For Photographers

I’ve been in this wedding photography game for a while now. It is, without doubt, more than just a job. You get to meet some amazing couples, and you get to share the happiest day of their lives with them.

I mean, what’s not to love about that?

I also like to think I’ve learned a few things along the way. This isn’t a guide for the best camera settings for wedding ceremonies, or whether mirrorless cameras are better than DSLRs, nor is it a guide to using off camera flash during the wedding day.

If you’re looking for any of those things, then you’re in the wrong place my friend.

Personally, I like to think of it as a “Follow these tips and you won’t f*ck up” guide.

So if you’re just starting out in the wedding photography industry (or even if you’re a seasoned pro willing to listen to another photographer’s opinion), then follow these tips and you won’t go far wrong.

Top 10 Wedding Photography tips for Beginners:

1. Always be in possession of a ridiculous amount of batteries. You can never have enough of them.
2. Always be in possession of a ridiculous amount of memory cards. See point 1.
3. Try and make an effort to get to know the names of as many people as you can. Shouting, “Oi you! Get over there and smile!” never goes down particularly well (nor does it a good photo make).
4. Never stop learning. The exposure triangle will never change, but your creativity will if you don’t take care of and nurture it.
5. If a couple says they’d like 10 group photos, they mean 20. If they say 20, prepare to take 40. Allow 2 minutes for each group photo and then double it.
6. If the venue says the meal is at 4pm, make sure you’ve wrapped all the couple’s portraits 15 minutes before then AT THE LATEST. Don’t ever piss off the wedding planner or the venue. You WILL regret it.
7. Be nice to your fellow suppliers, and don’t bitch about the state of the industry with them. You’re in this game because you love it, and if you don’t, leave it to those of us who do.
8. Don’t slag off difficult couples in Facebook groups either. Someone in there is bound to know them and WILL invariably tell them. It also makes you look like a bit of a dick.
9. Be confident, funny and outgoing, even if on the inside you’re insecure, dour and introverted. The couple and all the guests will notice and appreciate it.
10. Above all else, smile! Ever noticed how professional dancers are always beaming from ear to ear, no matter how difficult the routine? Be like them, even if nothing you’re doing is coming off on the day of the wedding.

A few people have asked me how I managed to capture this sparkler photo at Fae and Lewis’s recent wedding at Lympne Castle in Kent, so I’ve decided to put everyone out of their misery and reveal all!

Setting the scene

A month or so before the wedding, Fae mentioned that they were thinking of having a sparkler exit towards the end of the evening, which started my creative juices flowing. I’ll be the first to admit that I hadn’t attempted a sparkler photo before, and I know from other photographers how tricky they can be, so I started scouring the internet in earnest for tips and inspiration.

Issues

The first and main issue was that it was going to be dark when I was due to attempt the photo. Initially I’d planned to rely on the light from the sparklers to illuminate Fae and Lewis, but this would mean that I’d probably have to shoot using a low aperture and high ISO to let more light in, which might result in focusing being a problem. The lens I was intending to use offered an aperture of f1.4 at 85mm, but the depth of field this offered would be ridiculously thin.

My second train of thought was simply to illuminate them using an off-camera flash, which meant that I could stop the lens down a little more to a lower ISO and more reasonable aperture (I rarely stray beyond f4 these days) but this presented another couple of potential problems. One, focusing would again be a challenge as it was dark, and secondly, even thought Fae and Lewis would be nicely lit, all the guests would possibly be underexposed except for the ambient light of the sparklers.

The way around this would be to drag the shutter to let more ambient light in and freeze the happy couple using the flash, but it would still be a bit of a pain tracking their movement and focusing with the lack of light I was presented with.

(As a side note, I also contemplated using the Yongnuo YN-622C-TX trigger which emits a focus assist light, but to be honest the light it emits is crap. The trigger itself is extremely reliable, but as far as helping with autofocus goes? Forget it.)

Solutions

I was talking to a fellow photographer who’d recently photographed a sparkler exit, and they’d mentioned that they’d used a video LED light. It’s basically a continuous light source that you can mount on a tripod or monopod, meaning you can (a) visualise how the light will look before you take the photo, and (b) focus on your subject without any issues. Hurrah!

