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| Hudson Valley Wedding & Event Professional Association |
| Professional Photography Tips and Hints |
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| Professionals: Please submit your tips and hints to info@hvwepa.com |
| Be sure to leave sufficient time between Ceremony and Reception for formal photos. If you don't, you may end up having to take them during the reception. (Joel Mandon, Mandon Productions) |
| Wedding photography can be one of the more expensive and important parts of your wedding day. The images are to be remembered forever, and can't be redone. There are a few helpful hints I have for brides to make their photography sessions go as smoothly and quickly as possible. Here they are: 1: Try to limit the number of large (15-30 people) family groupings and send a little note in the invitation to those who must be included in important family photos. The note should inform them when and where they need to be available, which can be discussed with your photographer prior to the wedding. 2: Opt for family portraits that include everybody rather than a large number of smaller groupings...i.e. instead of a portrait of the bride, groom and Aunt Sue, then the bride, groom and Uncle Joe, then the bride and groom with both Aunt Sue and Uncle Joe. 3. If you are taking a limo from the church to a formal picture location, then on to the reception, remember to hire the limo company for plenty of time. Most often, the bride and groom assume they need the limo only until the exact time of the beginning of the cocktail hour, when in reality they may need up to a half hour of their cocktail hour for pictures, drive time, or hold-ups. 4: Give your bridesmaids the gift of cute matching flip flops thick enough to mimic the height of their formal shoes in the even the ground is wet and you'll need to walk to get to a particular location. Make sure you get some for yourself too! 5: Keep the largest, prettiest room in the house you are getting ready in as uncluttered as possible to make for quick and easy "getting ready" shots. 6: Have your bridesmaids, or at least your mom and maid of honor, dressed and ready by the time the photographer is ready to photograph you getting into your dress. 7: Remember that all eyes are on you. Especially at important moments like coming down the aisle, being introduced into the reception, and so on. You may be nervous, but forcing a smile will LOOK more relaxed in an image than a fearful, tight lipped grimace. Also, avoid looking at the floor as much as possible when walking down an aisle or into a reception. You want to look natural, and you DON'T have to stare into the camera like a deer in headlights, but remember that images are being made ALL the time during important moments of your wedding. Look at your new husband/wife, at guests, at the lens, at the sky....whatever...just not at your feet! 8: Appoint a young member of the family who is not in the wedding party to round up guests that are missing in action for pictures. This can be particularly helpful in speeding up the process. 9: Think nothing of engrossing yourself in your new spouse. Lots of kissing, hugging, intimate conversation and so on make for great candid shots that will most likely make it to your album. Your photographer is working to catch all this emotion, but if there is none to be had you could wind up with a lot of posed images and not a lot of images born of real emotion. Some of the greatest work comes from situations like the receiving line, where everyone is fresh from the vows and excited about the party that follows, or simply from the walk to and from any picture-taking sites you may venture to. 10: Remember that you have never been more beautiful or more handsome, and enjoy yourself!!! -Cheryl Bolton-Reuter Bolton-Reuter Photography |