Digital Wedding Photography - How to Produce Candid Shots

by Ron X. King

For anyone that is or has been married, the events of the day can be captured in images, forever; the vast majority of couples arrange for a professional digital wedding photographer to be there for the most important part of the day. Many couples have DVD's made of their day, which are great for some special moments but you can't beat a traditional photo.

Fortunately for wedding photographers they can use an assistant to help them get the right shots but if you're a friend taking pictures, then how do you take good shots of the day? Here are some tips if you find yourself at a friend or relations wedding taking photos with your digital camera.

Unless you know how to compensate or have taken the shot purposely for effect; remember the background is very important. If there is a pleasant background but it is hard to focus on the couple, you may find it easier to shoot them from shoulder up.

If there is bright sunlight or you are using flash, ask guests who are wearing glasses to remove them just for the shot or as an alternative they could turn their head slightly to the side. To avoid people in the shot coming out dark when the sunlight is behind them, unless you know what you are doing, move them so the sun is behind you.

A zoom lens will often enable you to take pictures that would not otherwise be possible as people are not so conscious of their photo being taken. As you can't keep asking people to pose for you, always have the camera to hand because digital wedding photography is just as much about having natural, un-posed for shots.

The last thing you want to happen is for your digital camera to have half charged batteries and a memory card that is already half full as it will restrict how many shots you can take. A one gigabyte card should be the bare minimum you have if your camera is a six mega pixel model, a larger capacity if the camera has a higher mega pixel rating.

High resolution images are generally clearer and have greater color depth but it also means they can be printed out at larger sizes. Storing the wedding images on a computer or CD will mean that you can print them off whenever you want but a presentation CD can be played back on a TV.

The success you have with your shots and your digital wedding photography will depend on two things, your feelings for the couple and the love of photography itself.



About the author

For more wedding tips, check out the articles at Great Weddings. Recommended reading on choosing the right digital camera for you is at Digital Cameras, where you will find many informative free aritcles. Ron King is a web developer; visit his website Authoring Articles. Copyright 2008 Ron King. This article may be reprinted if the resource box is left intact and the links live.