Wedding Photographer

So I was asked to be the second photographer at a wedding a few weeks back.  I though this would be a fun experience for me, so I went!

Here are some of the tips & techniques that I learned / observed from the main photographer. I hope it will be somewhat useful for people who are shooting weddings for friends & relatives...etc. So here it goes:

1. Location, Decorations, & Setting


Wedding photographers usually have to come 1-2 hours before the ceremony starts, to take photos of the still objects (cards, flowers, all kinds of decorations), and also the bride and groom preparing for the ceremony.  This is the part I love most.  Just make sure you have ample time to look at & compose wonderful photos of the place the event is taking place and all the small stuffs that are interesting.

Take your time when taking these photos and make sure they're good because once the ceremony starts, the overall pace becomes much faster.  This is the part where I can actually "enjoy photography" :P
Try using large aperture, shallow depth-of-field to create to create effects, capture people's faces, emotions, interactions...etc. It becomes all formal once the ceremony starts.

I like the bright lighting on the stage versus the dark benches.  I took the photo from a very low angle as you can see, and the darkness creates a tunnel-like feeling leading to the stage where everything is gonna happen!

Small stuff like invitation cards are things that can't be forgotten!! Shallow depth-of-field can make the picture a little bit more interesting, but not by much :P Arrange stuff so that it looks good before you take the picture!

Just another object.  The candle & the out-of-focus lights in the background.

Picture of the groom getting ready. I feel like the two purple ties really grabbed the attention in the picture.  What do you think?

Capturing interactions between friends, relatives, families can be interesting. The kid in this photo was very helpful in carrying stuff, help make everything goes smoothly!! :D

It doesn't hurt to try some effects such as black and white.  Experiment a lot in post processing, vignette, sepia, curves... whatever you want to do.  Once you find a favorable way of editing those photos, you can save it as a preset & use it on all photos!

2. Ceremony

The ceremony part goes by really fast.  So you must be prepared to take photos, make sure you don't miss any important stuff!  There's only one chance! Be sure  to scout out a good vantage point where you can take most of the pictures.  For me, it's a small balcony above the central stage.  But make sure you don't stay there  the whole time!  Change locations when there's a little break in between the ceremony.  It is good to have two photographers so that you can be sure nothing will be missed, and also different angle / viewpoints will be covered.

Set your camera to AI Servo (for Canon), or just continuous focus when the people are walking down the aisle. Set it to continuous shooting too!  Also make sure your shutter speed is fast enough (~1/125) is the minimum I would say, because people are moving around.

After the ceremony, it's time for group photos!!

The main photographer (Fei Lian Photography), set up two lights, both at a 45-degree angle in front of the people getting their photos taken.  Check out PocketWizard, it a remote flash trigger that can come in handy!  For group photos, make sure your aperture is small enough so that everyone will be in-focus, an aperture number of f7 ~ f8 should be fine.  Also make sure to take multiple pictures of the same shot because it's really easy to find that someone's eyes will be closed or looking at somewhere else!

Tip: White balance is always an issue with in door lighting.  Having a gray card or a foldable one like what I was holding will be extremely helpful!!! As long as you have a gray card for reference, most softwares (Photoshop, Aperture...etc) can correct the white balance with just one click on the neutral gray area of the card! Super convenient :)

3. Reception

The steps for reception is sort of similar to the ceremony.  Get there early and start shooting the decorations ... etc, such as the photos below.

The decorations on the tables were really nice.  For pictures where the background is mainly white, be sure to compensate your exposure by setting your camera to ~ +1 stop.

Capture important moments like this! Sometimes only focusing on the hands (not the whole body) can be nice too, experiment and take a bunch of different shots :)

Capture important moments #2:  The parents were talking to the groom and bride.  Instead of just taking a picture of the parents, this composition shows that relationship and what was actually happening.

Don't forget to take photos of the people who are invited to the reception! Take a few photos per table, make sure you get everyone!

Use continuous shooting mode for moments like this!

1 more tip:
It is often really dark in a church, and most likely you're not allowed to use a flash during the ceremony.  There are 3 ways to solve this problem:  large aperture, IS (image stabilization), and high ISO).
Large aperture is the best way to solve it generally, because it increases the shutter speed without using image quality (except for shallower depth-of-field).  High ISO will be ok for newer full frame cameras such as the Canon 5D MK II and Nikon D700.  I found image stabilization does not work that well because as long as the people are moving, image stabilization is useless.