Wedding Photographer's Handbook Read online

  Here four bridesmaids and the bride make their way down to the church. At best, it’s an average photo op, but Dennis Orchard made them come alive—even to the onlookers—for an unforgettable shot.

  Many wedding photographers religiously scour bridal magazines, studying the various forms of editorial and advertising photography. Editorial style has become a major influence on wedding photography. These magazines are what prospective brides look at and, as a result, they want their wedding photography to imitate what they see in them.

  Aside from the obvious photographic skills, successful wedding photography takes calm nerves and the ability to perform at the highest levels under stress. The couple is not looking for general competence; they are looking for brilliance. They don’t just want a photographic “record” of the day’s events, they want inspired, imaginative images and an unforgettable presentation. To all but the jaded, the wedding day is the biggest day in peoples’ lives, and the images should capture all of the romance, joy, and festivity with style. This intense pressure is why many gifted photographers do not pursue wedding photography as their main occupation.

  As a result of these factors, the truly gifted wedding photographer is a great observer. He or she sees the myriad of fleeting moments that all too often go unrecorded. The experienced professional knows that the wedding day is overflowing with these special moments and that capturing them is the essence of great wedding photography. Above and beyond this quality, however, there are a variety of other factors that can impact upon a wedding photographer’s success.

  Tony Florez is a popular wedding photographer who incorporates different types of editorial styles into his wedding images. He is well known for producing “fine art” images for his brides. Here he chose a unique overhead lighting that created dramatic shadows in the bridal portrait.

  DRESSING FOR SUCCESS

  One might expect the wedding photojournalist to dress down for the wedding—maybe not like the sports photographer with knee pads and a photographer’s vest and jeans, but casual. Tony Florez, a very successful wedding photographer from Newport Beach, California, believes one of the keys to upscaling his business was to live the motto, “dress for success.” He only wears Armani tuxedos to his weddings and he, like the couple he is there to photograph, looks like a million dollars. That’s not to say that this is the secret to his success—he is a gifted photographer, but his look has added to his confidence and his reputation. Florez has photographed such celebrities as Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Nicholas Cage, and Lisa Marie Presley and his work has been published in such places as InStyle, People, People.com, Lifetime Television, Elegant Bride, and Modern Bride.

  IDEALIZATION

  Traditional wedding photography is, to some, the quest for perfection. The photographer manipulates the pose, lighting, and expression with the goal of idealizing the subject. To be sure, traditional portraiture and traditional wedding coverage are viable, artistically relevant pursuits, but they are not necessarily the mindset of the wedding photojournalist, to whom the pursuit of rigid perfection is not the goal. Instead, the ideal is to capture the reality and spontaneity of the situation with as little interference as possible.

  Joe Buissink excels at giving the bride all the elegance and sophistication she dreamed of. Joe takes in everything around him because of a state of heightened awareness. He translates those details into remarkable images of the wedding day.

  Still, the photojournalist’s record of the day should be sensitive. Indeed, one of the traits that separate the competent wedding photographers from the great ones is the ability to idealize. The photographer must depict people in a way that makes them look their best. This recognition must be instantaneous and the photographer must also have the skills to make these adjustments in the pictures. In short, wedding photographers need to be magicians. Through careful composition, posing and lighting, and a healthy knowledge of Photoshop, many “imperfections” can be rendered unnoticeable.

  Dennis Orchard, a noted English wedding photographer, thrives on this challenge. “I love to make the ordinary become extraordinary. I thrive on average brides and grooms, Travel Lodge Hotels, and rainy days in winter.” Orchard knows it is especially important that the bride be made to look as beautiful as possible—most women will spend more time and money on their appearance for their wedding day than for any other day in their lives. Recently, Orchard photographed a 275-pound bride who was, “so frightened of the camera that every time I pointed it at her she would lose her breath and have a mini anxiety attack.” Using long lenses, he photographed her all day long without her being aware of the camera. He said he couldn’t believe the final shots. “She was beautiful in every frame,” he says. She later wrote him a note in which she said, “I never thought I could have pictures like this of me!” It was his best wedding of the year.

  The truly talented wedding photographer will also idealize the other events of the day, looking for every opportunity to infuse emotion and love into the wedding pictures. Part of this process is to notice the details of the day—the place settings and floral arrangements, the tables and grounds of the reception—and capture them as part of the day’s coverage.

  A fine wedding photographer recognizes and captures the small details of the wedding day, like the smeared ink on this message from the bride to her groom on the wedding day. Years later, this image will bring tears of remembrance to her eyes. Photograph by Anthony Cava.

  Anthony Cava is also an expert at photographing the bride so that she looks better than ever. He chooses the right camera height and beautiful lighting to enhance not only the bride’s features but also her beautiful gown.

  In this image by Jeff Kolodny, he usesd every light on the premises to illuminate the building and grounds, memorializing the spectacular location of the couple’s wedding.

