Organisation!
Photography is one part, but being a crowd controller, being able to make people at ease about a camera and being able to read time are also very helpful skills.
When your photographer meets the bride where she is getting ready, how bad would it be if hair and makeup were taking their time and running late and no-one picked up on it? Professional photographers have photographed hundreds of weddings and at 4 out of 5 weddings… the above situation happens. All might seem good to the bride and everyone else… but we know if the ceremony is 2 hours away and all hair and makeup is not within 10 minutes of being finished, there will be a mad rush to get the bridesmaids and bride dressed, shoes and jewelery put on, get the photographs taken of everyone and get to the ceremony on time.
If the above part of the day is let run un-checked, you could end up with only a third of the photographs that should have been taken and arrive at the ceremony flustered, stressed and far from happy. Do you really want this to happen on your wedding day?
To that end… no body likes a bossy photographer… but if things after the ceremony, for example, are not handled well, you can waste a lot of time which you simply don’t have on a wedding. Below is just one example of other things, apart from photography, a professional wedding photographer must be able to do.
Being able to ‘read’ a crowd whilst taking candid photos after the ceremony so as to know when to gather everyone for a group photo is just one important skill. Do it too soon, you can be seen as bossy. Leave it too long, and some people will have walked off and it takes too long to gather everyone for the shot. You can loose 10 minutes easily here. If you fail to give polite but firm direction for the family photos, you can waste 15 minutes moving non family members away and chasing up auntys, uncles and cousins. If you loose nearly half an hour between these two events, and you only had 1 1/2 hours allocated for the bridal shoot, then you allow travel time, you could be down to 30 -40 minutes for your bridal shoot by the time you get a whole bridal party in and out of a car or two.
Having said that about the bridal shoot, only the most photography motivated bride and groom are up for a 2 1/2 hour bridal shoot in my opinion. A professional photographer should be able to fill this time if needed with the capturing of creative shots, but he should be also be more than capable of obtaining many and varied images that showcase the bridal party in a hour or maybe a tad more.
We are well practiced in making the bridal shoot fun and quick! We bring music along and there will be time to have a drink and a little relax. We will also get those awesome images!
Ninja & Psychologist skills!
These are very important. Nearly everyone hates a camera in the room and you need to know how best to not only photograph an event but also where to be, so as not to interfere and change the mood. There are times when being away with a long lens to get in close is the ‘way to go’. Perhaps during a quiet intimate moment. But this won’t fly all day. There are times when being right in there with the action is best… and knowing if to just get in there, and get it, or whether to interact with whoever is there, is an important decision to make. With regards to the interaction, it is about whether to offer up some prompting to refine the situation, make a joke to keep whatever is happening going, or to offer up some calming words if someone is looking a bit put off. Nothing but years of experience can substitute for these skills. Making the wrong decision at these moments repeatedly all day will lead to poorer quality images, an antagonized bridal party and guests, and ultimately disappointment as a day that can’t be repeated has past… and the result is less than perfect.
Speaking of perfect, that is what we deal with all day long. We take locations and lighting conditions that are mostly less than perfect and produce a perfect result. Many photographers actually shy away from wedding photography for this reason. It is easy to shoot portraits all day long with a lit studio compared to shooting a wedding under who knows what conditions. And with regards to conditions, only a professional wedding photographer will have a clue on what to do if it starts to rain. It is no ‘biggy’ if you know what you are doing!
And all this knowledge and experience comes at a price. What exactly it is I don’t know. But it is more in money terms. It is certainly more than Jane the TAFE student will charge. But I think you would agree, even with this handful of examples, a professional photographer is a valued asset to have on the job at your wedding.
Contact Film The Bride today because we are the best wedding photographers brisbane