Tying The Knot: Location Scouting

Like a good boy scout you should always be well prepared when shooting weddings. Packing the right kit, making sure the batteries are charged and the memory cards formatted are essential tasks on your checklist, but these become second nature and can be done the night before if necessary.

However, what can’t be done the night before are the location checks. These are crucial, especially when you’re starting out and unfamiliar with wedding and reception venues. Why are checks so important? Well a wedding is an event and once it starts there’s no stopping it! So for each of the big moments during the day you need to know exactly where you’re going to be, which lens you’re going to use and what the camera settings need to be. All under the pressure of missing moments that last a split second.

Think of F1 drivers and professional golfers. Can you imagine any of them turning up for a major competition without having studied the track or course in the most minute detail? Or not knowing exactly what gear or club they’re going to use at any given point? Of course not. They’re professionals and so are you.

Even if you’ve been to some of the more popular venues as a guest, it’s highly unlikely you’ll remember what they were like from a photographer’s point of view with regards to light, space and shooting positions. If you do then well done, but as a guest you really should have been focusing on the wine!

I provide location checks to all my clients as standard and I advise you to do the same. The number of checks will vary depending on the plans for the day, but they typically include the locations for:

• Bride’s prep
• Groom’s prep
• First Look (if applicable)
• Ceremony
• Cocktail hour session
• Reception

That’s 5 or 6 places that you need to know in as much detail as possible prior to the wedding day, so don’t think location checks are an easy box to tick!

You won’t necessarily visit the bride and groom’s prep locations prior to the big day, especially if they’re going to hire hotel rooms or apartments. But ask them for as much detail as possible either during catch ups, by dropping them an email or just calling them. If they’re going to visit the places that they’re hiring then ask if you can go with them or if they can simply take photos with their mobile phone cameras and MMS them to you. All of these actions have the added bonus of showing your clients how keen you are to do an awesome job and reassuring them that they have entrusted their special day to a true professional!

For the First Look onwards you should visit the locations at the same time of day that you will be using them on the wedding day. This is to ensure you experience the light conditions that you will need to deal with. For that reason you should also time your visits to be fairly close to the wedding day, say up to a month prior, as the sun’s movements will obviously change throughout the year resulting in changing patterns of shadows and shade.

Some venues may require you to phone ahead to say you’re planning to visit, so check out their websites first and call them if in any doubt. Take your camera with you to each location. Move around, explore, and fire off a few shots from different angles so you can refer to them later and visualise the space. Also look for great shooting positions and take some shots as if it was the real event. Fine tune your exposure settings and note them down. You’ll thank yourself later!

And if you see people who work there then use them! Ask the priests where you can and can’t go in the church. Do they allow flash? Are they strict on dress code? Ask the event manager at the reception venue how the tables tend to be set out, where the dance floor is and where photographers tend to shoot from.

There will always be exceptions where it’s just not possible to physically go to the venues due to distance – if you’re shooting a destination wedding for example. In that case you firstly celebrate with a cocktail ‘cos you’re going to Hawaii! Yeah! And then you should turn to your trusty assistant Google. Maps, Street View and searches will often provide sufficient information for you to visualise the places you’re going to, and photos on wedding sites that turn up in search will give you a sense of how other photographers have used the available space. But what Google can’t provide you with is that sense for how the light changes according to the time of day, so don’t rely on Google when you don’t have a good reason not to visit in person!

Last weekend I photographed the wedding of Monika and Ron. It was a beautiful day and we got some amazing photos. But some of those may not have occurred had I not performed my venue checks.

At the church I took this shot from the upper level by the organ and choir:

I might not have got it if I didn’t speak to the priest during my check and ask for his permission to venture up there.

The reception venue was at a private golf club. By speaking to one of the club pros I was able to establish that I could take the bride and groom around the first three holes for photos. He also let me take a buggy out on the course to scout for the best locations and said that he would have a couple of buggies reserved for me on the day. That was invaluable and led to shots such as these:

Location scouting isn’t rocket science; it’s common sense. But let’s end on a philosophical note from my main man Confucius: “Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure”.