Posts Tagged ‘wedding photographer’

Employing art in wedding shots

Monday, December 14th, 2009

One of the best days to capture photographs is a wedding day.  It is such a big day for the people involved that catching on film works great.  Because if you are able to catch it memorably you capture it forever.  So in this article we are going to look at a couple of tips to catching that special day on film.

As a San Diego wedding photographer I take a wedding job very seriously.  I know how special that day is so I want to help them have something memorable.  So my first tip on catching that day like art is to take photos that have movement.In a wedding people would alway be moving from place to place. There is a lot of action going on so the trick is to capture that action.

The next tip is to not settle in capturing the standard shots that you know of.You should still take the standard photos but do not make that the highlight of your photos.  As a San Diego photographer I am always thinking of ways to capture the same shots with different angles. That way the story you are trying to tell comes alive.You can have some hardship at first but by practicing you will perfect the trick.

Finally, you may want to make your photos bigger than life. Because to the people involved it is bigger than life.  So as a San Diego event photography service I have learned doing big events how to do this.What I am trying to say here is that you should not capture small photos.  You have to learn to take the shots in a way that makes the moment so much bigger.

But this will require the photographer to have some artistry in him/her.  But if you understand where I am coming from that wedding day you take will be memorable.The photos would not jsut translate into some boring photo album.  But pictures that tell a story of a wonderful day.

Key Lighting Tips For Photographers

Monday, June 15th, 2009

In this age of digital cameras, you have probably thought that you can just point and shoot and out will appear a great shot.Hold on, don’t go so fast.The honest truth is, you may have a great digital camera, but if you are clueless in what to do, you will take ugly shots.

Well, I would like to share with you some great tips on improving your digital photography skills.  These tips are coming from years of experience as a San Diego wedding photographer.These tips are all about the lighting and they will some of biggest reasons for you success in taking photographs.

First great tip in regards to lighting.  Now if you are taking shots outdoors during the day, natural sunlight provides some of the best lighting possible.  Now you are probably thinking, “that’s easy, when you are a San Diego photographer since it is always shiny there”, when in actuality really bright sunlight can cast harsh shadows.Or it will wash out the face details while the sun is overhead.

Overall, most of the shots you are going to want to take with the sun behind you.This eliminates any harsh shawows from effecting your shot from the sun.There will be some times when you want to take shots from different angles when you do try to get some shadows into the shots.

Now that we know what to do during the day shots, what if you have to take some night shots? 

The trick to taking night shots is to turn off your flash.  Of course if it is pitch black you will need it, but for times when there is lighting, you want to use the lighting that is around, but you have to make sure you set your shutter speeds slower to let in enough light.Also, stay steady when you are taking your photograph or you will cause the picture to blur.Applying these couple of techniques will make a dramatic difference for those nights shots you take. 

The third and final tip with using lighting to capture great photos is the golden hour.There is this time that photographers like to call the golden hour or magic hour, and that is sunrise and sunset.

These times of day you wll be able to capture great shots because you will get the more warmer and inviting colors.  You will be able to capture that golden lighting you won’t catch any other time of day.

There you go.  Probably the biggest key in taking greatshots is to make sure you take advantage of the natural lighting.  Knowing what techniques to use for different parts of the day, or just scheduling a photo shoots to capture those times of day will help you become an excellent photographer.

Wedding Day Photography Planning

Sunday, June 14th, 2009

Most couples making wedding day plans have a lot of things that they do take into consideration.  They think about coordinating the date for vacation times. Or they coordinate the wedding day for the family to be able to make it into town.  Or they plan it based upon maybe available venues, like the church or the restaurant.

But one of the biggest things they fail to plan for on the wedding day is the photographer. Don’t think this is something small.  And I am not just saying it because I am a wedding photographer

No planning the wedding day with the wedding photographer in mind could mean all the difference in the world. Especially when you realize that the photos are what are going to last a lifetime.

