| Top Five Photo Tips For Wedding Guests |
  By now you’ve probably received your wedding invitation: It’s official – you’re soon to be a bonafide wedding guest. And, the chances are, that you'll be bringing your camera to the wedding along with a gift or two for the happy couple. While most couples hire a professional photographer to photograph the ceremony and reception, there's still plenty of room for you to also capture this special occasion on camera. Not only will you have a super record of the wedding for your own pleasure, but will delight your friends when you show them a set of photos from their wedding of moments that the professional photographer did not see or wasn't asked to cover. To help you take some really great photos, here are some of my top tips: 1. Get To Know Your Camera. Do you know how to turn off the flash on your personal camera, or change its settings to best suit the lighting at a given moment? Get to know your camera before the day if you know you’re going to want to take lots of photos at the wedding. Practice taking photos of people both indoors and out, so that you get to know how your camera performs in different light conditions, and can adjust your settings accordingly. Cameras can easily be fooled by light subjects, such as white bridal gowns, or dark backgrounds, such as trees. You need to know what adjustments to make to your camera to help compensate for such events. Depending on the time of day, flash may help your picture or hurt your picture. If you’re trying to take group photos of the wedding guests on a late summer afternoon, for example, or take photos of the couple’s first dance out on a darkened dance floor, your goals may be very different. In the former situation, flash might ruin the natural light, while in the latter not using your flash could give you a dark, blurry shot. In fact, at most weddings, I usually turn off my flash as it spoils most wedding pictures, especially outside. The single one thing you can do to make the most dramatic improvement to your photos is practice, practice and practice! 2. Flatter Your Subjects. People are often wary about having their photo taken, so anything you can do to make them more confident and relaxed will give you better photos. Be honest and mean the compliments you give, as a fake will be instantly spotted – and resented. Remember the good advice given to Thumper in the Disney film Bambi, ‘If you can’t say something nice – don’t say anything at all!’ Be relaxed yourself, and smile. Smiling is infectious and you’ll soon find people returning yours with natural smiles of their own, instead of the usual cheesy fake ones you see in many wedding photographs. I am passionate about weddings and really enjoy taking stunning photos and this is contagious – if you’re confident and obviously having fun, those around you will relax and have fun too. And that’s when you’ll get those fabulous natural expressions. Flatter your subjects aesthetically, too. It’s best to capture your subjects in a soft light. Though you don’t want the light to be too low, a nice soft glow is ideal. Try to stay out of direct sunlight, especially with the bride in her white dress. Consider the mood created by the lighting and location. For example, sunset is often the perfect time to capture people at their best as the lighting is soft, warm and perfect for capturing romantic moments. 3. Change Your Perspective And Get A Little Closer. One of the first things my son was taught on his A level Photography Course at College was to shoot without looking - because you’ll get nice surprises that way, like an image framed in an unusual way. With a digital camera, this kind of experiment won’t cost you anything so it’s always worth a try. Of course, at a wedding you might want to keep your eye on the events of the day, but try changing the level of your camera: Bend down, hold it up above you or off to one side. Change the vantage point and see what that does for your picture. Another particular problem I notice with amateur photographs most of the time is that people are not close enough to what they’re trying to photograph. You’re standing way too far away, take a shot, and then find all this stuff in the picture you didn’t want that distracts from the subject of your image. Come closer, think about what is in the background of your photo (and each corner) and you’ll avoid simple distractions that ruin a great photo, such as telegraph poles coming out from the top of the bride’s head! 4. Tell A Story But Be Ready For Anything! A lot happens during the course of the wedding day. There are countless opportunities to capture the key events that tell the story of the day. Try to put yourself in the mind of a storyteller, watching events as they unfold. Remember that a story is not just about the central plot and characters so look out for those opportunities in which the guests of honor and their guests interact in interesting and exciting ways. For instance, a great photo may be of the bride and groom stealing a quiet moment together, flopped down exhausted together on a sofa. A good story also paints a picture that fills in all the fine detail: Take photos of the little things, such as Great Aunt Flo boogying on the dance floor, or the little bridal attendants fighting to collect confetti from the floor. Be prepared to capture those moments that stand out. Most good photos depend on a little bit of luck, and half the fun of photography is the challenge of the unexpected. You couldn’t possibly plan everything, so you just have to be there and be in the moment. Plenty of surprises happen during a couple’s big day. Just keep your eyes open, and not just on the happy couple. Try to anticipate what might happen next, look for expressions and you’re bound to capture some of them! 5. Be Creative And Have Fun. Often wedding photos taken by guests end up as one straight shot after another of the bride and groom and other guests there at the time – or as recreations of the professional’s wedding images, either taken over his shoulder, or stood by his elbows. There are some moments at a wedding that everyone wants to catch on camera, but even as an amateur photographer, you should never jostle someone and ruin their shot for the sake of your own! And, while you may want to capture those picture-perfect moments as badly as the professional photographer, he’s the one the couple have hired so do try to be conscientious of where he is standing and how your flash may affect his work. I’d suggest it would be more fun to experiment, try a different tactic than yet another staid photo of smiling faces. For instance, many wedding photographers don’t take ‘table shots’ of the guests because these photos aren’t usually purchased by the bride and groom. This is the perfect opportunity for you. But shoot them like a pro: Have some of the people at your table stand up and move behind those still seated and take a group shot.  Take care to avoid showing the entire table complete with half-eaten food, instead concentrate on the faces of the guests. Remember, the bride and groom can't be at every table to take part in the festivities, so your candid photos can show the guests having fun in a way that the professional photographer isn’t likely to capture. So now you should be ready. It’s time to put on your wedding outfit, check you’ve got plenty of memory cards for the camera – and get out there to shoot the best photos you have ever taken. But remember, as a guest, taking pictures at a wedding should be about experimenting and enjoying yourself in equal measure. If the picture makes you happy, it’s a good picture! Good Luck Phil Evans |