I’ve had this blog post floating around in my brain for so long, that i’ve decided it’s about time i actually put it down so it can help all of my clients, other photographers, and even people who aren’t my clients.  I’m writing this because i absolutely love what i do, and i want to continue to love what i do.  and i am writing this because i want my clients (or anyone for that matter) to receive the best possible photography from their photographer they possibly can.  and believe it or not, the client (that’s you!) has a LOT to do with it.  its amazing how much control over the quality of your photographer’s work you have! and the client probably doesn’t even know it.   right now, i’m going to tell you just a few, tiny, SUPER simple steps you can take that will help insure that  your photographer stays at her peak performance, stays happy, and therefore, you get great pictures.  everyone wants that end result, but sometimes, surely unwittingly, the couple actually gets in the way of that happening.  but, how can we blame them? it’s not like they’ve done this before! here you are, finding yourself the producer of a wedding, not unlike a producer of a movie. you’re thrown into this role, and without experience.  so let me help you, help us: your wedding vendors (or you can call us artists too, if you want   )

hire someone you trust. and then trust us.

you’ve hired us based on our portfolio.  we’ve had meetings.  and you have liked our work enough to pay a couple thousand dollars for us to capture your day in photography.  I, in turn, have spent many years in school, umpteen hours working, perfecting, enjoying, creating, and striving to be the best that i can be at my profession.  you can be guaranteed that i will give nothing less than my absolute best.  remember, i want these photos too.  and, just like any artist, i love to hear that people love my work (see below, in appreciation).  and thankfully, i have never had a client lean over and breathe down my neck all day about how i am doing my job or how i should better do my job.  but, i hear rumors that there are clients like that.  When you hire someone, make sure you trust them. and then actually…. trust them.  understand that as artists, we might see the day from a different angle than you might, and it’s a good chance that you will be pleasantly surprised by someone else’s perspective, maybe for the mere fact that it’s not your own (the grass is always greener on the other side!) rest assured, that after our initial client meetings, i will have a good idea of the style of person you are, and what kind of photography you are jonesing with.  and, the wedding day itself will surely give a feeling of it’s own, and i will capture it accordingly.  i throw myself into what i do. i’m soulful about it.  there are probably photographers out there who arent, but if you’re reading this blog then you’re probably not going to hire one of those guys.

give your vendors what they need to perform with excellence (ie, time, space, water, food, rest, etc)

food and water: as superwoman as i feel sometimes, in reality i’m just human.  i’m exactly like you are, only i have a camera.  When a client hires me to shoot their wedding day beginning to end, i too, am going to feel tired, thirsty, and hungry at some point during the day.  and when you are entrusting your wedding photography to someone, you don’t want their performance to drag.  i always carry a granola bar and a bottle of water along (just in case…) but having a client make sure there is available water all day long as well as a few snacks helps considerably.  i dont take 10 minute breaks, i can’t leave to go grab a sandwich, so just remember that anytime you feel hungry, your wedding vendors probably do as well.  if you cater in a bunch of sub sandwiches, ensure that each vendor gets them.  photographers may not have time to eat dinner until… well… who really knows when.  and it is so disheartening to go into the vendor room at 10pm, this being your first chance to sit down in the past 10 hours
, and see that the band has eaten all of the sub sandwiches and has only left an apple and a bag of chips.  it’s the kind of thing that might make a vendor start ticking down the minutes until the end of the night when they can go out and get a real meal (if that’s even possible).

time, space, resources: i’m always in awe of people who claim they love the artistic photographs we take, the amazing portfolio shots, the variety of pictures, the set ups they’re imagining, but then only schedule 15 minutes to take pictures.  pictures are moments frozen in time, and we need time to actually make them.  i dont set up specific shots before the ceremony and hurry you through them (although i have had to do that before, when clients have only given me 10 minutes to work magic), i want to capture YOU and the essence of the TWO of you.  that takes time- time for the both of you to become comfortable in front of the camera, and actually forget that i’m there.  it takes time for me to walk around, get different unique angles, discover things i’ve never done before.  give me time, and give me space. i will never shoot a wedding in less than 4 hours, because it is just.not.possible.  i will never mislead a bride into believing that we could get great photos in less than 4 hours.  you can probably find a photographer who will work with you, but you wont get great photography.  and it’s just not ethical for me to give crappy photography.  remember, i love to do this too.  let me work WITH you on your wedding day timeline.  we can fit in an hour to two hours in for photography somewhere, guaranteed. whether we do a meeting of the bride and groom before the ceremony, or do the photographs during the cocktail hour, we will fit it in.  you’re inevitably investing a lot of money into a photographer, and you need to take advantage of their services.

Kindness/appreciation

in the same way an artist performs well to applause, so will your vendors with a little appreciation.  i have had the privilege of having  EXTREMELY kind and sweet clients, so much so that it actually makes my heart swell up and almost burst open (really!).  we do our jobs either way (with or without appreciation) but it makes us go the extra mile for someone who sees and truly appreciates how much we throw ourselves into what we’re creating for them.  we’re human. i want you to love the work i create as much as i love it.

Lately i feel like publications are all beginning with the phrase “in these uncertain times…” or “in these economic times….”  and as much as i’d love to deny the fact that we’re in a recession, the fact is, we are, and who knows when all of this is going to get better!   I know professional photography can be expensive, and although we try to keep all budgets in mind at Sugar Leaf, the fact of the matter is people generally shell out at least a couple thousand dollars for photography of their wedding.  if you’re going to be spending this kind of money, lets make sure that my time with you counts.  i’ve put together a few tips and tricks to make sure that you get all the quality photography you’ve always dreamed about.

