Friend Taking Photographs

I have a friend who works for a local newspaper as a photographer and editor.  Being on a budget..she has offered to take our wedding piccys for us.  She is coming round next week so we can tell her what posses we would like.

Well I am stumped! Does anyone have any good ideas of posses we could do? or did you have a pose on your wedding day that came out really well?  Or does anyone wish they did a certain pose on their wedding day now that you look back?

This is sort of a brainstorming question! 

I think it depends what kind of photos you want. I've seen friends wedding albums that consisted of all candids, there weren't any posed shots whatsoever, apart from a handful of the wedding party all together.

Others I've seen have been a majority of posed shots. Regarding what you'd like, I would suggest finding websites of a couple of good wedding photographers and going through their portfolios to nab poses that catch your eye!

My SIL did my wedding photographs and (IMO) got the mix just right.  There's all the 'must do' poses' - ie parents, wedding party and the like - but the rest were very random and fly on the wall.  I suppose it depends on the type of wedding you're having.  Ours was very informal and the photographs reflect that.   

I would avoid the photograph where you both end up in a champagne glass!

We are having a informal wedding....Registry.. then a beer festival / garden party Hog Roast at a village thatched cottage pub....but we are still making the effort with our outfits for the day...full wedding dress and suit.  So it will probably be a mix of both. 

Having just got all my photos back this week...fresh in my head.  A few things to consider.

- Location of the photos?  The classic "signing the certificate" pose.  Is there a nice place in the registry?  Outside the pub is there a nice grassy area with out any buildings, car park, bins etc?

- Your best side?  Stand in front of a mirror and practice.  Do you like profiles?  What about looking up at DH?  You in front of him...is he taller than you or do you have to stand more side by side?

- If the location is really pretty, thatched cottage pub, try to get some where you guys are off to the side, pretty small and the background is actually the focal point. 

- I opted not to have these, but I have seen some artistic shots where the Bride is in the foreground looking in one direction and the groom is several feet behind her, almost blurry looking at her.   Or one where it's black and white except for your flowers or shoes or jewelry.

- The classic getting ready pose in front of a mirror.
- I thought it was cheesy at the time, but it's one of my favorites of the bunch.  We are walking side by side along a path with our back to the photographer and DH is holding my train up.  It's going to be the last shot of our album...us walking away into the sunset. 

I would suggest you look at as many wedding photos as you can stand, and that you make an actual printed list of every photo pose you're sure you want and give it to your photographer ahead of time.  It's easy to forget stuff on the day!

If you aren't superstitious about the bride and groom not seeing each other before the ceremony, it's nice to get as many of the formal poses over with before the ceremony as you can.  Otherwise it can cut a chunk out of the time you spend with your wedding guests at the celebration afterwards.  Our photos ended up taking a full hour before the ceremony and then we (and our families and wedding party) were able go straight from wedding to reception without having people waiting around for our arrival.

One thing done in American weddings is to have one formal portrait taken of all of the bride's family together and one of all the groom's family together, (without any non-family wedding party members), and to give these photos to the parents.  I wouldn't even mention it because I thought everybody did it, except that for both the English weddings I recently attended this was not done.  All photos were taken of the wedding party.  While there were pictures of the parents with bride and groom, there was none of the family. Most families do not have many formal portraits taken once the children are grown.  My parents-in-law have cherished the photo of their family that was taken at our wedding because it's their only full family picture from the last 20 years.  They are all the more grateful because one of their sons has since died.

Those are just my thoughts on what I'm glad we did at our wedding.  Have fun planning your own photos and good luck on the day! 

One thing done in American weddings is to have one formal portrait taken of all of the bride's family together and one of all the groom's family together, (without any non-family wedding party members), and to give these photos to the parents.  I wouldn't even mention it because I thought everybody did it, except that for both the English weddings I recently attended this was not done.  All photos were taken of the wedding party.  While there were pictures of the parents with bride and groom, there was none of the family. Most families do not have many formal portraits taken once the children are grown.

so very true!  all 5 of us have only been in the same building ONCE since my oldest brother joined the Navy.  And since we had a 3 year old brother at the time, those pictures are important.  Sadly, they aren't wedding pictures with us all dressed nicely.  Brother and new wife were visiting us in NC, from Seattle.  Mom, Dad and Baby Brother (now about 16) drove up from Florida for 2 days (as in arrive early Saturday, leave late Sunday) Other 2 brothers + girlfriends drove over for the afternoon from western NC.  Only as the western NC contingent was thinking about going home late in the evening did we think to get pictures.  We'd been out in the southern heat & humidity all afternoon at a local music fest, then BBQ'ed at home and had been drinking a bit. We look HORRIBLE! Like complete slobs.  But happy.

My daughter wants to be certain to have a nice picture done with her sister and their half siblings on both sides.  She and her sister figure this is 1 of only 2 chances to have all their siblings present for a picture that only the 2 of them want.  IN this day of parents divorcing and remarrying, posing this particualr group is a new box for photographers to tick I guess.

I have a friend who works for a local newspaper as a photographer and editor.  Being on a budget..she has offered to take our wedding piccys for us.  She is coming round next week so we can tell her what posses we would like.

I had a friend who did this for a wedding a few years ago. She (my friend) works at a paper in the US, so she got one of the staff photographers to do her wedding pics. But they didn't have 'poses' as such. The photographer took more of a journalistic approach to it, with candids. I'm not sure what sort of look you're going for, but I really loved my friend's shots! They were mostly black & white, and they were lovely!

I think thats what I will do....I will print of some pics on the net and from magazines and make a sort of scrap book thingy for her to look at and have as a record.

Thanx for all the advice ladies! 

When is the big day?

July 12th 

Not long to go! That's exciting

I know you're opting for a simpler service, but are you having any groomsmen or bridesmaids?

Photos of your Fiance surrounded by the girls and you buy the guys is another good one. 

Also, if you have a train on your dress maybe opt to have a photo taken of you with your bridesmaids (if you have them) boquets (again if you're doing them) on the train kind of curled around you (see below).

We got married in the woods and got the photogorapher to take a photo of us walking down the road hand-in-hand looking back over our shoulders at the photographer.

I don't know if you'll be doing the "giving the bride away" thing, but maybe getting a photo of your dad, brother (whomever) putting the lucky penny / sixpence in yours shoe (kneeling) with you beside them...

Good luck deciding!

I don't know if you'll be doing the "giving the bride away" thing, but maybe getting a photo of your dad, brother (whomever) putting the lucky penny / sixpence in yours shoe (kneeling) with you beside them...

Oh I love thst idea!    Thank you, That is such a good suggestion 

Some of the best photos I've seen were candids, so I'd suggest plenty of those.

My sis has a profile shot where she's standing at a stained glass window in the church and she's just starting off into it. It's like you can see her wondering where her life will go from here. It's beautiful.

And my best friend has a black & white shot where they were standing around posing and her new hubby said something that cracked her up. She's got her head back laughing and he's just smiling.

Also, my brother and his wife had a huge list of posed shots and the one shot that got missed on there was just him and his wife. We have loads of poses with family and friends but not one of just the two of them! So don't get so wrapped up in things that you miss the obvious.

And good luck! I'm sure that your wedding will be gorgeous no matter what.