It's All in the Details - (The importance of capturing it all!)

Hi Steemians!

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As some of you may know I am a professional wedding photographer and have been for just over 8 years. Being a wedding photographer teaches you a LOT about photography and life in general! When I first got into it I hadn't done much photography at all and quickly realised that it was a whole lot more than taking pretty photographs. You were responsible for capturing what the Bride and Groom and their families had, sometimes, spent years on creating. One day that only happened once and only one chance to capture it all perfectly... and in a short space of time. Its not like you can work at your speed you have to find the time throughout the day to tick off all the little things that you need to shoot, wether it suits your schedule or not. We go into a lot of weddings with huge shot lists, and to be honest, we don't mind couples who send us these huge shot lists. Photography is a big deal to all our couples so we want to make sure we capture every single thing they want. They are our clients and our goal is to make them happy after all!

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A lot of photographers these days don't even allow requests and think that they are pure artists, well unfortunately they have got it all wrong. An artist creates work and then sells it, we get paid before the job to capture a wedding and are required to capture certain elements which in tern makes us commercial photographers. Of course you can put your own spin on each shot and that's how you create your style but ultimately we work for a client and if they want certain shots you TAKE THEM! It only has to take a few minutes out of your day and if its not a shot that fits in with your style then don't put it on your website, its not a big deal. What is a big deal is how that couple will feel about you saying no to a request, and if that's going to then harm you getting any referrals!

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Its not just the obvious things at weddings that we need to capture its also thinking ahead and thinking about what couples will later wish they had got a shot of. Things like the venue details. I imagine a lot of couples book their dream wedding venue for specific reasons, it could be the amazing staircase or the beautiful windows, whatever it is if you capture details while walking around the venue it all adds to the collection so that when they look back on their album in years to come its the whole day that they remember, not just how they looked. A few years back we were asked to do a shoot for a couple who weren't happy with their wedding photographs (NOT SHOT BY US!) and asked us to go to the venue and capture some photographs that they had missed out on. This couple spent close to £10,000 on the re-shoot and for hiring us, now that's not something a lot of couples would be able to do or would want to do, so getting it right first time is crucial! This couple though hadn't got any photographs of their venue, and this venue was stunning, it was a huge fairy tale castle, how could you not get any photographs of it? They said it was because their photographer had worked at that venue a lot of times before and therefore forgotten that while it may not be special to him anymore it was still so special to his couples. We also work at a venue quite often but every time we go there we approach it as if it was the first time we went. Making sure that each couple is left with the same amazing memories of the venue as the first. We have to remember that even though we have been to over 300 weddings its our couples FIRST wedding and they want to be made to feel like they are the center of attention all day, so its so important to understand that.

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Table details are something all photographers will probably capture and we love to do this. As there are two of us we can do it without missing any vital going on in the canape time. One of us stays with the guests and the couple while the other goes off to capture details, and then we swap. Table details are so important, sometimes this is the part of a wedding that takes the most amount of planning and designing. Things that you wouldn't have even thought about, like name tags, could have taken months to print and design. And then as soon as the guests go into that room its all ruined and messed up so making sure you capture it all perfectly before anyone goes in is important! All the little favours that could have taken weeks to fill jars or personalise. They all go into creating the look of their wedding so capturing things like this is vital for the finished album look. Also if they have had a lot of input from a wedding planner of other suppliers capturing pretty shots of all their things is really good too, afterwards you can then send these shots to all the suppliers and in return build up a great network!

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I sometimes prefer to capture some details organically, so things like flowers, shoes, jewellery. I always tend to first of all get a staged shot of all these things in the morning just to have them and then throughout the day I will keep and eye out to see if there is a better situation for me to capture these things more organically. If there isn't thats fine as I will have the shots from the morning but I sometimes find that the Bride will put her flowers down somewhere really nice and that makes a better photograph of the bouquet than just somewhere in their hotel room. Also things like jewellery I like to capture while they are either putting it on or while they are holing some champagne to give it more context. Whenever Bride or Groom's get given cards I always like to capture a photograph of that too, I am sure most couples will keep their cards somewhere safe afterwards but getting a photograph means that at least they know they can have the message safe forever in that form too! I prefer to get a shot of them holding and reading the card too but sometimes if it is placed down somewhere nice that can make a better shot.

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Whenever we shoot at a couples house or family home we always love to capture all the activities going on in the background too. Sometimes it can be a cute little dog wanting attention of a little cat trying to get away from all the action. Obviously there isn't always time to do this so we only do it when we have the time and there is chance to get the shots without missing anything else. But getting shots of the couples pets is so great, afterwards they really appreciate getting a professional shot of their pet and then again in the future they can look back and see how old or what their pet looked like at that point in time! Plus I love animals so if there is animal there I am going to take a photo of it anyway!

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Its just all about being aware throughout the whole day. Not just capturing what YOU think is important but being mindful of what the couple want and what they have spent money and time on. If they have put photographs up around the venue or added any personal touches to anything then get some shots of it! It only has to take a few seconds and it can be the difference of making a client happy or going above and beyond to exceed their expectations so that they can't help but refer you to everyone!

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Plus you can really have fun with detail shots, they don't have to be really boring, if you use a wide aperture capturing all these little details can get really creative and fun at the same time! Even if they aren't in the best location there are ways around it and by using the right lens to make them so pretty!

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Thank you for stopping by! - Verity x

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