  PROACTIVE VS. REACTIVE

  Traditional wedding coverage features dozens of posed pictures pulled from a “shot list,” which has been passed down by generations of other wedding photographers. There may be as many as 75 scripted shots—from cutting the cake, to tossing the garter, to the father of the bride walking his daughter down the aisle. In addition to scripted moments, traditional photographers fill in the album with so-called “candids,” many of which are staged or at least taken with the subjects aware of the camera.

  Photojournalists are often perceived as detached, but this is a function of the concentration it takes to anticipate and observe the key action and the key elements of the story within all of the mayhem that is the wedding and reception. It is human nature to get caught up in the emotion and want to join in the festivities, but the photographer who indulges this impulse will most certainly lose his or her edge.

  The contemporary wedding photographer’s approach is quite different. Instead of being a part of every event, moving people around and staging the action, the photographer tends to be quietly invisible, choosing to fade into the background so the subjects are not aware of his presence. The photographer does not want to intrude on the scene. Instead, he or she documents it from a distance with the use of longer-than-normal lenses and, usually, without flash. This is what digital capture offers; a completely self-contained means of documenting a wedding unobserved.

  Because the photographer is working with longer lenses or zoom lenses and is not directing the participants, he or she is free to move around and work quickly and unobtrusively. The allows the event itself to take precedence over the photographer’s directions—and the resulting pictures are more spontaneous and lifelike. Plus, there are many more opportunities for original, completely unstaged images that better tell the story of the event.

  Working within the confines of an elevator with a fisheye lens is hardly “working unobserved,” but the picture doesn’t telegraph the photographer, only the moment. Photograph by Jeff Kolodny.

  A major component of the wedding day is unbridled joy, which is there to be captured by the observant photographer. Photograph by Mark Cafiero.


  POWERS OF OBSERVATION

  One of the prerequisites to success is the skill of observation, an intense power to concentrate on the events at hand. Through keen observation, a skill set that can be clearly enhanced through practice, the photographer begins to develop the knack of predicting what will happen next. Knowing what comes next is partially a result of experience (the more weddings one photographs, the more accustomed one becomes to their rhythm and flow), but it is also a function of clearly seeing what is transpiring in front of you and reacting to it quickly.

  Knowing the course of the day’s events is also critical and requires doing your homework as the photographer. The more the photographer knows of the scheduled events and their order, the better he or she can be at predetermining the best ways to cover those events. This kind of detailed information will provide a game plan and specifics for where to best photograph each of the day’s events.

  It’s also important to keep in mind that there is an ebb and flow to every action. Most wedding photojournalists revere the work and philosophy of Henri Cartier-Bresson, who believed in the concept of “the decisive moment”—a single instant released from the continuity of time by the photographer’s skills. This moment is life defining; it is a moment like no other before or since, that defines the reality of the participants.

  Revealing the decisive moment can only be accomplished through a full awareness of the scene. Even with motor drives capable of recording six or more frames per second, it is not a question of blanketing a scene with high-speed exposures; it is knowing when to press the shutter release. This requires concentration, discipline, and sensitivity.

  Photographers like Joe Buissink accomplish this by becoming one with their equipment, the moment, and the emotion of the wedding couple. Buissink considers his equipment to be an extension of his body, his eye and his heart. His cameras and lenses and his techniques are so second nature that all he needs to do is grab the right body with the right lens and fire away. His sense of positioning is also near perfect, based on a foreknowledge of the events and an attention to the details of every wedding he photographs.

  Joe Buissink is so absorbed in the events and flow of the wedding day that he is almost invisible to the participants. He seeks out the emotion-filled moments so plentiful on the wedding day.

  For Joe Buissink, being in the moment means maintaining a state of heightened concentration and awareness. In this state, he is able to reveal truly rare moments as they occur throughout the wedding day. The moments he looks for and reacts to often reflect the profound love and emotion found on wedding days.

  Joe Buissink trusts his basic instincts and as a result, many more great opportunities seem to present themselves to his lens.

  Buissink’s levels of concentration are legendary; it’s a state he calls “being in the moment.” He says of the state, “My sense of self fades away. I dance with the moment… capturing the essence of a couple.” Joe may be “in the moment” for up to 10 hours, the time given to photograph his average wedding. This concept of immersion takes Joe a few days to recover from, as he is mentally exhausted after a wedding.

  Part of one’s skills as a polished observer also result from being calm and quiet. Buissink says, “You must relax enough to be yourself and exhibit your pleasure in creating art. Do not look for the flow, it will find you. If you try to force it, it will be lost.” As a photojournalist, you cannot become part of the spectacle you are covering. Otherwise you will miss the day’s most meaningful moments. “Trust your intuition so that you can react,” Buissink says. “Do not think. Just react or it will be too late.”

