Today’s post has been written by professional wedding photographer Andrew Miller. If you’d like to guest post at PhotoCreative365 then just CONTACT US.

What’s good about Wedding Photography today?

1. The digital era has brought about a fantastic change in the style of wedding photography.

It is no longer stuffy, formal and rigidly posed (MMmm….maybe that’s not quite right!). The digital format has allowed the wedding photographer the chance to engage with the bride and groom in a way that film would never have allowed us.

We can ‘be’ a part of the wedding and not just the ‘photographer bloke who shouts at everyone to stand still and smile at the camera’ – oh yes, I can remember attending weddings as a child and being shouted at to stop fidgeting – first by the photographer and then getting a whack from my mum for it! I hated photographers back then!!

What happens now? The wedding photographer is a real part of the wedding, gets involved and helps out more. We know that we can get those cute shots of the kids at anytime and we know that if we shoot them and it isn’t a great shot – we will get more!

With the advent of high-end digital cameras the wedding photographer can be totally unobtrusive if they like. Shooting remotely down the aisle of the church at the same time as shooting live from the front of the altar.

We can shoot in conditions that would have had (and I remember this!) film photographers packing up and going home. The high ISO and printability of those images means that ISO800 and ISO 1600 can be the norm – in colour with no noise! (Back in the days of film if you used ISO 1600 you were probably in MI5 on a stake out!!)

2. Digital Photography allows more freedom in creating the images the bride and groom like… and want!

Come on, with the advent of software like Lightroom, Capture One coupled with a 21Mp+ camera we can get three possibly four usable images from one photograph. This give a wider choice to the bride and groom – something that the consumer society we live on the whole likes. We want choice, lots of it!

The same software allows us to create several of the same images in a variety of styles – colour, black and white (“Oh I love black and white says the brides!”), sepia etc. You name it we can give it to them.

Yeah, sure some of this processing may go to far – but if they want it why should we deny them it?

How about all this modern fad for 45’ photos? Dead easy in digital, bit harder in the film world. How about the real boost to colours? Dead easy in digital, hard in the film world. I could go on but you get the message.

3. Albums Albums Albums

I am a great fan of digital wedding photography, and as such like to use digital albums. Why would you use a digital camera and then produce an album your great grandmother would recognise? Lets embrace the medium for what it can do!!

Graphistudio seem to the market leaders in the storybook stakes. Great albums, in fact they tend to sell themselves, especially to the younger brides out there (under 35’s). Even many of the older brides and mothers of brides and grandmothers love them. Why – because it’s what they would have wanted if they could.

Digital printed albums give me selling points as a photographer and buying points for the couple.

• Number 1 – the pages can be touched; hence child friendly to a degree.
• Number 2 – the pages can be wiped clean when something is dropped on them – again to a degree
• Number 3 – the number of images a bride and groom can have in there has increased. (Ok the law of physics hasn’t’ changed but you get my point.
• Number 4 – They look good enough to leave out on a bookcase
• Number 5 – Pocket books and Parent books; what a great idea! Everyone can get a copy of your album!!

Bio

Andrew Miller is a professional wedding photographer who also makes great tea and coffee – especially during those “Bride getting ready” moments when things seem to be going wrong!

Always willing to lend a hand, Andrew has been known, and photographed, to tie the bride into her dress when Mum is getting ready!

His style and images are simple with no fuss involved allowing brides to get on with their big day.

He lives near Chepstow in South Wales with his wife and two great dogs.