Wedding photography (also referred as Event Bridal photography) is probably one of the most popular jobs among professional photographers. Whether it is about shooting wedding portraits photographs & videos in the studio, at the wedding venue or at the beach, the job has to be done, professionally. The bride & the groom will certainly search for the best wedding photographer whom money can afford. They want their happy memories to stay forever in a luxury, well made photo album. There are many companies that offer wedding photography and videography services, which include both video & still photography services and post production services.
For the wedding planner, there are many things that should be taken care of, like wedding bouquets, flower arrangements, the wedding cake, car rental, catering, Disc Jockey, invitations, shows, receptions and so on. They expect the wedding photographer or videographer they hire, to be professional, and do its job professionally. The expectations for high standards and creativeness is mostly demanded in this type of photography jobs. There are no room for mistakes, and you must do your job impeccably. If you are just starting out learning about Wedding event photography, take beautiful photos of the couple before marriage, I came here to help you out.
Wedding Photography Approaches
Most of the time, the wedding photographer tries to be as creative as he can, by shooting photographers both in studio, outdoors (at the beach maybe) and at the venue itself. Today we can find several approaches to wedding photography:- Traditional wedding photography - take a more classic approach toward the final image output. You usually will see the bride and groom in classic positions, that were more common in older days. For example, the broom and bride holding hands and looking at each other in a black & white photograph.
- Photojournalistic wedding photography - this approach tends to create more drama and overall passion and excitement in the photograph. It is taken from photojournalism approach, were in order to sell more magazines, the image should be a remarkable one. For example, when the bride thrown the bouquet back or pictures from the bridal party.
- Contemporary wedding photography - also known as fashion wedding photography. In this approach, the photographer use a photojournalism approach to take its photographs, and combines it with image post processing. The results are more vivid, dramatic and exceptional, most of the time. The main purpose of this type of approach, is to deliver s short story in every image.
- Studio wedding photography - also a very modern approach, which is widely used among professional wedding photographers. Usually the photographic sessions will take place in a studio with the ability to perfectly control the lighting environment. It can also take place outdoors, with special photographic equipment. Sometimes the photographer will decide that it's probably the best place to shoot a series of photographers at the beach, church or a private location that has an important and emotional signature to the couple.
Associations & Communities
In today's digital photography world, photographers have many tools that will help them succeed in delivering the best results to their customers. Back than in the film days, there was less room for errors. With digital photography, photographers can shoot thousands of images, process them in photo editing software, and bring the best results. Wedding photographers can take a series of shots with different exposures, and later decide, which photographers will be included in the final wedding album.Wedding photography has become so popular, that some organizations have been established. In that list, you can find: the Wedding Photojournalist Association® (WPJA®), Master Photographers Association (MPA), Wedding & Portrait Photographers International (APPI) and others. In those websites, you can find an index of qualified industry-leading wedding photographers. WPJA, for example, sponsors educational events to teach photographers the art of wedding photography. The main target of that association is to help wedding planners to achieve their target, and find a professional wedding photographer for their needs.
Furthermore, on the Internet, you can find large online communities, that helps wedding photographers to share ideas, photos & questions. Whether you have questions about what specific equipment is the best for wedding photography (DSLR cameras, lenses, diffusers, flash, etc.), whether to shoot Black & white images, what are the most popular image editing tools, etc. On Wedding photographers communities, discussion boards and forums, you can find the answer for every question.
Understanding the culture
When a wedding photographer gets hired for a specific wedding, there is homework that needs to be done. In every culture, there is a difference in the way the wedding is arranged. Professional wedding photographers needs to understand the conduct of the wedding ceremony, before they get to photograph the event.- Social habits
- Traditional practices
- Prohibitions that applied the same tradition or religion
- Order and conduct of the wedding schedule
- Wedding Traditional meaningful objects
- The available lighting
- Size of the location where the event will take place (maybe several)
- Popular wedding songs
Indian Wedding Photography
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| Indian Bride Photo |
Indian wedding photography industry is so large, that it leads to a creation of a specific niche of Indian weddings' photographers, that are specialized in photographing Indian wedding events. So if you search for professional photographers in India, you can be sure that the it will not be hard to spot one. In the US, you can find companies in New-Jersey (NJ), Chicago, New-York (NY), Texas, Houston, Atlanta & Los Angeles (LA).
