And the Photos Lived Happily Ever After

Capturing the best day of your life with the most beautiful pictures is a special challenge for bridal couples and their photographers. For the groom and bride, the “I do” in front of the altar and the wedding reception are once-in-a-lifetime moments that cannot be repeated. CHIP FOTO-VIDEO offers practical advice for the perfect shots of your wedding day.

Keep your distance

You won’t always be able to get close enough to the bridal couple without disturbing the wedding guests. In order to remain flexible anyway, use your camera’s lens to zoom in. When you do the obligatory couple shoot later on, simply switch to fixed focal lengths.

Explore the surroundings

Arrive at the wedding venue well ahead of time to check the lighting. It may be necessary to use artificial lighting. You can use flash at the wedding reception, but at the ceremony itself you should rely on permanent lighting after prior consultation with the venue and the bride and groom.

Burst mode

By working with your camera’s burst mode, you’ll never miss an important moment. Catch every look and gesture of the guests. With burst mode, you’ll maximize your chances of at least capturing one photo where no one is blinking or frowning.

Measuring out the lighting

At the wedding, use the spot metering of the camera and always fix the faces of the bride and groom, otherwise the dark environment and the bright windows in a church could cause the light meter to over or under-illuminate a shot.

Group photos

One of the most difficult challenges a wedding photographer faces on the day is gathering all relevant people for the group photo. Therefore, ask the bridesmaids and groomsmen for help. They know the guests best and will be able to say exactly who needs to be in the group picture.

Wedding portraits

The usual time to take portraits of the couple is between ceremony and reception. Alternatively, you may want to use the golden hour before sunset to take particularly romantic photos. At this time of day, the sun is low and offers a soft, warm light. 

You can read the entire article with additional tips in the current issue of CHIP FOTO-VIDEO (5/2019). The magazine can be purchased from April 3rd onwards at any newsstand that sells CHIP. 

Johanna Schallehn

BurdaForward Communications

For more than eight years I have been writing texts about our company and our brands, organising trade fairs, talking to journalists and being chronically in far too many meetings. Whether at home or in the office - it doesn't get boring and sometimes I just put out the fire. If not, then I am most likely to be met in the mountains, with my daughter on the Isar or in my home country and the most beautiful city in the world: Hamburg.