For many of us, having a professional photo session marking the most important events in our lives is a well-established tradition. Having beautiful photo albums of our birthdays, marriages, or babies’ births is one of the only ways we can attempt to stop time in place, and freeze the moments which made us the happiest.
Getting married is something most women dream of since they are little girls. They envision themselves dressed up in their beautiful wedding gowns, while posing happy in front of the camera. But what many of those little girls cannot imagine about that future special event is that the wedding day will most likely come with a lot of stress and pressure for both the bride and the groom, and many times, taking pictures is the last thing on everyone’s minds. That’s why, having a bridal portrait session a day or two before the wedding can offer future brides the chance of taking as many pictures they wish, without all the stress of the actual wedding day going on around them.
If you are new to learning photography and you have a bridal photography session coming up, you might be worried about your photography skills not matching the importance of the event. But if you want to make sure to offer the bride a photo album she will love, the 4 following tips can help you get some gorgeous looking photos.
Time Of Day
If there is one time of day which compliments any skin type, ensuring your subject will look absolutely flawless, that is the “golden hour”. The golden hour happens during the 60 minutes interval before sunset, when the sun is lower in the sky. This type of light is not so intense, and has a lower color temperature, resulting in images that have a warmer tone. Unlike dramatic lightning which is more difficult to handle when you are new to photography, the golden hour can help any photographer, no matter his experience, to take gorgeous pics that everyone will love.
Location
Many brides are extremely concerned about keeping their dress pristine for the wedding day. That’s why choosing a location for the photo session should be centered around ensuring your subject that her long train will not pick up dirt and debris. Beaches, forests or parks offer extraordinary sceneries for photos but I would not really recommend any of them for the day before the wedding. They are better suited for photo shoots that take place after the wedding day, or for “trash the dress” sessions. Museums, art galleries, botanical gardens or locations downtown in the city can still give you some beautiful backgrounds, minus the risk of the dress getting dirty.
The Groom
Although many women have a superstition about their future husband seeing them wearing the bridal gown before the wedding day, there are still some that want to have the groom included in the photo session. Having the groom join can add more emotion to your photos, and can help you catch some spontaneous pics just by following the natural interactions between the future husband and wife.
The Dress
The wedding dress is one of the most important elements of your photo session that’s why you need to make sure that you catch it from all angles. Other than shooting the bride when she’s already dressed up, you can also do some photos of the dress on the hanger while also catching some of the other accessories the bride will wear like the shoes, the veil or the jewelry.
If you’re looking for more tips on photography, check out Click Love Grow’s beginner’s photography course, or the advanced photography course if you are ready to take the next step with your DSLR. They have a free photography course, too!
