Author Intro: Michael Rae is a blogger/photographer for Creative Wedding Photography, a company that offers one of the finest wedding photography in Stockport, Cheshire and Manchester.

So you’ve finally got that big wedding photography assignment you’ve been waiting for. The excitement is building up and you are getting all set to go and take some amazing pictures. This could be the one big event that you can add to your portfolio.

However, there’s always one question that holds you back. What are the ideal lenses you need to carry to take spectacular wedding photos?

One thing you need to keep in mind is that there is no “perfect wedding kit”. In fact, every photographer has his or her own set of lens that they carry for wedding photography.

Wedding photography is a special combination of different types of photography; architectural photography, portrait photography, fashion photography, macro photography and family photography to name just a few. All of these fall in the area of wedding photography.

Still, there are some of the ideal lenses which any and most of the wedding photographers use. Some of the most popular lenses are from Canon and Nikon. Check them out here.

70-200mm f/2.8L Zoom Lens

This is one of the most popular lenses for wedding photography. The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Telephoto Zoom Lens would do great if you are using a Canon SLR camera. In case you are using a Nikon camera then 70-200mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom Nikkor Lens can be used.

Both these lenses are great for those beautiful blur photographs at f2.8. These lenses will enable you to get real close for the special moments without any disruption. The lens are also perfect for candid shots; from tears to laughs at the wedding ceremony.

50mm f/1.4 Lens

The Canon EF 50mm f/1.4 is ideal for the situation when the lights go dim. The lens allows you to beautifully capture the background and makes you less dependent on the flash. The lens also allows you to create a soft, natural look, for example pictures of the couple, family and friends on the dance floor. You can use the same lens to create some spectacular portraits — the prime lens at its best.

12-24mm f/4G Lens

Nikon has a great set of lens for wide apertures. The Nikon 12-24mm f/4G ED IF Nikkor Zoom Lens is one of the ideal lenses for any wedding photographer. The lens is great for shooting from a distance as well as it takes surprisingly great facial close-up photos.

100mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens

The Canon 100mm f/2.8 macro USM lens is perfect for capturing the details even the smallest objects. Naturally, the bride and groom will be looking forward to photos that have captured the smallest beauties like the wedding ring in high quality detail. This lens is capable of producing magazine-like quality. All you need to do is add in your creative touch and a bliss of lighting and you will get some amazing pictures.

15mm f/2.8 Fisheye

The Canon 15mm f/2.8 fisheye lens is one of the lens every wedding photographer must have. It is important if you want to capture the special moment with an exceptional perspective. The lens pulls everything to the centre thereby creating an ultra wide, surreal view of the ceremony. If you are using a Nikon camera then 16mm f/2.8 AF Fisheye Nikkor Lens will be ideal for those fisheye shots.

16-35mm f/2.8L

If you want to use an ultra-wide lens then Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Ultra Wide Angle Zoom Lens will do a good job. This lens will allow you to capture the surroundings to add contextual story to the shots.

With these lenses in hand, you will surely be able to capture some spectacular pictures of the wedding.

Author Intro: Michael Rae is a blogger/photographer for Creative Wedding Photography, a company that offers one of the finest wedding photography in Stockport, Cheshire and Manchester.

Author’s Intro: This is a guest post written by Nada Ljubinovic. Nada is an amateur photographer, who enjoys sharing her ever developing skills and knowledge on all photography related topics. Nada’s most recent interests include wedding photography. Connect with her on Google+.

Wedding photographers have a significant day ahead of them. Their mission of the day is to attend and shoot a lovely wedding and ensure to leave behind the wedding photos that will last well beyond today.

But let’s not forget the other wedding attendees. As much as it is about the bride and groom, this special day is also about their friends & guests and how their presence adds to the special moments that will be cherished for years to come.

It all sounds great, the scene is set, everyone is having a great time and then the photographers’ nightmare starts to creep in as they notice the sun starting to fade and yet there is still no moonlight.

Yep that’s the glorious and scary aspect of photography — dusk photography. Yet it doesn’t have to be that way at all.

