The big day: Tips for photographing your first wedding (part two)

By Anthony McKee | 12 August 2024

This is part two of a two part series on photographing your first wedding. You can see part one, from last week, here.

4) Invite a friend along

If you have never photographed a wedding or you lack the experience and confidence, ask a fellow photographer if they can join you on the day; this can really ease the pressure on you.

Aside from the fact that you can both cover different angles (one can be shooting from the aisle during the ceremony while the other is working the sides), it also gives you more chance of capturing the important moments.

When it comes to photographing the formal images, work collaboratively; while one of you is shooting a wedding portrait of the couple, the other might be holding the reflector or setting up a portrait of the groomsmen. And don’t forget to keep an eye on the details.

Detail photos are always useful, particularly if you plan on putting a book together to illustrate the wedding day. This photo of the rings was made using the groom’s tie as a background.

5) Work with two cameras

Most experienced wedding photographers work with two cameras; one body will usually have a 24-70mm or a wide lens on it while the other will usually have a 70-200 zoom or telephoto attached.

Swapping between the cameras is a lot quicker than changing lenses all the time. More importantly, this setup also gives you a second body to work with if one of your cameras should fail; it does happen.

If you do borrow a second camera for the day, try and get a similar model to your usual camera, then set up both cameras identically (including the AF and custom settings).

Don’t forget to synchronise the clock settings on ALL the cameras in use during the day… it will make it easier to organise the photos later in post. And don’t forget to have a few spare batteries with you too.

While photographers will often set up images, it can also be a good idea to put the wedding couple into a position, ignore them for a few moments while you organise another shot and then come back to the couple to see if they have relaxed into a situation.

6) Back up EVERYTHING

If your camera has dual memory slots then set up the camera so that every photo you make is written simultaneously to both memory cards. Make sure both cards are formatted before the wedding, have the same capacity and are large enough to capture most of the day without too many card changes.

At the end of the wedding (as you are packing up) remove one set of memory cards from the cameras and store them somewhere safe. Then at the earliest opportunity, back up that set of memory cards to an external drive.

You now have three copies of the work; keep them all in safe, separate places. Now you can safely start editing the work in the knowledge you have done your best to protect the original files.

Open shade can be really useful when making portraits on a wedding day, but it is important to understand where the light is coming from to avoid dark shadows in the eyes and face.

7) Turn off the sounds!

Nothing screams amateur photographer more than the sound of a camera beeping over the top of the wedding vows. Yes, that beep is telling you (and everyone else) that your camera is in focus, but it’s totally unnecessary.

Some mirrorless cameras will let you work in silent mode, but be cautious with these settings; most electronic shutters actually have a slow scan rate which can be susceptible to movement blur.

More importantly though, if you are shooting under LED or fluorescent light conditions, an electronic shutter can capture light and dark banding across the entire photograph if you get things wrong, and it’s near impossible to remove this banding.

8) Stop Chimping!

Chimping is the process of reviewing your images on the back of your camera after every photo, and it is quite literally the biggest waste of time for any photographer, particularly when you are meant to be photographing a wedding!

Yes, taking a quick peek at the LCD screen is useful for testing your exposure or checking a flash set-up is working properly, but keep this to an absolute minimum; what is more important is that you are looking for the next interesting moment to photograph.

As is often the case during the wedding, the bride will often need a hand with her wardrobe; when this bride asked her husband for a hand adjusting her shoes, it just happened to be in front of this interesting pocket of light. Nikon D3, 24-70mm f2.8 lens @ 27mm. 1/250s @ f5.6, ISO 400.

9) Watch the time

Formal photos are important, but so too is the couple’s time with their guests. If you are going to make formal photos away from the guests, try to choose a location near the reception venue.

More importantly though, don’t obsess about trying to get every single photo perfect; you are better off spending five minutes on one idea and then moving on to a different setting rather than spending 20 minutes on an idea that might (or might not) work.

I like to plan for the day, but I also like to allow for some serendipity, and that happens when you keep things moving and keep on exploring.

Sometimes it can be the abstract photos that help to the story, like this photo made during the signing of the register. Although we can see hands of both the grooms man and the priest in the picture, it is the two crowns, the cash, the cross and the bouquet that also help remind us of the day.

10) Connect with the crowd

Standing about with a camera in your hand, hoping great photos will materialise in front of you seldom works. Instead, you are much better off being proactive with people.

Yes, there are times during a wedding when you should work discreetly, particularly during the ceremony and speeches, or when there are those interesting doco style moments to be captured, but there is also nothing to stop you from setting up photos too.

Individual candid photos can be nice, but don’t be scared to ask people to pose for the camera as well.

One of the best photos you can make on the day is a group shot with everyone standing behind the wedding couple; I will usually put a ladder in an area of good light, then position the couple in the front of the shot and ask everyone else to stand behind them.

This one photo gives you a good chance of capturing the size of the wedding in the one photo. From there I usually transition into the family photos and then the formals. ❂