  VISION

  David Anthony Williams, an Australian wedding and portrait photographer, believes that the key ingredient to great wedding photos is something he once read that was attributed to the great Magnum photographer, Elliot Erwitt: “Good photography is not about zone printing or any other Ansel Adams nonsense. It’s about seeing. You either see or you don’t see. The rest is academic. Photography is simply a function of noticing things. Nothing more.” Williams, who is quite articulate on the subject, goes on to say, “Good wedding photography is not about complicated posing, sumptuous backgrounds, or five lights used brilliantly. It is about expression, interaction, and life! The rest is important, but secondary.”

  David Williams might take a moment, found or observed, and embellish it, taking advantage of all of the natural surroundings. Here he fashioned a romantic and elegant portrait of the couple that grew out of a moment of relaxation.

  Williams throws himself into the day with the zest of one of the primary participants. He says, “I just love it when people think I’m a friend of the couple they just haven’t met yet, who happens to do photography.” This level of involvement, plus preparation and solid photographic skills, leads to great pictures.

  With the best wedding photographers, technical skills are refined and second nature. Arizona wedding specialist Ken Sklute photographed 150 to 200 weddings a year for over 10 years. To say he has his technique down is an understatement, yet his images are always refreshing and beautiful. He is also a devotee of the concept of immersion. Ken believes that the emotion within the moment is the heart of every great picture. And it’s no surprise that he is phenomenal with people—getting them to both relax and be themselves and yet be more beautiful or handsome than they’ve ever been before.

  Both Williams and Sklute can make anyone look good, but their real gift is that ability to create the animated, full-of-life portrait. It is the best of both worlds: the real and the idealized. Certainly part of the success is technique, but the less tangible ingredient is the interaction. It’s interaction and communication, but also a little magic.

  STORYTELLERS

  Above all, the skilled wedding photojournalist is an expert storyteller. The wedding day is a collection of short stories or chapters that, when pulled together, tell the story of an entire day. A good storyteller is aware of the elements of good narrative (a beginning, a middle and an end), as well as the aspects that make a story entertaining to experience—emotion, humor, tension, plot, resolution, pathos, and so on. Linking the spontaneous events of the day forms the wedding-day story, which is what the modern bride wants to see in her wedding coverage.

  David Williams incorporates the details of the day (the makeup order, brushes, a close-up of the bride having her makeup applied) with the big picture (the bridesmaids and a lovely portrait of the bride) to form a lovely page in the final album.

  The use of henna as a body decoration for an Indian wedding is a common practice. Here, Joe Photo recognized the similarities between the gown and the hands and photographed the two in a meaningful way.

  The photojournalist’s mindset is to be in the right place at the right time and have the reflexes of a cat. Photography by Mark Cafiero.

  According to award-winning wedding photographer Charles Maring, a good story includes many details that go unobserved by most people—even those attending the event. He says, “Studying food and wine magazines, fashion magazines, and various other aspects of editorial images has made me think about the subtle aspects that surround me at a wedding. Chefs are preparing, bartenders are serving, waiters are pouring champagne or wine. My goal is to bring to life the whole story from behind the scenes, to the nature around the day, to the scene setters, to the blatantly obvious. In short, to capture a complete story.”

  Charles Maring makes a special effort to elegantly photograph the various background elements of the day because he feels their inclusion helps to completely tell the wedding story.

  David Williams uses a similar strategy, making it a point to shoot several rounds of what he calls “detail minis,” which are all shot with a 50mm f/1.4 lens wide open. These shots portray the little artistic details, like a crest, a spoon, a light, or a row of candles. In the background, these elements bring beauty and texture to an event, but are not necessarily noticed by all those who attend.

  ASSISTANTS

/>   Assistants can run interference for you, downloading memory cards so that they can be reused, burning CD backups on the laptop, organizing guests for a group shots, helping you by taking flash readings and predetermining exposure, taping light stands and cords securely with duct tape and a thousand other chores. They can survey your backgrounds looking for unwanted elements and they can be a moveable light stand, holding your secondary flash for back or side-lighting.

  Assistants should be trained in your unique brand of photography so that they know how to best help you. Good assistants will be able to anticipate your needs and help prepare you for upcoming shots. Assistants should also understand your “game plan” and know everything that you know about the details of the day.

  Jeffrey and Julia Woods are a husband-and-wife team who work the wedding day together, each with different assignments. This photograph was a result of having a shooter positioned to capture the bride and groom as they came up the aisle after the ceremony.

  Most assistants go on to become full-fledged wedding photographers. After you’ve developed confidence in an assistant, he or she can help you photograph the wedding—particularly at the reception when there are too many things going on at once for one person to cover. Most assistants will try to work for several different wedding photographers to broaden their range of experience. It’s a good idea to employ several assistants, so that if you get a really big job you can use both of them, or if one is unavailable you have a backup.