The video light I used was the Neewer 176 LED 5600K Ultra Bright Dimmable on Camera Video Light, which did the job admirably AND was fantastic value for money too. I also backlit the couple using a YongNuo YN560 III flash triggered by the Yongnuo YN 560-TX, with the intention of adding some atmosphere to the photo by illuminating the smoke from the sparklers.

So my process was:

1. Pop Yongnuo flash on light stand behind couple at 1/16th power
2. Place Neewer vide LED on monopod – my assistant was to the right of me just out of shot and walking alongside Fae and Lewis to keep them nicely lit. Power was roughly 50%.
3. Ask Fae and Lewis to walk slowly (!) towards the camera
4. Take the photo (Canon 5Diii // Sigma 85 ART // AI Servo mode // 1/100s // f3.5 // ISO 3200)

Notes

• I chose ISO 3200 and a shutter speed of 1/100 to allow some ambient light from the sparklers to bleed through. This was just about quick enough due to Fae and Lewis kindly agreeing to walk slowly!
• ISO 3200 allowed me to set the flash to a low power setting of 1/16, meaning recycle times were quick
• I meant to shoot at f4, but in all the excitement accidentally bumped it to f.3.5!
• Ask your couple to walk closely together, otherwise the flash won’t be hidden and you’ll be blinded / your photo will be a flash of white light only!
• Finally, the links on this page are connected to the Amazon Associates programme, meaning that if you should purchase any of the products as a result of clicking on the links, I’ll make a little bit of money. The intention of the article first and foremost is to educate, but if I make a few pennies on the side as well, that’d be lovely 🙂

As a wedding photographer you need to wear lots of hats. Not literally of course – I don’t mean rocking up to a wedding donning a trilby, fez and Panama combo (although that would look…somewhat interesting…), but you need to be able to photograph a variety of situations in a variety of ways.

For example, take the dance floor. In the past I’ve photographed dance floor action by bouncing a single on-camera flash off the ceiling or the wall behind (which is great if the venue has a low white ceiling or walls, which isn’t always the case), or setting up two or three off-camera flashes in various corners of the dance floor (which is fine if you have plenty of space, but not so good if people start tripping over them. Thank God for liability insurance…)

A third technique yields some funky results, and this is achieved by firing an on-camera flash in combination with dragging the shutter. The action is frozen by the flash, and any ambient light (DJ lights, fairy lights etc) is captured by shooting with a slow(ish) shutter speed.

So how do we achieve this? As a certain animated meerkat once said, simples…

1) Use manual mode for full control / a low ISO / small aperture

For the dancefloor photos below, I shot them in manual mode at ISO 200 and stopped the lens down to f11. This achieves two things – it means the shutter needs to be open longer to capture the ambient light trails (which gives you that sense of movement – more about shutter speed below), and it also helps with your focusing…

2) Use manual focus

Focus on your subject(s) initially using autofocus, and then switch to manual focus. This means the lens won’t continually hunt in low light, and combined with your aperture of around f11 means that your subject will be in focus (unless you radically change position, or your subject(s) sashay off to the opposite side of the dancefloor).

3) Use manual flash / front curtain sync

I’m a bit of a purist and a control freak, and don’t like machines (or people, for that matter) dictating what I do. That’s why I always use a manual flash compared to TTL – I set the ambient exposure first (for the light trails) and then adjust the flash power manually to taste.

Some flashes have front / first-curtain sync, meaning the flash will fire when the shutter opens (compared to when it closes, known as rear / second-curtain sync) – using front-curtain sync means the action is captured as soon as you open the shutter, leaving you free to capture the light trails. Using rear-curtain would mean you’d capture the light trails first, but would then need to ensure your camera is aimed at your subject when the shutter / flash fires (which is a bit trickier).

4) Adjust shutter speed

There are no hard and fast rules for this, but I’d aim for around 1/2 or 1 second exposure to start with. You can adjust this to taste if your ambient exposure is too much, so have a play around.

5) Shoot!

So, you’ve set your aperture (f11 in this case), your ISO (200) and shutter speed (1/2 to 1 second), focused on your subject by using autofocus then switched to manual focus, and have taken a test shot of the ambient light. Do this by opening the shutter and moving your camera across the light source (DJ lights etc). Once you’re happy with your light trails, turn the flash on, decide on your composition, photograph the dancefloor action then move your camera across the ambient light source to capture the light trails.

