WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY TIPS

Photographing wedding can be a great opportunity to shoot great photos but it is also a great responsibility,this because you don't have a chance to re-shoot,so you have to do everything right the first time.We will give you some tips to improve your skills in shooting wedding photography.But at first I advice you not to start as payed photographer in your friend or somebodies wedding if you are an amateur,is better for you to shoot photos for yourself ,your pleasure and then if you capture some good photos you can show them to the married couple.So you should not be the only photographer on the weeding,and even if the couple asks,you must advice them to hire a professional photographer so you are free of any responsibility if something goes wrong and you can learn from the professional photographer by looking how he works,but you also accept their invitation without being payed and make your best to shoot some great photos so your friend could be proud of you and enjoy their memories for a long long time .A wedding needs a lot of energy and money to be done and all that could not be wasted.Here are some tips for you:
1.Practice on every other kind of photography before trying wedding photography,this can be very helpful.You have to learn how to use diffused light.The ability to bounce flash or diffuse it can be very important.In many churches the light is very low.If you’re allowed to use a flash (and some churches don’t allow it) think about whether bouncing the flash will work (remember if you bounce off a colored surface it will add a colored cast to the picture) or whether you might want to buy a flash diffuser to soften the light. If you can’t use a flash you’ll need to either use a fast lens at wide apertures and/or bump up the ISO. A lens with image stabilization might also help.
2.You have to be fully prepared on how the wedding is going to be:

• so you have to see the church and the place where is going to be the celebration, so you can find the best spots and the best light to shoot,
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• you have to know the groom and bride houses so you shoot some photos during their preparation for the big moment,
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• you have to know who is invited so you know who are the couples family and friends so you know better what photos you need to do,
• maybe you should do a list of things the couples want's to have as memories:For example cake,bride dress,rings etc...
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• Consider having an assistant or a back-up photographer.Two are better then one and if you loose a special moment he can help.

3. Prepare your equipment -You should always check your equipment before the wedding:

• This goes without saying -you must have a camera.I recommend a DSLR (the image quality tends to be higher on DSLR's than on point and shoots) that is at least 8 megapixel's.Is better two have to cameras,so if something goes wrong with the fir
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• s one you can use the other one.
• A selection of lenses ranging from ultra wide angle to medium telephoto for a start, and if possible with a large aperture of F2.8
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• Charge your battery,and maybe is better to have two batteries charged or even more
• Use high capacity memory cards,because you will shoot a lot and handle them with c
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• are when processing them later.I think is better to download your images from the memory card to your laptop just after it is full with images,so they are safe because everything might happen and the couple might loose their wedding photos.
  
• Take a good tripod with you and an external flash shoe is required for bounce flash.

4.Turn off your sound camera- as it can cause distraction,and because that day all eyes should focus on the couple not on you.
5.Shoot the little detail-On the wedding day not only the people are important as memories of the couple,but some little detail can be important too,for example:the rings,the cake,the bride dress etc...
6.Always shoot in RAW-So it is easier to make some modifications later.
7.Always shoot and don't delete the photos you don't like while you are shooting-you will think about deleting later when you have more time and could be more concentrated,because you might even use some of those picture and they can sometimes be really great.And most important don't stop shooting and you will capture great images
8.Consider your background-Most of the time during the wedding you can find people everywhere even on your picture background destroing them so you have to be careful with that,as it is a very important element of your photographs.
9.Continuous shooting mode-having this option on your camera can be very helpful,because most of the time you will need to shoot a lot of photos very fast.Sometimes it’s the shot you take a second after the formal or posed shot when everyone is relaxing that really captures the moment!
10.Aperture Priority-If you haven't still mastered light and proper exposure,you must use aperture priority when shooting,you cant afford the chance of improper exposure in some crucial moments,like when the priest says: "You may kiss the bride"
12-Find a step ladder-That can be very useful when you want to include a group of people on the photo or maybe find a balcony on the church or the place where the ceremony will be so you can shoot some photos.The beauty of getting up high is that you get everyone’s face in it and can fit a lot of people in the one shot. The key is to be able to get everyone to the place you want them to stand quickly and to be ready to get the shot without having everyone stand around for too long. I found the best way to get everyone to the spot is to get the bride and groom there and to have a couple of helpers to herd everyone in that direction.
13-ENJOY-I advice you to enjoy while taking shoots and they will be better,but enjoy also enjoy photos of the wedding while viewing them.