Photography Tips for Outdoor Weddings!

Comment Written by natasha on July 23, 2010 – 5:00 am

phoyo by archetypefotografie

When you and your guests want to take photos at an outdoor wedding, there are several tips to keep in mind to ensure the best photos of your wedding. 

Why is outdoors different?

There are unpredictable factors outdoors that change how you should use your camera. The bright sun, cloudy skies, pockets of shade — all require different techniques to ensure the best photos.

What do I need on my camera?

You need manual settings to override the automatic features. Specifically, you need to have manual focus and to control the shutter speeds and aperture values. If you can alter these three aspects on your camera, you’re good to go.

What should I be aware of?

Look at the lighting. Dawn and dusk provide the best source of light for photography. Photos during the middle of the day are not as great as the overhead sun can be harsh — and the subjects eyes are often either squinted or there is shade where the eyes are (the raccoon effect!)

Be aware of shade. If you have half your subject in the shade and half in the sun — move the subjects. No, really. We are naturally drawn to the brightest part of a photograph, so if part of the people are in the sun and part are in the shade the photo will appear unbalanced.  If you have a histogram on your camera, check it out after you have taken a partial shade photo. If there is a high contrast, move the people into the shade or into the sun.

Check out the background. What’s behind your guests? Does the color clash with what they’re wearing? Will it look like there’s a tree coming out of the bride’s head? Move around or move the subjects around until you get them looking good in front of a background that compliments them.

Bonus tips

Try different angles. Hold the camera vertically. Don’t center the subject in every photo. Capture the moments that are not posed.  Keep every photograph until you have time to look at them later.

Happy photo taking!

~ Natasha