If you’re a wedding photographer just starting out there are some common mistakes that you should avoid making so that your clients’ wedding pictures come out beautiful and meet their expectations.
We’ve come up with five common mistakes that wedding photographers make when they first start out.
Five common wedding photography mistakes:
1) Not having the right equipment or being unfamiliar with your equipment
A good wedding photographer should have high-end professional equipment so that the wedding photos come out clear, crisp, and full of color. If you’re using an old camera or one with low resolution then the clients may be disappointed with the outcome.
You should try to have at least a couple of different lenses, flashes, and memory cards as well as a backup camera to make sure you can capture a moment no matter the shooting environment. A second camera is important to have just in case something happens to the first camera, like it running out of batteries or even breaking during the wedding.
Make sure you know your camera inside and out and know all the features on it so that you can ensure the best shot every time.
2) Too much or too little exposure in your photos
You want to make sure that your photos are not overexposed or underexposed when shooting any sort of event. Overexposure when photographing the bride and her white dress is a big mistake because it’ll just look like a big white blob with no detail.
If you don’t have enough exposure then the wedding dress isn’t going to look a nice bright white, but instead will look gray-ish and dull.
To play it safe you can always use your camera’s auto exposure to take a series of images with varying exposures in a quick succession so that you get the right shot that is not under or over exposed.
3) Not deciding on wedding photography poses beforehand
Forgetting to create a shot list for the wedding can end up with you getting a whole lot of photos, but not so many memorable ones. Remember to communicate with the couple beforehand about what poses you want them to do, as well as what poses they want to do. You should remember to come up with some poses for group shots and decide on locations around the venue that have a nice backdrop where you can photograph. Your goal should be to get every photo that they were expecting from the wedding so that there are no disagreements afterwards.
4) Not knowing the important guests
To get the best photos for the wedding and make sure everyone’s happy you should take the time to find out who are the families of the couple and who their best friends are.
You’ll want to make sure that you get the right group photos with the right people and ensure everyone important has gotten their picture taken.
5) Forgetting to do detail shots of the wedding
You may get so caught up in photographing everything going on at the wedding that you don’t capture the small details of the wedding that were closely planned out. This can include the wedding cake decorations, the table, the menus being used, flowers, the glasses, and cutlery.
If there’s one detail shot you shouldn’t forget, its the wedding ring and wedding band. We suggest putting the wedding ring and/or wedding band on a nice background like a flower in order to make it look more special.
Use these tips to become a better wedding photographer as you grow to be successful in your wedding photography business.
For more tips on becoming a better wedding photographer, check out our article The Top 5 Photos Every Wedding Photographer Should Take.
This website is listed in the Ontario Photographers Directory
