Archive for shot list

The Importance Of Wedding Preparation Photography Part 1

So often in wedding photography we tend to overlook some of the smaller events of the day. Whether it be the grooms preparation because we only have one photographer or maybe the departing shots of the couple because of contract time limitations. All of the events of the day are important and for a bride and groom trying to remember specific moments of the day later in life can be difficult. There is so much emotion, so many family and friends to meet and talk to, so many places to be and schedules to follow that they tend to lose focus of the minor moments and they become erased from memory. I myself think back now and have a very vague recollection of preparing for my own wedding, what I was doing immediately before the wedding, and a lot of the reception is fuzzy and not because of any alcohol. There is just so much to focus on that you tend to just remember the big ticket items of the day.

This is where you as a wedding photographer get to play the superhero. It is your job to capture these fleeting moments in time so that you clients can relive these nearly forgotten memories in a way maybe they didn’t recall. Read More→

Check Out Ralph Velasco’s My Shot List for Travel

Do you shoot from shot lists? If you are a commercial or wedding photographer, there is a good chance that you answered yes. But what about travel photographers or those of us who like to shoot our family vacations? While it is natural to make a shot list for a product shoot or to be sure you get certain shots for a wedding, we sometimes do not think about a shot list for our travels.

But renowned travel photographer and speaker Ralph Velasco recommends the use of a shot list to assure that you get a well-rounded set of images. That is the inspiration for his iPhone and iPad application called My Shot Lists for Travel. Ralph was kind enough to send me a free coupon code for this 99 cent application as I was getting ready to leave for a quick Thanksgiving trip to the beach, so I decided to give it a try.

The app comes preloaded with a number of trips, including city, national park, safari, and town or village. You can select one and find a customizable shot list. Since beach was not a preset selection, I copied national park and added a couple of categories to make it fit my destination. The app is fully customizable so you can add your own destinations to fit your travels. Read More→

Dealing With Less Than Cooperative/Absent Guests

There is a critical piece of CYA that I incorporate into my wedding contracts that I never thought I would need but got the idea from reading about other photographer’s experiences. The responsibility of capturing important people in the formal photos and ensuring they are present to be in the photo. In one of my previous posts I discussed the possibility of having to deal with less than cooperative guests. I wanted to expand on that and more specifically narrow that down to the formal wedding photos and the guests that are included in them.

Formal wedding photos can be a frantic situation for a new or shy photographer. Generally you have a very limited window to get a very large number of people set up in several different poses with people who all want to move onto the party all while trying not to sweat to death and maintain your professionalism. The most important thing to do is maintain an element of control. You are the paid photographer, you are in charge. Yes, Aunt Sally may want to get a quick shot but unfortunately, you are on a schedule and that schedule doesn’t allow for Aunt Sally to hold the show up. On top of that you realize that Grandma and Grandpa decided that they wanted to high tail it to the reception. What to do now? Read More→