How to Take Bridal Portraits
For a bride, her wedding day can be the biggest day of her life. One of the ways this day is documented is through photos. Good photos are essential to keep the bride happy and to keep business coming your way by word-of-mouth advertising. While there are photography skills that any photographer needs to have, there are some skills specific to photographers who take bridal portraits.
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Instructions
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Consult with the bride before the photo shoot. Learn what kind of photos she wants. Gauge her personality and what things you can do to make her comfortable, which will lead to better photos. As well, show her existing bridal portraits, and see which she likes best.
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Scout photography locations before the photo shoot. Take some sample photos of a friend to get a good idea for lighting and what is necessary to get a good photo. This makes you more prepared on the day of the bridal photo shoot.
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Bring a Litepanel, which bounces sunlight onto the bride during a photo shoot. This can help get rid of unwanted shadows in your portraits.
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Bring a soft box, which bounces sunlight in a much softer way than a Litepanel. Experiment to see which gives you the lighting you want.
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Hire an assistant to help you out with lighting, as well as to take photos. Likewise, this assistant can give you a second opinion and make suggestions to help capture excellent photos.
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Interact with the bride during the photo shoot. Brides are often tense or stressed from the big day's events and planning. Posing for a lot of photos can be tiring and stressful, as well. Work to keep the bride happy and relaxed. Make jokes and keep it a fun time.
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Change your perspective. Don't take every photo from the same position and height. Experiment with your perspective to give the bride portraits a variety of interesting angles and views.
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Use different angles on the bride's face. Don't take every photo straight-on. She doesn't have to be looking in the camera in every shot. Have her look away or off into the distance in some shots.
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Take a variety of close-up and full-length photos.
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Take some shots without her face in the photo. Take a photo that focuses on the bouquet in her hand or the ring on her finger. While most of the photos will have the bride's head in them, some photos can focus on other aspects of the bride and her wedding day.
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Suggest a variety of facial expressions. Not every photo has to be of the bride smiling.
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References
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