I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “it’s the little things” or “the meaning is in the details.” Your wedding clients couldn’t agree more, which is why it’s not only important to recognize the little things and details, but also to represent their symbolism and beauty in stunning artistic style. RINGS The ring shot may be one of the most important detail shots of the entire wedding day, but don’t let the significance of this shot choke you up.

Give yourself no more than ten minutes with the rings and take an assortment of shots from different angles. Shoot plenty of verticals and horizontals, and experiment with different surfaces in the background (i.e., smooth, matte, glossy, textured, etc.). To really capture the diamond, its cut and facets, the ring’s setting, and any intricate inlays, patterns, or scrolling on the band, you will need a true (1:1) macro lens. If you plan on using a tripod, you will need a set of sturdy legs with an adjustable center column that allows you maximum closeness to your subject. Personally, I prefer to shoot rings without a tripod. I usually set my camera’s ISO to 400 or 800, power my flash up as high as it will go, and use my lens’s smallest aperture so that I can achieve a maximum depth of field. Stopping down is extremely important, especially when working with macros.

When you are focused only an inch or two away from your subject, f/16 may only provide a quarter inch of sharpness—which is why it is also important to take many shots, to ensure that at least one is sharply focused in the intended area(s) of focus. Shooting shiny or reflective materials is always a challenge. When using electronic flash to illuminate a diamond set in gold, silver, or platinum, you may notice that the band appears dark and reflects only a small highlight near its outer edge; this specular highlight is your flash head reflecting off the band itself. When it comes to metals, you can’t directly illuminate them since they don’t absorb light, they only reflect it. Therefore, it’s important to place the ring near other reflective surfaces. It would be ideal to have a light tent available at every location—but where’s the fun or challenge in that?

SHOES I’m guessing that the story of Cinderella’s glass slipper never loses its magic, because I have yet to meet a bride who doesn’t absolutely want a shot of her shoes. For some brides, their shoes are thee most critical and defining articles of their ensemble. Photographing the shoes is not dissimilar from shooting the dress; it can quickly turn into an overwrought and frustrating feat (no pun intended). With shoes, I give myself no more than five minutes to make my shots. I shoot both verticals and horizontals, as well as a variety of perspectives, arrangements, and environments. There will be those rare occasions when you luck out and discover the bride’s shoes in a picture perfect “as is” composition. However, the other 99 percent of the time, you may find yourself pulling your hair out and questioning which is more difficult: refolding a world map or composing a pair of wedding pumps.

Paul D. Van Hoy II (2011). Wedding Photojournalism: The Business of Aesthetics: A Guide for Professional Digital Photographers.  Amherst Media, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

The wedding dress is the pièce de résistance—just thinking about how you’re going to photograph it induces a nervous shudder and makes your hands clammy, doesn’t it? Well, don’t let that big white wedding gown psych you out or make you second-guess yourself; shooting wedding dresses should be really simple and fun! THE DRESS AS YOU FIND IT The first thing I do when arriving at the bride’s location is ask where the wedding dress is located. Then I ask for permission to handle it or move it from its location if necessary.

I always begin by photographing the dress exactly as it is before I begin making modifications or changing its location. Roughly 75 percent of my best, favorite dress shots are scenes that I have not altered in any way—only documented. Ideally, I prefer to use natural or available light; since I try to use my camera’s lowest ISO and an aperture of at least f/8, which means a good sturdy tripod is an absolute must! If shooting a long exposure from a tripod, I try to make at least three separate exposures—one each for the highlights, midtones, and shadows—in the event that I may wish to composite I try to work quickly, bearing in mind that a strong dress shot is essential, but with each tick of the clock I’m losing candids of the bride and bridal party preparations.

Spend no more than fifteen minutes making your shots. Shoot verticals of the entire dress, but also shoot some horizontals and detail shots of the dress’s lace, buttons, embroidery, and beading.

Paul D. Van Hoy II (2011). Wedding Photojournalism: The Business of Aesthetics: A Guide for Professional Digital Photographers. Amherst Media, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

If your wedding budget is fixed, one of the first debates will be how you distribute your funds among all the wedding services you will need. When considering photographic services, you have to really think of it as your most important decision. The cake may fall over on its way to the reception, the band may show up late, the flowers could be droopy, or the steak cold–but it’s only the photos that will carry your memories forward for generations to follow.

Remember, It’s not the camera, it’s how the photographer uses it.  What good are all the bells and whistles on your wedding day if he doesn’t know what he is doing?  And if he is your friend, chances are you would much prefer him to be a guest and enjoy your wedding day rather than documenting it.  Remember this is your day, you would not want to risk missing anything because your friend photographer was trying to mingle with someone he knows too. There are always breaks, like when the wedding party is eating, or taking a bathroom break, there are few short times when Rochester Wedding Photographers will  not be shooting, but close to 99.99% of the time our professional photographers need to be taking pictures.

One of the biggest nightmares that can happen to an “amateur photographer” is equipment not working properly. Does your friend with the nice gear have backups of all that nice gear? What’s he going to do if his camera decides to stop working right before you walk down the aisle?  If something stops working and you don’t know how to fix it yourself and you don’t have a backup camera body, flash, , etc. You never want your photographer to say: “sorry we don’t have any of your pictures the memory card with all the images failed.” Rochester Photographers are always equipped with camera backups, flash backups, lens backups, camera body backups, battery backups and memory card backups.

What about after the wedding? Does your friend have access to professional lab? Because you don’t want your images printed at Walmart, we sure wouldn’t want our professional photos printed there. You need to make sure your photos are going to last. This means on archival quality paper or canvas, or a beautiful edited album with leather covers.  Walmart doesn’t carry them, and those are your first family heirloom, that is the first thing you and your husband/wife have as a married couple.

The last thing that is very important is Passion. It’s something that cannot be taught, you either have it or you don’t. Does your friend have the passion it takes? Only you can know how much passion you want your photographer to have, but it is important. This is what sets our team of wedding photographers apart. Each and every photographer at Rochester Photography love weddings, their jobs and breathe photography.