How to photograph weddings and other celebrations

As soon as your acquaintances and unfamiliar learn that you have got a good camera and learn to take pictures, wait for invitations to all significant celebrations, even from those whose names you do not remember. At first, this, of course, is pleasant, but there is a risk to follow in the footsteps of the character of the cartoon “Vacations in Prostokvashino” Sharik, who ran with photo guns behind the models - first, then, to take pictures, and then - to give them away.

At weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, christenings, parties, graduations and other similar events, you can perfectly practice shooting people. However, there is one important “but”: by agreeing to be present there not only as a guest, but also as a photographer, you take the responsibility to capture everything in the best possible way - because you have such a large camera!

Therefore, you need to warn the inviting party in advance that you are still studying and do not guarantee excellent shooting results. And you need to warn about this because photographing at events has many disadvantages.

At least once every five minutes, strangers will run up to you and ask them to photograph them against the background, for example, of a carpet in the living room in ten angles. These same people will ask how they can get their photos, and stick pieces of paper with addresses so that you do not forget to send them pictures. You will no longer be able to participate in the event as a guest, because you are a photographer. If you took pictures where there were a lot of people, then some of them will later express their dissatisfaction without seeing themselves in the photographs. The inviting party will never forgive you for the flaws in the pictures, because important events like weddings usually happen only once in a lifetime, and nobody will repeat them just for the sake of photos.

But what to do if you are still invited as wedding photographer ? You need to remember a few tips.

The main people at the wedding are the bride and groom. After them, the hierarchy of the importance of those present can vary, but usually these are parents, witnesses, guests. The more important the party is, the more frames you must make with him.

Choose a place to walk in advance. It is advisable that this is not the standard route of all city weddings. Parks and places with picturesque landscapes are much more suitable.

Find and browse wedding photo albums, magazines and books. You can also find many useful things on the Internet. Take notes or save good decisions and ideas for yourself so you don’t have to think long about what and how to take pictures.

In the registry office you will meet competitors - local photographer and cameraman. It will be possible to stand almost the entire ceremony in only one place. Advance the bride and groom in advance so that they put on rings to each other more slowly and hold out for a while for a while.

If the event has a videographer - do not bother him trying to get in front of the camera.

Catch the moments. If during a walk you get a more or less standard set of staged photos of the newlyweds, then during the preparation, redemption, traveling around the city and the banquet part of the event, you can practice reporting reporting.

The built-in flash is not the best solution for shooting important indoor events. Use an external flash whenever possible. If you don’t have it yet, then take a flash for a couple of days at the box office - it’s not at all expensive. The first day - for training, the second - for shooting. An important point: prepare all the equipment in advance. You need to charge the batteries, stock up with enough batteries for the flash, clean the lenses and check the amount of free space on the memory card. Try to have spare batteries, batteries and memory cards with you, as well as a charger for the camera.

Try to get people out of the table. It is almost impossible to take highly artistic pictures of people surrounded by classmates.

On the eve, find out the scenario of the event so as not to miss the main events.

Do not forget to give photos to the newlyweds in a timely manner.

Photographing weddings, birthdays and other family celebrations is, of course, a great responsibility. But the most important plus, for the sake of which you can forget about all the unpleasant moments, is associated with such filming, is that not a single hired photographer will take such pictures that you can get. After all, an outsider photographer must guess how people open up emotionally and in what perspective they look attractive. You possess invaluable wealth - information about those you photograph. For example, you are familiar with the love story of the newlyweds, remember how the child of your friends grew up or your own, already celebrating graduation. In short, your emotions will help make photos so vivid that even random technical flaws are unlikely to spoil them.

No need to take many photos from one perspective and on the same background. Each shoot should have a mini-story, as if it were shots from a movie. During photo shoots, you first need to take photos planned in advance, and then just experiment. Usually the model relaxes more and more, and even begins to offer ideas.

Try to overcome the habit of photographing only the faces of people. Photographs taken from an unexpected angle often carry more meaning than portraits.

When shooting a portrait, the best solution is to keep the camera at eye level of the model and ask her to look into the lens in advance. Take several frames in a row, especially when automatically focusing the image, and then check the results: do not allow your eyes to be blurred, they are the semantic center of the portrait.