Tuesday 10 August 2010

Wedding Photography - two words designed to distill fear into the heart of any photographer. And rightly so - a wedding day is one of the most important days of someone's life and shouldn't be taken lightly. As their photographer, it's your duty to make their day as badass and wonderful as you possibly can, as well as providing the best photography you can provide! :) So no pressure, guys...

Here we go!
with abit of background music! ;)



Step 1, of course is to meet your bride and groom prior to their wedding day, to get a feel for their personalities and squeeze as much juicy information out of them regarding the wedding as you possibly can!

Today's case study is the wedding of Katy and Matt Linley. I went to primary school with Katy, and was drafted in 3months prior to the wedding - though many people will wish to book you up to a year in advance. I met with Katy, her mum (and my former maths teacher!) and her sister/bridesmaid Shauna the week before her wedding. She filled me in on her plans - themes, colours, amount of bridesmaids (nine, yes really, nine) and other details. We arranged my transport, timings and durations all prior to the Big Day - just to save on any questions.

I arrived at 11am, spent 20minutes having a big "oh my god you're getting married" session (which is great, not only because it's super fun but it puts everyone at ease). Then out came the camera....
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
Image and video hosting by TinyPic

These pictures were all taken within the first 30minutes. You want to interject photography with conversation, keep it relaxed! Get to know everyone around you. Leanne, one of the bridesmaids, worked in a prison with Katy providing aftercare when the inmates were released. Get to know people so it doesn't feel like they are being photographer by a complete stranger. The best lens to start off with here is a 70-200mm 2.8 (paparazzi lens!) because it let's you keep your distance from everyone and doesn't make them feel their space has been invaded by a camera wielding maniac!

The above shots were taken with the 70-200mm 2.8 and the 85mm 1.2.

Then I headed downstairs to say hello to everyone else...

Image and video hosting by TinyPic
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
Image and video hosting by TinyPic


Some examples:

Taking a random photo to get my settings right:

And shooting at a high ISO and getting a "film" look:
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
Back to the wedding preparations! I then spent the last 45minutes bobbing about upstairs and downstairs taking pictures of anything that caught my attention (which was alot!)....

Image and video hosting by TinyPic
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
Image and video hosting by TinyPic
...and there we go! 144 images (there are a few b&w conversions I did of some of my favorites) of everyone getting ready. One of the reasons you can feel okay with charging alot for wedding photography is that it takes a LONG time. I have been editing each of these photos since 9am this morning, and it's now 11.45pm.

I charged £500 for this wedding, as Katy is an old school friend so I gave her a big fat discount, plus it's only the 6th wedding I have done so far. For the wedding itself I was there for 12hrs, and today's editing has come about to approx 12hrs and I'm about 1/5 of the way through. That's around 72hrs total work with each wedding. At £500, I'm earning around £6p/h, which isn't all that much when you look at it that way. So when it comes to pricing, don't feel bad for charging what sounds like ALOT. I did a wedding the other day for £200, which was my first booking, same amount of exhausting work. Let's just say I'm never charging that low again! ;)

Another thing to remember is that you HAVE to stay enthusiastic and enjoy yourself! Boogey round while you're taking the dancing shots. It makes the world of difference, as Katy very lovely-ly pointed out!!!:

Image and video hosting by TinyPic
I think one of the reasons I love wedding photography so much is that I get to see people on the happiest days of their lives, and I get to see love everywhere from everyone. I genuinely LOVE doing it, to the point where sometimes I well up a little to myself while editing the photos afterwards (and occasionally during the ceremony!!). Keep smiling, have fun and notice the little things which really make the day what they are.
“When you find yourself beginning to feel a bond between yourself and the people you photograph, when you laugh and cry with their laughter and tears, you will know you are on the right track.”

Stay tuned for part two of this wedding with some more How To commentary! :D

Rosie xx





26 comments:

  1. There you go! So glad finally saw the pics! Congratulations for capturing these beautiful moments in your client's life!

    http://dollhousediary.com/

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love those dresses! And there is so much heart in these photographs!

