For indoor weddings, try to keep ISO between 400-800 to achieve beautiful, grain-free portrait photos. If you go higher than that, you may get more digital noise (though, this depends on your camera, so try a few options).
One of the best wedding photography tips for beginners is to arrive at the venue early. Not only does this give you ample time to prepare your equipment, but also time to scout for shooting locations and available lighting.
When you arrive 30-60 minutes early, you won’t risk working under pressure to get all the necessary shots. In addition, you can carve out time to talk with the coordinators, and other vendors who will work with you during the day.
Whenever you arrive at the venue, one of the first things to do is to check the lighting that might be available throughout the day. There are four common sources of light that you can optimize:
Use natural light as much as possible to provide a gentle, warmer, and softer look for your subjects. Most wedding venues and reception areas have ample window light. Make a mental note of where windows are located.
Golden hour is a magical time for emotive, evocative portraits of the couple. When the sun is low on the horizon, the light creates a soft and beautiful look that flatters the subjects.
If the available light is dull, a flash can add interest to the scene. Use your flash to illuminate the couple more while filling in the dark shadows. Always check the venue’s unique rules regarding flash.
A reflector is a simple, portable tool to help you bounce and direct light. If the sun is behind the couple, creating bold backlighting, you can bounce some of the light by placing a reflector in the front. In effect, you get more exposure between the couple and the background.
Wedding photographer Northern IrelandA photographer’s worst nightmare is losing photos, either through accidentally deleting files or a corrupted memory card. Make it a habit to copy images to your computer and an external hard drive immediately after the shoot. Yes, making two–or even three–copies is ideal, and doing it the minute you get home from the wedding is the best time to do this.
Culling refers to the process of separating the good photos from the bad ones. It’s not about deleting unwanted photos immediately, as you may still need them. The goal is to cut down thousands of images into select photos that you will edit and share with the couple.
The fastest way to do this is by using Photo Mechanic, which was designed for culling images. From here, you can import your final selections into a Lightroom Catalog and begin editing your photos.
The editing process is arguably the most time-consuming part of the post-wedding workflow. Editing each image one-by-one can easily take 1-2 minutes per image, depending on how heavily you edit. To make this process easier, use presets to apply multiple settings in bulk to your photos.
Know that applying presets will not magically fix your images. When you use a preset, the editing software will apply a configuration of settings that you can tweak or adjust until you achieve your desired look or tones. Overall, presets can help make your images look more cohesive and consistent.
After a wedding, make it a goal to upload sneak peeks on social media within 24 to 48 hours. These are normally a few photos that let the client have an idea of what their images look like. Likewise, teasers give them something to look forward to sharing with their family and friends.
The couple, family, and guests will still feel the rush of the event, which makes them excited about seeing images. At this point, you’ll likely get new followers, likes, shares, and comments.
If your contract states how long it will take for clients to receive their pictures, make sure to fulfill that contractual obligation. For some wedding photographers, this can range from a few weeks to even as long as three months. This depends on your workflow, although ensure that the client understands how long you work on post-processing and delivery.
