Blog

Welcome to the Steve May Blog.

Good Wedding Photographs – A Professional’s Guide

Some friends and I were discussing how the Bride and Groom chose a wedding photographer when one of them asked me “how would you choose if you were getting married again.” I thought for a change I'd answer that question in my Blog. So, this is what I would look for and what I try to achieve in my photography:


1. Expression: Expression really is king. So many times I see empty expressions in photographs, blank eyes, the face saying nothing in particular. I would firstly look for photographs that are alive, the expressions are genuine, the eyes are full of life. A real moment of happiness or love has been caught – and not obviously posed. It is a really stressful day for the Bride and Groom and smiles are occasionally reluctant to come, or you get the dreaded twitching mouth with the forced smile. Here the photographer earns his money and talks to the couple, laughs and jokes with them, relaxes them and then creates a believable expression that he wants. This is after all what the day is about and many other sins of photography are forgotten if the photographs are full of life.

2. Posing: For the majority of the day few photographers pose our couples, we go with the flow. We do take the traditional picture though where the Bride and Groom are together….if only for the parents (often the ones paying!). What I often see, and my pet dislikes, are the problems missed when the Bride kisses the Groom. The Bride or Groom’s eyes are open….yep, there’s a winner; the Groom’s arms are down by his sides….yep, full of love for his Bride of 10 minutes; the Bride is still clutching the flowers like they are the winning lottery ticket…mmm, I thought you held what you loved the most. Joking apart, they are all so easily rectifiable, the latter example looks gorgeous when the Bride’s hand rests gently on the side of the Groom’s face. Good posing skills are important and very evident when not present. The key to any posed shots is to make them look natural.

3. Exposure: After spending upwards of £1000 on a wedding dress I’d have thought the Bride would want to see some of the exquisite detail in it. I would look for dresses which are pure white with no recorded detail – these have been badly exposed. Whilst it may happen to every photographer, you wouldn’t expect to see poor exposure highlighted on a website or album.

This is who I am, I look at the detail, I look at world class photography and try to make my photography as vibrant and as beautiful as I have ever seen. I try to capture or create memories which will live forever.
 

Back to blog Published March 02 2015