A Photographer's Wish List
2015-02-26

Every bridal couple wants the highest level of photographic quality for their money. How do you ensure that your wedding photography goes off without a hitch, producing the ultimate in captured moments from your photographer?

Achieving the best possible results doesn't end with the signing of the contract. Below are a few simple things you can do as a client, before and on your wedding day, to help you and your photographer capture the photographs of your dreams.

Get personal

Start off by selecting a photographer whose personality meshes well with yours. Besides your fiancé, this is the person you will be spending the most amount of time with on your wedding day. By the time your big day arrives, you should consider your photographer a friend, not just another vendor. The stronger this sense of friendship is between you and the photographer, not only will you feel more comfortable and relaxed around him or her, the rest of the wedding party will as well.

Be yourself

This may seem like common sense, but it can be more difficult than you might think. Most people aren't used to having a photographer document their every move, especially with intimidating looking professional equipment. Though they may not realise it, people tend to act differently as soon as a camera is pointed at them, which looks stiff and unnatural in photographs. Pay special attention to your hands – they are a good indication of how tense you really are. Relax your hands, and the rest of you will follow.

Do your homework

Look through magazines, online, and, of course, through your photographer's portfolio for specific examples of images, scenes, and body positions that appeal to you and share these ideas with your photographer before hand. It will give both you and the photographer a better sense of direction when working together. Also, if you internalise these ideas and are able to carry and position yourself in a similar way without having to be completely directed by the photographer, the photographs will look much more natural.

Keep your man updated

Photography is often of much greater importance to one half of the couple, typically the bride. Sometimes the photographer won’t even meet the groom until the day of the wedding, as everything related to photography was arranged and booked by the bride. This usually translates to the groom and groomsmen standing around in complete disinterest or looking bewildered and lost. If you communicate openly with your fiancé, and, even better, the wedding party, it will make it much easier and enjoyable to achieve your desired results.

Be flexible

While it's totally fine to show your photographer the types of shots you like, it's even more important that you're flexible on the day of the shoot. If it rains and you can't get that sunny shot of you in a field, grab big umbrellas and trust your photographer to find the right shot. Same goes for your schedule: If you don’t have time between the ceremony and reception to hit all your favourite spots with your bridal party, settle on one favourite site, and move on.

Enjoy your wedding day!

You have been planning this day forever, so once it finally arrives, relax and enjoy it. You certainly deserve to and doing so will translate to natural looking, joyous images.