Few photographers can stand up to the relentless stress of wedding photography. Some simple rules will see you safely through this assignment and its many challenges.

The Shooting List

Prior to your worrying about your equipment, you should ascertain exactly what shots are required. The bride may have already done this for you. You may find that others have charming but vague ideas about what should be recorded. Now is the time to start worrying. Ask for a list of the photos.

A shot list is best broken down into three general groupings:

1. Before the Ceremony
2. The Service
3. Following the Ceremony

Before the Service

These photos can include the following:

* The bride dressing
* The bride with her friends
* The bride with her parents
* The groom and friends
* The groom with his parents
* The wedding dress
* Getting into the limo
* Sitting in the limo
* Arriving at the church

Several of these can be candid photos. Some work better if you pose them.

The Service

These shots depend on the location and whether you are permitted to shoot the actual exchange of vows, etc. Ask the bride to find out if you can shoot during the ceremony. If possible, place yourself on the groom’s side so you can frame the bride’s face. The bride deserves most of your attention.

These shots should include:

* Three quarter length of the bride, groom and celebrant.
* Take medium distance shots of the bride and groom.
* Three quarter length to full length of the entire bridal party including the maids and groomsmen.
* Frame the bride and groom medium or three-quarter length.
* The ring (close-up on the hands if you can zoom in fast otherwise go for the semi-close-up)
* The kiss (semi close-up)

Lighting plays a big part in the ceremony photos. Flash will result in stark, clinical looking pictures and destroy the mood for everyone, so use what light is available. Get a clear idea of the lighting conditions by going along to the rehearsal. Make sure you use a tripod.

Turn your camera’s shutter sound off. Do that so you can shoot many frames without disturbing the event. The more the better. Set the camera to multiple frames and hold the shutter down at the important moments. You won’t find out if a blink has ruined the shot until later. The remedy is to shoot lots at the critical moments.

Move fast to capture the newly weds walking back down the aisle. Now this is an important wedding photography tip: Work out your own lines of movement (and escape) at the rehearsal.  The walk down the aisle is straight reportage – so use the flash. You can see more about this under the heading ‘Equipment’.

Following the Service

Again some of these may be candid and some ought to be posed. These should comprise:

* The bride and groom outside the church/venue with well-wishers
* The confetti moment (just hold the shutter down!)
* The bouquet
* Groups of bride and groom and all parents
* Getting into the limo
* Sitting in the limo
* The limo itself if it has been tricked up with cans and graffiti etc.

After-After the Service

These usually need to be planned ahead. Now go ‘on location’ to a nearby park or garden. This is when you can shoot the dress to good effect. The couple can chill out and let their hair down for the camera. Once you have taken some photos that are semi-posed, move back and use the zoom for candid photos.

This phase includes the reception. Some guests may want photos with the happy couple but you may also find these are rarely ordered.

Save yourself for the cutting of the bridal cake – shooting it, not eating it. You may have the bridal table on your list – if not just do a general coverage of the toasts. Pictures of the ceremony will most likely be the most popular and worth the most concentration of effort.

Group photos at the reception can get out of hand so request a helper to organize these.

The Completed Product

It is best to supply a CD or DVD with the unusable edited out. Anything that makes you look bad is a dud. For added effect you can use video editing software to quickly make a slide show of the event in sequence. Images should retain sharpness and clarity when zoomed to A4 size – if not, don’t submit them. Make a CD of the best photos and you’re done.

Wedding Photography Tips

Wedding pictures are meant to last forever. The best shots from your camera should be given to the newlyweds as a gift for their special event for this reason. You will rarely have problems capturing photographic memories worht keeping because every wedding is a happy occasion.

If you will attend a wedding and you have a passion for photography, why not bring your camera with you and practice those skills? A wedding photography tips book is always helpful and it will guide you through the entire wedding day.

Wedding Photography Tip – What To Do Before The Event

Before the event, it is a helpful wedding photography tip to ready all the materials you need. If you are so used to taking other scenery, say for example an expert in sports photography tip, let this be not your hindrance in taking breathtaking pictures of the wedding. Like sports, you can always take the “active” moments of the wedding and you will see how you can create the funnier side of the event.

To help you get through the entire wedding day you need to equip yourself with your camera and an extra battery. To make sure you haave them at the church or reception afterwards, you make to make certain they are in your camera bag of course. For perfect and still photo moments, you can also choose to bring your tripod with you. Apart from these two, there are not other useful items that can be of help during your own wedding photo shoot.

Wedding Photography Tip – Taking Your Shots

A good wedding photography tip would help you take good shots both at the church and at the reception area. The best wedding photography tip when you are inside the church is to stay on the center aisle for capturing pictures. Since the main wedding photographer is the one assigned by the couple to take the best shots at the wedding, you wouldn’t want to block their shots of course. Getting real close to your subjects is the best way to get the close up views. Portrait style of photography is always best for wedding photos. This will help the couple identify the guests at a later time, and this can also be a good shot for the members of the entourage.

Wedding Photography Tip – After Wedding Photos

Moving along the reception, there is one helpful wedding photography tip that can aid you in producing pictures that bring delight to the newlyweds. Since the main photographer would focus on the main events of the wedding like the slicing of the cake and wine drinking, you can always choose to capture other moments like the reaction of the guests or the children playing around the bride and groom during this time. Actually, there are so many different tricks you can use to take great wedding photos. However, getting support from this wedding photography tip list alone would help you sufficiently enough in taking the best shots at the wedding.