If , you are reading this, you are either getting married or planning the wedding for someone close to you, so Congratulations! This is a beautiful time as you prepare for the union of two souls.
When you look for Wedding Photography in Chennai or really anywhere in the world the following are some points to keep in mind.
- Candid Photography and Video versus Traditional Photography and Video
- Photographer and Videographer Experience
- Crowd size at the various functions
- Plan the Wedding Lightning
- Wedding Album Quality
- Have one Team for Boy’s Side and Girl’s Side
- Make a “Family Group Photos” List
- Allocate Sneak away time during the Wedding Functions
- Privacy
- Don’t Forget to Have Fun
Candid Photography and Video Versus Traditional Photography and Video
The focus nowadays is on Candid photography and video, but your understanding of Candid needs to be discussed in advance. Make sure you and your team have the same understanding. Candid by definition is (of a photograph of a person) taken informally, especially without the subject's knowledge. So, that generally applies to most of your wedding celebration except maybe the pre wedding shoot in Chennai, or an outstation shoot and the group photos you pose for at the end of the wedding ceremony. Candid photographers and videographers typically have more close ups and expressions of the people where as the traditional photographers and videographers tend to do wide shots that include the couple and the surrounding. So ideally you would want both.
Be clear on whom you want covered in addition to the couple, their parents and grandparents. The last thing you want is an online picture gallery or wedding album of beautiful candid photos of people you barely know.
Discuss the Wedding Trailer and the feel you want. Do you want bits of all your functions? How much of the family do you want included? Do you want voice overs and a medley of the functions to one song? This decision ahead of time will help the video team plan better (for example they might add an additional videographer to shoot relatives from the US and dance practises going on before the Sangeet)
Don’t view traditional as unappealing. It is something that has held strong over time for a reason. People typically put up the traditional photos that include the entire family. People often think that traditional photos only involve photographing groups
along with the Bride and Groom, but the traditional photographer and videographer is someone who captures the wide angle and the formalities in the function. Your album and videos are quite incomplete without that.
Taking into account the experience of the Photography and
Videography Crew
Make sure your team have been in the field long enough to understand the intricacies of a typical wedding week. They will need the swift ability to handle
different lighting immediately. An ability to capture great photos and videos
switching continually between indoors, outdoors, venues with dull lighting and
bright lighting.They should have already covered a range of various ceremonies and should understand that each couple and family have different sets of needs and
expectations.
Wedding ceremonies and related occasions tend to have a lot going on and
there are often many situations that will be a challenge to record for the Photo
and Video team. So that’s when experience and practical knowledge is
absolutely required to adapt to various situations very quickly and in bringing
out the best.
Crowd Size at the various functions
Be sure to discuss the crowd size with your Photography and Video Team. This will help them allocate their teams appropriately. Whilst discussing this, you should also discuss how much of the crowd you really want covered (for example, in the dining area take all the decorations and the layout of food but not while people eat).
Typically, for a crowd of 250 people 2 videographers (1 traditional videographer and 1 candid videographer) and 2 photographers (1 traditional photographer and 1 candid photographer) is sufficient.
Plan the Wedding Lightning
Good lighting is by far one of the most important things in photography and video. Once you fix the photography and video team set a time to meet with the decorators and implement the lighting suggestions made by the video team. If your backdrop is strongly lit and the couple are not well lit, the videographers will change the settings on the camera to make sure the couple’s skin tone is correct and their faces are seen clearly. In this case the background will be blown out and you will lose the detail of the backdrop.
Most people do not want the bulky studio lights that videographers set up at the ceremonial hall, so the best thing to do would be to have them advice on the lighting. There are several lighting options that can be incorporated into the design and decoration of the hall to create a soft and evenly lit environment with s separation light for the background. This will result in making you look perfect, which is what you are.
Wedding Album Quality
We at Photo Emporium take a lot of care in designing each page of the photo album. We like to customize the design, paper and cover so the album looks beautiful and it ties into the theme of the wedding. This has historically been one of our main focuses. At the end of the day we cater to what you want.
I am including checking the quality of the album in your checklist, as it is a beautiful way to store your precious memories and it is something you will keep and treasure.
Have one Team for the Boys Side and Girls Side
In India, the boy’s side and girl’s side tend to have different teams of photographers and videographers. This results in overcrowding and interference when shooting. The fear, I believe is that each side feels their family might not get covered well. The solution to that would be to have a responsible point person from each side who will point out the important members and will be kept in the loop of any last minute schedule/ program changes. Also, do two sets of slightly different videos and albums for the boy’s side and the girl’s side. Though you choose one team, have that discussion in the beginning. This will take care of making sure the uncle you have not seen in years and all the overseas friends are included in your album but your partner’s family can have a slightly diff set of people included in their album and short video, but both with overlap in the majority of the content.
Plan the Family Group Photos
Make a list of the various groups of people ahead of time and assign a person to coordinate. We have had a few weddings where during the family group photo session, an aunt was inadvertently left out and the family has had to make an appointment to do a group photo again at the studio. Although it serves a purpose it really can’t replicate the wedding day.
Allocate Sneak away time for a shoot during the Wedding Functions
This can be a bit challenging, but it is totally worth it. Though you may have tons of pictures from your pre wedding shoot, nothing brings back memories and moments like some sweet couple shots on the day. Even if your camera shy, just go for it. You will find that after a bit you will start to forget the camera and get caught up in the romance. Typically try and allocate time before the Sangeet or Mehendi function and definitely after the wedding, even if it’s just 20 mins.
Privacy
Be sure to discuss with you photography and video team what they can and can’t share. Maybe you are ok with sharing the content if you can review it. Maybe they can post directly to your social page if you feel you want to share it with your friends. Have the discussion ahead of time, so everyone knows what to expect.
Don’t Forget to Have Fun
Seriously, this is one of the most exciting occasions in your life. While I am sure you are anxious that everything should go well, the most important thing is that you enjoy every bit of it. And if you decided to go with Photo Emporium, we will ensure you enjoy looking at your memories as much as you enjoyed the wedding.