Awesome colors and dusk lighting

Good wedding photographers, whether they are Melbourne wedding photographers (my inspiration), Tuscany wedding photographers or Rome wedding photographers, will tell you that this is the best time of the day to take some awesome shots. (Learn more about the secrets of shooting at the dusk here.)

While it’s true, there are numerous considerations that the photographer needs to keep in mind for the end result — amazing wedding photos in the dusk lighting.

So here are five basic, yet handy tips that will help any photographer take amazing dusk photos with that “wow” factor and that can help earn a positive professional reputation.

Tip 1 — Come Prepared With Equipment & Accessories For Dusk Wedding Photography

The importance of preparation for dusk lighting cannot be emphasized enough. You have to be sure that all the equipment is ready to go and capture the special moments.

So what all has to be ready to go — on-camera flash, reflectors, lightboxes, mini-softboxes and a good battery charging pack are all must-haves for any photographer who want to capture stunning dusk shots.

Wedding Photo Kit — Equipment and Accessories

Being outdoors at dusk is a great time and you can surely get amazing photographs. The key is to get the lighting right; therefore use the diffusers and the reflectors. A great reflector with gold and white sides will allow you to play up more of a warm glow to rely on the fading natural light around you. (Check out more on studio lighting and equipment here.)

Tip 2 — Act Quick — Setup The Shoot Beforehand

If you’re using your on-camera flash and other accessories, get them set up properly well beforehand. You have not much time to waste — dusk lighting is only 20-30 minutes of the show.

Dusk lighting in wedding photography gives you the opportunity to play with lights and shadow on a level that just isn’t present when shooting in broad daylight. However, you may have to adjust based on wind or crowd movement. As long as you know about these possibilities ahead of time, you’ll be able to pull off your best photos.

Tip 3 — Make The Most Of Surroundings & Natural Scenery

Outdoor photography is all about utilizing the beautiful scenery around you, so you can leave behind the backdrops at your studio and take advantage of the amazing venue your newlyweds have chosen. When they review their photos, they would certainly like to see more of the contextual backgrounds (the venue and the natural scenery) rather than a canned backdrop that you rolled out.

Make the most of the surroundings

Tip 4 — Pose, Repose & Compose — For The Memorable Wedding Shots

Dusk is the time of the day that rapidly descends into night. Don’t count on being able to always have time to set up that perfect shot. Sure, you will get the couple to pose for a few shots, but allow them to freely move about the venue; chase them to capture the intimate moments.

Go for creative angles that really showcase your ability to come up with unique, dynamic images. Go by the choice of your client. Every couple is different: some couples will want a more traditional look, while others want their playful side showcased.

Tip 5 — Finally, Its Time To Process The Images

Keep in mind that even if you take great shots in-camera, post processing is still a must. Your camera will not be able to get everything in place.

Make sure you give yourself time to process every shot. Weeding out bad frames, adding the retro touch, black and white conversion and make-touchups are a part of the process, but this is easier when you shoot in RAW format.

Convert your wedding shots to black & white

Great wedding photography is all about pushing the limits of your photo equipment than relying on default settings to capture the true magic of someone’s special day.

These tips should serve you well in not only dusk lighting conditions, but in other areas of wedding photography as well. Good luck!

Author’s Intro: This is a guest post written by Nada Ljubinovic. Nada is an amateur photographer, who enjoys sharing her ever developing skills and knowledge on all photography related topics. Nada’s most recent interests include wedding photography. Connect with her on Google+.

Author’s Intro: This is a guest post by Kevin. Kevin provides various tips and tricks on wedding photography, portrait photography and family photography.

A photographer is perhaps one of the most important components of a couple’s wedding day — the person responsible for making those special moments truly special for the couple to cherish for the time to come. Besides capturing the traditional pictures that most couples want, an experienced photographer can apply creative techniques to create unique poses and interesting photos. The sort of poses used in a picture can be just as important as light, angle, focus and landscape when it comes to creating a great photo.

With so much competition in the field of wedding photography, it is important to offer a wide range of services on one hand and have a vast amount of knowledge about what makes a great photo on the other hand. But one thing that sets apart the great wedding photos from among the good ones is — directing and capturing unique poses.

