5 tips for taking wedding photographs

If you're planning to take a couple's wedding photos, here are some simple tips you can follow to help ensure you get all the shots you need at the highest quality possible. 

• The most beautiful wedding photographs come from natural moments, not the ones you've staged. So, while some staged photos will undoubtedly happen at weddings, have a camera in your hand at all times so you can capture the natural emotion in real moments.
• Spend time around the couple and their friends and family as they're preparing for the wedding and immediately after.
• You can capture real, raw moments that aren't being staged for the camera, which make the best mementos for years to come.

• The emotions shift dramatically in a wedding. Before the ceremony, people are nervous and filled with anticipation, and after, there's usually elation and relief.
• Shoot the couple before the ceremony and after, as well as during, to show the progression during the day and to get a great variety of photos.

• To ensure that the couple are not disappointed when they get their wedding photos back, get a list beforehand of what shots they want.
• You might not realize that a great-uncle or a sorority sister is important to the couple, but they might want several photos of them, so it's important to know what scenes and people are absolutely "must-haves."
• By getting a list, you can get a guide of who and what you need to be paying attention to, which makes shooting everything easy, and the bride and groom will end up happy with what they get back.

• While you don't want to lug around too much equipment at a wedding, make sure you bring at least two cameras and a couple of lenses to shoot with.
• You'll want to take photos from far away of the newlyweds interacting and during the ceremony, and you'll also want get shots of them close-up. Bring a long lens for far away shots and a shorter one for the close-ups.
• Bringing multiple lenses and cameras ensures that you have the right equipment as the light and scenery changes, and that you have a backup camera should something happen to one of them.

• One of the easiest ways to ensure you get the right variety of photographs is to imagine that the wedding is your own wedding. What would you want captured or photographed? Make a list of those things, then make sure you get them on camera.
• Most likely, you'll end up with a variety of shots that would mean a lot to any bride or groom.