The importance of preparation in wedding photography

Today’s wedding  -  11.11.11.

At 3pm today I’m shooting the wedding of Daniel and Donna and they have chosen today’s auspicious date for their wedding – 11.11.11.  I guess there are many weddings around the world today and I was asked if I could shoot two other weddings today, but unfortunately I can only be one place at one time!

This morning I am going to talk about the key elements in my preparation for shooting a wedding.

The week before the wedding:

Last week I met with Daniel and Donna and we had a pre wedding shoot on the jetty on Lake Tuggerah in the 30 minutes prior to sunset and got some beautiful images.  After our shoot we sat down and I ran through all the details for their wedding day today.

The night before the wedding:

Last night I sat down and checked all of my kit:

• I cleaned everything, even if it didn’t need it!
• I charged all of my batteries, including 3 camera pack batteries and batteries for my speed lights and of course some spare batteries as well.
• Formatted all of my memory flash cards.
• Checked the weather forecast and worked out what to wear.  I usually wear a fishing jacket (not so glamorous I know, but very practical with all of those pockets everywhere!), long shorts.  It is not practical to wear a tight skirt when often I have to get down low or up high to capture an image, and of course sensible sandals.  High heals are no good on a sandy beach or in a grassy area.
• Organised food and water for the afternoon.
• Made sure my wedding umbrella is packed as this is often used as a beautiful prop by many brides.
• Printed off my “run sheet” for the day, listing the time I want to be at the venue, bridal party names (which I memorise), ceremony time, celebrant’s name, photography venue and reception venue and time.

The morning of the wedding:

Most often weddings are in the afternoon, so I use the morning to run through everything and make sure it is all clear in my head.  This morning I have already visualised Daniel and Donna at their beautiful venue which offers many photo locations in the one spot with ponds, gazebos, verandahs, gardens and country lanes nearby with beautiful wooden fences and large trees.  Most often I have been to a venue before and checked it out for photo locations.  Some images I will see in my head in black and white, but I shoot everything in colour and then convert some images later on.

I will head to the venue and arrive there about an hour ahead of time, as I don’t want to get held up in traffic and this gives me the opportunity to have another look around, capture images of table settings, flowers and decorations and of course capture guest arrival.

Now I’m all set to have lunch, relax a little and then head off to Daniel and Donna’s wedding and capture some beautiful memories for them both, their family and friends and tonight I will be back down ad the jetty to capture (hopefully weather permitting and I think it will be!) a beautiful sunset like the photo attached.