    ReplyDelete
  3. THANKS SO MUCH, Rosie, for being so open, as always. your pictures are stunning, always have been always will be! you're a bomb! :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Absolutely fantatic, thank you so much for this! It's so helpful. I'll be bookmarking it for when I'm shooting my friend's wedding next year :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Glad you are all enjoying so far! Got loads more to come! :D The dresses were actually all handmade by Katy's mum! She made NINE of them! And the bouquet too - she did so much! Amazing lady :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great tips Rosie, thanks!...Can't wait to see more of this!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wonderful work! You can really see the excitement and the (positive) anticipation of the approaching event!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This will prove invaluable to tons of [beginner] photogs, as to exactly how much time is spent not only networking to get jobs, but shooting (which typically lasts longer than a regular workday for most), editing (can take up to 5x as long as shooting!), packaging, delivering... these are all major things to consider when jumping into the photography, especially weddings (which is not recommended for just jumping right in, haha! One could drown that way~). Typically, people do not question the price of a wedding photog. Most have brilliant portfolios to look at and decide upon with that alone, in some cases. However.. for portrait photogs like me, just starting out, people tend to wonder why I charge the way I do, not realizing the amount of time and care put into editing, etc.

    I hope to see more posts like this, Rosie! Keep up the good work, helping out your fellow beings! :) :D

    ReplyDelete
  9. Loved your analysis, Rosie. I really appreciate your openness and your style. Personally, I don't do as much editing on my pictures, but I really like your work.

    I'm also just beginning my wedding photography journey. It's good to learn from the greats, but I appreciate it so much seeing and learning from someone in a situation closer to the one I'm in. =)

    thanks. :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thank you so much for taking the time out of your busy schedule to share with us exactly what it takes to be a wedding photographer. Know that you are very much appreciated in the photography world :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks a lot Rosie. I have been looking forward to seeing this. I am about to book my first wedding this month and I am a bit nervous but this helped a lot. Cant wait for the next part. Thanks :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hey, Rosie!! Thank you so much for sharing it in such easy going way! I have the feeling I am about to learn a lot by reading you in here... And once again, congratulation on your great work.
    Gisa Sauer

    ReplyDelete
  13. :D This is so cool :D Can't wait for part 2!

    Id love to know a bit more technical stuff too, like lenses or settings or anything that you can offer! xx

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thank you so much for this post. Friends has ask me to be their photographer on their wedding but I feel I am not ready yet, I have been shooting with my brigge but i doesnt make good indoors photogs, I just got my first Nikon and I must learn how to use it before going into the weeding photography, as you say It is a huge responsability because it is a very important day and pictures should have good quality. Your photographs are excellent. I will keep tuned for next post. Thank you.

    Maricruz

    ReplyDelete
  15. Very insightful post, Rosie. So what I'm distilling from this first installment is that:
    1) you need to be friendly and chatty to make your subjects relax with you around
    2) you need a badass f/2.8 lens

    One question and one suggestion...
    Q) How did you decide what to charge - did you do some research on what other photogs were charging, or did you just make it up?

    S) In your next post(s) can you explain how to take successful (formal) group photos. I've found it's kind of like herding cats...

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thank you so much for sharing all these...
    I love watching at your photos and reading all the explanations you give about how you took them, and these ones are particularly sweet.

    Also discovering new music is always something to be grateful about, so thanks again.

    :-)

    ReplyDelete
  17. This is Great Rosie... .. I love your work.... well done.... JC

    ReplyDelete
  18. i'm a huge fan of your pics,you're a great photographer!

    lovly greetings from germany!


    awhiffofsummerrain.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  19. Those dresses are absolutely fabulous, can't believe they're handmade, amazing work and those flowers also caught my eye. A very talented lady indeed!

    Great job Rosie and thanks for sharing your experience. You're a gem!!

    ReplyDelete
  20. so lovely post ! you are awesome Rosie :)

    ReplyDelete
  21. Amazing Post Rosie!

    I look forward to part 2!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Rosie I love this, thank-you. Also, I had that gorgeous song playing then looked at my husbands new band website and I totally had an experience (I love space and emotive music!!) Have a look at www.LZ7.co.uk while the song's playing and scroll down the page..just incredible! Thank-you for fueling my love for beautiful things!! Lucy West x

    ReplyDelete
  23. Hi Rosie, great post and very nice to see behind the scenes of another photographer who shoots weddings.

    Was just wondering about your processing, I love the cool tones on lots of your shots. Do you use photoshop actions, and if so, can I be cheeky and ask what ones ?

    ReplyDelete
  24. Hello Rosie ,
    Love your better capturing moment .
    Remove White Background

    ReplyDelete