Getting wedding photographs that they will cherish forever is one of the most important wedding day must-dos for many couples. There are lots of decisions to be made when planning a wedding. You have to pick details such as the date, the venue, the guest list and the menu. A quality photographer is very often also high on the list.
If you’re a worrier, a nervous planner, or just a natural Chicken Little, then you may be on-edge about the photography. But there’s really no need to be. I’m here to give you four ways you can calm your fears and avoid wedding photo disasters.
1 – Hire a Professional Photographer
This is my number one tip for a reason. It’s the easiest way to make sure you get high-quality results.
Hire a reputable photographer with good reviews and a deep history of always delivering for their clients. The biggest disaster would be a failure to deliver the images due to a mistake such as a lost memory card or broken camera or other catastrophic equipment failure. When you hire a true professional this should not be a problem. One thing old photographers like to tell new photographers is that there are two kinds of professionals. There’s those who have lost a paycheck due to a catastrophic equipment failure, and there’s those who will someday. It’s a photographer’s worst nightmare. And once it happens, a true professional will never let it happen again. A trusted professional knows how to avoid gear problems in the first place because it hurt too much the first time.
Real pros have backup plans for their backup plans. Including but not limited to multiple cameras, cameras with double memory card saving capabilities, back up batteries and much more. They know that there’s no such thing as a re-shoot for the magical moments that happen over the course of a wedding day. A well trusted professional knows they only have one chance to get it right.
2 – Be On Time for All Your scheduled Photo Sessions
Great care goes into planning out your agenda on your wedding day and things get more difficult when time starts to shrink. You don’t want to feel rushed or hurried and neither does the photographer. To keep the happy vibes going and the smiles picture perfect and camera ready, be on time.
But it’s not just about being on time. If you’re hurrying or rushing or running 100 MPH just so that you can be on time, you’re likely to be frazzled and stressed. Being on time isn’t exactly the same thing as being ready.
Very likely there will be delays during your wedding day. But a delay with extra time built into the schedule to account for delays is different from scrambling to make up for lost time.
A good photographer will know what an ideal timeline looks and feels like compared to a realistic timeline and will help you sort out the difference. They’ll work with your coordinator and onsite host to manage your wants, needs and surprises so that the day runs smoothly for you and for the photography.
3 – Let the Camera Person You’ve Chosen Do Their Work
If you’ve put a lot of thought and time into choosing the photographer, there should be no last-minute disagreements, arguments, or disputes on your wedding day. Give them the power to do their work.
Their onsite methods may look strange to you. Remember, photography is an art, not a science. The methods they’re using are well practiced and proven. If you’ve liked their work, it is important to trust their process.
In this golden age of digital photography it’s easy to believe you’re just as much of an expert as they are because you’ve got a powerful camera in your pocket and access to more powerful editing tools than ever before. But a professional photographer is just built different. They’ve made a life and a career out of it, and it’s safe to assume they know what they are doing. Let them work.
Respect the process and let the results “wow” you when you get them back.
4 – Be Assertive When You Need to Be
All professional photographers want you to be happy with your photos first and foremost. But sometimes they can get a little too creative in pursuit of a unique image. Creative to them, might be weird or strange to you.
I’ve seen anecdotes of photographers pushing an experimental idea or offering to “try something” that on its face might sound worse than a burst water pipe on the coldest day of the year. It’s important to hear them out if you think they might be on to something, but if they’re creative vision isn’t connecting with you, then it’s ok to say “nah, I’m good.”
In the end, your professional wedding photographer just wants to make you happy. If you’re not feeling it, or if it feels important for you to say “No”, then by all means do so. Most photographers I know will move on and come up with a new idea, or if you’re not wanting to deviate from the plan in the moment like this, then they can stay on script too.
Professional Photographers Get Professional Results
Wedding photography disasters are often a result of poor planning. Either on the part of the photographer who isn’t ready for hiccups with their gear, or in choosing a photographer you just don’t get along with. A good photographer knows how to do their part to prevent disasters. And we love working with couples who have done their homework. The best alternative to asking a friend or family member to photograph your wedding is to become friends with your photographer.
Reach out and say “hello”. I love telling love stories with my lens, and I hope to get to know your love story soon!
