When it comes to weddings, as photographers we have to remember that even though it’s an event for the newlywed couple, it’s still the bride’s day. Bridal Portraits has been something practiced by many photographers over the years. These used to be something taken or done only in a studio until technology took it’s toll and made us able to walk around with cameras that can fit in the palm of our hand. In this article, I will be sharing a few quick and short tips I have learned when taking bridal portraits and how you can make them a bit better. Wedding photography is always so graceful and majestic but nonetheless very hectic and will have you on your feet until the entire event is done. Bridal portraits and shots of the couple are probably some of the most important shots you will be taking during the day of the wedding. How you execute these shots are very crucial in keeping not only the bride happy but the groom as well. Most brides tend to be very specific or meticulous when it comes to the images and their wedding day overall. While others may just be happy to finally get married to the person they love. When it comes to bridal photography, here are some of the key things to consider to make your portraits a little better.
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It’s probably already been a long day of getting her hair and makeup done while also managing everyone else in her bridal party so you don’t want to have the bride doing too much. With built up anticipation and excitement leading up to the day of her wedding, most brides are happy to finally be married but also happy to get it over with and look forward to her honeymoon. When doing bridal portraits you want to keep everything as simple as possible so that the bride doesn’t get too bothered or miserable during those few moments. Anything that might take too much effort on her part or risky should not be considered.
There is beauty in simplicity and keeping your background or your frame itself very simple and minimalistic will help you in having the image more focused and centered around her. When it comes to bridal portraits, the bride is obviously the star of the show and every way possible, you want to make sure you exemplify that in your images. With simple compositions and a very minimalistic frame, you will find yourself taking more captivating portraits so don’t be scared to give it a try.
One of the keys to taking amazing bridal portraits is to put the bride first and make sure she’s comfortable. A comfortable bride who is relaxed is much easier to shoot than that of one who’s probably very tense and miserable with everything that’s going on. Crack a few jokes if possible to have her smiling or ask her a few positive questions in regard to how she met her groom.
These moments give you the opportunity to have her forget that you’re even there taking pictures and help you to capture so raw emotion. In a previous article, we spoke a bit about capturing emotion through your images and these are one of the key things that can be used in bridal photography as well. Genuine moments are the best and can be evident through any image you take so try to create the right environment for this. Also be careful, because you don’t want to have the bride smiling and laughing too much and have the groom a bit worried.
There is nothing better than having some soft natural light shining right on to your subject. Photographing your bride near a window will give you a great light source so you can finally turn the flash off. This is usually a challenge when photographing brides indoors as there’s sometimes not enough light to capture the image you need.
Don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with using a flash in bridal or wedding photography overall but it just doesn’t beat the advantages of shooting in natural light. Shooting by a window also helps to create a certain look in your portraits when the light is shining onto the bride. It almost looks angelic with her white dress and captivating beauty.
My last tip to you would be to get a little close during your portrait sessions with the bride to capture some detail. There is so much detail to get when a bride is completely dressed and ready as they invest a lot of time in the selection of their pieces. Get close and capture some of the detail in her dress, makeup and hair as much as possible. She will, later on, appreciate the attention to detail you showed in regards to the little things the put effort into for her big day.
Doing bridal portraits are always fun once you have a solid plan or an idea of what to look for and what to do. Sharing these simple and very short tips with you has been a pleasure and I hope they help you as much as they’ve helped me. It’s time for me to go so until next time, take care.
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