You’ll get some very strange looks, but don’t worry. The photographs below were taken at a recent 18th birthday party, and some of the guests looked at me very strangely during some of the group shots when the flash fired before I moved the camera swiftly off to my left / right. I think they were wondering if I’d actually photographed them at all…

6) Things to remember!

i) What you’re effectively capturing are two exposures. Make sure you’re happy with your light trails first (by setting small aperture / low ISO / shutter speed), and then adjust your flash power to taste.

ii) Watch out for light trails cutting through people’s heads! This may be a little difficult to avoid (unless you want to ask the DJ to move to the other side of the room, or you fancy moving all the fairy lights yourself), but it’s something to be aware of (you’ll see at least one example below where this happened).

iii) Try zooming the flash in for edgier results – this will give you a spotlight effect which (in my opinion) looks more “photo-journalistic”.

See what you think…

“‘Ere, this wedding photography lark’s a doddle isn’t it? I mean, all you have to do is press a button!”

Ah, if only it were that simple – turn up at the wedding, stroll about a bit, click the camera shutter now and again, sink a few cocktails, chat up the bridesmaids and then disappear enigmatically into the night. Unfortunately it isn’t quite as easy at that, and takes dedication, motivation and hard work. In fact, if you follow the five steps below in a diligent and industrious fashion, you should be well on your way to becoming a rockstar wedding photographer:

1. Learn your gear

Do you know your aperture priority from your manual? How about shutter priority? What about the interaction between aperture, shutter speed and ISO? Do you know what an f-stop is? More importantly, do you know how to capture a fantastic photograph of the bride approaching the church on a nice sunny day, and then five seconds later take another fantastic photo in a dimly lit Aladdin’s Cave of a church without batting an eyelid? How about if the sun disappears and ominous clouds roll in overhead, obliterating your lovely light?

Believe me, the last thing you want to be doing is fumbling around with your camera as the all-important events unfold before you.

2. See The Light!

Can you capture a great image no matter what the conditions? What will you do if it’s a bright sunny day and there’s no shade to be seen? How about if it’s raining? Overcast? How about at night? Do you know the difference between hard and soft light, and can you create / negate both? The bottom line is, if the light isn’t great, are you able to find or create fantastic light?

3. Assist

If you’ve never photographed a wedding before, find someone who has and offer to assist them for free. See how they work – how they interact with the couple, how they create fantastic light and how they behave around the wedding guests. Experience is invaluable – you only have one chance to capture a wedding day, so make sure you know what you’re doing before you dive in headfirst.

4. Prepare

One of my games teachers from school once said, “Fail to prepare Biggins, and PREPARE TO FAIL!” Apart from scaring the sweet bejaysus out of me, I later discovered that his sage words were correct. This is particularly pertinent when it comes to weddings – scout the venue first to see what sort of light you’ll be dealing with. Is it a huge, dark barn with very little natural light, or is a small, bright white room? Also, check your gear – do you have enough memory cards to cover the day? Are your batteries charged (the ones in the camera, as well as your emotional / mental ones). Do you know what time the bride is due to arrive, and where your couple will be at any given time during the day? Are you allowed to use flash in the ceremony? If not, what will you do? Are the couple expecting group formals? If so, who? Remember what my games teacher said…

5. Learn business & marketing

Probably the biggest mistake photographers make is lack of promotion regarding their business. “But my photographs are beautiful Dan! People will become aware of my work via the medium of telekinesis and screwing my eyes tightly shut and wishing really really hard!”

No they won’t.

Learn all about branding (clue – it’s more than just a logo), find out who your ideal client is and where they hang out (social media? Wedding blogs?), implement an email marketing strategy, look into Google AdWords and Facebook advertising, don’t compete on price, be memorable, network with other people in the industry (including other photographers), never rest on your laurels, never stop learning.

6. Sort your website out

I know, this list was only supposed to be five items long, but this one is important too – make sure people can find your website. Again pretty pictures AREN’T enough – look at your page titles, headings, friendly URL’s (if you don’t know what they are, FIND OUT), blog regularly, provide value, make sure your blog posts are at least 300 words long, be interesting enough so other relevant blogs will link to you, and never, EVER use Flash. Ever. Unless you want to hide from Google.

Did I miss anything?