Weddings

Weddings

Have you ever photographed a wedding? Well, that’s a loosely worded question: I mean, have you ever been responsible for the official pictures… A very different game!

I’ve done it a few times over the years, always for friends, usually friends who were a little bit short of cash. And it’s been incredibly hard work every single time.

My best advice, if you don’t suffer from fairly severe masochism is, very simply, don’t. But failing that, if you’re trapped, or if you really want to start doing this regularly, here are a few tips.
Limit the list of formal pictures that you agree to take. Every setup involving more people than the bride, groom, bridesmaids and best man will take you five minutes to organise. If there are twelve groups to organise into position, that’s an hour. If they’re late from the church, and the meal is in an hour, you have a problem, Houston.



You don’t need lots of fancy gear. Make sure that you know exactly how to use everything you take with you, and have backups available. Yes – a second camera body. A second flashgun. A second standard lens, or something that doubles as one. This is not the day to try something new and creative: it’s time to be boring and take pictures like a well-rehearsed stage farce, with everything working perfectly.

Do a recce of the church, and if possible attend the rehearsal. You can find out about possible angles, whether the vicar will allow you to take pictures during the service (some will not. Respect that. You’re on her turf), and how to fit into the vestry for signing the register. Also do a recce of wherever you are going to shoot the groups (and you will want to shoot someone before you finish, I promise!) What will you do if it rains? What will you do if the sun is so bright that everyone screws up their eyes?



See if the bride and groom will nominate someone as your group helper: someone who knows all the aunties and uncles, and has the charm of a Graham Norton combined with the voice of a sergeant major. Good planning means that you won’t be responsible for every single thing that happens, in terms of it not happening if you don’t specifically set it going. There’s massive inertia in a big wedding party, and it gravitates to the bar… In between times, they can mind your camera bag.

High vantage points are always worth finding. You can see what’s going on, and also get an unusual shot or two. Get in among them, and try to get a casual shot of everybody there at some stage.
Shoot two frames of everything. Nookie Bear is a frequent attendee at weddings, especially later on in the evening at the reception.



Hitchhiker’s Guide fan? Good. Don’t panic!