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Cambridge wedding photography
The difficulties of wedding photography and how to overcome them
Cambridge wedding photography
The purpose of this blog is to explain the three key elements for creative wedding photography and to then show you how these are relevant to the different aspects of your day.
Wedding photography is the communication of the emotions of your day with pictures. This is achieved through timing, creativity and empathy with you and your guests.
A photographer can not begin to be creative unless he is in the right place at the right time. The precise timing for the start of the service, reception, dinner etc should have been calculated and agreed before the day so that on your wedding day the photographer ensures he is running to schedule. Or if he certain things are overrunning he knows that there is sufficient time to deliver what he has promised.
Creativity is how the emotions of your day are communicated with pictures. This is knowing what elements are needed to best tell your story and then leaving out what is unnecessary. This does not mean that every picture will be tightly cropped. We know that showing your guests in your venue tells the story of your wedding day much more eloquently than a series of head and shoulder portraits.
Empathy for yourselves and your guests is very important. If the photographer can enable you to feel comfortable and to be yourselves in front of the camera then you will be able to enjoy your day and the photographer can communicate your emotions in pictures. At Angle Photographic we make every effort to capture the emotion of your day with the minimal of disruption to you or your guests.
Bride Getting Ready
Empathy is critically important when photographing the bride getting ready. Weddings are emotionally charged days but the build up and the waiting can be even more so. This emotion often expresses itself in two ways. It either turns outwards so the bride and bridesmaids are laughing and joking in a very loud and animated way. This situation is the easiest for everyone concerned as the photographer only needs to remain unseen to capture these memorable pictures. However this is not always the case and the emotion can turn inwards so every movement of the photographer is very noticeable and every time the camera clicks it is felt around the room. In this situation the photographer needs to try and take some pictures but not at the expense of making the situation more stressful. I have found that once the bridal party are ready, and there is still some time before they have to leave for the church that it is possible to help everybody to relax by engineering a situation. Something simple like getting the bride and bridesmaids to sit together and then take some time to help them relax. The first picture will be stony faced but if the photographer can talk to them and encourage them to speak to each other then their close proximity to one another often results in animated laughter that creates memorable pictures.
Groom Getting Ready
With the men getting ready there is not the same ritual of putting on strange clothes that are difficult to get into except if they are wearing cravats and no man knows how to pin a button-hole to his jacket. It is these areas where the Groom and his Best man are helping each other dress where they will be unaware of the photographer and they can laugh together at their inability to complete what appears to be a simple task.
There is often a degree of choreographed photography if all of the men are dressed the same. This involves creating a sense of order and camaraderie. Something that shows them smiling and laughing together. Asking them to stand like the football wall before a penality and then asking them to pretend that they have been hit by the ball. This is a great ice-breaker as they can all easily understand what I’m asking them to do and it always gets them laughing together.
This also gives you the choice of formal pictures and candid ones. Showing who was there in a very ordered way and in a relaxed way that honestly captures memorable pictures.
Service
I will always be by the road to capture Dad helping you out of the car. Then there is the short walk to the church with your bridal party. Try not to rush this as it can often provide some memorable pictures. A simple trick to help you smile if you are nervous is ask a joke question such as ‘does my bum looks big in this’.
Before the service I always speak to the Priest or registrar so that we don’t step on each others toes. We are both trying to do a job and if we can work well together it will give you a better feeling.
Photography in the service is dependant on the amount of available light in the room. I will never use a flash for any of the pictures during the service as it is too distracting for you and your guests. You want a record of what happened but not at the expense of a constant flash distraction.
Fast lenses and steady hands make it possible to get a good result in low light conditions. In addition to this I need to be patient to wait for the smiles and glances amongst yourselves that will show your intimacy.
The exception to this is the signing of the register. Priests and registrars ask photographers not to take pictures while you are signing the register, which means we have to fake it. This can be done successfully by carefully positioning yourselves and making it clear to you that slight head or hand movements can make all the difference between a stony faced picture and a relaxed one.