Getting Ready:

lighting lighting lighting.  i can’t stress the importance of natural window light enough!  this is such a beautiful time, a time when all of your excitement is building up, you see yourself in the mirror for the first time as a bride; these are moments you want captured beautifully.   make sure you’re getting ready in a big enough room for people to maneuver about, and in a room where window light is pouring in.read more about it in my previous post here.

consider what you’re going to be wearing while getting ready.  if you’re a tshirt and jeans girl, that’s great! but it might not lend as easily to the style of photography you’re looking for.

do make up before your hair.  that way, in the shots of you getting your hair done, you wont feel self-conscious about the way you look.

keep your room clean and tidy, cluttered suitcases, clothes all over the bed, etc can take away from a photograph and the subject.  if you need to, get ready in a separate room than one in which you’ll be staying

consider props…. a special hand mirror to view the back of your hair can add an extra touch to your photographs!

Ceremony:

some churches have strict rules about where and when the photographer can shoot.  if you’ve got your heart set on some close up shots of the ceremony, make sure you pick a venue that will allow the photographer to get up close, rather than being relegated to the back of the balcony.

Lighting is just as crucial at your ceremony as it is getting ready.  if at all possible, i try not to use any external light (like flashes) during the ceremony, as i feel it detracts from the spirituality (regardless of what denomination or lack thereof) of the moment.  now, more than ever, ample lighting is important.

make sure you let me know which posed traditional shots you’d like at the church. it’s helpful to make a list before hand and have your personal attendant,  master of ceremony, or bridesmaid gather everyone up, call out names for who’s next, and line them up to use time as wisely as possible.  if you’re not into the posed traditional shots, let me know beforehand, and that will just allow for more time for more artistic shots of the wedding party at a different location.

definitely allow for at least an hour at some point during the day for shots of you and your spouse.  whether its before the ceremony, after the ceremony, or at some other point, you don’t want to be rushing through this photo session.  you can look at it as a “time out” on the wedding day, a chance to get to spend some quality alone time with your spouse, a chance to reconnect and share the events of the morning with each other.  you two can take a walk, sit on a grassy hill, recline on a bench, all the while getting great artistic photography.   if the day’s schedule just refuses to allow for an hour, then i would strongly consider doing a trash the dress photoshoot after the wedding day to insure that you’re getting a good number of shots of you and your spouse together.

Reception:

keep in communication with me throughout the night (if you don’t have a wedding planner) to make sure we’re on the same page as to when the main events are, and in which order.

take a break from the party to get some nighttime candlelit shots.  they are some of my absolute favorite, and you can’t beat candlelight for romantic photography.

Finally, relax and enjoy your day.  stress and tension show up in photography, so just be yourself, and it will come through in your prints.

A fellow photographer, Gia Canali of Gia Canali Photography out of California wrote this handy little tutorial for all you brides out there! I literally could not have said it better myself, so here it is! I can not impress enough how important good lighting is for good photography, and we do everything we can to produce the best photos possible. any help we receive from the couples we shoot helps immensely! do take the time to go through this info to make sure your photos are the best they can possibly be!

Photography is all about capturing the moment’s real light in a tiny box and saving it for later, for our memories. So it’s a pretty logical conclusion that the light itself matters significantly (at least as far as the photographs go).

Most wedding days span several types of ambient lighting and require a little extra help in the lighting department after dusk. I love to make photographs as the light changes—it adds so much variety to the body of wedding photographs you get.

During daylight, perhaps you are a) getting ready (probably indoors), b) getting married in a ceremony, and c) having formal portraits taken.

Making the best of the getting-ready photographs is a topic of its whole own post, but for starters, please get ready in a neat and tidy room with giant north facing windows! Not really. But if you have a choice … think about the light in the room where you’ll get ready. If it’s impossibly dark or cluttered, consider faking some getting ready moments outdoors. Lots of light is good for backlit images, too.

For your ceremony, the best possible lighting scenario involves bright open shade, or waning late day light. At any venue, you’ll want to make sure nothing makes weird shadow and light patterns on your faces. If at all possible, design your ceremony so that both faces are in even light. It is so hard to expose for one face in total shadow and the other in bright sunlight. It doesn’t work.

Making your formal group portraits picture perfect is really relatively straightforward. Stick to shaded uncluttered locations. If you are dead-set on having a certain type of scenery in the background, make sure the light is good. If it’s not, ditch it. It’s just not worth it.

If you are doing all of the above indoors or plan to wed in the evening, look for bright window light or bring in your own lighting. Somewhere with abundant lighting is always wonderful for photographs … Not only is natural or abundant artificial light more flattering, you are likely to be much less camera aware than if your photographer needs to use a flash.

During the evening hours, perhaps you are a) eating supper and being toasted, b) dancing your first of many dances , c) mingling with guests, d) eating a first bite of cake, e) sneaking off for a romantic moment with your beloved. I have to say that with the exception of the last item, your guests want to see all this. And I want to see the last one item, too. (Not to mention, we’d like to see the guests in the photos, sometimes a challenge if they’re lost in the dark).

If there’s enough light to read by, your photographer should be fine to photograph the goings on. But sometimes exciting parts of action happen where there’s little light. There are so many kinds of light to choose from that you’ll have no excuse. If you’re made of money, hire a lighting crew. If not, perhaps consider adding candles, plain or colored glass lanterns, paper lanterns, chandeliers, strings of lights, etc. (Even plan an afternoon reception if you’re really on a shoestring lighting budget).

Anything you can do to lessen the need for flash will dramatically improve the photographs. You ‘ll be able to, for instance, see the guests behind you while you cut the cake or do your first dance. This is bang-for-your-buck we’re talking about!

Don’t forget the landscape and environment. Usually a lot of thought goes into choosing a gorgeous location. But if it’s lost in the dark, it’s lost in the dark.

Grant me one (more) wish and sneak away from the party for some romantic nighttime portraits.