All You Need To Make Your Day

Every one of us wants to have good memories from this important day. Not only remembered but also being able to share them later with friends and family. Keep them for ever.

There are at least two ways of doing it: invite a photographer to take pictures or videographer to make a documentary movie. Alternatively you can opt for both, however. Thinking about this it may be very expensive to achieve.

To keep the costs down you will have to choose what you want more. But, depending on your budget, if you wish to have both you could hire photographer and ask friend to do the rest or hire videographer and let friends take photos.

Well, assuming the first option is the case and you want keep costs to the minimum you can ask a friend to take pictures. A friend, who knows the basics and will be happy to do this. It is the best if he loves taking pictures.

It maybe that the one who has been asked to take this part is You. In either option the tips I'm going to give you will help in build confidence (this usually is a stressful day) and the results will put enjoyment smile on the faces.

Here are two aspects of doing this well:

• Emotional and creative where you need to know where, when and what to do.
• Technical which is about knowing your gear and know how to use it properly.

Knowing what to photograph, when and what is important. This will make your plan. Let me show you this in 5 points. It should give you some ideas.

1. Get Details.
   There will be lots of effort made by both families and wedding planer to make great decorations and flower arrangements. Take nice close-ups showing their uniqueness and decorative effects. No one will remember how it was done, so your pictures will be well appreciated and will add value to the whole memories of the ceremony.
2. Expect Unexpected.
   Observe the groom, bride and guests and take pictures when they are not looking at you, when they behave normally. Most people get unnatural and pose or force them selves to look 'better' which not always is the best. Think a bit like a reporter making documentary. And do not forget about kids that do a lot of funny things.
3. Background - is it boring?
   Make sure that when making portraits of the couple you choose interesting, colourful and contrasting backgrounds. This will pop-out the couple to the first plan. They will look better and will stand-out of the picture.
4. Bride and her Father.
   Are they looking together at the church alley from behind the corner? Checking number of steps or rehearsing how to enter? See what they do before going into the church and take some shots when they don't know you are there. Make it surprise.
5. The End of the Beginning.
   Ceremony is over but... now life begins. Memorize emotions by taking pictures on the steps, in the car while they living. Look for expressions on the faces and snap them.

So far, you should have an idea of what to do. Now, let's talk about another key element - the technical side of wedding photography. The first thing is:

• Be Prepared. Don't leave things for the chances. Speak with groom and bride and their parents if possible. Find out where is the church and reception, who is going to be there, how many guests and how wedding is organized. Ask what they expecting of you. Than think of and do the list of things you will need and what do you want to achieve.
• Research. What I mean by this is to find how others do pictures and what they photograph. This also will help you to get some ideas and build your confidence.
• Know your Gear. The next key point is to familiarize with your camera. I assume that we are talking about digital camera which gives you endless number of pictures that can be taken, erased and taken again. It maybe, that you are given one before wedding or bought one for this occasion. Or you may have it for a while but never really used its features and do not know exactly what it can do. This is a good time to find out and experiment a lot. Get to know what your camera can do and how to use it.

One VERY important thing to remember - make sure you have your batteries loaded and/or enough of alkaline sets. You cannot afford to end up with not working camera because of batteries.
The second is memory card, it is your film. Make sure it has enough space, is clear of any other photos and its capacity will take all your pictures (300 - 500 high quality). It looks a lot but with digital camera it so easy to shoot.