Weddings: Planning the Shots

[mikesd]

Yes , I give the bride and groom a checkoff list and have them add any extras. I then tell them it is my job make sure the requested shots are gotten so they do not have to worry about it on the big day. If things start getting rushed I also make sure to let the bride know what shots we have not gotten yet, that way I cannot be held responsible at a later time if she chooses to move on to the reception, but this is why I work really hard at our pre-wedding meeting to let them how important it is not to rush thru the formals.Getting to the reception 20-30 minutes earlier could mean a lost shot that she will regret forever.

[robertwgross]

We were shooting a wedding one time, and the bride was about 18, and the groom was about 20. They didn't know what they wanted, at all. We were hired by the parents. So, there was very little discussion about what kinds of shots to get. We were there for four hours (pre-ceremony in the park, ceremony, altar returns, and reception), so it was a little rushed. The church hall was a terrible pastel color with terrible fluorescent lighting. We let the strobes dominate the lighting, instead.

We had a "shot checklist", but we threw it out when we saw they didn't seem to care. We just shot by the seat of our pants, so to speak.

---Bob Gross---

[dpp]

Hello

I have found and been taught that the job of the best man and ushers is to get people to the formals.
I always stress that I can not be held responsible for not getting people in the formals as

a> I dont know obscure family members and friends
b> If they go off for a drink (as most do) I am not rushing around trying to find them

As soon as I arrive to meet the Groom I collar the best man and ushers and explain how important their job of helping me actually is.

Have a contract that states all this as well, I think that teh bride has enough on her mind without having to be stressed with finding Aunt X who's in the loo and Uncle Y who is in the bar

Just my thoughts.

[robertwgross]

Originally Posted by Bloo Dog

I tried to avoid a list. It seemed that the older the B&G, the less likely they were to even have a list, but occasionally I was given a list of "must have" pictures. Most of them were on my standard picture list, but sometimes, specific relatives' names appeared on the bride's list with no clues to who they were.

We worked around that problem differently. Instead of specific names, of which we knew practically nobody, we deal in family relationships:

1. "Could we have the parents of the bride up here now?"
2. "Could we have the bride's siblings up here now?"
3. "Could we have the bride's grandparents up here now?"

Routinely, we put this "calling" duty on the photo assistant, a woman, and nobody ever considers her to be pushy.

---Bob Gross---

[jdbulldog]

I schedule a meeting with the bride and groom to go over the contract as well as offer a list of images. I ask them to note specifically what shots are important to them and if there are any pictures that their family have taken that they would like to duplicate. I have had several families that have the same poses at everyone's wedding.

Anyway, I either meet with them again to go over their concerns or have them download a copy of the list, check the boxes and make any additions to what they desire.

Afterwards, I plan out the important shots in a strategic order so I will not miss any. I print the list on 5 x 7 cards for my assistant to check off as we go through the sequences with family. I try to shoot all of the images I can before the wedding of the individual families. This way I only need to keep the families together for a short duration after the wedding and they can then procede to the reception.

The rest of the time (now that I have gone totally digital) I just shoot candids with a few posed shots that I come up with on the spot. Most of the brides I am dealing with currently are asking for the "photojournalistic" style of shots.

Hope this helps. Here is my list that is available for download from the web.

http://www.ajgrizzle.com/Photographi...res%20List.pdf

Good luck,
J.D.

[cricket]

I did a wedding just last spring in which the Bride is a control freak. I mean Drill Seargent (I had to resist the urge to look under her gown for Army boots!).

Well, she didn't want any outdoor shots, nor anything that wasn't on the list. Well SHE wasn't on the list! I told her and her poor quivering wedding coordinator this, and she allowed me to take some shots of her. But I only got as far as the 3/4 length shots. I was in the middle of doing these and she kept interrupting with other poses she wanted with other people. I never got a full-length of her alone. God, I felt awful! I thought she was going to flog me when I saw the proofs and realized it. Funny thing was, she never said a word.

I keep waiting for her to pop up at some moment and pounce on me!

Lists are good to a point, but after you develop your flow, go with it!

[Harry Settle]

Several people I know have told me to start with the largest groups first and then start throwing people out, until you get down to the B&G. It makes sense, but I can't make me do it. I still shoot from the B&G and work up.

[mikesd]

I do to Harry, but I think we might look at it as they are the most important shots so we get them in the books first and work our way from there

[robertwgross]

Originally Posted by Harry Settle

Several people I know have told me to start with the largest groups first and then start throwing people out, until you get down to the B&G. It makes sense, but I can't make me do it. I still shoot from the B&G and work up.

Yes, me too. I want to get the important shots done while I still have plenty of zip in the flash batteries.

---Bob Gross---

[Harry Settle]

Originally Posted by Bloo Dog

If you're shooting a standing wedding party of 24+ people, I'd get the whole gang shot first, then start paring it down because wedding party members tend to run off. (There IS a drawback to this approach. The B&G is shot last. There's always the possibility that there won't be time for a photo of just them).

Or you can shoot the whole gang on the altar, then take your chances and start with the B&G and start doing the B&G, the bride and bridesmaids, groom and groomsmen, etc.

It's a matter of your style of crowd control and standing wedding party size, I think.

I used to hate shooting in some churches where there were NO STEPS on the altar or no center aisle. The guys who design some of these churches don't think of weddings.

A couple of the newer Churches that I've worked in are pie shaped inside, tiered pews, no center aisle and large overhead windows that shine down on the alter area raising all kinds of exposure problems for digital.