Some of you are probably thinking you can get a friend or relative to take your wedding photographs, yes you can, but I have heard so many stories from people who are disappointed by the end result, that when they come to the second marriage or the wedding vow renewal one of the first things they book is a professional wedding photographer. So why do we do it so much better than your friends or relatives?

well where do we start:

1/We have all the right equipment for the job, including spare camera, spare flash guns  (in case the main one stops working (things do happen)) and studio lights in the event that we have to take the photographs inside. What will uncle Fred use if his camera breaks or he drops it or he forgets to charge the battery. I also have a camera with a battery that will take over 2000 pictures before needing re-charging, does uncle Fred? How many will his take (with flash)?.

2/ We take most photographs with flash to ensure that all are beautifully lit with highlights in peoples eyes. Will Uncle Fred make sure you look that good?

3/ We are fully trained in how to take superb wedding photographs, we know how to arrange the people and how to deal with the awkward members of your family that never want to be photographed.

4/ We have often been to the venue before and so know the best places to use, will uncle Fred go and reconnoiter the venue? I doubt it.

5/ We make sure that all the images when printed are colour corrected, i.e. take the redness out of those indoor shots, make those awful grey days seem a little warmer than they really were.

6/ We have a vast array of poses that we can use to make for more interesting photographs, not just stand you all in a line like Uncle Fred will. I know how to use differential focus to make things more artistic and when to use a fast shutter speed to capture that moment in motion.

7/ We can supply the end result as a beautiful album or a CD/DVD with your picture printed on the front, to treasure for ever, that you will want to view time and time again, not just pass on a pile of 6×4 inch prints that end up curled up in a box for ever more, unloved and un-viewed.

8/ We are fully insured for public liability (in the event someone falls over me or the equipment I use) and I am fully covered for professional indemnity.

9/ And in the event that we cannot make the day due to unforseen circumstances,we have an array of excellent photographers that we can call on in order to make sure that you have someone there that can do the job for you just as well.  What will you do if uncle Fred doesn’t turn up?!!! End up like the couple I met last week who are performing a vow renewal and insisted on a professional photographer because the only picture they have from the original wedding is stuck to the glass of the picture frame it is in and so cannot be removed to be cleaned or put in a better frame.

Panning is a technique used to give the idea of movment and to capture a fast moving object. It works best when the object to be photographed moves across in front of you from left to right or right to left. You focus on the object and follow it movement and at the appropriate point press the shutter to capture the object as sharp as you can whilst at the same time keeping the background blurred to give the idea of movement. It is very important that you follow the motion even after pressing the shutter button as with all sports the follow through is important. Getting the speed right is the hard part particularly with fast moving objects like sports cars. (also if you have Image Stabalisation on the lend with 2 types remember to turn off the horizontal stabilisation).

Below is a picture where the speed was just right the carriage driver is just sharp and the background is completely blurred.

correct panning

Below is a photograph with the speed too fast so nothing is sharp.

photograph too blurred

Below is a photograph where the panning motion was too slow (probably due to too fast a shutter speed) so the image is too sharp.

The above photographs were all taken at Farliegh House near Basingstoke during the carriage driving trials, the driver is Karen Bassett who was warming up before the cones part of the competition.

Rule of thirds, make your photographs look more dynamic by placing the important or focal point of the image appear on a line that cuts either horizontally or vertically through the image at a point 1/3 the width or height of the image either from the left or the right, or top or bottom.

Diagram of the rule of thirds

Look at the next 2 photos and compare them for impact.

Photograph of Basingstoke Gate

The 1st photograph cuts the image into 2 so looks like it is 2 seperate pictures.

Photograph of Basingstoke Gate showing rule of 1/3

Here the image has been cropped so that the edge of the gate is closer to one edge of the picture, it looks less like 2 photographs stuck together and more like a shot of the gate with some of the background in view, a more pleasing shot to look at.

Of course not all images need to be taken in this way i.e. portraits and close ups can be taken such that the subject is in the middle of the photograph, but even here it is worth considering putting the eyes on the top horizontal 1/3 line or other parts of the body on other 1/3 lines, try it and see. I will add other composition improvements to this blog later this month.

