When you are getting ready to take some great wedding pictures for your friends, family, or customers, you need to have some great tips and tricks in your arsenal. It goes without saying that a wedding day is the type of event that can be demanding and stressful when it comes to capturing the best shots.
Whether you have worked to photograph a wedding in the past or you are just getting started, you can use some of these tips from Houston photographers to get going.
Think Business
If you want to be able to branch out to do more than simply photograph as a favour for friends, you need to go into the wedding photography realm while being smart about the business aspect. As part of a strong business plan of action, you need to have a contract ready for the couple to sign, even if you know them personally. There are services available online, such as Agree.com, that you can use for handling the contracts and any of the release forms that you may need for your photography gig.
You can keep this basic or you can customize the agreement so that you have all of the elements and stipulations in place to fit your exact needs. This signed contract is your insurance that both you and the clients are covered should there be events out of your control. The last thing you want is for anything to end up in court and you didn’t have it all planned out in writing.
Know Your Gear
It is impossible for you to be too prepared or to know too much about the equipment you will be using. You need to know how to use the quality equipment that you have so that you can get the best results. Understand which lenses should be used and when, pay attention to how long your battery will last, and make sure you know in advance how many photos you can hold on your memory card.
After you know and understand some of the basics of photography and using your equipment, it will then be easier for you to dive in with special effects and tips for shooting wedding photographs. Before you know it, you will be producing results just like that of the professionals. Do you know how to change some of your camera settings in a flash so that you can keep your eye on the viewfinder? Doing so will help to ensure you never miss an important shot.
The old adage is true here that practice really does make perfect, so make sure that you know the different shooting modes, filters, lenses, and everything else involved.
Engagement Photos
The engagement photos may not be necessary for some couples but this is a nice way to get some practice and some decent experience under your belt. You can add the images to your portfolio and it is a good way to get to know the couple a bit, learning their personality and best angles.
You have the opportunity to work with the couple in advance, which helps you to know them and feel more comfortable when getting close to photographing them on their big day. Take the time to plan out a good engagement shoot, play around with angles, learn more about their likes and dislikes, and have fun.
You can even include this type of photoshoot in your wedding packages to offer your potential customers, even more, variety and price points to choose from.
Second Shooter Practice
Many budding wedding photographers will get started as the second photographers. It is a big undertaking when photographing a wedding, so Houston photographers suggest tagging along on a wedding shoot to assist the main photographer with capturing candids and a second perspective during important points of the wedding day.
Even if you already feel comfortable shooting a wedding, you do not have a whole lot of experience in this area just yet. Becoming a secondary photographer is a nice way to see how the wedding day normally plays out and what you can expect from working with the couple on their special day.
Testing the waters will help you to get some amazing experience under your belt and you might just learn some things that you never expected when you assist in shooting wedding photos.