Recommended Indian & Asian wedding photography websites:
- Aspirations Photography - a qualified and approved Indian and Asian wedding photography UK based company. You can see a selection of professional photos taken at weddings at the company's portfolio page.
- Samson Productions - a well known company with highly qualified professional traditional, contemporary photojournalism and portrait photographers. Samson productions are specialized in Indian, Pakistani, South Asian, Gujarati and Punjabi wedding photography and Videography. They have an online image & video gallery for closer inspection of the quality of their services.
- Anil Tohani - a professional Indian Wedding photographer. You can find a blog and a portfolio page that demonstrates its professional artworks. Anil Tohani clients can log on to the website and watch the wedding photo galleries and download the digital photographs. You can find wedding photographs taken at Cartragena (Colombia), Udapur (India), Belgrade (Serbia), Playa Del Carmen & Cabo San Lucas (Mexico). I was personally very impressed with the creativity and quality of the photos, taken by Anil Tohani. Its business is located in Los Angeles, California. You can find a contact page on his website.
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| Mehendi (henna) decorations on the brides hands |
Wedding Photography Tips, Techniques & Ideas
Well, there is nothing better than learning from professional photographers. Searching the Internet for Wedding photography tips & tricks, techniques and poses ideas, led to many websites. Those websites are a valuable resources, which will help you get the most of your camera and photography gear. Furthermore, they will give you a dose of inspiration. If it is your first event, you will probably need that important knowledge base. Here are some popular wedding photography tips & tricks related websites, that I am sure that you will find them very helpful.- Christopher Maxwell - In his "Wedding Photography Tips" article, Christopher Maxwell covers ome of the most frequently asked questions (FAQ):
- What equipment do I need?
- What is the best digital camera to use for wedding photography?
- How to photograph candelight procession?
- What are the best lenses for the job?
- Recommended books to learn the basics of wedding photography
As an amateur photographer, I can see that there is a lot of technical knowledge that I need to get a grasp of. This is one of the best Tips & Tricks articles I have found while Googling the web. A must read article for both newbies, amateur and professional wedding photographers.
- 21 Tips for Amateur Wedding Photographers - Well, if 774 people 'LIKE' (ed) it, it has to be good, right?. This is an article published by "Digital Photography School" website. It will give you a short list of technical tips to give you a head start. Learn about setting expectation with the couple, scouting the best location and so on.
- Wedding Photo Tips for Amateurs - You said you are an amateur, right? - So this Nick Stubbs' article on All Things Photography will be just perfect for you. Learn how to get ready for your big moment, and try not to mass thing up. The article recommends about equipment that should be used when photographing a wedding (ex. Ultra wide lens, portrait lens, reflector, flash, etc.). Learn what to do after the ceremony, if to process the images or not, what ISO settings to use, etc. Very useful and very well written article
- Ron Hashiro Quick Tips - Straight forward photography tips for wedding photographers. Ron Hashiro will help you deal with posture and pose, reflection in glasses, placement of hands, the chapel, the wedding recessional and how to take the best of every moment. Ron recommends practicing everything before the wedding starts and not during the event itself.
World's Top Wedding Photographers
Interested to know, which are among the best wedding photographers in the world?..um.. so do I!So I had to search the Internet for that kind of stuff, and I came up with some very interesting articles. It seems that you can find the top wedding photographers for 2008, 2009, 2010 and so on. A little bit confusing thought. I mean, a top photographer can be less popular a year later?. Never mind this, let's just go straight to business.
