Photo Breakdown - "Dignity"

[Read Time < 6 Minutes]

Authors Note:

This is a bit different than my usual newsletter issues.

Photographers are visual people, and we gain insight from viewing each other's work.

I truly believe a wedding photographer's mindset is an important part of the inner game of wedding photography.

If you like it, I'll add more of these to the mix to spice things up and give you a deeper peek behind the camera.

I love photographing kids on the wedding day.

They're almost always nieces or nephews, so they're much loved by the bride and groom and often given surprisingly prominent roles on the big day.

The historical importance of shooting kids should never be overlooked. Someday, these kids will also get married, and your priceless photos of them will bring your brilliance back into the spotlight (and quite possibly bring you and your camera back as well!)

Kids make for some terrific moments on the wedding day. Yes, they are unpredictable and often exasperating, but they often create some of the most memorable photos of the day…if you're looking for them.

I arrived at the church early and did my typical scouting of the surroundings.

I like to get the "lay of the land" at a new venue so I can move quickly once the shooting starts. I know this sounds like I'm plotting out a big heist, but it's more of a safari, as you'll see.

I saw the bride, got a few establishing shots, and then, as I tend to do, I left the room. The guys hadn't arrived yet, so I was looking for more things to shoot.

As the family members trickled in, I introduced myself and kept moving to other rooms.

I try to establish a good rapport with family and friends early so they're not surprised to see some strange guy with a big camera poking around and looking at them curiously.

By not spending too much time in any one room, the family better understands my role and my approach to photographing the day.

I'm not just waiting for something to happen – I'm constantly looking for something to photograph.

This practice also prevents early guests from thinking, "Hey, that's the photographer, he's not busy, let's get some family photos!" There's a time for that, but not during bridal prep.

I saw a dad and his son arrive and noticed the boy was not wearing his "wedding clothes" yet.

I wasn't sure if he was a part of the wedding or not, so I said hi and went back to see the bride...but I kept an eye on where the duo was headed (this is the stealthy part of the job I rather enjoy).

After a few more photos of the bride getting her hair worked on (it takes a while, so there's plenty of time to shoot other things), I went looking for the dad and son. I suspected this young boy might be the ringbearer, and I was correct.

I found Dad pulling out a mini version of a tuxedo, and I knew this was the moment I was hoping for.

One of the benefits of getting to the church two hours before the ceremony is finding a lot of empty rooms and hallways offering privacy. Thankfully, Dad opted for a hallway rather than a bathroom, which is never an ideal place to take photos.

The hallway was bathed in light from a nearby window, so I found a strategic spot to hide around the corner, watched and waited.

If it sounds like I'm stalking my prey, it's because I kind of am.

Kids are, as I mentioned, unpredictable, and you don't know if your presence is going to make them uncomfortable or not, especially if you're a guy shooting a girl or vice versa. Kids are still kids around adults.

I always err on the side of assuming they do NOT want their photo taken, so I made a very conscious decision not to hover with a camera to my face.

I went back and forth between the bride and the dad/son a couple more times (did I mention the hair take can take a while?) until it was time for THE moment.

The pants were on, the shirt was buttoned, and it was time for the tie. Of course, it's a clip-on, and knowing how those goofy things work, I got ready to strike.

I wanted to get the fastening part because that's the most vulnerable part from the son's POV and the most fatherly part for the dad.

I snuck out from around the corner and fired off three quick shots, with the son looking away before his attention turned toward me. Yes, I also got a few of him looking at me, but it didn't have the same impact.

As I look at this shot, I see some of the details captured because I was intentional with my positioning and lighting.

• I did plan to shoot this with the light coming at 90 degrees rather than with the light behind me and possibly casting a shadow.

• I didn't know the boy would look toward the light, so that was a very happy accident.

• By choosing this angle, there was less emphasis on the dad, which was also intentional. Dad doesn't need to be seen for this photo to work. His attention was on his son, which was the point (I think even Dad would agree).

• On the post-processing side, I warmed it up a bit and added to the natural vignette, which was subtle in the original (Note: This shot is probably 20 years old, and I used to play more with vignettes back then - not as much today).

• I tried this in black and white, but the color just worked so much better. The warm tones with the pink tie added a nice little pop of color that was also a signature part of the wedding.

Being the first Photo Breakdown, you might wonder how I remembered so much detail from this one moment from one wedding so long ago.

The answer is also something I'll talk about in more detail next week but the short answer is, I've told this story before...to prospective brides.

Part of my selling process is talking about the wedding day as a collection of small moments and tiny details that, when pulled together, create this perfect tapestry - unique to each couple.

Preserving these moments is our job as a wedding photographer, as is weaving them together for our couple after the wedding for their online portfolio and, ultimately, their Wedding Book.

This type of visual storytelling is one of the most powerful parts of selling wedding photography, in my opinion, and is also one of the reasons that photographing weddings is so much fun.

Hope you enjoyed this photo disection. Next week, I'll tell you how to put this to use in your selling process.

Peeking behind the camera and into the photographer's mind (and heart) is one of the little parts of the "inner game of wedding photography." THIS is what I write about each week in this newsletter.

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Questions? Shoot me an email at [email protected]