Go For Natural Poses

Unless the subject is a professional model, it is always beneficial to ask them to pose naturally. It is important that the person being photographed feels comfortable in front of the camera and enjoys the experience of being photographed by the photographer. However, adopting just a few simple movements can help make a good picture even better.

One of the easiest and basic poses to ask for is to ask the subject to stand or sit at a slight angle, rather than facing the camera inwards. In many cases angling the shoulders slightly can provide you with a balanced shot which will help lead your viewer’s eye towards your main focal point.

Change The Angle Of View — Shoot From Above

Where possible, it is always better to shoot from above the subject to avoid any unsightly double chins. As the whole premise of a wedding day is romance and love, make sure the happy couple are holding hands or standing close to one another in each shot. A shot of them standing forehead to forehead with their eyes closed can provide a beautiful and tender photograph.

Say Cheese! And Here You Go — Make Them Laugh

One of the golden rules of posing for photographs, especially on someone’s wedding day, is to get the people in the picture to smile. Try cracking a joke or shout a silly statement just before clicking and see what sort of response you get. To add a bit of variation, ask the bridal couple to perform what has become known as “The dip”. This simple action of the groom bending his bride backwards gently, and leaning over to kiss her can make a dramatic pose on its own, or will simply make people laugh and clap when they see it.

Capture The Moments Of Love & Playfulness

After the formal ceremony, it is quite expected that the newly married couple will disappear for a short period of time to pose for the photographs. This can be a great opportunity to introduce an element of fun and playfulness into the photos. Try and find a landscape that might add as some sort of prop such as a gate or swing and introduce depth to the photo by asking the bride to sit on the gate so she is slightly higher than he is. Allow them time to chat, while you make beautiful pictures of the couple. This will definitely capture the natural expressions.

What About The Funny Poses!

Comical poses work well, such as getting them to stand a few feet apart, bending at the hip with backs straight and meeting in the middle for a kiss. Getting the bride looking directly into the camera, while the groom looks down at her is another nice pose that works well. Or reverse the pose with the groom looking into the camera and the bride looking up at him.

About the author: Kevin provides various tips and tricks on wedding photography, portrait photography and family photography.

Website: Dreamlife Wedding Photography

Wedding is a grand event for the couple — the once-in-lifetime occasion. Pre-planning, artistic expression, a great sense of fashion and style, contemporary look and no scope for trial & error; all these things set wedding photography apart as full-time professional photography. And reading through the real-life experiences of the professional wedding photographers reveal a lot of secrets! The secrets of getting the ravishing photographs of such a grand event. Here are 9 awesome tips by the masters of wedding photography. Check them out and include them in your workflow to be more comfortable and confident for your first (or next) wedding shoot.

1. View It As A Business, Not A Hobby

   The professional photographers look upon wedding photography as a perfect plan executed flawlessly. Right from booking the photo-shoot to delivering the wedding album, you don’t have a chance to go wrong. Dina Douglass thus advises to view wedding photography as a business, not a hobby.

2. Please Yourself

   This is quite much a perfectionist approach, i.e, please yourself with your art and you are sure to hit the jackpot — impress your clients. In other words pleasing yourself is the key to impressing your client. George Weir thus makes a key statement that, “My images have to please me first. If they do that, then they usually please my clients.”

3. Cover The Event With A Difference

   Weddings are all the same. The essence of the wedding photography lies in covering the event in a unique and unusual way. The challenge with wedding photography is that while the theme remains constant throughout the series of wedding events, you have to capture the occasion with fresh perspective everytime. This is what makes wedding photography a desirable profession for Jeniffer Dery. She admits that, “My enthusiasm for weddings is sustained by the challenge of making the familiar seem different. Weddings, as we know, are generally very similar. It is what I am able to do with each event that keeps it interesting. I make sure to always go in new directions to keep myself interested. ”

   

   Think Different

4. Play With Light

   Understanding the characteristics of light and knowledge about various lighting set-ups come in handy for creating long-lasting impression with your art. Playing with light is perhaps the secret of getting the photographs you want. Just be crazy enough to frame your creative vision. Here is Cliff Mautner‘s secret of capturing the best shots. “I love to use harsh, direct light and create texture with backlight and rim-light. I have no problem overexposing highlights or losing shadow detail if the image is striking. I love graphic images, and I achieve them using light in various unorthodox ways.”

