T
h e Wedding Issue
5 Things Your
Wedding
Photographer
Wants You
To Know
STORY & PHOTOS BY TONY BENNETT
AS A FULL-TIME PHOTOGRAPHER,
I’VE QUICKLY LEARNED TAKING
PHOTOGRAPHS IS THE EASY PART.
THE MANY HOURS OF PHOTOGRAPHY
TRAINING AND PRACTICE ARE ITEMS
THAT CANNOT BE QUANTIFIED. AS A
SMALL BUSINESS OWNER, I WANT
TO GIVE MY CLIENTS THE BEST
EXPERIENCE POSSIBLE. TO ENSURE
YOUR WEDDING DAY IS THE JOYOUS
EVENT IT SHOULD BE, HERE ARE A
FEW ITEMS TO KEEP IN MIND.
1 3 5
2 4
MAKE A BUDGET. The only thing you’ll have
the day after your wedding are the photos. So
remember to prioritize your budget. If you want
great photos, you may want to cut the gelato
bar and ice sculpture and pay a little more for
a photographer with the experience to capture
your special day.
TIME. Make sure you make time on your
wedding day for photos. As a photographer, I
love to get creative and I want to capture that
“perfect” image you will cherish for a lifetime.
This can best be accomplished by creating a
timeline for how the day will flow and trying
to stick to it as best you can. If there are certain
people that you want to ensure you have your
photo taken with, make a list and give it to your
photographer at the start of the day. Don’t be
afraid to tell your photographer what you want.
That’s what we’re here for.
80
EXTOL • AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2017
ADAPT. Every wedding is different. There are
many aspects that can affect your photographs.
Ceremony location, time of day and time of year
(think sunset time) can all affect the look and
feel of your photos. To capture better photos,
your photographer should bring multiple light
sources, including battery-powered studio
strobes and speedlites, for quick movement
between locations. Ask your photographer if he
or she has those.
SMILE. This one is simple: Be happy on your
wedding day. Nothing will sour your photos
more than you stressing out before, during and
after your big day than having a frown. This is
your big day. Enjoy it.
BE PATIENT IN POST-PRODUCTION.
The wedding day may last for 8 to 12 hours
(sometimes longer), but that is only part of
what it takes to capture a wedding and deliver
the final product. Long after the cake is cut
and the guests return home is when most of a
photographer’s work begins. A good one will
immediately gather all the memory cards and
download them to various locations. Data loss
is a huge problem, ensure your photographer
has a plan to take multiple precautions to make
sure this doesn’t happen to clients. Also, moving
through each of the images will take a number
of days. Be patient. Every image we take during
a wedding is edited, and this takes time. Then,
when the client decides which photos to have
printed and which to put in the album, a good
photographer will put additional work into
perfecting each image. Again, be patient.