So what are the key factors to consider when planning with the photographer in mind. The date and time.

First let’s start thinking about the time.  How many people do you think would want their photographer to rush taking the photos?  I am pretty sure most people will not raise their hand to that. 

Well without even thinking about your photographer, a lot of times couples will do just that. The couple or family basically rush the photographer to try and take all the pictures. 

How so you ask?  Well a lot of times, the couple will schedule the ceremony for let’s say 1-2 pm.  With the reception starting at 2:30. How many photos can the photographer really take with only half an hour to work with? Not that many.

Worse thing to consider, what if he does manage to take all the photos? Do you think they are going to take good quality shots when they are rushed? No way.

So plan the times for the wedding and the reception with enough space in between to take all the photos.

The second factor to consider when planning is to check your photographer’s availability.

Most probably don’t realize this, but most good photographers will be booked months in advance.  And if you are dealing with let’s say a large photography company, they may have several photographers.

Well making wedding plans without thinking about the availability of the photographer could be a nightmare. Because when you reserve that special day, without making sure your photographer is available, come wedding day you might get a shock when you find somebody totally different.

This happens more than you can imagine when dealing with a big photography company.  You might not realize they have plenty of photographers on staff, and if the photographer you fell in love with is booked, unless you specifically ask, the company might not tell you. When the wedding day comes, a second rate photographer or worse yet, they might outsource the work and somebody else will show up.

So be prepared and don’t let this happen.  Planning your wedding day is wonderful.  Make sure you plan it also with your wedding photographer in mind.

How to Find That Perfect Wedding Photographer

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009

No doubt a wedding will be one of the most important moments that will happen in a person’s life. Countless hours go into wedding planning. Most of the tasks that take place in wedding planning are time consuming, stressful, and can be frustrating. That’s why it is crucial that your homework is done when trying to find good people for all the jobs.One of the very big jobs will be that of the photographer. From my experience as a San Diego wedding photographer I’ll show you it can be a few simple steps away.

Finding any wedding photographer is a huge task. There are a few important factors to think about when you make this important decision. The photos that you take away from your wedding are going to be the most memorable keepsakes that you have. The photos will be hanging on your walls for the rest of yourlife. One of the most obvious factors when choosing any photographer is price. Most photographers do charge a price for a specific amount of time for the wedding. It is important to know up front what all is included with that
price. When it comes to finding a wedding photographer, the biggest upside to pricing is there is a lot of competition. Remember, that a lot of photographers can and will negotiate their price a little bit to fit what you need.

Another thing to think about and consider when choosing is the experience a person may have. Is this their firs big wedding job, or have they done a few dozen or more? Their price may reflect how long they have been in business as well. Now just because someone may have a lot of experience doesn’t guarantee they will be better. Sometimes those people that are just starting out and trying to build a name for themselves will turn out to be excellent. The advantage of a person like that and going with them is you know they are going to give it their best. When you are trying to find a wedding photgrapher, you will find photographers of different levels of experience. When you do an interview of prospective photographers, it will give you a sense of what it will be like when you work with them.

A final thing to consider when making this decision is what type of personality the photographer has. Are they likely going to try call all the shots and decide on all your poses? Or are they going to let the bride and groom make some decisions? Another thing to think about is whether or not you want to be the one to make the important decisions on the photos. The bride and groom will have enough to think about the day of the wedding as it is. Take these factors and consider them when you choose your photographer. If you do, you will have some wonderful photos to cherish the rest of your lives.  Take it from me, your experienced San Diego photographer.

Tips from a San Diego Wedding Photographer

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009

Being asked to be the photographer for a wedding is a big responsibility.If you are doing it as a favor, or if you are doing it as your profession, following these 5 tips will help you do the job right.

This tips are coming from first hand experience as a San Diego wedding photographer.It doesn’t matter if you are a seasoned pro, or if you are an amateur, by following these tips, you won’t second guess yourself.Doing this you will be fully prepared come what may.

