4 Responses for "what are some good wedding photography tips?"

1. Sakura March 12th, 2010 at 9:21 pm 1

   Like I said to someone earlier, there is more to photography than just knowing where to point the camera. Lighting, composition, and exposure are all crucial factors to great photography.

   To get started, you need to be properly trained. If you can properly train yourself then that’s great, but school is a good place to start. There is so much to learn, and having an instructor there to help you is a great thing.

   What age? A mature age. Just think, would you want to hire a 14 year old to shoot your wedding photos? Probably not.

   What kind of pictures to take? For weddings, you must be able to work in posed and documentary situations. Pictures of the bride & groom (obviously), other people at the wedding, table settings, cake, etc. Close-ups and broad shots. A little bit of everything.

   Hope this helps.

2. φωτογράφος March 15th, 2010 at 8:41 am 2

   the other answer is excellent,

   join a camera club, do night school courses, study art, learn light and lighting - lighting seperates the girls from the women

3. casperskitty March 18th, 2010 at 2:49 am 3

   Age means nothing. Paul Strand was being exhibited at the age of fourteen. It is about ability.

   Take some classes. If they offer them in your high school, take them. Then, if you are planning to run your own business, get a business degree and take the photography courses offered at the college level in addition to your degree courses. Then go and work with a professional to get some real experience shooting weddings professionally.

   It sounds like portraiture is your passion. Mine too. But that doesn’t mean it is all you can do. Shoot anything that interests you. If you think it would look great photographed, look at it and think about the composition first and shoot it. You may find that you have a passion for other genres as well. Experiment with angles and exposure and composition.

   Most important, have fun getting there.

   edit-I would hire a teenager if they had the maturity and ability to do the job.

4. seantvscholz March 20th, 2010 at 10:27 am 4

   Well, I do quite a few different types of photography, including weddings.

   Just because you are 14 means only that age limitations apply. You have the youth and energy to craft your photographic trade for decades to come though! Having a Nikon D40 is a great thing. I shoot a D90 with a Tamron 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 and love it! The fact you can edit is a great plus, seeing that digital photography has a requisite for that kind of talent.

   Now, on to your questions…

   You’ve already have gotten started. You have a great camera, you’re computer savvy and have drive. Now you need the channels to utilize those energies. How about the school paper? The local paper? Be a free-lance photographer for them! Learn what clients want and find out how you can supply it. How will you make yourself unique (differentiate) as compared to other photographers? Think about this.
   As to how to further get started in wedding photography, I learned by taking lots of photographs and reading up on books in the library. I also asked other photographers (like you’re doing here) on some tips. It takes time, and you have lots of that!

   As for your camera, right now the D40 is fine. Learn the operations of the camera if you haven’t already. Knowing your tools is of utmost importance to getting the most from them. In a few years, think about upgrading possibly. Always look to buy the best lenses you can afford. The lens will outlive the camera by decades! Read articles, look at product reviews and see what is the right kind of lenses and bodies for what you want to do. I still have my 6 year old D70 and lenses because my wife is getting into photography and she loves it.

   You can do some work on wedding photography right now. Not for pay possibly, but doing some free-lance work and then showing the bride and groom your work afterwards would set you up for something in the near future. I’d say that the earliest you could get some sort of paying work is at 17 or 18. Don’t ask me what you could charge… your work/portfolio quality will determine that in a few years.

   What kind of pictures? What do you WANT to take pictures of? What really makes you want to snap that picture? That is the motivation you need to focus on! That is what helps differentiate your work from everyone else! I do a lot of landscape, macro, flowers/plants and specialty photography personally.

   The best thing to do is:

   1) Learn your camera and lenses. What/where are they good at performing? How many lenses do you really need to just start? If you only have one lens then fine. Learn its strengths and weaknesses. Know the camera operations by memory so that when conditions change, you can change the settings accordingly.
   Do you have a good prime lens (50mm f/1.8), a good low end zoom (18-70/105mm), a good high focal length zoom (70-300mm)? Maybe, like me, you have a good “walk about” lens (18-270mm). Even if you just have the 18-105mm Nikon lens the D40 came with, it’s a very good lens! You can do a lot of fine work with that lens.

   2) Read up on the types of photography you’d like to do. Take notes. How about some classes in middle or high school? Go to the library and check out some books so you can refer back to them. That is a no-cost option! Learn the basics of exposure and composition and how to get different effects from different settings of the camera. Don’t rely on your software to make a semi-good picture better. Learn to take a great picture right off the bat so you don’t have to do any rework on the computer.

   3) Learn from your mistakes. Why did the picture come out bad, over or under exposed? How can you work to not do that again? Why is is that certain pictures came out fantastic? What did you do correctly so you can repeat that? Since you have a digital camera, you can usually take several shots of the same subject and see how different settings make the picture change to you liking.

   4) Have fun doing whatever you do. I have seen so many people get into photography and get lost in the details that they forget to have FUN!

   Good luck!