How to photograph a wedding properly

There's an interesting article in the latest issue of Photo Professional magazine (a journal for Professional Photographers) which is very pertinent in its summation of wedding photographers. Here's a quote from it...

"A wedding should be photographed as if you were creating a historical document so that future generations can see what happened on the day. This means that as a photographer you shouldn't interfere. Once a photographer starts to direct and to take control of the wedding it becomes the photographers idea of what the day should look like rather than what the day itself actually is."

I'm sure you can identify with that. It's the Bride and Groom's Big Day and therefore everything should revolve around them, not the photographer. Of course, it does beg the question why then do the majority of wedding photographers not work in this way? The article goes on to answer...

"To be able to shoot a wedding without directing is incredibly difficult. The skill lies in the spotting of 'decisive moments' and the ability to capture the flavour of the day. You have to have a sixth sense, and to be able to anticipate what is going to happen, and then be in the right place at the right time. You need to completely understand composition and light to give depth to the pictures. It's safer and certainly for the inexperienced photographer more advantageous to him to direct all the photography which is why so many of them take exactly that approach."

For most photographers who book me for wedding training, particularly those who are currently photographing weddings, these are skills they are looking develop. One of the methods I use is to go through an entire wedding shoot with them explaining the thinking behind each photograph and how it was subsequently achieved each shot. The objective is to equip them and help them feel more confident about simply letting the day unfold naturally and photographing it in a natural, relaxed style. Of course, most weddings will contain an element of the day where the couple want family group photographs and their main bride and groom session. These do need some direction and input from the photographer but it is still possible by using techniques such as simple flow posing, to work comfortably and smoothly and retain that natural feel to the images. This also helps you work much quicker, too, which all involved on the day will appreciate.

If you are a wedding photographer in Edinburgh or indeed anywhere in Scotland and would like to learn more about this style of photographing a wedding you can book me for a one day wedding photography training course and we'll cover all of this and a whole lot more. Details and prices are on my website:
Photography Training courses Edinburgh