The time to be creative

[Kristalee]

I see a lot of pictures of wedding parties walking down a city street or a bride and groom on the beach and I think to myself....how the hell did that photographer convince them they had the time to do these!!! I ask for an hour with the wedding party (30 with the whole party and 30 with the B&G)but it seems like I am lucky if I get 30 minutes total. I end up with the basic formal posed of the party and hardly any with the B&G....IT'S SO BORING! For those of you who are finding that you are able to get these creative fun shots on a consistant basis I would love for you to share how you present the timeline to the B&G.

[FlyingPhotog]

Hi and welcome to POTN...

Maybe they shoot these after the Honeymoon?

[form]

That's a good question: My theory is that the coverage is often 6-8 hours or more. Another aid would be preparing equipment and specific shots beforehand by visiting the location and planning specific shots with the B&G.

A third theory is that some photographers can see a really nice shot without planning it much, and all they have to do is wait for the moment or ask the B&G to go to a specific place and walk, be themselves, talk, etc., while he/she takes the shots.

I don't have much time for those shots myself, but I would like to do them.

[tim]

One of the key things about wedding photography, for me, is helping people plan their wedding day so they have the time for the photos they want. I tell people with 30 minutes they'll get basic formal photos. With an hour they'll get some creative photos in one place, with two hours we can go to two or three locations.

So many photographers fail on the planning side, many beacuse they don't even know they need to do it.

[kenwood33]

The weddings I have been is usually divided into two parts: ceremony around noon time and dinner reception at night. There are typically 2-3 hours in between for creative shots.

[Kristalee]

Perhaps I will start to be more up front with my clients as Tim stated. They want the fun and creative shots but they seem to want them in about 5-10 minutes... :/

[pman67]

The problem that I've been seeing is that they don't think that it'll take 1 to 2 hours to get all of the fornal shots that they want, no matter what I say before hand.

I always tell the couple that we need to help them plan their timeline, only to be given one that says something like arrive at church at 3 pm, ceremony at 3:30, with reception to immediately follow.

So far, it's been very hard to get them to give the time for basic formals, with no time at all for the more creative shots.

I've seen photogs have timelines that have them start formals 2 to 3 hours before the ceremony so they can shuffle the B & G in and out without seeing each other, but I think it is the rare couple that are willing to spend that kind of time.

[tim]

Start the planning further out. When people book I mail them a copy of the contract, you could easily slip in an information sheet about timing for the day. Tell people to allow 15 minutes after their ceremony for mingling, and 30 minutes for group photos, not including wedding party. Next tell them if they allow you 30 minutes (plus travel time) you'll get some basic formal wedding party photos. With an hour you can get some fun and creative photos too. With 90 minutes (plus travel time) you can go to two locations. With two hours you do your best work.

Two hours might be pushing it.

Make sure you go over their timetable IN PERSON far enough out from their wedding that they can still change the times. A month is probably enough.

I ask my customers to email me a day plan once they have a rough draft, "as I can often help plan your day to help reduce your stress, get better photos, and help make the day run more smoothly". Point out it's also time for them to relax a bit between the formal parts of the day. It works, I always have enough time. A guy I know who doesn't do this usually doesn't have enough time, and his pictures suffer as a result.

[PixelChick78]

I usually just let them know that we need to plan together to allow enough time for everything to happen. They all want those creative fun shots but it all takes time and I always work out the timing with them well in advance and find out how many family members there are for the posed family shots so we can plan how long that will take.

I try to discourage a receiving line right after the ceremony if the time is tight, those take forever!

I am the 'expert' on how long photos take and so they need to trust me that if i tell them there is not enough time to get through everything they want in the time we have, then we need to adjust our plans and make it work. I love it when the B&G book me well in advance and we have the time to plan or change the ceremony time accordingly!

[picturecrazy]

It's also our jobs as professionals to get those cool shots even when you're not given ample amounts of time.

If we have almost no time I tell the bridal party that we have hardly any time and I'll unfortunately have to be a bit of a drill sergeant (but still in the fun way). We rip through the poses and groupings fast and learn how to make numerous different shots from slight variations of the same pose but using different angles.

For example, drop the bride and groom on a set of stairs, with him holding her close. Get a standard looking environmental shot of the stairs with them in the corner. Jump onto the stair railing above them if you can and get a shot straight down on their heads for a unique creative angle. Go behind them and get their backs so it looks like they're hanging out together looking outwards, get infront of them and do a closeup of their faces while they look at each other to show the intimacy/love/whatever. Get them to hold hands and get a closeup of their hands/rings together.

So with one pose you got 5 totally different shots, which probably takes about 3 minutes to execute it all. Move them somewhere else a do something similar. Make the most of your time. Have confidence in your abilities and skip chimping. Chimping is a crazy time waster. You can get three totally different shots in the time it takes for someone to take one pose and chimp it three times. When seriously pressed for time you gotta save time at every possible moment. I've been given 10 minutes to do bridal party and couple shots together. They hire you (the pro) to make it happen no matter what.

Of course what Tim says is absolutely true. Tell them you need time, and hopefully they'll give you time. Of course I prefer this and like to run at a relaxed pace. And yeah, I'll chimp too if I have the time. But you'll never escape the photoshoots where you DO have no time. This not only pertains to weddings but portrait shoots, commercial work, family shoots, whatever. Sometimes you gotta MAKE it happen rather than LET it happen, unfortunately. :(

[tim]

get infront of them and do a closeup of their faces while they look at each other to show the intimacy/love/whatever.

It's our job to capture the whatever in the best way we can ;)

[picturecrazy]

the whatever is the best part LOL