Here is a list of (what is seems) the top wedding photographers in current days:
- Ben Chrisman
- Jerry Ghionis
- David Oliver
- Rob Heyman
- Jim Garner
- Karen Wise
- Marcus Bell
- Denis Reggie
- Joe Buissink
- Jeff Ascough
- David Beckstead
- Martin Schembri
- Elizabeth Messina
- Jose Villa
- Cliff Mautner
- Curt Littlecott
- Gene Higa
- Jessica Claire
- LaCour
- Glen Johnson
- Anna Kuperberg
- Crash Taylor
- David Ziser
- Yervant
- Joe Buissing
Seems like when I get married, I would certainly think about hiring one of those pros. Look at 1:56, Beverly Hills Wedding photographer, Joe Buissink holds its Nikon machine gun like a US Marine soldier, pretty cool.
Recommended Wedding Photography Books
There is nothing like a good book to teach you the art & techniques of wedding photography. You can find a large collection of recommended books on Amazon.com online book store. Here are some recommended wedding photography books that are recommended by photographers and readers throughout the web sphere:-
The Best of Wedding Photojournalism: Techniques and Images for Professional Digital Photographers, 2nd Edition - Written by Bill Hurter, this is a 2nd edition of a popular wedding photography book, that will teach you all the secrets and wedding photojournalism techniques. Intended for professional photographers, who want to deepen their skills. It will teach you how to tell a story through your pictures, before, during and after the ceremony. Whether you shoot wedding photographs indoors or outdoors. Publish by Amherst Media, Inc. In English.
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Digital Wedding Photography: Capturing Beautiful Memories - Written by professional wedding photographer Glen Johnson. In his full-color book, Glen discovers its biggest secrets and helps you discover the most essential skills needed to be successful in this business. You will learn how to capture the essence of emotions in your photographs, prepare yourself for all types of lighting conditions. The book also emphasize on how to develop your business skills, that are not less important than your photography skills.
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The Art of Wedding Photography: Professional Techniques with Style - Written by Bambi Centrell, Denis Reggie and Skip Cohen. A 144 pages guide book that will teach you how to take wedding photographs that look like they came out of a prestige magazine. You will learn about the creative wedding photojournalism techniques, utilized by the best wedding photographers in the world. Learn how to transform your hobby into a career and shoot pictures that will amaze not only the bride & groom, but also yourself.
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On-Camera Flash Techniques for Digital Wedding and Portrait Photography - Written by Neil Van Niekerk. This is a must-have book that will teach you the importance of lighting in portrait wedding photography. This book worth every cent that you pay for it. It will this you how to master your camera flash, to achieve the best possible results every time. This is #1 pick of many photographers, who want to improve their skills, avoiding mistakes and common pitfalls. Make your client happy, Highly Recommended book!
Ready for Your First Wedding?
Remember that this is a business, like any other business. You need to learn how to market yourself, and show the advantage of your creative arts, over your competition. Buy books, practice a lot, ask questions on forums and inspire yourself by watching other photographers artistic projects.
Many photographers also start taking advantage of the HD video feature, which can be found on today's latest Canon and Nikon DSLR cameras. Even though that many customers will also hire your video services, taking shallow DOF HD video clips, can really add more depth to your final project.
Also check out Bella Pictures company, which employs professional and highly qualified photojournalism photographers in the industry. The packages prices are affordable and the company has won various awards.
Also search about recommended lenses for wedding photography. I recommend reading the Choosing a lens for wedding photography by Digital-Photography-School website.
If you find this article interesting, please share it.
Thanks for the nice post. The post is really helpful. I would like to tell you something. I went through the photographs in http://www.aspirationsphotography.co.uk/ . I am not feeling like a pro photography, just normal photography. Couldn't find anything special in Indian wedding photographs. As I am an Indian, I know the traditions and rituals in a marriage. Don't feel bad. I am just wanted express my opinion.
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