Our first tip is easy and that is to have the couple and maybe their families make a list of photos they want to take.With a day that can be as hectic and chaotic as a wedding day, doing this will help when you are trying to organize all the group and family shots later on in the day.  You will love it and when you can just go down the list and get everything without leaving anything out by accident.

The second tip on our list is to not delete any shots.  In this day and age of digital cameras, most photographers use them.Even though they are great, it is also tempting since it is so easy, to delete a shot.Don’t even think of looking at the shots.  What makes a great shot in your mind could differ widely that what makes a great shot in the couples minds.You never know, they might like all those so called un “professional shots.

The third tip to make sure you do is taking candid shots.A good photographer isn’t one who just takes the standard basic shots, like family shots, typical wedding shots, or whatever is the usual.  But they will also try and capture the emotions of the day through the shots of all the people that were there.It may include the things that go wrong also, like a flower girl making a wrong turn or the ring bearer not wanting to walk down the aisle.Every photo matters.

The fourth piece of advice is make sure you have back up equipment.Do you even want to think of a moment like that of not having a working camera halfway through the wedding.Plan for the worst that could go wrong.By being ready with extra equipment, you will avoid the uncomfortable time of not being able to take any more pictures of the wedding day with a broken camera.

Last piece of advice, make sure you know the lighting of the wedding. There can be a huge difference between the lighting inside the wedding and outside, so make sure to practice for all the different possible conditions. Think about seeing if you can go to the locations of the big day and look for the best spots to take pictures as well as study the lighting needs.

Taking these 5 tips into account will help you immensely.  It will prepare you for whatever might go wrong, it will prepare you for capturing what goes right, and it will prepare you to help contribute to this wonderful day by being the best photographer you can be.  Take it from my years of experience as a San Diego photographer.

How to Choose The Best Photographer

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009

Looking for a photographer for a special day?  Well my experience being a San Diego Photographer has given me some insight on how to make the best choice for that special occasion.  So don’t even think about popping open the yellow pages and picking any old photographer that you find.  Take it from my experience and follow these steps on choosing a good photographer.

For special days, most people want to capture those special memories with pictures, especially if it is a wedding, I know from first hand experience as a San Diego Wedding Photographer; so it is very important that you research the photographer you are going to trust for the job.  So why not ask friends and family for some recommendations.  Their recommendations will help you formulate a list of candidates for the job.

After you have gathered that list from friends and family, you should see if they have a website and take a look at it.  Look at some of the work that they have done in the past.  Look to see if it is the type of shots and the style you want your pictures to be like.  If the photographers you have listed have their portfolios online, it will save you a lot of time because then you can narrow your list down even more by what you see.

Now that you have narrowed your list down to photographers you want to talk with, it is time to do some interviewing.  This can be over the phone rather than going in person, so you can save some more time.  What you want to accomplish with these phone interviews is to have your specific questions answered.  When you do this, you will have a better feel on whether or not this will be the right person for the job.  By doing this, you can narrow down your list even further, and now whoever is left over, you can finally meet in person to look over their work and discuss more details even further.

After you have completed the final steps of this process of narrowing down the field.  After you have gone through your interview process, it is time to pull the trigger and make a choice.  The factors you want to base your decision upon will be, does this person know what you want for that special day?  In other words, do they know your vision?  Also you want to make sure it is a person you like.  Getting along with a photographer for that special day is something not to be taken lightly.  You want it someone you match with personality wise, because the last thing you need is to have a stressful day.  If they meet your criteria, go ahead and choose one.

Doing these few but profound steps will help you in many ways.  The process will give you the opportunity to know your photographer more intimately then any other process.  Having this knowledge of him or her will allow you to connect with them, which is very important.  It will also let you see what their style and vision will be for the photo shoot.  And probably the most important part is the fact you will be at ease in your mind, because you have taken great care to find the right photographer.