Tips and Tricks
Guide to a Better Wedding Assignment
Get to know the client better. Understand
their requirement. Don’t force your own
creativity on them.
They have come to you looking at your work
but they might have different expectations -
so get that clear before going ahead.
A mismatched client is where things go wrong
the most.
Practice. A Lot. Wedding photographers get
lazy in the ‘off-season’ vacationing & chilling
out, preparing for the 5-6 months of back-to-
back photoshoots.
Like any other muscle that needs training
before a marathon. Make sure that you are
prepared to handle the job. New skills,
techniques, upgrades - is a much required
gameplay these days.
Nobody wants to see pictures similar to what
you did last year.
Keep a Backup Camera. Things go wrong
when you least expect them to. Make sure you
have a backup body - almost as good as your
main camera. Including a few spare lenses in
a separate bag.
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Make sure the camera has charged batteries,
memory cards and a functional multipurpose
lens. I can’t stress more on the importance of
backup camera bodies!
Do not go for the Gimmicks. Content will
always be the King. Every year, there is a craze
which people follow. This year being the year
of Flash-Modifiers and High-Contrast
selective lighting with Grids & Gels.
Yes, it is great for that One shot, but your
work ends up looking like everyone else’s
work. If you want to stand out - you need to
create beautiful pictures of the couple -
irrespective of the technique.
Be Light on Post-Production. Get the shot
right in the camera. Learn the art of changing
the camera settings as and when you move
from one location to the other. It makes you
highly aware of the light differences in
different areas of a venue & makes sure you
are always ready to click that once-in-a-
lifetime moment.
Get a Good support team. A trusted assistant
can go a long way. It saves you the running
between the location & camera bags. Giving
you the much needed energy to last for 12-14
hours of wedding ceremonies.
The assistant also should be able to help you
with lights/stands/lenses.
Do not over-commit your dates. Some
Popular photographers have the tendency to
take up all the projects they can grab in a
month without worrying about post-
production & delivery. Most photographers
work on the edits themselves and will end up
with a huge backlog if you do not manage
your dates properly. It’s okay to be greedy and
do as many projects, but it’s wise to have
enough breaks between two shoots.
In the end, it’s our passion. And not a job that
people do so that they can pay their bills.
Take time & enjoy each wedding shoot,
prepare for it, spend time in post-production,
deliver on time & take a break before taking
the next project. It will help you in the long
run.