5. Get Photography Ideas From Your Client

   At times your clients can well be good directors and composers. For instance, Liana Lehman tells that my clients often tell us about great photographic spots unique to their location where they would like us to shoot. These locations perhaps make them feel more comfortable and gives us (the photographers) a chance to capture the candid moments and photograph the intimacy.

   

   Let them choose the location

6. Click, Click, Click

   This tip comes from Natalie Norton‘s blog post on Photographing Your Best Friend’s Wedding. Turn on the continuous shooting mode and shoot, shoot and then shoot some more. Remember that you cannot afford to miss the shot. So don’t forget to turn on the continuous shooting mode while covering spontaneous action and don’t forget to instantaneously release the shutter when not in continuous shooting mode.

7. Shoot As A Photo-journalist

   This little yet important piece of advice comes from Stacey Kane‘s personal style of photographing the weddings: “I never really began wedding coverage with a particular style or approach in mind. I just made an effort to shoot events and details the way they presented themselves in an editorial fashion. I have continued to approach weddings in the same way. I don’t think that my style is necessarily noticeable. It is primarily documenting the moments and relationships at a wedding. It’s capturing real life!”

8. Photograph The Unexpected

   Life is full of surprises and weddings are no exception to it. So, anticipate the unexpected and be ready to frame the twists in the perfect story telling. Jen and Stephen Bebb make the following commentary on photographing the unexpected. “The unexpected events and moments often provide great photo opportunities and being ready to catch such moments is the hallmark of a professional wedding photographer.”

   

   The Beginning Of Forever

9. Develop your own style

   One thing is common amongst all the professional wedding photorgaphers. They all have their own unique style to cover the event. This accounts for their USP. Learning and taking inspiration from the others is the key to growth as the photographer but telling the story in your own unique style is what makes you the client’s word-of-mouth.

Feel free to add the missing tips, techniques and ideas from your favorite wedding photographer.

Author’s Intro: Leah is a blogger and photography enthusiast. She loves writing photography and photo restoration blogs. She is keen in updating herself with advanced photo enhancement, restoration and editing methods. She at present blogs for wowapic, a picture restoration services website.

Weddings are a once-in-a-life time occasion where so much of effort is put into the details like location, food, dress, guest list and so on. But what really remains after the day is over, is the fine memories of the occasion which are imprinted in our minds. Memories can fade away but anything captured as photographs will not fade away. The beautiful moments captured in the photorgaphs serve as the medium for cherishing the memories for a time to come. Hence, capturing the beautiful moments of that wonderful day by a good photographer is as important as any other aspect of the wedding and so is also the digitization and restoration of old photographs. Restoration of wedding photographs old or new is an art.

Why is wedding photo restoration an art?

It is a process which requires great skill, experience, expertise and hard work. Lot of care has to be taken, first with the selection of the photos and then the stages that follow.

1. High quality and high resolution scan has to be taken of the original photographs.
2. Once the scanned images are taken, you need to export them into professional digital photo editing software. Then the repair work begins.
3. If the images are too old, then the first thing that is done is the removal of spots and scratches. The more difficult tasks are replication of missing sections damaged due to mild dew and water. After ressurecting the photographs, color corrections and adjustments are made. Once all the signs of damage are removed, the final stage is resizing and cropping the photographs followed by photo tinting and coloring.

It is especially challenging in cases when the facial features are missing or extremely damaged. The restored photographs are finally printed on specially formulated inks and photographic archival paper of high quality.

Restoration of wedding photographs

Even an awesome photograph can be made spectacular with photo restoration (as it aggressively involves retouching as well). The stages of restoration of new photographs is more or less the same. First the photographs have to be scanned. Photographs that are like below, has a background that is very distracting. It has been restored from a portrait to a landscape mode eliminating unwanted details in the image. A bit of light is added for that little magic!

Adding light and changing the perspective does wonders

Photo restoration does wonders to your photographs. Lots of amazing features are available in restoration phase, like:
1. Red blotches, blemishes, line and wrinkle removal
2. Red eye reduction, eye and teeth whitening
3. Body enhancement(slimming)
4. Subject/background removal
5. Color adjustments
6. Digital compositing
7. Skin smoothing

Here is an example of the fine touches added during photo restoration (probably by retouching the photographs to enhance the overall look and feel of the photograph.)

