Wedding Photographers in Bournemouth - Top 5 Backdrops

Howdy aspiring wedding photographers in Bournemouth and the surrounding areas. In last month's article I offered some of the best spots in Bournemouth for your Locations repertoire. This month I will be zooming in even closer and focusing on five specific backdrops in Bournemouth that you can use in your wedding photography.

Before I give you the lowdown on the best textures in Bournemouth, let's take a moment to consider what makes an effective background for wedding photography. In general terms, a good background is one that is not so bland as too detract from the subject, nor is it so busy that it distracts from it. If the background has a romantic connotation or it gives a nod towards the personalities of your bride and groom or the locality, this will further enhance your wedding photography.

With this in mind, let's examine some of the best backgrounds for wedding photographers in Bournemouth.

1. Geometry and Colour: Coloured beach-huts between Bournemouth & Boscombe piers. These form a rainbow which adds colour and warmth. Their geometry gives rhythm and great lead-in lines. Stand on the sand and ask the wedding couple to walk along the promenade, shooting back towards them at an angle.

2. Flora: Wedding photographers in Bournemouth are spoilt for choice as there are plenty of parks and gardens. Take care that the backgrounds are gently out of focus so as not to distract the eye and there are no branches appearing to poke out of the wedding couple's heads. A nice touch is to select an area where flowers in the background match the colours in the bridal bouquet. The Upper Gardens in Bournemouth have a particularly fine array of rare plant species and is often a little less busy.

3. Sea & Sky: We are blessed in this area to have sweeping blue sea and sky which make an evocative backdrop. If a reportage style makes shooting with filters prohibitive, shoot in RAW, underexposing by 1.5stops. This will ensure colour can be brought out in the sky and highlights can be brightened in post-production. If wedding couples want the wedding car included in the shots, Bournemouth Council sometimes allow vehicles onto the promenade. Contact them in advance to check when the gates will be open.

4. Urban: Wedding photographers in Bournemouth can make use of the many styles of architecture in the town. For wedding couples looking for a funkier, grittier edge, try the graffiti wall outside '60 million postcards.' For 1930s glamour choose 'Bliss' on St Peter's Road.

5. 'Saying Bournemouth': If you really want to contextualise your wedding photography in Bournemouth, nothing signifies the town better than the pier. This offers great lead-in lines and a lovely seascape to boot. Also consider using the land train for group shots & the 'Bournemouth Eye' balloon.

To sum up, wedding photographers in Bournemouth have some great backdrops at their disposal. Remember to ask yourself 'Does this backdrop distract from or enhance the subject?'

View the original article here

Wedding Photographers: The Best Way to Go

Wedding photographers association has some respected names in the photography industry. Acquiring the services of these top photographers who are among the cream of the crop can be very expensive yet very rewarding.

Most wedding photographers have a studio which doubles as the marketing site and also a studio for retail photography. If you are looking for the best photographer for your wedding, this is the best way to go. Visit a photographer's studio so you can see samples of their work and you can also have some test shots which most photographers are willing to offer. You can also find an office or studio that are dedicated in providing services solely for weddings.

Shooting and taking pictures at a wedding is exciting and exhausting at the same time. A good photographer is constantly on his toes and looking out for opportunities to capture candid shots and good angles and poses. It is highly recommended that you sit down with your chosen photographer and talk about how you would want your wedding pictures to come out. This will also save you money since you can direct your commissioned photographer not to take many shots that you think wouldn't be too important to capture and those that you do not have the intention of keeping. What is important are the details of the preparations, the decorations, the reception, pictures of you and your spouse, the entourage as well as pictures of your family and friends.

Planning and proper communication before the big day will give you and your photographer a stress-free day on the date of your momentous affair. It will also be very useful if you can come up with a list of your expected shots especially when taking group photographs. It is possible to take charge of how you would want everything to come out by planning and talking to your wedding photographer in advance.

An up to date wedding photographer usually provide has the following services to offer:

Indoor or outdoor photography at a church, temple, or other venue on the date of the wedding and the reception as wellPhotojournalistic style for posed and candid shots for both pre-wedding and during the wedding ceremonyFormal portraiture in the studioDigital prints or slides showsTraditional or contemporary flush mount style of album

The range of products and services a wedding photographer presents are varied. You can even mix and match different packages if you want to come up with unique pre-wedding and wedding photographs to document that very special day in your life.

You can choose from a wide variety of albums from the traditional matted albums, digitally designed albums, modern flush mount albums, scrapbook style albums, hardbound book style albums. However, the price of your chosen album is not included in the package.

A few days after the wedding, you will be presented by sets of hard copy proofs so you can choose the photos that you want printed and arranged in an album and the photos that you want enlarged and framed. Most wedding photographers allow the clients to keep copies of the proofs. This will also allow customers to order additional prints for friends and families.

View the original article here

A Picture On Your Page: Photographers Need To Put Their Portraits on Their Websites!

I was inspired yesterday by a fellow blogger/photographers post regarding going in front of the lens to have her own portrait done. So I thought I'd share a little pet peeve of mine that I talk about in my workshops for photographers.

Why don't photographers put a picture of themselves on their own website? Seriously!

We who are people photographers are dependent on people valuing... photography. We ask them to hire us and pay us money to take their pictures. We want them to buy prints from us to display in their homes, offices, purses and wallets. It is implied by the very nature of our jobs as photographers that we value the power of pictures. So what does it say to a potential client who goes to your website, looks on your about or bio page and finds no picture of the photographer?

What they find instead is a bunch a text about the photographer or the studio. They may even see a picture... of somebody the photographer has photographed. Cute as that person and their adorable little kid is, it's still not the photographer.

I don't get it. I really don't. Okay, I understand all of the "reasons" we can come up with to not get this done... "I don't have anybody to take MY picture", "I'm a photographer. I'm more comfortable behind the camera instead of in front of it", "I'm trying to lose weight first"... really?

So here's the three reasons I think it is really, really important for photographers to have their own picture on their website:

1. We believe in photography. We don't just love taking pictures, we understand why pictures are important for people in their lives. Because of that, we lead by example and show potential clients what we want them to do.

2. A picture is worth a thousand words... literally. You can have all the text in the world on your bio page but if you put your picture on there, you let potential clients get to know you. They are going to take that first step towards feeling like they know you. As portrait and wedding photographers, an important part of our success is building relationships with clients and potential clients. They need to trust us and they start that process with the information they get about us... and a picture tells them a whole bunch about who this person is on this anonymous website they've just navigated to.

3. We need to understand how our clients feel in front of the camera. We're no more perfect than they are in terms of how we feel about ourselves and they need to see us putting ourselves out there like we are asking them to do. That way, you can honestly say you know how they feel when it comes time to overcoming objections to why now isn't a good time to get their pictures done.

So there you have it! Photographers, go find a photographer friend to do your business portrait for you. If you don't have a photographer friend, go find one. Look up some photographers in your area and call or email them and propose a portrait session swap to do each others portraits. Don't wait until you're the perfect weight or feel great about your hair, skin, smile, nose, butt, thighs... whatever! It will never be the perfect time....

I take that back. NOW is the perfect time... go get it done and let your personality shine through!!