Shooting A Wedding In A Different Culture? Make Sure To Determine These Details First
When you're a wedding photographer, you always need to be prepared. The more weddings that you shoot, you'll get used to the format and should easily come up with a series of strategies to effectively document the big day. However, you may occasionally find yourself at a unique wedding ceremony, such as one for a couple getting married within a different culture. This situation can present you with some unique challenges, and while they won't be anything that you can't handle, you'll want to go over some details with your clients in advance so that you're fully prepared. Here are some details to inquire about.
Dominant Colors
At many Western weddings, the bride wears a white gown and the groom wears a black suit, which means that you'll get used to setting up shots with these contrasting colors in mind. At weddings within different cultures, however, other colors can be dominant. For example, the bride might be clad in a deep red, green, or some other color, and the groom may not be wearing a dark suit. You don't want to learn these details at the last minute and have to scramble to not only change some settings on your camera, but also position yourself where there will be some contrast between the people and the background. Knowing what the wedding's key players will be wearing will help you to prepare.
Key Participants
Different cultures structure their wedding ceremonies in various ways, so it's possible that you'll encounter a setup that you haven't previously seen or photographed. It's important, in particular, to make sure that you have a full understanding of the key participants in the ceremony. For example, many cultures put an emphasis on the value of their elders, which means that a bride's grandparents might play a role. You won't want to be so focused on the bride and groom that you neglect to capture the participation of the grandparents.
Ceremony Format
A good wedding photographer knows that importance of staying on the move while shooting a wedding ceremony. Doing so not only allows you to capture each element, but also gives your photos value because they depict different scenes from different angles. A wedding within a culture with which you're not familiar may have a different format than you expect. You don't want to be caught in one area and realize that there's something that is photo worthy happening across the room. A clear understanding of the ceremony's format will help you avoid such pitfalls.