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Some things of interest:
Photos Your Photographer Won't Take, Unless You Ask for
Them
It has been my experience, with 20
years as a wedding photographer, that the most forgotten people, when it comes
to photos at a wedding, are often the individual parents of the bride and
groom.
Most photographers will be sure to
include the parents in photos with the bride and groom, but most will never
think to inquire about doing groups of the individual dads of the bride or
groom with all his brothers and sisters who are present at the wedding. The
same is true with the individual moms of the bridal couple.
While you're getting these photos
taken, be sure to include any parents and grandparents of those brothers and
sisters that are there, in order to capture their entire core family group in
photos.
A wedding is almost the perfect
place to take these kind of photos with the individual parents and their
siblings. Everyone in both families have gathered for the big event, many times
from far flung regions of the country.
Their child's wedding may well be
the first time the brothers and sisters have gotten together in years. It may
be many years in the future before they are ever together again. If the
opportunity to take these group photos is passed over because nobody thought
much about the importance of this fleeting opportunity, then those photos may
end up never being captured. These photos often turn out to be the most
important and most appreciated of all the photos I take regularly at the
wedding.
I'd be willing to bet that less
than 10 percent of wedding photographers plying their trade today know to get
these photos for you. You will have to specifically ask for them to be taken,
or they just won't be done!
Other important people that most
photographers will probably overlook photographing for you at the wedding,
unless you give them your written photo request list, are the bride and groom's
god parents, groups of the bride and groom's co-workers, high school friends,
youth camp friends, fellow fraternity and sorority members, and fellow sports
team members for high school or college.
The one thing no wedding
photographer can do is look at a room full of total strangers and figure out
how they interlock with each other just by looking! I gave up trying to do that
after photographing my very first wedding 20 years ago! Now I send with each
bride sheet to fill out with important guests and the entire bridal party
before the wedding requesting exactly this sort of information, so that I don't
end up missing anyone of importance to the bridal couple on their special day.
You will want to see to it that
your wedding photographer is thoroughly armed with this often overlook
information, so that they will get these photos for you. Remember, your wedding
photographer can't read your mind when it comes to who among those present on
your wedding are important to you and need to be photographed with you.
You might also help make getting
these photos easier for your photographer by making sure that the people who
are going to be included in these special group photos are told to be available
for the photos being taken when the other groups are done--either before or
immediately after the wedding ceremony.
You will not want to be trying to
pull these groups together at the reception, because getting them all together
at the same time at the reception is often one of the most difficult things
you'll do on your wedding day. It is better to avoid doing these photos at the
reception altogether, and get them done early in the day.
Also, be sure that all the people
to be included in your photos know to stay in the room the photos are being
taken until all the groups are done. If someone slips off because they think
they are through being photographed and it turns out that they are needed for
an impromptu additional last minute group request, everything grinds to a halt,
photo-wise, until someone tracks them down and brings the back.
If you aren't careful, this could
be repeated over and over again as various people slip outside for a smoke or
to use the restroom after their group as been taken. When this happens, it can
extend the time needed for the photos by as much as an extra half hour, and
that time is probably cutting into your reception time.
A lot of churches today have church
services scheduled pretty soon after the wedding concludes, so many times the
photographer ends up being rushed, time-wise, on getting the group photos for
you. I've had priests tell me immediately after the receiving line concludes,
"You have only 20 minutes to get all your groups done. We've got a church
service starting soon."
In my email to brides before the
wedding date, I always try to avoid having this happen by asking if there is a
church service planned for after the wedding, and, if so, how soon will it
begin after the wedding . I point out that everyone will need to rush back in
immediately if we are crowded for time by the church. Don't let others
complicate it for your photographer by them slipping out of the room before all
the group photos are taken.
With help from Bill Collins
Cincinnati Wedding Photographers
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