Colour versus monochrome

I like all the photos that I pass on to the bride and groom. This time I will be handing over 390. I generally have a favourite and they are often photos like the one on the left. In this photo you have the portraits and the flowers in close-up and it fits well within the 6"x 4" format. Having said that it does fit well with many sizes of photo.

The obvious difference with the photo on the right is that one is colour and the other is monochrome. The background is similar but the cropping has changed. With very little movement from the bride and groom you get many differences in the photo. Colour picks out the flowers, but monochrome emphasises the folds of the dress. I think that both photos lead you to the faces wherever you start looking at the photos. Try looking at any photo like this. What do you look at and what influenced you to look there? It is clearer on the right but you follow the line of the dress to the point of interest.

You may also notice that the lawn is quite neat. I will leave it to you to decide whether the lawn had been digitally tidied.

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Don't strangle the groom

Earlier this year a bride and groom chose their photo for the local newspaper. They chose the photo of the bride getting a piggy back from the groom. I was pleased with this because it is something different and it certainly stood out in the newspaper.

Since then I have tried to always suggest this as one of the photos of the day. Sometimes the dress doesn't allow this photo to take place but you can always mock it up as with these photos of the bride and groom from yesterday.

Natural smiles are found when confetti is thrown or when the bride is lifted. This photo also gives a natural smile especially if you ask the bride to put her arms around the groom's neck but not in a strangling sense.

The second photo is just a sepia version with a little tighter cropping. I usually put a white vignette around the sepia version of photos but this one looked like it didn't need the vignette treatment.

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Cheapest and best advertising

The wedding last Sunday was not just a wedding but a Christening too. This couple do have other children but these are the main three people on the day. I hadn't thought about a thank you card. I know that brides and grooms may not use these photos as a basis for their thank you cards but even if they don't then they have another 6"x 4" photo which is made up of two photos that are 4"x 3".

Although I had forgotten about making up a card like this there is good news here. It meant that the couple could tell me which photos they wanted and the numbers needed. This also meant that I could get them printed for no extra charge. This may seem very generous but I don't know any advertising that is better or cheaper apart from word of mouth.

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Put more into enlargements

A few years ago I went to a printer in Morecambe and ordered a poster. He asked if he could use some of my photos for an advert for his banners and of course I said he could use my photos. Soon after this I went back for my own poster which I take to wedding exhibitions. In fact you can see it on my home page at www.gradwellphotography.co.uk and as well as this you get the added treat of me standing next to it. I don't get into the frame very often but I thought it was only fair for people to see me on the website.

This banner is a combination of very many techniques that I use. Take a look and you will see examples of black and white and colour in the same photo. There are vignettes and photos that are sepia. You will not see that the weeds have been taken out of the lawn and you will also not notice that a building in the background has been changed to trees.

What you will notice are my details. If you enlarge to the size of banners then words are easily read. I like the idea of words that are personal to brides and grooms added to a photo but unless you enlarge the photo then words may not be readable.

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'Truth' may be a blur

Here are two examples showing off focus and blurring within the same photo. The photo on the left was manipulated by the camera. The depth of field is shallow if you focus on something near to you like a buttonhole flower. The guests in the background are blurred because they are not within the depth of field of the camera lens.

On the right I have contrived a blur effect on the computer. The 'focus' is placed on the ring but you get an idea of the setting with the blurred background. Whether the photo is contrived on the computer or contrived by the camera, the result is a photo that may be pleasing to those concerned. When Manet painted his lilies his eyesight was failing. His 'truth' was a blur and you may like the blur anyway.

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Different poses

I don't know if you know The Whoop Hall in Kirkby Lonsdale but there are many fine views for photographers. I like to get some photos that have the reception in the background because this is a major part of the wedding day, so the photo on the left is one of several photos in which you will recognise the venue. You may not see changes to the photo like the removal of road markings or any oil stains on the road. If you want to check whether I have made any changes then you can always drive over. You may now be saying that it isn't worth the drive and it doesn't matter whether there are any oil stains, and you are probably right, but it does help the photo if you find a nicer piece of road.

We had prepared a pose in which the groom was standing in front of the stile and the bride was on it with her arms around his neck (in a friendly kind of way).The photo on the right was taken just before this prepared scene. Now I don't like to direct couples too much. There are basic poses but I wouldn't see them as 'arty'. However if someone wants to pose then I am very happy to take the photo.

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Using ambient light

Alright we had rehearsed this. The bride and groom both knew that they had to stay still for a couple of seconds. It was only a small bulb above their heads so keeping still was very important.

I don't make a habit of taking tripods to wedding receptions. It is much more important to just take photos and that means using flash. In fact I didn't take a tripod. I had taken photos at this venue earlier in the year and this photo was taken by placing the camera on the bar and using the timer. I managed to get a great photo at that time of the bride and the.......DJ!

I thought that it would be much better to actually get a photo of the bride and groom with ambient light so here it is .

Happy snapping