Hello everyone, this is part 2 of my wedding album series..
Wedding took place in the start of spring, sunny wedding day... but with one small problem...
The bride was pregnant...but hopefully she was in a good mood...!
A wedding album usually follows the story of the day... Most common dimenision are 35cm x 70cm (wide open)
95% the paper is mate or satin.. And is beeing populated by 25 pages. If the couple wants more pages.. these come at an extra cost...The biggest album i could ever make (me and the printing company) could do 40 pages.
Above this number the album becomes very thick and the printing company cant glue and bond it well.
The photo below is from the same day photoshooting (after the wedding) it was actually a very random moment.. i was just changing lenses.. and i had place them on the bench but didnt say to them.. do this or that... i was going too...
but they expressed themselves naturally... and of course thats when the best shoots are made.
I usually start the story with some details of the day... shoes. wedding dress.. rings.. and other decorations arround the house...
If we are flying solo (that means i have to go to the groom and the bribe...and not use a second shooter)
I usually try to arrange the preparations of the groom earlier that the normal... cause i must have time at least 2 hours on the bride... E.g if the wedding is at 18:00 , i must be at the groom arround 13:00 then leave arround 15:30, and start on the bride at 16:00.
The best photos from the preperations.. the funniest.. the most life alike ones... are placed... dont forget to shoot the main family members... mothers fathes and syblings... And of course the best man-woman... and the friends of the groom...
try to arrange them in a good natural order... watch out for color matching between the shoots... especially on the same page. Photos must be color matched and fixed.. Lightroom for color correction... and retouching through photoshop.
As you can see.. i dont have much details on the bribe... When i finally managed to get there.. she was already dressed.. cause with the pregnacy she couldnt wait for a long time. When something goes wrong and you lose time on the groom or even the road... you will have to quickly adapt on the circumstances and keep your smile.
I used only natural light on some shots.. and on most of them a single speedlite bouncing on the ceiling....
Never use the flash direct on peoples faces like the used to do 20 years ago. If you bounce it on the ceiling light comes down and lights the subjects the natural way (sun is above us right? thats how humans are used on seeing things)
Dont be afraid of shadows... other professionals would say that the bride in the car window is being half in the shade half on the light.. So what? Her expression and mood is what matters.. Its a snapshot of what was happening that moment... Not a fake moment set up by the photographer. The shot with the groom sitting was my favorite... So natural...
Inside the church i was almost with no flash... the temple was white and the natural light of the sun was bouncing and creating that creamy white soft light... In the album we use the highlights of the ceremony.. and of course whatever moments we have that worth describing our story better.
A lot of rise in this wedding... Dont use high shutter speeds to freeze the rise... its looks alive this way... and of course your exposure on the peoples faces is nailed perfect.
Its tradition in Greece to throw rise at the end of the wedding... It symbolizes the longevity and happiness of the couple..
Rise and Root is has the same accoustics in greek language and they connect them together... in other words we throw rise in order for the couple to have strong roots... in their lifetime.
Some party shoots from the ceremony.. Nothing special on this one... Sometimes use the led of the videographer.... Go in the opposite side of the Dj's lights... to create more depth and artistic look on your photo...
Thats all for this album... Feel free to ask anything on tecniques used... or even how to face a similar situation when the bride is pregnant... ( i was lucky on this one... many pregnant women are usually stressed and tired easily than a normal bride... she was all day in good mood and she did what every woman must do... experience the wedding fully.. and let things take their own course... )
Thanks a lot. Comments are most welcome.