Introduction:
I have been photographing weddings regularly for five years now. In my first year of self-employment, I photographed just 15, but this year I'm sure it will be well over 40. To find inspiration and style, I simply clicked through the first weddings I photographed and took a look at what has changed since that first year. At first I was really shocked, because I can no longer compare these pictures with today's ones.
Only five years and yet so much has changed in the meantime. First of all, I now have completely different technology, higher quality cameras and lenses. But my shooting style has also changed completely, as I now shoot very differently to when I started. The editing was also different and of course the posing. Everything was much more classic and posed than my reportages are today. Then there are certain motifs that I shot at my first wedding and then there are some that I wouldn't shoot today or that I "lost" at some point along the way.
As I've already said several times, you have to find your own style, your own way of working and, above all, your own path. This doesn't just apply to shooting, but also to handling and dealing with clients and wedding guests. With experience, this comes naturally and that's how I see it - because every year my pictures change again. The style is never so fixed that you always photograph the same thing. And it should never be like that.
It always motivates me to implement new ideas at every wedding and to go completely new ways. Of course, everything that has worked so far can still be photographed, but never do the same things just because they work and you don't dare to try something new.
This tutorial is a little shorter, here you will find the main points of the tutorial:
- Own inspirations
- Trying out new things
- Finding a style
- Locations and backgrounds
1. own inspiration
I can only tell you something about my own career here, and I have already explained that you should always feel an inner drive to improve yourself and your technique. But what exactly does inspiration mean? If you search the internet for wedding websites or browse Pinterest, you will quickly see how different image qualities and photo styles are. Some photographers have developed a style that makes the picture so special that you would recognize it among 100 other shots. With others, you may think: I would have done that better, or you will immediately notice something disturbing. This depends on your own quality standards and is simply a matter of taste.
Whether it's for a wedding or another occasion, the client will certainly also look at the price and the concept, but they will - hopefully - primarily choose whether or not to hire the photographer based on the images. If he doesn't like the pictures - which, as I said, can also be a matter of personal taste - he won't book him, however inexpensive he may be. Then, of course, it can happen that there are photographers who take fantastic pictures, but the customer doesn't want to pay a fortune for them. Here it depends on how much importance he attaches to good image quality. Perhaps the customer only wants 1-2 beautiful pictures as a memento and the photos are simply not that valuable to them.
In addition, most customers are of course "amateurs" - i.e. they mainly take or are familiar with photos taken with small digital cameras or cell phones. The weaknesses are clear. They are usually blurred, the image detail is not right, too bright, too dark, etc. Cameras are getting better and better these days, but I think there is a clear difference between them and the pictures taken by a professional photographer.
In other words, many customers may also find your "not so nice" shots excellent, and that brings us to your own quality standards. I'm sure all your couples have completely different quality standards. It's the same for me. There are customers who simply love every picture and then I have ambitious amateur photographers who look at a picture in a completely different way and are much more critical. You will feel the same when you read through the tutorials here and there will be pictures that you don't like at all or where things bother you.
A picture from my first wedding reportages. You can see the effect of the background and the overall mood of the picture.
Today, I try to create a little more excitement for moving subjects by using backgrounds and light. I also photographed lying on my stomach rather than crouching down.
I would like to give two examples on the subject of quality standards:
- A few months ago, I gave a workshop for a good client. She had the typical problems with her first SLR camera and the automatic mode. When we looked at her first pictures together, I immediately saw what had gone wrong with every single picture, but also that she had a very good eye and her motifs were great and very individually chosen. They were just not technically well executed. In the workshop, I explained to her the interplay of ISO, Blender, exposure time and why her camera simply had difficulties with one situation or another.
Since this workshop, she has been shooting completely manually and is constantly improving! In this workshop, I promised her that her own quality standards would soon change. Pictures that she still thinks are great today may not seem so unattainable in 1-2 years' time. Because she is improving herself and her photos and now knows how to work her way there. As my student was very diligent, it took less than 3 months and she confirmed exactly this statement to me. "Nicole, you were right. Today I don't think the pictures of some animal photographers are as great as they used to be and I even notice that they don't always get everything right either!" Her eye for sharpness, colors and, of course, composition had already changed. - Like me, you will no doubt have some favorite photographers that you visit regularly on the internet and see what they are up to - you marvel at the photos and are perhaps even a little envious of the results. At all the workshops I attend, it's very similar: "Do you know this photographer and that photographer? He takes such great pictures!" It's an orientation and of course motivation for you. You don't want to copy them, but maybe one day you'll be able to present such great work. Of course, it's not just the shooting itself, but also a good part of the subsequent image editing! This can also give your pictures their own style afterwards. How have I noticed that I have changed and that my own quality standards have grown? At some point you'll visit your favourite photographer on the Internet again and realize ... I'm on the right track. Today, I no longer find the pictures breathtaking, but there are even motifs that you think could have been realized better. You find mistakes or are simply no longer as fascinated by the works.
