Rings & Things
What professional photographers want you to know about taking pictures at weddings
Professional photographers often scour the site of a wedding ceremony in advance, looking for the most advantageous places to capture the exchange of vows.
They get in position to photograph the groom and the bridesmaids and groomsmen as they make their way to the altar area, all dressed to the nines.
Then comes the young ring bearer and flower girls smiling shyly as the play their roles.
Chronicling the moment the bride walks down the aisle is critical, of course.
Suddenly, several guests whip out their cellphones to snap quick photos of the lovely lady. One guest ventures into the aisle to take video of the ceremony on an iPad. These excited guests with good intentions often unknowingly block the professional photographers’ view.
Faced with these scenarios, the photographers don’t panic — there’s just no time for it.
However, they do often wish they could speak to guests in advance of the big day to share the following tips.
1. Realize that the couple has paid professionals to capture their nuptials and all the special moments
that come with it. “It’s almost like we’re taking the pressure off of everybody else because we’re getting the pictures. And we will get the pictures and then you can look back and say that was a lovely wedding,” said Makenzie Brown, a McAlester photographer who photographs weddings across the state through her business Down South Artistry. Oklahoma City photographer Charlie Ludden shared similar sentiments. “As wedding photographers, we spend a lot of time developing a route or path to get the shots that the bride, groom and more importantly at times, the mother of the bride, will want. We look for what angles will look the best, how the light will reflect off the white dress, how to avoid color distortion by stained glass windows in a church and many other things. There are a lot of factors that go into getting the important shots in a wedding,” he said.
2. Be aware that by pulling out a cellphone or another device to capture snippets of the wedding ceremony, you may be cutting off a professional photographer’s vantage point or cluttering an otherwise picturesque image of a couple’s significant moment. Ludden and Brown said wedding photographers always hope to offer their clients images free of the distracting vision of people with their cellphones or other devices snapping impromptu photos or videos. “We know that the camera on smartphones in this day and age is highly convenient and a touch away. We mostly know that because almost every time, at least for me, that first video clip or photo of the bride walking down the aisle is filled with cellphone screens on both sides of her. Sometimes, they even cover her beautiful face, her whole torso or the father, too,” said Brown, who takes video footage, as well as photos at weddings. “You can imagine the pressure the photographer feels already now being amplified to the max because we may have just missed our one opportunity to get that shot because you can’t see the bride or there’s 17 distracting hands and an iPhone poking out into the aisle snapping anywhere from 10-20 photos. This can be stressful because these are moments that you cannot re-create.” Ludden agreed. “One of the most difficult parts of shooting a wedding is catching the groom’s expression as the bride first walks in as well as getting a shot of the bride,” he said. “This is normally the point when people in attendance begin to lean out into the aisles with large phones and iPads. It creates a messy photo and can diminish the beauty of the bride walking down the aisle. There tends to be what would have been beautiful images with bright colored iPad cases, multiple heads leaning over blocking the view of the bride.”
3. Sometimes a guest’s suggestion for a photographer to simply “move to a different spot” isn’t as simple as it may appear. “We
are more than likely in the spot we are in because it’s the only place we are allowed to be in at that time and we can’t just up and move without compromising our own shots or block the groom’s view of the bride,” Brown said. “I’m working my absolute hardest to give this couple the best wedding photos they could have imagined.”
4. Go “unplugged” so you may be present and
in the moment. “Enjoy the live moment and observe,” Brown said. She’s seen signs posted at weddings asking guests not to take photos or videos during the wedding ceremony. “The bride wants the attendees to enjoy their special day in person, and not through their screen,” Brown said. Tessa Meeks-McKanna, of Guthrie, who married Austin McKanna in 2016, said she put just such a sign out near the ceremony area for her wedding at The Manor at Coffee Creek in Edmond. “They call it an ‘unplugged wedding,’ “she said. The newlywed said the signage served as a gentle way to get a message across to wedding guests. “It’s great that you want to capture that, too, but be present,” she said.
5. If you must capture a wedding with your cellphone or another device,
do it at the reception. “I personally believe that the wedding reception is a great time and place for attendees to take the photos that they want,” Ludden said. Brown
agreed. Taking photos and video at weddings, particularly with the continued popularity of Snapchat and Instagram, can be fun “but there’s a time for that, and it’s at the reception because the reception is about socializing,” she said. 6. Don’t be offended by professional photographers’
recommendations concerning the use of smartphones and other
devices at weddings. They, like you, ultimately have the bride and groom’s happiness in mind. “I hope people don’t take offense. I hope they look at it as something they hadn’t thought about,” Brown said.