TIPS / 8 THINGS YOU CAN DO TO HELP YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER
I know, it’s a confusing title - So you're dropping a fair amount of your hard earned mulla on a photographer to provide you with a service, so you may be thinking "why should a paying couple have to do anything for the photographer, isn’t it the other way around?!" While this is kind of true, it’s a little like the old saying - help me, help you!
Helping out the photographer by doing a few small things in the lead up to and on your wedding day is going to make a world of difference to the photographer who is juggling a tight schedule, carrying upwards of 6kgs of gear, remembering the names of your family members and Bridal party, scouting locations for portraits and several other seemingly unstressful bits and pieces, all in order to serve you with absolute perfection (or as close to as possible). I can guarantee these few helpful tips will help your photographer deliver you, better photos (please note, I cannot guarantee this for every photographer, but I know it will work for me!)
There is a lot on the shoulders of a photographer in the lead up to a wedding day and much of the time, added pressure that comes from the unknown, the unexpected and a lack of set expectations.
So I’ve listed 8 small things you can do, to help your photographer help you on your wedding day.
1 / SHARE A PINTEREST BOARD
It’s likely that if you’ve booked a particular photographer, its because you've resonated with their style of photography - winning! But it’s always helpful for a couple to create and share a Pinterest board of some examples of the types of shots or the specific style they are looking for. Even if some of the photos you like most were taken by the photographer you've chosen, it's handy to drop them into the board to ensure your photographer is 100% clear on what you want, minimising surprises on the day.
2 / PROVIDE A SCHEDULE
Providing a schedule of all the key timings two weeks before the wedding day can help give the photographer an understanding of how much time they have for planned photo taking. With this info, your photographer can build their own schedule to keep them on track. If you don’t have a wedding planner, this is likely going to be the schedule you run off on the day, so it’s super important that your photographer has all the critical info.
3 / COMMUNICATE ANY CHANGES
If anything changes, please let your photographer know. Even if the change is as late as the wedding morning, just send a quick text or email. Best to operate on a no surprises policy with your photographer. If things change last minute, of course your photographer is willing to adapt but if there's time for a little heads up, that's always preferred.
4 / PROVIDE A FAMILY PHOTO LIST
Provide a full list of family portraits. The more detailed the better, complete with title and name and groupings.
Even if you have a small family, this is so important to do. Given the family portraits are generally immediately after the ceremony, everyone is high on newlywed love and it is very easy to forget combinations of family members, so think about this in advance and provide a list. Then you're delegating this responsiblity to the photographer on the day and you won't need to worry about it.
5 / SHARE THE FAMILY STORIES
Advise of any important family stories that might be relevant - a good photographer takes great photos, but a great photographer tells stories without words. Sharing any family tales intertwined in your day is really special for a photographer to then translate with their photos - this might be grandmas veil, a family heirloom or a long lost cousin present on the day - even seemingly insiginificant details can create amazing stories.
6 / TIDY THE ROOMS
One of the most chaotic times on a wedding day is the getting ready stage. There's people everywhere, drinks being poured, equiment lying around, make up utensils, shoe boxes, suit tags, phones - the "stuff" is endless and acts as fairly unattractive clutter in photos. So being mindful of this from the beginning and keeping clutter either to a minimum or altogether in one corner of the room is super dooper helpful. This way when the photographer arrives, they can just do a quick tidy and get snapping straight away.
7 / ORGANISE A CREW MEAL
Your photographer is on their feet more than anyone else at your wedding. Carrying 6+ kilos of gear, and likely sacrificing their own energy and hydration to get all those perfect moments captured for you, organising a crew meal with your venue will ensure the photographer is looked after and isn't missing any key moments if they were to try to organise some fuel for themselves.
8 / PROVIDE FEEDBACK
No one is perfect! Even great storytelling photographers need positive reassurance and equally, have room for improvement, so providing feedback both constructive and complementry, is important. If there were things about the photos or the photographers style you didn't love, find a polite way to share this with them to help them improve (no need to leave a 4 paragraph rant on Facebook) give them the chance to address this feedback with you first. On the flip side, service based businesses like photographers, thrive on reccomendations, referals and reviews, so if you absolutely loved their service, leave a Google or Facebook review or reccomend them to a friend, this goes a long way for the photographer.
So there you have it, 8 simple things you can do to assist your wedding photographer. Remember helping out with these small things during your wedding planning and wedding day, will most certainly give you good photographer karma! Totally worth it!
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