A wonderful day photographing for the wedding of Ryan and Loren at Haddington at the weekend.  The meal and excellent service was at the Waterside in Haddington, followed by a fantastic reception at the Maitlandfield Hotel.  Weather was great and Ryan and Loren were just fantastic to photograph.  As a wedding photographer, from Edinburgh, I am often asked about the most crucial aspects of photographing a wedding and obviously one of them is the weather.  Whilst nowone wants rain on their big day, the photographer doesn't really want bright sunshine midday either, due to the high contrast, squinting of the eyes and lens flare.  This made me think about the most important aspects of wedding photography and I have made a top 5, although there are hundreds more:

1)     Be prepared, make sure all your gear is fully charged and working, and that you have batteries back up case one of your cameras pack in (its not impossible, especially in rain).  Allow for the unthinkable happening, cause it probably will one day, ie car breaking down, someone nicking your camera, losing memory cards.  Try and relax a bit the day before, you will need all the energy you can get.

2)     Get to know the couple, the kind of people they are and act appropriately with their guests, this doesn't necessarily mean you have to be boring and stiff, try and relax and have a laugh with them

3)     Be prepared top take all kinds of photographs, no matter what type of photographer you are.  I am a reportage photographer from Edinburgh, but I still need to know how to take formal posed shots.

4)     Take chances and try new things, don't just stick to your formulae each wedding.  I now try and introduce some infrared photography to my weddings.  I convert to black and white, use low angles etc.

5)     In a way this is the most important one.  I also adopt it when photographing events and conferences throughout Scotland and I think it is crucial for all event photographers.  Whilst you must remain professional at all time, try and get into the flow of the event and almost become part of it.  Although you are not a guest, you will take better photos if you feel part of the crowd.

Anyway, until next time.  Some supercar photography at the weekend, followed by a corporate event photoshoot in Edinburgh and some more infrared photography in East Lothian.

All the best.

Colin

www.colinwrightphotography.co.uk

www.colinwrightphotography.com