There are hundreds of wedding fairs these days, most venues that hold wedding ceremonies hold at least 1 wedding fair a year, they are usually held during September, October, January, Febraury and March, occasionally they are held in November and April or even July. They consist of suppliers of wedding day paraphernalia of all shapes, sizes and types, including bridal dresses, mens wear, cars, photographers, jewelry, entertainers, cakes, florists, caterers and much more. There is usually at least one of each supplier category and usually in the case of photographers 2 or more. It gives you the oportunity to see the suppliers wares, talk to them, have a look round the venue and get lots of ideas for things you could spend your money on that you never knew existed. It is well worth visiting at least one if you are planning a wedding.

When taking portraits make sure that the person you are photographing has their head tilted very slightly to one side so that the eyes are not level. This helps to make them look more friendly and less austere. So below:

corporate portrait showing eye not level.

Something that people don’t often notice when they take photographs is how objects pick up the colours of things close to them. In the example below the 1st photograph is of a jug which is lit from the right hand side so the left side is in shadow with nothing close to it. The shadow is grey.

photograph of a jug with lights to one side showing grey shadows

The next photographs are of the same jug with same lighting except that a piece of card has been placed to the left of the jug. This results in the jug picking up the reflected light fromthe card and colouring the jug with the colour of the card.

photograph of jug with blue card showing red shadows

photograph of jug with blue card showing blue shadows

There is a little known phenomena about red and blue colours that effect the way we see things. Things that are close to us generally have stronger colours than things that are further away, in fact in landscapes things in the far distance often look very blue. So when we see two things together and one is coloured red and the other blue we tend to think that the blue item it further away than the red item. So you can give a feeling of distance or depth by putting red things closer to you and blue things further away. Take a look at the next 2 photographs. In the 1st one the 2 people are side by side, but it looks like the girl in red is closer. In the 2nd photograph the girl is actually about 3 paces behind but looks like she is level with the man. The further you are away from the photographs the more pronounced is the effect.

photograph of 2 people girl in red behind the man in blue

photograph of 2 people standing side by side

Just thought I would write a few hints and tips on planning your wedding from the photographic side of things.

Most people when planning a wedding concentrate on the venue from the point of view of location and cost and rarely think about the photography  that will happen on the day. When selecting a venue things to think about from a photographic point of view are:

• in the event of rain (or other freak weather) where will the photographs be taken, is there an area under cover (does not have to be inside a building, just under cover i.e. an entrance canopy or 3 sided barn) with enough light and space for all the people and the photographer.
• Is there space enough in the gounds for the group photograph
• if there is bright sunshine is there a shaded area for the photographs to be taken in, you need this for 2 reasons, 1/ bright sunlight for people photography does not make for good pictures, so you need shade to remove the bright areas from peoples faces and remove people squinting or sunspots (those bright dots of colour in pictures where you are pointing the camera in the direction of the sun), and 2/ to keep everyone cool on a really hot day.
• Look at the voliage around, is it fairly consistent and not too busy, are there pretty flowers around to be used in the background.
• Is there a building site on the other side of the fence of the property, makes for ugly backgrounds and possibly noise so making it hard to give instructions.
• how far from the bar is the area to be used for photography too far and it will take ages to get the people needed in the picture to the right spot and so the photographs will take ages to complete (if they do get completed).
• how close to the church are the photographs going to be taken, are the bells going to be ringing and so make it difficult to hear people.
• what kind of ground do you need to cross to get to the area to be used, is it a long way for people in high heeled shoes (a complaint I often hear) or across wet ground or soggy grass.

Getting back to composition (sorry had a slight diversion in to holiday snaps there), there are several ‘rules’ to composition (all rules can be broken), today I want to discuss straight lines or the lack of them. When composing a picture always try to angle the shot so that you remove any straight lines particularly where people are concerned. That is not to say that you remove ALL straight line e.g. horizons should always be straight and level particularly where water is concerned. Lets use an example: below is an image of 2 people who happen to be roughly the same height, if they had their heads were at different heights or the shot was cropped much more so that only their head and shoulders can be seen it would be more dynamic.

Not good-photograph of 2 people with heads at the same height creating straight lines

Take a look at the next photograph where the 2 people are at different heights and so create a diagonal line between the heads and so looks a little more dynamic.

better-photograph pf 2 people with heads at different heights and so creats diagonal lines

Next time I will look at how this can be improved some more.