What I have also noticed: I know photographers who post really great pictures on their Facebook pages or blog, for example - crisp and sharp and great subjects! I've been lucky enough to be able to examine these images on the monitor in 100% resolution several times now. It's sobering, because a lack of sharpness, a lot of noise and poor image processing are often not visible at all in greatly reduced images. Of course, this is also the case in specialist books.
In the meantime, I am no longer amazed by 600 px images. Only if the image is also convincing in large view does it have any weak points.
At 800 px, the image looks okay at first glance. However, since it is a daylight shot with 2,000 ISO, you can see the weak points of the noise in the large view. Many photographers take "noisy" pictures in black and white, as this is even less noticeable in normal view.
For me, inspiration means that you never stop setting high standards for yourself. But you shouldn't always put yourself down. Many people tend to always hide or never really take praise seriously. That's nonsense!
Because if you have accompanied a wedding, especially as an amateur photographer, then it should justifiably make you very proud if you make a bridal couple happy with it, and you should also accept this praise! It should make you proud. It doesn't matter that you might look back on this work in five years' time and wonder what you didn't know!
For me, inspiration means that you should look for stimuli in the form of workshops, specialist literature, books or photo websites, but never try to copy a style! Let these photos inspire you and, above all, motivate you to keep getting better, but also look back at your photos in time and don't lose sight of your own quality.
There will be moments when you think you've taken two steps forward and are totally happy and euphoric about it. Maybe you've attended a workshop and improved significantly. Then you visit the website of another photographer who perhaps works completely differently and subjects their images to two hours of PS retouching. Compared to your pictures, this may bring you back down to earth.
This has happened to me countless times, but I've also learned that if you look behind the image processing and then know why the images look the way they do, these photographers don't speak a different language to you. In the same way, you might find a picture really beautiful and it makes you proud, then someone comes along and comments on it negatively and the picture is ruined for you. But the trick is to be really honest with yourself and other photographers.
This means accepting justified criticism and assistance, but also taking a sober look at your own photo and even praising yourself if necessary. No master has yet fallen from the sky, and if you make an honest effort, you will get better and better with a little practice and experience. So, cheer up!
2. try something new
None of us will reinvent the wheel in photography. In other words, there is hardly a motif that has not already been realized somewhere. Nowadays there are too many good photographs to be found on the Internet and eager imitators of great motifs. I've also seen something or other that I've tried out afterwards. Not 1:1, but very similar in terms of the composition of the image. Of course, there are the classics, like the hands on the bouquet! I'm sure all photographers have done this before, simply because couples know this motif and sometimes want it!
You certainly won't be reinventing yourselves here and I'm afraid we won't be shooting any more special motifs that will then go around the world and be copied by other photographers. I also think it's a shame if you only go for certain motifs that you "recreate" - every photographer should bring their own ideas and simply try them out. Sometimes the bridal couples or guests have ideas that they bring to me and that I am happy to implement. I'm happy to include what I like in my portfolio. However, there are also limits, because I don't like to use the same motifs over and over again, that's far too boring for me.
Some pictures are taken spontaneously, like this one. The bride and groom go to the desired location and this snapshot is taken on the way there!
I can no longer say whether it was the groom's idea or my request. But he's looking after things!
I've brought you a few examples of what I mean by that. These are classic shots that are taken at almost every reportage and then one or two more unusual pictures. Something similar is certainly circulating on the Internet, but I didn't have it in mind. These are motifs that I developed myself during the reportage, but certainly didn't reinvent.
The kiss under the bridal veil, very popular and often requested!
The veil held up seems a little stiff, it's nicer when it simply "falls down" afterwards - but it's still classic.
And luckily you can also use the veil like this!
The bouquet in front of the head! This is a very well-known motif that I often come across on the internet.
This picture was the idea of a wedding guest. I included it in my reportages because it looks different every time due to the different "actors"!
Admittedly, very stiff, but also often desired. Just try to make it a little more upbeat.
3. finding your style
How do you find your own style? Certainly not consciously. I think it's a long journey that depends a lot on your own taste. In my first two years as a freelance photographer, I received a lot of help from an experienced photographer. He influenced me and taught me a lot. He really - which is not often the case - passed on all his knowledge and helped me honestly. He kept saying: Nicole, you haven't found your own style yet.
Because I was always trying out new things and no two pictures looked the same. Different image editing, different shots, somehow everything wasn't quite right yet. I was very dissatisfied at the time. I kept attending workshops and at some point I got the same answer: from now on, the rest is just image editing. This statement was not entirely correct. I don't like heavily edited photos, so it was never my goal to edit every image really heavily and only be satisfied when the image had been through Photoshop for 30 minutes. It was still going uphill and it will continue to get better and better, even without editing!
