Are you starting out as a wedding photographer? Maybe you're looking to improve the quality of what you deliver. Here are my top 10 must-have shots, when they will happen during the day, and key information to consider when setting them up, finessing, and completing them.
The internet is split after a wedding photographer shared a controversial "safety shot" technique he uses in case couples divorce or break up.
Wedding photography is one of the most challenging genres out there, requiring you to be at the top of your game technically and ready to tackle any challenges that come efficiently and smoothly. If you would like to improve the quality of your shots, check out this fantastic video tutorial from an experienced wedding photographer that will give you five tips sure to improve your wedding photos.
It's devilishly simple, but this marketing tip by a renowned wedding photographer absolutely exploded his numbers. I think it's applicable to many types of photography, so to learn what it is and how you can implement it, take a look.
One of the challenges of wedding photography is that you are on a tight timeline, and if conditions are not flattering or conducive to portraiture, you have no choice but to power through them and still create the best images you can. So, what can you do when the big day presents with harsh, hard light? This excellent video tutorial features an experienced wedding photographer showing you how she handles harsh light to still create flattering, memorable images.
Thinking about turning your hobby into a jobby? What are the essential points you will need to consider when taking your hard-earned savings and convincing your better half that this will be the new, next chapter in your life? With over 15 years as a professional photographer and more than 25 years being self-employed, here’s what you need to know to make your dream a reality.
Wedding photography can be a lucrative genre, but it can also be extremely challenging and taxing, and it certainly is not for everyone. If you are newer to photography and wondering if it is the genre for you, check out this great video essay that features an experienced wedding photographer and friend of Fstoppers discussing the five best and worst aspects of the profession.
The wedding season typically runs in the summer months in most countries. However, winter wedding photos can look magical if done right. I spoke to Finnish photographer Lauri Hytti about his experiences and tips on how to master shooting the perfect snowy scene.
Katelyn James breaks down the essential (in my opinion) options you need to know and master on Canon's EOS R6 to be able to nail AF and eye-tracking options ensuring a sharp and tracked subject every time. Her style is easygoing and she's great to listen to and I love her videos and explanations which make sense and put everything into perspective.
I look back at past work to see how I've come as a photographer and wonder: what's changed in the 15 years since I started taking photographs professionally? How can I use my previous body of work to improve and give me confidence for what is to come?
I've spent years picking up odd tips, completing online courses, researching techniques, and now, I'm confident in sharing some of that knowledge with the world. Of course, I'm still learning and will continue to pick up tips for the rest of my career. For now, though, I'll share some I wish I had known sooner.
Pets are one of the most important presences in the lives of a lot of couples, and it is only natural that they might want to include them in engagement or couples portraits. Of course, adding a rambunctious dog or the like to the mix can make your job substantially more difficult. So, how do you satisfy the desires of your clients without pulling out your hair? This helpful video tutorial will give you some useful advice.
Fujifilm's mirrorless cameras are highly respected for their design, capabilities, and innovative features, and they have become the system of choice for many wedding photographers. This great video essay features a wedding photographer taking you through the Fujifilm cameras, lenses, and accessories he uses for the big day.
In the past few years, Tamron has reinvented themselves as a company that offers both lenses that make smart compromises to be highly affordable and lenses that push the boundaries of design. The 35-150mm f/2-2.8 Di III VXD falls into the latter category, and it looks like an impressive option, particularly for wedding photographers, and this great video takes you behind the scenes with the lens and shows you just what it can pull off.
Here are some tips and tricks that help make a wedding photography business successful.
I don't hide that I'm a Fujifilm fanboy. My last article described how it's the perfect system for me. I purchased two Fujifilm XT-5 camera bodies the day they were released and used them at weddings just a few days later.
In photography, the term leading lines is a compositional technique used to draw a viewer's eye to the subject of the photo. These lines can be created by any object in the scene like a road or path, a fence or railing, a distant object like a mountain, and any other structure that creates a real or imaginary line in your image.
