I love doing bridal portraits. Its normally sometime prior to the event, the bride has their dress fitting perfectly; they have had hair and makeup appointments all day so they truly feel like a princess without any of the stresses of the wedding day. Bridal portraits make for beautiful images.
Bridal portraits are what brides look at and dream about their own wedding. They see a princess in every image and that princess is a reflection of their own desires. Capturing a great bridal session means preparation and research. I suggest taking the following steps to create a perfect bridal session.
First, meet with your client. In the day and age of online payments, email, and websites, sometimes we don’t meet our clients until the day of the event. If you are doing a bridal or engagement session for that matter I suggest meeting with your client and getting a feel for their personality, likes and dislikes. Many times they will rely on your expertise for location choice for the photos and you’d hate to choose a great western theme for a city girl who has never been out of town and doesn’t like dust. Personality shows through in your images especially when you are photographing subjects who are not used to being in front of the camera. If they are uncomfortable it will show.
Second, prepare your bride for the shoot. Make a list of commonly used items and send it to them so they know what to prepare for. Here is what I normally tell my brides.
Bring at least one person with you to help carry items and to help fix your makeup and hair. Any more than 2 people can be a distraction so discourage them from bringing the whole bridal party- Bring water. This is something many brides forget and it is so important. It can get very, very hot in those dresses and it is important to stay hydrated.
- Bring something to sit on. Many times you want more shots than just the bride standing and many times the brides do no like getting their dresses dirty. I always suggest bringing a towel or blanket that closely resembles the color of the dress for them to sit on.
- Bring the bouquet! I never thought of this as being an issue but I have had people get upset that I didn’t tell them prior that they needed a bouquet and it never occurred to me to remind them but you have to remember that they have A LOT on their mind and to remember something like a bouquet may just escape their to do list. Be sure and remind them of this as color and flowers do wonders to an image.
If you remember these steps and prepare your bride for the estimated time that it will take for the shoot and the possible shots that you are thinking of taking, always setting expectations, then your shoot should go flawlessly and you will have a relaxed beautiful bride who will take beautiful pictures and that is the most important thing!
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My name is Robert Hillis and I operate Memories of Your Lifetime Photography. I specialize in wedding and portrait photography in San Antonio, TX. I am an artist at heart and I love to “Paint with my Lens”! I’ve been shooting professionally for about 5 years but I’ve been doing it for fun forever! I truly love what I do and I think that shows through in my photos.
I like to tell my clients that because a wedding is truly a once in a lifetime event, what I offer them will stand the tests of time. Of all of the things that you buy for your wedding, what I offer will outlast them all. The food gets eaten, the cake goes away, the tuxedo is returned and the limo is a distant memory. The dress may stay in the closet out of view for years to come but my images, my photos, will outlast you, your kids, their kids and even their kids kids. I’m not just taking photos, I’m preserving your family history. I am capturing the Memories Of Your Lifetime!