Of course you can still improve a good image with a little Photoshop work, but if the image isn't already well shot, it won't be any good even after the BA. Two years ago, the photographer visited me in my studio and approached a portrait. "Nice editing," he said, and I laughed and triumphed inwardly, because it was absolutely raw! Even today, I know many photographers who don't post unedited photographs on the Internet. I am perhaps a rare exception, but my clients also receive unedited photos for the most part. That's why many of the images on my website and here in the tutorials are unedited or only have filters applied. Only a few of them have undergone a subtle beauty retouching that took a maximum of 5 minutes. If at all!
That doesn't mean that I don't also do a lot of image editing, but the result is usually too unnatural for me and I quickly revert to my discreet way of working. In general, I think that every photographer should at least know the processes of good image editing, whether they use it or not. You can then decide for yourself whether and to what extent you want to use them. More on this later in the photo editing tutorial.
A beautiful bride in portrait. The image is minimally edited, she is naturally beautiful!
If you want a little more ... The image editing can be taken to the extreme and beyond. Almost too much of a good thing for me, but it shows what is possible under certain circumstances.
It has also happened to me that at some point I thought my style discovery was over and I could rest. The photos were "okay" and I kept rewinding the same pattern. It wasn't even laziness or a lack of ambition, somehow it all just came to a standstill ... The inspiration and style discovery were over. My current partner came into the picture and really started to criticize every picture. For whatever reason, his demand for quality and his eye for pictures is simply very pronounced, especially for details, sharpness and mood.
There was hardly a picture that he really liked, he expressed his opinion on it and of course that made me change my mind. That may sound negative, but it was incredibly challenging for me. I started to discover photography for myself all over again, was incredibly eager to do everything better and have since then - to this day - taken completely new paths. Now I'm just curious to see how my pictures will develop over the next five years. Because I know that I'm nowhere near the end of my journey!
If you enjoy photography and enjoy it every day, you will follow exactly the same path. Perhaps with more or less self-confidence, but with the same striving for beautiful photographs that will give memories and joy. In conclusion, I can say: you will find your style. Maybe you'll immediately have your own taste and just develop your pictures a little further in this direction, or maybe, like me, you'll keep going in different directions until you're satisfied at some point.
And maybe you don't need a pattern at all, but reinvent yourself on every journey. That's fine if you're happy with it. It's not important to me that in 10 years' time my pictures will be recognized among 100 or 1,000 shots. I would rather look back at my "older" pictures every year and see that I have improved!
Only sky in the background!
4. locations and backgrounds
This point also belongs in this tutorial from my point of view, because the choice of locations and backgrounds is of course a decisive part of your pictures and is also related to your picture style! I think your style and your way of working clearly include the ability to recognize good backdrops, backgrounds and motifs. In other words, knowing how they will look in your picture later on.
As explained in the previous tutorial, you won't always have any influence on the weather and light available to you or the location for your couple reportage backdrop. A bit of luck is part of it! If you do have any influence, I'd like to show you a few shooting angles and backdrops that I like to choose and that I also select when I'm looking for photos. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't go your own way!
I would like to document this part in a series of pictures and comment on them accordingly, as this best illustrates how I choose motifs and how I realize them.
There are many different motifs, even in the same place, that can be realized quickly!
Here I really like the contrast between the "soft" bride and the old walls.
It's a great backdrop for a photo shoot, not just for a bride and groom. As you can see, I like it when the model isn't constantly looking at the camera.
A background like this old wooden door offers scope for such a motif, especially interesting due to the focus.
Use a special location for your photos and remember: a bridal couple can do almost anything. For example, we "interrupted" a football game at a wedding and took a picture with the entire team and the bride. Just be brave. You're asking for the couple, not for yourselves! I've never heard a no. Again, the golfers were happy for a break and even lent us the club.
Of course, you can play around with blurring, as in the picture on the right.
Turning a portrait format into a landscape format is also an option.
I like to take photos from above whenever possible! It's also great for group shots to get large numbers of people in the picture and make sure everyone is easily recognizable!
I also like to use a bit of excitement in the foreground. It's a matter of taste how much it can be. Also use backlighting so that the pictures are not always staged in the same way. Water reflections of the bride and groom also look great. By the way: This picture here is also available in a reversed version. The foreground is in focus, the bride and groom out of focus. Just play around a bit.
Thank you very much for reading this tutorial, I hope it has inspired you a little and you have recognized yourself in some of the statements. The next tutorial is about another great aspect of your wedding reportage: detail shots!
Nicole Schick
Photo studio with heart
