SHOOT THE BRIDE
Bert Sanders (Area 15)
(PART ONE)
I have no doubt that many of you have been asked at some time or another to photograph some family event or other. But even the best of keen amateur photographers fight shy of a family wedding. It is no mean task to photograph a wedding properly and to get first class results every time. It takes a number of years of preparation, practice and detailed knowledge of your equipment. Knowing and the handling of your equipment being the most important part of the whole operation. One need not have the most expensive of equipment to make a good job of photographing a wedding. But what you do have must be in good working order. In an emergency I have photographed a wedding using a Praktica MTL 3 with excellent results. The only drawback of the lower price range cameras is that they wont stand up to rigors and continual use by a professional. A good flashgun is essential if you are shooting into the light when you have to fill in with flash.
I would advise anyone to have a go if you have been asked to photograph a family wedding. I am of course assuming that you are a keen amateur and are familiar with your equipment. If you have a camera with a copal shutter you have the advantage of being able to use flash at 125th of a second shutter speed with settings of full power, F16, F8, F4.5 or F2.8 will cover all eventualities you are likely to encounter. Use HD colour negative film, 100 ISO in bright sunshine and 200 ISO in dull weather conditions. Don`t be tempted to use High Speed film, you could run out of F stops and shutter speeds and have to use a ND filters or a polaroid filter to cut down the film speed. A 28 to 125mm lens is ideal. I use a 28mm and a 55mm lens fitted to two seperate cameras. You will find that a 28mm lens is very useful; in some situations inside the church it will be essential. Make sure that you have some sort of diffuser for the flashgun to spread the light
so avoiding hot spots.
Assuming that you have the equipment that will handle the job and that you are quite happy that it is working OK and won`t let you down and that you have accepted the commission, the first thing is to note the time of the wedding and the location. Go along to the location - church or chapel or register office - and search out the best place to photograph the wedding taking into account the background where the light is at that time of day and most important of all see the minister of the location and ask his permission to photograph inside the church and in the vestry where the register will be signed. The offer of a donation to the church funds will go a very long way to gaining his co-operation: which is essential as without it things can become very awkward. Take your camera with you and build up a mental story board of the shots that you will decide upon. Look through the viewfinder to see exactly what your lens will cover, take a friend with you to help by standing in to help compose your shots. You might think this is a lot of preparation toward photographing a wedding, but I can assure you that unless you are an exceptional person you will forget something. I had to go through this routine for months before I was allowed to photograph a wedding on my won.
Spend an hour with the Bride & Groom and discuss what kind of photographs or if they require any special type of shot. They will have no doubt seen wedding photographs of their friends or relatives and might like a particular shot taken. They will no doubt have a time table of the days events. Ask for a timetable and study it well. As a relative you will find yourself the butt of the jokes amongst the guests. Remarks such as, `Have you got any film in the camera`, Make way for Lord Snowden or Lord Litchfield and many other remarks meant to raise a laugh or to throw you off balance. Don`t be drawn into being abrasive . Keep a tight grip on your temper as it will sorely be tried. Whilst you are shooting divorce yourself completely from the celebrations and keep your mind on what you are doing you`ve got a hard days work ahead of you.
All Professional Photographers work to set pattern of shots. This is essential. The sequence is firmly fixed in the mind and strictly adhered to so that no shot is missed out. Deviation from the pattern is welcomed and is a must if one is to add shots to the pattern as circumstances demand but a basic mental storyboard will see you through a hard day`s work. I will now go through the sequence of shots and you can always ask the Bride & Groom if they would like any left out or any extra included.
1. Bedroom... Mother or relative wakes Bride with a cup of tea.
2. Mother or Relative helping bride to make final adjustments to her dress. A shot could be included here of the Bride`s father or whoever is escorting the bride to church.
3. Close up of the notice board at the Church gate which gives the name of the church and Minister. Long shot of the whole Church from the best angle.
4. Bridegroom and best man arriving at the church - walking along the path to the entrance. Shot of bridegroom and best man standing in front of Church porch.
5. Bride and escort leaving bride`s home and getting into bridal car. (this shot is more often than not posed to give the photographer time to get to the church to catch shot 4.)
6. Bridesmaids arrive, shoot them in front of the church porch if practical.
7. Bride arrives with escort. Will be met at the church porch by Minister. Photograph bride and escort and escort three quarter view as if pausing on 8.
8. If by prior arrangement you are able to photograph inside the church a shot of the bride and escort entering church preceded by minister.
9. Shot of bride and groom exchanging wedding rings and vows.
10. Shot of bride and groom receiving blessing at alter rail.
11. Shot of bride and groom and witnesses signing register. This is usually done in he vestry but on occasions is carried out at a table near the lectern.
12. Shot of bride and groom walking down the isle leaving the church.
The next sequence of shots are the most important. Attention to detail and correct positioning of the subjects can make all the difference between disappointment on the part of the bride and groom or great pleasure for them and you for a job well done. Make sure that everyone stands properly with hands to their sides and feet together. Nothing looks worse in a wedding photograph or so unprofessional as groups standing with hands crossed in front of themselves, arms around shoulders, hands in pockets, feet spread apart, top hats at rakish angles, smoking a cigarette. Every attempt must be made to make the shots outside the church look like fashion shots. If top hats are worn make sure that they are worn correctly or left out of the shot altogether.(To Be CONTINUED.....