by Tobi Mattingly

Created on: September 27, 2010   Last Updated: September 28, 2010

Professional wedding photography can be attractive to an aspiring photographer for several reasons, particularly the combination of being able to shoot artistically and creatively while still earning a decent paycheck.  However, weddings are also one of the most challenging events to photograph.  Not only are you dealing with low-light, strict rules about where you can shoot from in many churches, and other technical challenges; you are also capturing what many see as the most important day of their life.

At the end of it all, the number one indicator of whether your wedding shoot was successful is not your opinion of the shots, but the couple's (and primarily the bride's).  The bride will be looking for more than just those few really artistic shots that you are especially proud of.  She'll be looking to see if everyone she cares about is represented.  She'll want to see certain key moments she remembers from the day (and not necessarily just all of the big obvious ones, but those stolen, special moments as well).  She'll be looking for a complete retelling of the story of her perfect day, captured in a series of frozen moments.

This is where your “management” of the bride, both before and during the wedding, becomes critical.  The better you can set up and manage her expectations, the more pleased she will be with the final result because it will meet those expectations.  This was one of the most critical mistakes I made when shooting one of my first weddings.  The bride had informed me in advance that before the ceremony there would be a time for “candid” shots of the couple and the wedding party at a local park.  She told me that she wanted me to follow them around and take natural, un-posed shots; and that she absolutely wanted to avoid any of the “smile on three” types of posed photos.  When we got to the park, however, she, the groom and the bridal party all looked helplessly to me to direct them as to where to go, what to do, how to pose, etc.  I was able to pull out some good ideas on the spot, but the entire situation would have been so much smoother (and resulted in many more great photos) if I had done a better job of talking through this part of the day with the bride in advance.

The advice here is to find the proper balance between letting the bride dictate her desires to you, while still using your experience and expertise to guide and assist her. 

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