Wedding photography is one of the most demanding and difficult genres, requiring strong technical and creative capabilities, the ability to quickly and effectively solve problems, and strong interpersonal skills. If you are getting ready to photograph your first wedding and feeling a bit nervous, check out this fantastic video tutorial that features an experienced wedding photographer sharing 10 important tips that will help you to better prepare and ease your nerves.
Wedding photography is notorious for being a demanding, high-stakes genre, and as such, it is natural that with that comes a fair amount of stress. Nonetheless, that does not mean you can't do certain things to reduce that stress. This excellent video tutorial features an experienced wedding shooter discussing five reasons why you might be overly stressed shooting weddings and what you can do to fix that.
Shooting weddings is stressful, mostly because you only have one opportunity to really make your clients happy. That being the case, you need to use gear that you can rely on to get you exactly what you and the client envision. Does the Sony FE 50mm f/1.2 GM lens fit into that category?
For the most part, I have total control over my client's experience with me. I know and understand every aspect because that's my livelihood and passion. I research my equipment, control my backups, work from calibrated monitors and meticulously set up how I deliver images to my clients. However, I've always been in the dark about one aspect of the process, wedding albums.
Some of my favorite creative photography techniques to use are those that allow us to capture moments in ways we could never see using just our eyes. One technique, in particular, that I turn to for capturing unique portraits involves using long exposure, aka shutter drag. Long exposure portraits open up a number of creative possibilities and often result in “wow” moments with my clients. Putting the technique to use does require some skill and preparation, but it’s easy enough to master once you know the basics.
Before I created Fstoppers, I was a full-time wedding photographer. Over that time, I designed a handful of wedding albums as both show albums and as client albums. To be honest, I never really enjoyed the album-making process. Now, the tables have turned, and for my wife's first year anniversary gift, I decided to make an album with images from my own wedding. How will my wife respond, and will I enjoy the process? Let's find out!
I recently had the opportunity to be followed by Taylor Jackson on a shoot while at the Sony Kando event.
Wedding photography can come with a unique set of challenges and stress points, which will keep many photographers from ever venturing into the genre, many opting for a route with less pressure. That said, there are ways we can alleviate some of this stress. Perfect planning and preparation prevent poor performance. A mantra we can all follow a little more in our lives.
A few days ago, I found myself among a group of wedding photographers discussing how far behind they are with their editing. Answers varied, as did attitudes. Some felt they were only eight weeks behind, which was fine. Other photographers seemed anxious, with 17 or 18 weddings in a backlog lasting months. When it was my turn, I gulped. I said: "Two weeks. The wedding I'm delivering today was shot two weeks ago".
Search the web: hundreds of videos teach you how to get more bookings and nail your marketing efforts. But how do we get our very first booking? I asked a few professional photographers to tell me their stories.
If you are looking to break into the wedding industry, one of the best things you can do is become a second shooter. If you are ready to start picking up more second shooter gigs, check out this fantastic video tutorial that features an experienced wedding photographer offering seven tips to help land more bookings.
Over the last few years, weddings have become much more relaxed, and documentary wedding photography is taking over. How can reducing our need to make choices when shooting help our candid game?
As wedding photographers, our hobby is our job, and we don't answer to the man. That's the dream. But how do we go from weekend warrior to full-time photo-ninja? These tips are invaluable.
No matter what genre you shoot, a good contract is essential to ensuring smooth client interactions and protecting you in case something goes wrong, but in wedding photography, it is a particularly important thing to take care of. This helpful video tutorial will walk you through an effective wedding photography contract to make sure you are on the up and up.
If you are simply photographing a single person and they are occupying the majority of the frame, it is not hard to know where to place your focus point, but things can get a bit more complicated if you are dealing with a group of people or a particularly intricate scene. This helpful video tutorial will show you everything you need to know to make sure you get the best possible results every time.
