize the bridal party with the venue, as well as relax some of the tension and nervousness that are natural when people are facing the unknown. That being said, the wedding day is not the day to experiment with hair and make-up, so a rehearsal of that ilk is recommended and should be required. It could save the bride unnecessary embarrassment and stress on the actual wedding day.
This hair and make-up rehearsal is the time to make sure any hairpieces like clips, tiaras and veils can successfully be coupled with the planned hairstyle. Also, if time allows, the photographer might be able to take some of the formal photographs of the bride and get familiar with the dos and don'ts of the bride's particular hair and make-up selections.
What About Props?
The bride needs to give the photographer to tools needed to be creative. A good idea is to order a single rose, an extra corsage, boutonniere, ribbon or other inexpensive items when placing the order for all of the other floral necessities.
These extras will give the photographer props and spurn creativity for the photographs. Also, save a wedding invitation for the photographer to incorporate into some of the detail shots on the big day. Images of wedding rings with flowers, invitation, garter, shoes and other personalized items can make for a more specialized wedding album.
The Wonderful Boquet
Brides are always concerned with the proper way to hold the bouquet. As any photographer would say, the answer to that concern is simple: down! Flowers are beautiful and smell lovely, but the bride should not hold them so high as to be able to enjoy their aroma.
The dress is generally expensive and only worn once, so don't hide it behind a $100 bundle of blossoms. Another obvious tip that still needs to be reiterated involves the size of the bouquet in conjunction to the size of the bride. A five-foot bride does not do herself any favors by toting a three-foot cascading bouquet, no matter how beautiful and aromatic the flowers are.
The big day, no matter how special and perfect it turns out, is going to be exhausting and by the end, the bride will find herself wishing for a smaller, lighter and more durable bouquet. As an aside, if the bouquet is sufficiently large and heavy, it runs the risk of injuring a hapless wedding guest during the bouquet toss.
Trying Different Angles
Remember, the wedding day revolves around the bride. Complicated backgrounds and elaborate settings in the photographs tend to take the viewer's attention away from the bride as the subject. This mistake, in turn, takes away from the impact of the wedding photographs as a whole.
Backgrounds should be kept simple, and enhance the subject, who on this day is usually the bride. Interesting angles are what separate the images of a professional photographer from those of "Uncle Will" or any other camera toting guest or relative. Almost every person knows what a wedding looks like from the vantage point of 5 ½ feet.
The bride needs to keep this in mind when she notices her photographer laying on the ground, or hanging from a low-laying tree limb. The bride's first instinct might be to laugh at him or her, but quell the impulse, as these acrobatics are proof that the photographs are going to be spectacular, and that is one less niggling worry on the bride's mind.
Finding The Proper Lighting
The bride needs to be cognizant of the time of day the wedding is scheduled for, and how the venue would enhance or detract from the photographs. An outdoor wedding will be best lit one to two hours before sunset, and lend a softness of shadow to the captured images.
An indoor wedding will have artificial lighting, but natural light lends a quality to the photographs that cannot be readily duplicated. The bride should try to pick a venue with many windows, and avoid those with high ceilings that tend to create dark corners and unattractive shadows in some photographs.
Bearing the previous suggestion in mind, natural light will always make the subjects look best, so the bride should try to set the time of the wedding when the natural light in the venue is at its peak.
Have You Considered Disposable Cameras?
Disposable cameras have become the norm at wedding receptions as of late. They seldom provide any attractive and useful images, so the bride must keep this in mind and not expect too much from them. The bride will find a few great photographs in the sheaf of pictures, but more often than not, there will probably be quite a few pictures of a wedding guest's girlfriend or the five-year-old flower girl's belly button.
That doesn't even take into account the tipsy wedding guest photos. Dozens and dozens of pictures could turn up with subject matter ranging from shoes, the floor or even eyeballs (from holding the camera backwards). The disposable cameras are for fun, and as long as the bride keeps that in mind, they should cause no undue stress on the wedding day. On the bright side, the pictures could give the bride fodder for years and years of embarrassing tales, if she so chooses.
The aforementioned ideas are probably the only control after choosing the photographer that the bride will have on the photographic success of her wedding day. That being said, the bride should have confidence in her choice and be able to relax and enjoy the most important day of her life thus far.
