Five digital wedding photography tips for the amateur

Of course the big day is not complete without the services of a professional wedding photographer but the keen amateur can also get some beautiful shots worthy of being included in the album.

Wedding photography tips number 1. Don't get in the way!

Distractions such as calling the bride or groom by name, to make them look your way, just as the pro is about to snap are bound to alienate. As is taking key members of the wedding party to one side as the pro is taking group photos. Another no-no is to set up your own tripod and try to capture the same scene by placing yourself in the photographers line of view. Of course you wouldn't do these things would you? You would perhaps be surprised just how many people do!

Be patient and wait until the pro has got his shot then take yours.

For the shot above I waited until everyone else had taken the shot, from in front of the happy couple, then took mine as they looked towards me. As the light was fading, I used a little fill flash to brighten the bride and groom while keeping the background darker.

But don't limit yourself to only taking the shots that the pro is taking. Why not direct your attentions elsewhere and capture incidental shots of other things occurring at the event?

Wedding photography tips number 2 - Behind the scenes

I like to use natural light if at all possible for these intimate shots. Open the curtains and let the light shine in, choose a fast ISO setting on your camera (such as 400) and shoot away. Using a slightly longer lens can come in useful here, and a wide aperture to throw any distracting background out of focus.

If the bride would like posed shots try to keep them natural. If necessary ask them to move closer to the natural light and remove anything that you don't want in the shot.

Don't panic if something cannot be moved, it can always be edited out afterwards. In the shot shown here there were a few leaves of a hanging plant peeking into the top right corner, but they were easy enough to edit out afterwards with careful use of the cloning tool in photo editing software.

Try not to be a nuisance and work as quickly as you can but do give some thought to the background. In the shot above I realised that the bride's head-dress and veil would not show up against the pale cream walls so I positioned the group in front of a wooden panelled cupboard to give contrast. I also asked the bride to move away from the window to avoid the sunlight burning out the whites in her dress.

I wanted to avoid using flash in this shot, but only just got away with the light available. I had to shoot at f3.4 and 1/20th second shutter speed! Click for more information on shutter speed and aperture settings.

Wedding photography tips number 3 - Capture the details

Number three in my list of wedding photography tips has to be get in close.

When taking wedding pictures there are some you just have to snap. The wedding rings in situ is a classic! This is a shot that the pro will often take while the bride and groom are signing the register but that doesn't prevent you having a go later in the day. Use a wide aperture again, to blur the background.

You will find many opportunities for close up shots at the wedding reception. Maybe champagne glasses in a toast, or the nicely set out tables before anyone has started attacking the food. And of course there are the wedding flower arrangements.

Wedding photography tips number 4 - Don't forget the bridesmaids and page boys

Of course the professional photographer will take posed shots of the attendants with the bride and groom but, especially if they are young, the bridesmaids and page boys will offer lots of chances for candid wedding photography. (For more tips on how to take candid shots check out the candid family photos page.)

Tips such as watching the children interact with each other, or with their parents will come in handy here.

Or catch a pensive moment like this little lad, who obviously thought the official wedding photos were taking much too long! He wandered off to wait by the church gate with his shirt hanging out.

He was soon back in the thick of things and having fun with the bride and her brother. These fun and games gave me an ideal opportunity to grab a photo of the back of the wedding dress.

After being asked to look after the littlest bridesmaid the professional, and I, eventually got our posed shot of the three of them together.

Wedding photography tips number 5 - The wedding cake

Tips that will help get a good shot of a white cake on a white plate sitting on a white tablecloth, include using the exposure compensation button on your camera. A camera's exposure metre tries to average out the scene in front of it to give a medium grey. That is fine when the scene consists of equal amounts of dark and light areas. But point it at such a scene as described above and you are sure to get a disappointing photo. Instead, turn that dial, in order to fool the camera into thinking the scene is darker than it really is, then it will keep the shutter open a little longer allowing more light into the picture, resulting in a white cake rather than a grey one.

If your camera doesn't have an exposure compensation facility look to see if it has a snow scene mode, that should do the same job.

Don't be afraid to inject a little humour when taking wedding pictures. The bride and groom were having fun in the left hand photo above and I was in the right place at the right time to take advantage. It turned out to be one of their favourite photos. It certainly shows more of their character than the usual staged cutting the cake photo.

Your turn!

See other wedding photos

Click below to see contributions from other visitors to this page...

Howell wedding photograph 
I did several shots in different locations for this black and white wedding photo. This is the one that the bride and groom chose.

I wanted to get the ...

Mel & Kev  Not rated yet
As the father of the bride I was very surprised that the (rather expensive) pro photographer didn't stay at the reception. So I just took photos as and ...

Mel & Kev  Not rated yet
As the father of the bride I was very surprised that the (rather expensive) pro photographer didn't stay at the reception. So I just took photos as and ...

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