Are you a photographer who only shoots exclusively with ambient light or only with flash? Is one actually better than the other?
Group photos and video of the wedding party are some of the most shots you will need to get at a wedding, but posing a mass of people under significant time constraints can be a real challenge, even for experienced creatives. If you would like to learn about posing wedding parties, check out this fantastic video tutorial that will show you 10 effective poses sure to take some of the pressure off of you and help you make compelling images.
Have you been thinking about becoming a wedding photographer? If you’ve been toying with the idea of starting a wedding photography business, this article will help you figure out if it's the right path for you. Read on to learn a few steps to get started in the right direction.
No matter which genre you work in, you will encounter difficult clients at one time or another, but given the amount of stress and investment that go into weddings, you might find yourself in these situations a bit more often as a wedding photographer. This fantastic video tutorial features an experienced wedding photographer offering some helpful advice for tackling those situations to ensure everyone is happy and you don't find yourself exhausted by the experience.
So you’re trying to develop your wedding photography skills? Let’s talk through some of the photography skills you need to learn and develop. My advice is to pick one thing at a time to focus on, perfect that and then move on.
Harsh, direct sunlight can be a real pain in the neck to work with, especially when you are a wedding photographer and do not have much control over the timing or location of things. Whether you are a wedding or portrait photographer, check out this fantastic video tutorial that offers a lot of practical and helpful advice for taking compelling portraits in harsh sunlight.
Why would you even consider shooting under the hard and harsh light of midday? Here are some reasons that you should consider it and how you can pull it off.
Have you ever wondered what’s in the mind of a wedding filmmaker? How do bits of footage turn out to be a moving film that tells the couple’s story?
Want to get started in wedding photography? These eight tips will make sure you start off on the right foot.
A wedding photographer is always on the lookout for ways to book new clients. There are several methods to go about getting them, some of which do not require you to spend any extra money. This excellent video tutorial features a seasoned wedding photographer discussing seven different ways to book more weddings.
Wedding photographers are always looking for ways to book new clients, and while paying for advertising is certainly one way to do that, it is, by far, not the only way. This fantastic video tutorial will show you 10 different ways to land more clients without spending any money on advertising.
Wedding photography is a challenging genre, and if you are preparing to enter it, it can be a little daunting. If you are ready to get started and looking for some advice, check out this fantastic video tutorial from an experienced wedding photographer that will give you some good advice to put you on the right track.
Using a phone to shoot professional work isn't new, but most instances involve situations where the photographer has almost full control. But how would a phone stand up to the same test if the photographer had little to no control over the lighting and environment?
Wedding photography can be a rewarding genre and can also be lucrative if you can make it to the upper echelons, but just like any other one, it has plenty of drawbacks as well. If you are newer to photography and exploring your options, check out this interesting video essay from an experienced wedding photographer that discusses five reasons why you might want to think twice before you pursue wedding photography.
Lightroom is more powerful than ever, and you can complete quite a few edits in the application without needing to switch to Photoshop. This excellent video tutorial will show you how to edit wedding portraits using a wide variety of techniques, all in Lightroom.
Photographing a wedding is one of the most challenging and high-pressure scenarios a photographer can face, particularly since there are no do-overs, and they require you to balance a wide variety of skills and techniques, all while being creative at the same time. As such, being as prepared as possible before you ever set foot in the venue is crucial. This excellent video tutorial features an experienced wedding shooter guiding you through the process of photographing the ceremony.
Starting a wedding photo business in 2022 is vastly different than it was in 2002 or even 2012, and as such, it is helpful to know what unique considerations and steps you should take to position yourself for success. This helpful video tutorial features a seasoned wedding pro discussing five things she would do if she were starting a wedding photography business this year.
Wedding photography can be one of the more daunting genres. For many people, their wedding day is one of the most important days of their lives. As photographers, it's crucial to capture these moments carefully and as best we can. This is especially important when it comes to the bride.
