30 Days of Wedding Photography | Day 12 | Reactions

For me, wedding photography is about capturing genuine, authentic, REAL moments. I love creating styled and dramatic portraits with my brides and grooms, photographing funky details, and capturing important family members, but there’s nothing that beats capturing a 100% natural moment in time.

Today we’re looking at ‘reactions’ on the wedding day, and how they are captured!

I once remember reading an amazing interview with a sports photographer. There was plenty of technical camera related questions asked, but the one that stood out for me was HOW he captured the perfect moments. He responded with the message that whatever you photograph, know that subject inside-out, and be able to anticipate when the moment is about to happen. This really only comes with practice by repetition, and intense observation of your subject.

Each new wedding I photograph, I find myself observing more and more mini-moments that happen, along with the reaction and expression created from them. After I’ve seen it happen once or twice, I can add it to my memory for future weddings, and be ready for the reaction from that specific moment.

Whether it’s the father of the bride’s first time seeing his daughter, the groom howling at the best mans speech, or a reaction to a guest pulling off a totally on-the-edge-of-acceptable dance move, they really do tell the story and narrative of the couples special day, authentically.

This is one of the main reasons I don’t ever get bored of photographing weddings, because each wedding creates it’s own display of natural moments which nobody could predict. I love telling brides and grooms how their wedding day will be so different than others because of this reason!

30 Days of Wedding Photography | Day 11 | Family Formals

In today's blog post, we talk about a more traditional part of the english wedding day, the family formals. 

They may not be the most aesthetically interesting photographs on the wedding day, but they are definitely one of the most important.

It's a rare occasion when family and friends are together - some travelling from distant destinations within the UK, or abroad. To add to this rarity, everybody is smartly dressed, so it’s definitely an opportunity to create some lasting memories. 

Parents, Siblings, Grandparents, Cousins, Uncles & Aunties and even Nephew's & Neices; this part can usually take a really long time on the day, leaving people feeling bored and frustrated. It can sometimes be pretty stressful for those involved. I try to avoid the long-winded approach, and do all of the organisational work before the wedding day. When the day comes around, it’s just a case of getting everybody together, and efficiently getting through the list of images.

The length of the “Family Formals” section very much depends on the bride and groom. For some couples, family photos are the priority, whereas other couples like to leave it within my hands to photograph the ‘standard’ images.

Location really isn’t everything in these images. I usually find somewhere with a fairly ‘plain’ background, so that the viewers eye isn’t distracted by other elements in the photograph, other than the people in it.

These images are more about the people, relationships and the connection between families, which means that they can be photographed in a wide range of areas in or around the venue.

My advice to any couple would be to plan & prioritise who the most important family members are to have photographed well in advance before the day. From that, build a basic list of images for the photographer to follow. This will save you stress on the day, and allow you to have more time with those you want to spend time with, and obviously more time at the bar! ;)

30 Days of Wedding Photography | Day 10 | Confetti

The vicar’s worst nightmare! Confetti to clean up!

Confetti always creates a great shot. Everybody is having fun, and are happy, and to top it off the photograph is dominated by a splash of colours!

Some bride and grooms have all of the confetti thrown on them at once, whereas others create a “confetti walkway” to dash through as they get caked in pieces of coloured tissue paper or petals!I’ve seen a cool alternative confetti shot by using bubbles. Definitely less mess!

Planning your wedding day? I may be the photographer for you. Feel free to contact me on email at matt@mattherrington.co.uk or phone 07872 177736.

30 Days of Wedding Photography | Day 9 | Down the Aisle

For me, this is one of the “must have” shots of a traditional english wedding day. There’s so much preparation and energy that is expended on this one fleeting moment and I feel this is so important for me to capture it.

Having prime position is massively important for this photograph, so I will always consult the vicar/registrar before the ceremony begins to make sure I can be in the position.

This moment is usually full of tears, happiness and pride. It’s a huge pleasure to be able to photograph such an important moment in someones life!

Almost all of the attention is on the bride at this point, but I’m always sure to capture the grooms reaction seeing his soon wife walking up the aisle. It’s a beautiful moment to capture.

You can visibly see the nerves and (sometimes) stress vanish once the couple see each other at the alter.

Looking for a Wedding Photographer?

If you're in the process of planning your wedding, and searching for the right photographer for you, please feel free to drop me a line at matt@mattherrington.co.uk or call me on 07872 177736.

30 Days of Wedding Photography | Day 8 | Little Details

A wedding day isn’t just about the people. It's the little things that create the theme/feel of the wedding day too.

There are numerous details at different points in the day that need capturing, at mostly every wedding I photograph.

In addition to this, sometimes wedding guests may have arranged some extra details that they want to be photographed also. 

In the preparation stages of the day, I usually start with photographs of the dress, jewellery, shoes, and any other items with sentimental value, fresh out of the wrapping!

I always make sure to photograph the wedding breakfast room in its entirety as couples put lots of time and effort into the appearance. Think Pinterest worthy pictures that a bride and groom will want to show off after the wedding. I photograph the room as a whole, and then make my way around the tables to photograph the smaller details, such as centre pieces, flower arrangements, wedding favours, and small presents.

I am sometimes asked to photograph more sentimental details, usually in memory of a family member who has passed away. Many couples these days choose to honour those people no longer with us through a photo memento display.

Flowers are also a huge part of a wedding day, so huge that I will save that for a blog post all on its own (so watch out for it coming up in the next three weeks).

The details of the wedding day play and important role in filling in the ‘visual gaps’ in-between the moments of the day, and help build a theme for the viewer. The couple will have spent many hours deciding, sourcing and possibly even hand making some of these little details and as the wedding goes in a blink of an eye, it's important as a wedding photographer to capture these details so that they can be remembered forever.

The Little Details and Big Memories - Wedding Photography by Matt Herrington

If you're looking to book a wedding photographer for your own upcoming wedding, I still have availability for 2017 so it is always worth enquiring. I'm 50% booked up for 2018 and 30% booked up for 2019 at present.

Let's arrange a chat over coffee, usually Preston or Kirkham, and see if I'm the best wedding photographer for you both and your day.

Email me matt@mattherrington.co.uk or call/text 07872 177736

Matt
Matt Herrington
North West Wedding Photographer