The magic of retouching!

Tips For Selecting The Photo Restorer

When going for photo retouching and restoration, it is extremely important to bear the following cautions and tips in mind.

• “Pay after you receive the photo” Type Of Restorers: It is advisable not to fall for this statement. A dedicated artist immensely values his or her talent and time and can never give it away so freely. You may end up selecting one good snap out of four restored because that may be the quality of work.
• Processing Of Photos: It is essential to find out if professionally highly-trained technicians are handling and printing your photographs. Whether the restoration is printed in a photo lab or just in any place should be known well in advance. Also do not go to a place where scanning of photographs are done at low DPI (below 300).
• Examine Samples: Examine the sample restorations done and see if the colors are rich and deep (for black and white images too). Check if the image is clear and sharp. Skin tones should be warm and realistic, hair color should be natural and realistic and colors should not be bleeding from one to another.

Restoration of wedding photographs is definitely an art which should be professionaly handled by trained technicians who have eye for detail and are sensitive to customer’s requirements. This ultimately results in making new memories while capturing and restoring them!

About the author: Leah is a blogger and photography enthusiast. She loves writing photography and photo restoration blogs. She is keen in updating herself with advanced photo enhancement, restoration and editing methods. She at present blogs for wowapic, a picture restoration services website.

Wedding Photography brings with it a lot of responsibility and challenges — the photographer has to cover groups (posing family & friends), candid shots (couple’s merriment), portraiture (posing the couple), wide-angle shots (to capture the flowers and decorations), capturing small details (rings and other accessories), event coverage (couple exchanging vows during the ceremony) and more. And all this has to be done with perfection with no margin for error.

Marriages are made in heaven; arranged on earth and mesmerized by family, friends and the couple itself throughout their lifetime. Wedding is the grand event of the couple’s life. It is an occasion where everything is special. It is thus, the photographer’s responsibility to ensure that these moments make fond memories when revisited in the future.

Here are some basic tips, techniques and suggestions which will enable you to beautifully capture the grand occasion. Just equip yourself with this guide and get ready for a hands-on professional experience.

When starting out for your first wedding shoot, don’t do it all alone. Instead try to study how other professionals do it. Volunteer to assist a wedding photographer. Work with them and gain some basic experience before you go solo. The blame of ruining wedding photographs can be the most aggravating.

1. Plan The Shoot:

   The wedding photographs weave a visual story for the grand event. The photographer is thus responsible for capturing each and every minute detail and thereafter presenting them as charismatic moments. For making the most out of the photo shoot, one need to plan the shoot well before hand. Take a tour around the location, talk to the family and friends. Find out some of the favorite locations of the couple.

   • Cover The Event In Entirety: Capture the happenings preceding the ceremony, be a little extra careful for the ceremony, cover the reception well, click the close-ups of the couple (direct them for a pose or let them freely enjoy their once-in-lifetime occasion), properly handle the candid shots and direct the poses for group photographs.
   • Familiarize yourself with the venue: Try to reach early and familiarize yourself with the venue — its surroundings, ambiance, etc. Capture the fine-details of beautifully decorated house and the elegance of the ceremony venue; spelling the magical beauty.
   • Initiative: Take initiative and mingle with the family members to cover the event well. Look up to them to move around the home (to capture the decorations and happenings), freely. Consider talking to the couple; welcome their suggestions or guide them for a successful photo-shoot.

2. Prepare:

   1. Create a checklist of all that you’ll need.
   2. Carry a spare camera as a backup and have multiple lenses handy.
   3. Have an external flash unit handy to fill up some of the darker scenes. The light from a flash unit is barely flattering but have it handy as a last resort.
   4. Always carry multiple batteries and memory cards for photo-storage.
   5. Double check your equipment.

