I have started the editing process for my step-daughter’s wedding so I thought it time to share some of the photos from the day. I am by no means finished but at least I have made a start.
Overall I am quite pleased with the quality of these photos. There are, however, definitely a few points I want to raise in case there is another amateur photography reading who is thinking about photographing a wedding. Or even to help me if I am asked to photograph another wedding.
So, just to explain, this post is a collection of photos from the wedding of Lianne & Kev, along with some points raised after my second attempt at wedding photography.
This is only a very small selection of the photos taken. The images shown are specifically designed for display on this web site and are not big enough to be printed. So if you are a friend or family member of the happy couple you will have to wait a little bit longer until I have finished editing the images. Don’t worry though that shouldn’t be too much longer…
Getting Ready
This is a great way to ease into the day as you have plenty of time at the start of the day to try a few things out and test that all you equipment is working as expected.
The above shot is of my gorgeous wife, Shirley, in her Mother of the Bride outfit.
Lianne having just finished getting ready.
Alfie ran up to greet his dad before going into the church.
Kev sitting patiently waiting for the arrival of Lianne.
The Ceremony
This is where things step it up a notch and things happen quite quickly. It would probably be helpful to write a list of the order of events because there were a few mistakes I made in the heat of the moment where I was concentrating on taking some random image that caught my eye and was in the wrong place to take shots of some of the more important parts.
My first miss was the bride and her father arriving at the church in the car! I was busy taking photos inside the church and checking the settings were ready for the ceremony when I saw the bride appear at the back of the church…
Lianne walking down the aisle with her father.
Exchanging rings.
A scene from the actual marriage ceremony.
Here is my next mistake. Unfortunately this is my best shot of the couple signing the register. I decided to switch to the wide angle lens shortly before this shot to fit everyone in. The 50mm lens is much better in low light and would have produced a much cleaner shot but my lenses were at the back of the church and by the time I got back everyone else was there taking their photos…
I am quite pleased with this shot though with the side angle lens.
Outside The Church
I think I am a bit too quiet to take control when the group shots take place. I did have the help of the best man in rounding up the correct people for the shots but even then I sometimes struggled to get everyone looking at the camera. Especially the bride…
If I was to photograph another wedding then I would definitely take the bride & groom off somewhere on their own after the group shots to get some extra shots of just the two of them. I think it is a bit overwhelming when they first come out of the church and there is so much going on around them the photos, the few I actually managed to get of them on their own, just don’t seem as relaxed as I would have liked.
One of the few shots of just Lianne and Kev together.
The girls from Lianne’s hen do.
Lianne’s parents, including me on the end… I had a tripod set up with a delayed shutter release so that I could be in a couple of the photos.
The happy couple with the grooms parents.
Lianne getting into the wedding car ready to head off the reception.
Wedding Reception
Now this is where you get a chance to wander around all the guests taking snapshots of as many smiling faces as you can. There is no real time restriction so you can let yourself go wild and take copious amounts of photos and just choose the best when making your selections.
The weather was pretty amazing so I took loads of shots of everyone outside enjoying the sun. And then a lot more into the night until the first dance.
One important thing I did this time was put my camera down and enjoy the day as well. The last wedding I photographed I felt like I had to capture every little action and so the camera was in my hand the whole day which only added to the pressure…
Father of the bride.
The children off to create mayhem?
The first dance.
Shirley, after a quick change for the evening do, along with Debbie & Pat.
Personal Touches
I read somewhere that it is always a good idea to focus on some of the little touches that make the wedding personal. Here is a selection of the photos I took to portray the things that made the day unique.
The detail on the brides dress.
The flower arrangement on the top table.
The wedding cake.
One of the placename cards placed on the tables.
Anyway let me know what you think in the comments below. If you are a budding photographer then please add any tips you might have.
Images: Pete O’Shea
Lovely choice of photo’s well done