Wedding Details

    One thing that is often overlooked or given less attention to at weddings is the detail shots.  Often times wedding photographers focus a lot on the bride and groom and much less on details of the wedding.  I don't know about you but I would want pics of every single detail right down to the decorations on the cake. 
  
    I began to realize the importance in detail shots last summer when I was showing a bride her pictures.  She was so excited to see a close-up photo of her rings, and the cake.  In my mind I was like..."uh its just a wedding cake..."  But when I thought about it... It was her wedding cake and that made the photo so special to her.  It was the last known record of her cake.  Of course it would mean a lot to her to have a nice picture of it.  Since then I pay close attention to details when I photograph weddings.

    Below is a detail photo I took last summer here in Ottawa.  I used an open aperture and mixed my flash with the available light to give a more natural look to the photo without the noise.  Without using flash I would have had a much noisier photo.

Another couple shots from when I used to assist.

    Another thing I learned when I used to assist other photographers, was the importance of photographing everything other than the bride and groom.  Don't get me wrong tons of bride and groom shots are essential.  But just as important are the shots of everything else.  Often when I was assisting weddings I would be sent out to take pictures of all the details and the guests.

    This was one of my original cake shots taken at a small wedding just outside Ottawa.  I closed the aperture a bit to get more of the cake in focus.  I also used flash to make up for the lost light.  Afterward I played with the colors a bit in Photoshop, sharpened some of the details and cleaned up the table cloth.  All bride and grooms want detail shots.  Make sure when photographing your weddings that you capture as much details as possible.

    This second shot is of one of the cutest kids I have ever seen.  The whole day she was full of energy bouncing off the walls.  She also had a huge fascination with my camera.  Whenever I would get low to take a shot she would come flying over in attempt to grab onto the camera.  This shot I just got low and took a pic as she came charging towards me.  This shot was taken in indirect day light with a little added flash.  The bright daylight allowed me to increase my shutter speed and freeze the photo, giving a sharp picture.

    Sometimes I miss my days of assisting...