This is a guest post from Kate Melia Photography
Chances are when you think about your wedding memories you know you’ll want confident and relaxed wedding photos to truly cherish your special day. Your wedding day is the day you will feel most loved with all your friends, family AND your future husband together celebrating your love story.
You’ve spent months, maybe even years, putting all those touches in place and when you witness that perfect vision on your big day, you will feel on cloud nine. Getting photos that capture all of those feels will happen naturally and with any camera, but having a professional photographer with an eye for detailing those exact emotions, your pictures become so much more. The result? The perfect relaxed wedding photos.
Leading up to your wedding many brides question how they will feel getting photographed. Perhaps you feel a bit self-conscious? Maybe you don’t like to be the centre of attention? Camera shy? A professional photographer will be able to lead you in the right direction to create timeless images celebrating the beauty of any bride. Please give these following tips a read to make the most out of your wedding photography and feel relaxed and confident in front of the camera.
Let The Journey Begin
Most packages will include the option of a pre-wedding shoot and though it’s not a necessity, it really is a great way of relaxing in front of the lens. The photos you get can make great invites or simply memories but more than that, meeting your photographer face-to-face gives you all the chance to get to know each other, bounce off wedding ideas and hopefully have a laugh when creating beautiful images (see staged photo section). They want nothing more but to showcase their talent & personal editing style by capturing your best sides in beautiful surroundings. And by actually getting used to having your photograph taken together, you get to feel much more comfortable and confident around them. It’s a win-win.
You’ve Got A Friend
Once meeting your photographer at a pre-wedding shoot or video call it’s important to remember they are there throughout the whole process. Their passion is photography but also weddings and remember; they’ve been to a lot! If there is anything you’re unsure of about the day, they have seen it all before and would gladly impart their wedding wisdom.
No two weddings are the same and, as they have chosen this career path, they love nothing more than getting to know brides & grooms and experience all the wedding day emotions with you. Trust that you will feel like you will have an extra friend at your wedding and for life afterwards. They are your biggest cheerleaders, wanting you to feel beautiful and confident in your wedding photos. They want to capture all those gorgeous moments to showcase and share with you as a close friend.
Location, Location, Location
Choosing a venue with photos in mind is essential and working alongside your photographer when it comes to lighting and other elements is so important. Do your research on your venue! Take a look at previous galleries to see where you’d like similar photographs to be taken. This will definitely help you take more relaxed wedding photos. Candles make for romantic lighting indoors and when outdoors, consider some places with shade or shelter as well as appealing features in both! Always, always have a contingency plan too (and maybe even a plan c). A photographer will make it work whatever the conditions but with backup plans in place you’ll feel everything is going smoother and therefore it will be much easier to relax for those important shots and you’ll feel more confident in front of the camera.
Candid vs Staged vs Posed
It’s not rocket science that you will feel much more comfortable in photos without knowing you are being photographed and some of the most authentic emotions are displayed through completely candid shots. These are the true relaxed wedding photos. However having formal group photographs will come in handy for sending friends and relatives and I love the timeless formality these photos bring. But the tears of joy expressed at the first look at the dress; the first glances exchanged between you and your husband as you walk down the aisle; tequila shots taken during party time or that one guest who’s had too many! They all capture real moments and can be the most cherished due to your being blissfully unaware the camera was there.
However, staged moments can also really help you create beautiful and confident wedding photos, for example asking your photographer to share a joke during a more formal photograph to turn uncomfortable poses into natural laughter. Staged photographs work very well in your couple portraits too so find ideas to help you feel comfortable when having a picture taken. Trial out hugs and positions between you, even in the mirror! I would suggest ‘escaping’ with your photographer after the speeches when all the formalities are done so you can both really reflect on the day and soak in all that’s happened together. You will naturally slip into practised poses in your loved-up bubble and the photos will be effortlessly beautiful.
Your wedding day will be undoubtedly special and immeasurably memorable and the most important thing is to fully enjoy each and every moment. Hopefully these tips will help you relax for the photos but remember: every single person that’s there wants to fully celebrate your love story; your wedding photographer is no exception. Your photographs will sing your romance and reflect your unique relationship and will ultimately remind you of the love you felt on that day.
About Kate
Kate Melia is a wedding photographer based in West Yorkshire. She takes a documentary style approach that will allow you to soak in all the feelings of the day. Kate creates a mix of formal posed and natural candid photographs to document your day in a way that beautifully reflects your unique relationships and will ultimately remind you of the love you felt on your wedding day. Kate is all about helping you achieve the confident and relaxed wedding photos that you’ve dreamed of.
Check Kate out on Instagram and Facebook.