3. Camera, Lens & Settings:

   Wedding photography is the combination of portrait photography and low-light photography. It is also worthwhile to take care of certain settings, like

   • Shoot in Raw for better post-processing control.
   • Shoot in color. (Save Black and White conversion for later which is best covered during the post-processing).
   • Consider continuous mode for quickly capturing the sequence of activities and happenings at the event.
   • Carry multiple portrait lenses preferably with a wide-shutter. These fast lenses can shoot in low-light conditions at amazingly fast shutter-speeds without a trace of blur. A prime-lens is specialized for it’s use and is a high-end performer. A zoom on the other hand gives you flexibility.
   • A wide-angle lens comes in handy when shooting in confined spaces.
   • A fast lens will let you shoot beautiful bokeh which is just what makes a scene dreamy.

4. Accessories:

   There are no hard and fast rules regarding the accessories. Its use varies from person to person. Some of the accessories which one should consider while going out for covering weddings are:

   • Tripod: You practice a variety of photography techniques while shooting for a wedding. Sometimes you need to take group photographs, at other times your concern is to capture minute details (rings, shoes, jewelery) and yet other times you have to blur the cluttered background. It is therefore wise to carry a tripod; especially for avoiding the blurry effects caused due to hand-shakes (when shooting at low lights with boosted ISO or wide aperture).
     
   • Lenses: Use portrait lenses for close-ups, wide-angle lenses for interiors & group photographs and telephoto lenses for candid shots and portraits.
   • Moderately Powerful Flash: While photographing at such occasions you have to maintain the distance from the subject; thus a powerful flash is required to illuminate the subject well when shooting in low ambient light.

5. The Actual Shoot:
   

   

   Fusillade of Fun by

   Flowers, fancy lights, home-decors, church interiors, decorations — all reflect the magical effects and stand there prepared for the snapshots. Take your pick and compose your frames judiciously around them. Indulge in familiarizing yourself to the venue and induce the colorful shots. Capture the charming story of the couple by taking them out for the shoot and making them feel comfortable. Compose the beautiful frames and include flowers, colors, rings, accessories, event details. Here’s a tip: The camera sees in 2-dimensions unlike our eyes which see in 3-dimensions. To simulate this close one eye to visualize how it would appear to the camera. Pay attention to details and ensure there are no unwanted objects in the frame which can ruin a beautiful composition. Try to have a family-friend accompany and guide you around the location — that way you will have easy time accessing areas where strangers may not be the norm. Take full-length shots and highlight the bride’s dress — it’s one of the important features of the event. If the couple agrees, try to take them to some open solitary location where they can be with themselves — that way you can take some candid shots with great expressions and capture some memorable moments.

6. Post-processing:

   You did a good job covering the event to its finest details and now its time to sort the photographs to take them to the digital labs. Its time to process your captures — polish them to eliminate any artifacts, tweak the colors a bit and enliven the photographs with essential adjustments. Play around with color saturation, contrasts and sharpening to get perfectly finished images. You can use Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom, GIMP or any other image editor of your choice. Remember not to exaggerate the adjustments — keep them subtle to retain the originality. For portraits focus on the eyes of the subject; a little sharpening goes a long way adding life to the expression of the eyes. Always ensure that you have some of the shots converted to black and white classics. They hold the viewers interest and are sure to impress.

7. Effective Presentation:

   Finally, its time to give shape to all your your hard-work. Compile the photographs onto a wedding album or a video or present it as a slide-show. You can also consider enlarging and framing the selected pictures to make way to the newly wedded couple’s living room.

Promesas II by Pikaple

Things To Remember

1. Be ready with multiple backups (extra camera, lenses & filters of your choice, spare memory cards and extra batteries).
2. Check out for flash synchronization (to work well with high shutter-speeds).
3. Position yourself appropriately; where you can view and capture the event and the ceremony with minimal distraction and interference.
4. Avoid using flash during ceremony (not permitted in churches & may cause distractions).
5. Don’t forget to shoot small details (capture rings, flowers, table-settings, menus, etc).
6. Capture unusual and impromptu shots.
7. Feel free to talk to the couple and understand their expectations; direct the groups and the couple for the required poses.
8. Turn-off the sound of your camera (to avoid distraction during the ceremony when everything is silent).
9. Use beautiful backgrounds effectively and consider blurring the background — not only does it eliminate the background clutter, it brings the focus to the subject with beautiful backdrop of bokeh.