The memorable pictures that are possible to take during the signing of the register are the ones of your witnesses while you are signing and then pictures of yourselves while they are signing. These are often very intimate moments as you have just completed the purpose of your day.
Formal Portraits
The ideal formal portrait is one where everyone looks genuinely engaged with the camera. I have found that this is only possible when I make a mistake and everyone is laughing at that and I’ve had enough time to capture that moment. Unfortunately this is not something that I have learned how to replicate. What I can do consistently is gently organize people into an ordered formation that will produce a striking composition that clearly shows the faces of your guests. How you ask people to come and stand for a pictures is something that we do with delicacy. We will never stand and shout a list of names. What we will do is ask one of your guests for help. This is usually the best man or the maid of honor and we will ask them to help find the people that they know on the list. This care and delicacy is extended to organizing the group for the picture. We are aware that some people are camera shy but if they are asked sympathetically and with a smile, we can move them into a striking formation where you can see all their faces.
To make this process more formal and to give a more even result we can use portable studio lights. You will still have your venue as the backdrop for the portraits and the lights ensure that the group stands out from the background. The faces of your guests will be evenly lit ensuring that you can see all their faces without unwelcome shadows.
To try and avoid a portrait with peoples eyes closed we always count the group in to let them know when we am going to take the picture. Even this is not a fail safe so we always take two or three pictures of the same group.
With the smaller groups it is possible to get the people in the group to interact with each other. This is where the posed formal portrait can turn into a lasting memory. This can happen in the evolution of the portrait but it can also arise from an idea from one of your guests. In this circumstance I will assist you to get the result that you want. I am very happy with this situation as I want to get the best possible pictures for you and I am not so controlling as not to listen to the opinions of others.
Candid Portraits
Candid portraits provide you with a visual record of your reception. They eloquently convey the atmosphere of your wedding day as well as showing your guests in your venue. Unlike the formal portraits, which are likely to be taken in only one or two places, candid portraits can be taken anywhere and this subtly shows your wedding venue. The portraits are taken without the use of a flash to convey the atmosphere of the day. Taking pictures this way also enables us to record your wedding day without being noticed. This allows us to capture the genuine smiles and laughter of you with your guests rather than people only showing their teeth.
We work to ensure that you will have at least one candid portrait of each of your guests. This relaxed informal method of wedding photography frees you to spend more time with your guests, provides a more complete record of your venue and captures the atmosphere of your wedding day in memorable pictures.
Greeting your guests in the line
This is another opportunity to capture candid pictures of you and your guests. It is much easier than freely roaming as all the guests are in one place, which makes it easier to anticipate the emergence of the facial expressions that show your delight in seeing them.
Depending on the size of the line it is also an opportunity to capture your parents generously welcoming your guests to your wedding breakfast.
Speeches
The purpose of your day is complete and all your guests are well fed but they haven’t yet seen the best man trying to knife the groom. All jokes aside the experience of having your father and husband speaking so lovingly about you in front of all of your friends is a very emotional moment for any bride. The tears, the elation and the scowls are all captured in memorable pictures.
And so to the best man, the Mercutio in this play. The wit of his speech will be recorded on the faces of your guests and through the props that he brings.
Cake
I normally take the cake pictures twice. I’ll take a moc cutting of the cake with only the bride and groom to enable me to take a variety of pictures from different angles. Some showing the two of you with the cake but others just of your hands on the knife with the cake.
I will also take pictures with your guests because different guests calling for your attention can often create some facial expressions that show the joy of your day.
First Dance
Whether you have rehearsed a choreographed dance or you simply hold each other tenderly and lovingly Angle Photographic will be able to communicate your love in our pictures. Using a combination of wide angle images showing you dancing with your guests watching, and some closer shots clearly showing your intimacy mixed with the stage lighting we can create colourful pictures that convey the joy and love of your wedding day.
