Fat Fingers
Banned
I thought we had a nice series of wedding information going here then it stopped . So to keep up the momentum lets look at speeches in the UK.
First is to establish if they are before or after the meal ...about 40% now go before the meal in the UK. But you need to be careful. If the meal is say 5 pm you may find the manager wants the couple all sat down by 4.30 because they have not moved the meal back to allow for the speeches. this will cut into your photo time so watch out .
Next is a good look at the top table ..name tags will tell you where the bride and groom are sitting.It should be the bride on the grooms left side but often they get it wrong. You need to stand on the brides side of the room or when the groom stands up you cannot see the bride. This assumes two photographers one at about 15 deg to the top table on the brides side and one with a front view.
Then have a word with the person next to the bride......If they move forward and sit with elbows on the table you will not see the bride
Try to encourage the giving of gifts to be over the front of the top table ...people trooping around the back makes for bad photos. Remove any tall table decorations that get in your eye line and watch for the manager who stands in the background with a bored face.
Lighting ...flash brollies etc are not necessary ..all you need is a small flash on top of the camera..if you don't have a flash flipper and the flash is in the shoe then only shoot landscape or you will get terrible side shadows very difficult and time consuming to remove in photoshop. If you have an old Nikon that goes to stupid high ISO when the flash is attached go buy a new one. The iso should go to 4x the base iso when the flash is turned on.
The Cake ....in the old days this was cut at the end of the meal but now its done on the dancefloor before the first dance.. So doing a posed one earlier is essential as the B &G will be partially undressed and drunk by the time of the disco.. Looking at the cake the B&G always stand on the right hand side ..bride in front of the groom and you don't need 4 hands to work a knife 2 is plenty ..If you put them on the left of the cake the brides right arm is towards you and pulls an awkward angle in the photo as she hold the knife..with the bride on the right her arm is between the couple ...I always use two knifes and then they can have a sword fight afterwards for a good photo....
I am interested to know of US variations as what happens there comes here ......
First is to establish if they are before or after the meal ...about 40% now go before the meal in the UK. But you need to be careful. If the meal is say 5 pm you may find the manager wants the couple all sat down by 4.30 because they have not moved the meal back to allow for the speeches. this will cut into your photo time so watch out .
Next is a good look at the top table ..name tags will tell you where the bride and groom are sitting.It should be the bride on the grooms left side but often they get it wrong. You need to stand on the brides side of the room or when the groom stands up you cannot see the bride. This assumes two photographers one at about 15 deg to the top table on the brides side and one with a front view.
Then have a word with the person next to the bride......If they move forward and sit with elbows on the table you will not see the bride
Try to encourage the giving of gifts to be over the front of the top table ...people trooping around the back makes for bad photos. Remove any tall table decorations that get in your eye line and watch for the manager who stands in the background with a bored face.
Lighting ...flash brollies etc are not necessary ..all you need is a small flash on top of the camera..if you don't have a flash flipper and the flash is in the shoe then only shoot landscape or you will get terrible side shadows very difficult and time consuming to remove in photoshop. If you have an old Nikon that goes to stupid high ISO when the flash is attached go buy a new one. The iso should go to 4x the base iso when the flash is turned on.
The Cake ....in the old days this was cut at the end of the meal but now its done on the dancefloor before the first dance.. So doing a posed one earlier is essential as the B &G will be partially undressed and drunk by the time of the disco.. Looking at the cake the B&G always stand on the right hand side ..bride in front of the groom and you don't need 4 hands to work a knife 2 is plenty ..If you put them on the left of the cake the brides right arm is towards you and pulls an awkward angle in the photo as she hold the knife..with the bride on the right her arm is between the couple ...I always use two knifes and then they can have a sword fight afterwards for a good photo....
I am interested to know of US variations as what happens there comes here ......
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