Expert: Wedding Photographics - 3/26/2009

Question
This may be a silly silly question, but as the hired photographer do you only capture photos of the bride & groom, immediate family & wedding party unless told otherwise?  (If its not on the checklist, do you bother)

Basically what I'm asking, is should you get pictures of everyone else at the wedding too (during the reception for instance), or only focus just on the bride & groom?

The reason this seems like a silly question is because OF COURSE you should focus on the bride and groom, it is their day.  But I wonder if when they look through there photos, and don't see a single picture of a certain cousin, aunt etc, if they will be upset. (even if they didn't say to photograph that person)

Also...How many photos is too little or to many to give a client?  I took over 1000 photos for a 8 hour wedding, and am going through them for their DVD, and I'm not sure which ones to toss out (other than the obvious).

Thanks!
PS - I'll be sending you a link for the critique soon :)

Answer
Hi Tina,

Thanks for your wedding photography questions. Those are good questions as I get asked those questions even by brides and other photographers now and then.  Here are some thoughts directly and indirectly related to your questions for the benefit of other All Experts readers.

There are often 300+ guests at most weddings I photograph and to make sure I get presentable shots of each person "just in case" is simply unreasonable. One could say I should merely group them. But as you described, if I don't know them and what their relationship is to each other, how would I know any meaningful grouping in which to place them?  Also, to be required to take that many group portrait shots would seem to take me from working as a wedding photographer and more like a portrait photographer. That would be a lot of portraits when I'm suppose to be concentrating on wedding journalism. On my wedding photography checklist I explain how very important COMMUNICATION is. There are some people and their relationship to each other which MUST be communicated to the photographer. Without this, the photographer could be wasting valuable time trying to photograph "everybody" and missing important candid photography involving the bride and groom with each other and with their family and friends.

There are some photographers who almost brag they don't use wedding photography checklists.  They want you to think that is for "old fashioned" photographers. There are some photographers who simply disdain having to actually work to make sure they get the shots the bride wants!  That's all that really boils down to.  Not all weddings are the same.  Not all people and the relationships they share are the same. There are many little things which we as photographers cannot see "behind the scenes" which can make photographs more or less meaningful to the bride. That is where the wedding photography checklist is best utilized.  It makes if faster and easier for the bride to communicate important relationships and important people to be photographed. It also helps the photographer during the initial consultation to determine how many shots may be required to properly document the day as well as whether another photographer and even extra transportation may be required. The wedding photography checklist, when properly utilized, is the best tool for planning photography for the Wedding Day.  It can also help the bride to realize for herself just how much coverage she actually needs and why she may have to pay for unexpected things to help make sure she receives all the coverage she wants or needs. A specific example: The bride is prepping at one location and the groom is prepping at another location 10 miles away. This situation could require the use of another photographer and one who also has their own transportation because there would not be enough time for one photographer to shoot both before the Ceremony. Also if there were a change of location for the bride and bridesmaids when they are ready for pictures and the same for the groom and groomsmen - and the bride and groom are NOT seeing each other before the Ceremony.

Now there are some photographers who want to remedy or reduce these situations by simply requiring the entire wedding party to show up FIVE or more hours before the Ceremony. Well, that makes for a long day.  Not only in the photographer's time, but for the entire wedding party. While photographers who work like that will have the opportunity to STAGE a lot of shots (making models out of the entire wedding party to spruce up their portfolios for their own benefit!) the party can reasonably be expected to be TIRED by the time of the reception. This CAN reflect in the candid shots during the reception. But at least the photographer is happy he or she got a lot of great "candid-looking" but STAGED shots before the Ceremony.  That is a disservice to the bride. Those photographers who do that are usually among those who also brag about not using a wedding photography checklist and who also like to require the bride and groom to see each other before the Ceremony even when the bride and groom really prefer not to. By making "free" models out of the entire wedding party and staging or semi-posing a lot of photography for several hours before the Ceremony, the photographer is really just working on getting more samples for their portfolio.  Really.  Think about it.  Why would the entire wedding party and bride and groom want to start photography five or more hours before the Ceremony?  Better, what is wrong with a photographer who thinks they must have that much time to "properly" photograph the wedding party?

For around 25 years I shot weddings using two Pentax 645 medium format film cameras. I usually shot around ten 30 exposure rolls. (32 exposures per 220 roll with the latest Pentax 645). When I took up digital wedding photography, I found myself shooting over 1,000 images per wedding.  I would like to recommend photographers concentrating on quality, facial expressions, meaningful images and reduce these numbers.  I have found that for smaller weddings, 300 to 500 images is reasonable.  I could reduce this number for the smallest of weddings, but I often shoot extra images to be safe (I HATE blinks) and I also shoot abstract creative images which could be used as design elements in magazine style wedding albums. For larger weddings 400 to 700 images shot by, naturally, two photographers provides adequate coverage in the form of MANY great facial expressions, MANY images personally meaningful to the bride and MANY great candid spontaneous interactions. This reduces wear on your camera shutter and means less post-production editing so you may spend more time tweaking and enhancing your wedding images to SUPERIOR professional standards.

I always announce or have the DJ announce at the reception for everyone to feel free to approach me for special request shots.  This can also provide some unexpected fun surprise photos for the bride and groom! I love it when family and friends ham it up with me at the reception (see Gallery 39 of my website http://www.weddingphotographics.net/gallery39.htm) The bride also knows I do this and she also knows to communicate to all her family and friends before the Wedding Day who she wants pics of and all they have to do is make themselves available for pics.

Wedding Photographer John Wilson
Chattanooga, Tennessee
http://www.weddingphotographics.net