How I shoot the wedding ceremony.
OK now it's time to get real, we have got the pre wedding portraits in the bag, take a deep breath now it's time to get married. This is the moment you have both been waiting for since you began your wedding journey and I will always shoot the ceremony sensitively and respectfully. It does not matter if the ceremony is in a church, a hotel or outdoors, I approach each one in the same manner and there are a number of key images I will always aim to produce.
The first one I do love to get is images of the groom prior to the ceremony, it is rare to produce this image and not get a sense of some nerves. I always shoot on the long lens 70mm-200mm, which allows me to shoot from some distance, the last thing I want is for a groom who may be feeling a bit nervous before the big moment to feel like he has a photographer sticking a lens right up his nose, I get the shot and move on immediately , preferably shooting without the grooms knowledge.
If the bride arrives at the venue by a nice car this will be another shot I will always produce, I love the composition you can achieve with framing the bride in the car window.
Once the ceremony is underway I find my spot and I rarely move from there, the last thing anyone wants during the ceremony is a photographer who thinks he is in the paparazzi and runs around shooting everything in sight with full on flash. The camera I use is capable of shooting incredible quality images in very low light conditions, so I never use flash in the ceremony.
The key shots for me now are when the bride arrives and her father is walking her down the aisle. This can be an incredibly emotional moment for all concerned and I will look to get the shot as effectively and efficiently as possible. When I know I have the shot, which I look to get in 2-3 frames, I will leave it alone. This shows the importance of experience when it comes to these moments, as you both have to be completely confident that your photographer, (hopefully me) is capable of producing high quality and professional images with the least amount of fuss.
When the vows are taking place I do not like to shoot as I feel this can be a distraction but the next two big moments for me will be the exchange of rings and the all important first kiss. The vast majority of vicars and registrars appreciate these are both great moments to photograph and on the whole will be accomodating and allow me to shoot these.
The signing of the book is a funny one for me, it's definitely not the most exciting image I am going to produce all day and due to data protection the actual book is not allowed to be photographed, so it was always a signing of a fake book, now it is just a certificate that is signed, oh well, dont worry Ill still take a photo of this, not going to include it here though.
So the last shot of the ceremony is the grand exit, I do like this one a lot. For this shot Ill position myself half way back down the aisle and wait for you to make your way out, Ill shoot continuously (paparazzi style) as you make your way out as the very new husband and wife (bet you can't wait, it's very exciting). It's a great shot to produce and it's lovely to see couple so happy that they have finally tied the knot.
Well congratulations you did it, now let's go and enjoy the rest of the day.