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When most brides and grooms make wedding day plans, they take certain things into consideration. They coordinate the date according to vacation times from work. Or they plan the day according to the best time for family to come into town. Or they make plans according to the availability of the church or restaurant.

But one of the biggest things couples fail to plan for is the photographer. Don’t think this is something small.  And I am not just saying it because I am a wedding photographer. 

No planning the wedding day with the wedding photographer in mind could mean all the difference in the world. Especially when you realize that the photos are what are going to last a lifetime.

What are some of the factors when you start planning with the photographer in mind.  The time and the date.

Let’s start with the time.  How many couples would want their photographer rushing through the photo shoot?  I am pretty sure most people will not raise their hand to that. 

Without even considering your photographer, a majority of the times most couples do just that. The couple or family basically rush the photographer to try and take all the pictures. 

How so you say? A good amount of times, for instance, a couple will have a time let’s say 1-2 pm. With the reception beginning at 2:30. How many photos can the photographer really take with only half an hour to work with? Not that many.

Even worse, let’s say he does take all the shots?  Do you think they will be of the best quality when the shots are rushed? No way.

So plan the times for the wedding and the reception with enough space in between to take all the photos.

The second factor to consider when planning is to check your photographer’s availability.

Most probably don’t realize this, but most good photographers will be booked months in advance. Let’s say you are dealing with a large photography company, they probably have a few photographers.

Well making wedding plans without thinking about the availability of the photographer could be a nightmare.  Because if you book that special day and don’t make sure that the actual photographer will be available, when your wedding day comes you might be shocked to find someone totally different.

This scenario happens when you are dealing with a big company.  You might not realize they have plenty of photographers on staff, and if the photographer you fell in love with is booked, unless you specifically ask, the company might not tell you.  When your wedding day comes, they might just outsource their work or a second rate photographer might show up.

So be ready by not letting this happen.  Planning your wedding day is wonderful. Make sure that your plan has the wedding photographer in mind as well.

Being asked to take photos for a wedding is a huge responsibility.If you are doing it as a favor, or if you are doing it as your profession, following these 5 tips will help you do the job right.

This tips are coming from first hand experience as a San Diego wedding photographer.  So whether you are seasoned pro, or a rank amateur, if you follow these tips, you will feel comfortable and not have to second guess yourself.  You will be fully prepared for whatever may come.

Our first tip is pretty simple and that is to have the couple and their families make a list for you of shots they want to take.With a day that can be as hectic and chaotic as a wedding day, doing this will help when you are trying to organize all the group and family shots later on in the day.  You will love it and when you can just go down the list and get everything without leaving anything out by accident.

The second tip on our list is to not delete any shots.  In this day and age of digital cameras, most photographers use them.  Great as they are, they also are tempting to delete a shot since it is so easy to do.Don’t even think of looking at the shots.What you think may be a great photo, can differ widely in what the couple considers a great photo.  And who knows, they might appreciate the so called un “professional” shots.

The third tip to make sure you do is taking candid shots.A good photographer isn’t one who just takes the standard basic shots, like family shots, typical wedding shots, or whatever is the usual.  But they will also try and capture the emotions of the day through the shots of all the people that were there.  And that includes some of the things that could go wrong, like a flower girl not making it all the way to the front, or the ring bearer dropping the rings.  Every shot counts.

The fourth piece of advice is make sure you have back up equipment.  Do you even want to imagine having a camera stop working halfway through the day.Be prepared for anything that can go wrong.  Being prepared will help you avoid that uncomfortable moment of not having a working camera to capture the rest of the day.

Lastly, make sure to practice for your lighting. Don’t get thrown a curveball by the different lighting conditions whether inside the church or outside, practice and you will be prepared. You should try and see if you can scout the locations for the big day and try and find the best spots to shoot as well as gauging the lighting needs.

Doing these 5 tips will help you immensely.  It will prepare you for whatever might go wrong, it will prepare you for capturing what goes right, and it will prepare you to help contribute to this wonderful day by being the best photographer you can be.  Take it from my years of experience as a San Diego photographer.