FAQ: photographing details

meagan asks:

‘how do you photograph details on the wedding day? how do you find the time to do that?’

*I know that some of my methods are unorthodox and maybe a little off beat, but this is just the way I do things. I am not implying that this is the only way or even the right way, just my way. thanks for reading!*

this is a system that varies between photographers. some find it petty, some harp on these for an extended period of time and some classify photographing details as just the first in line on the to do list. I would consider myself in the last category. I think that photographing the details of a wedding day sets the stage, tone & story for the rest of the day of photographs. We have the opportunity see things that some people may overlook or otherwise forget far too easily. The bride spent a lot of time choosing her flowers, shoes & earrings so why not honor her choices by accurately photographing them? Some may think it is silly, but I do not. Is it as important as the ceremony? no. however, I find they go hand in hand.

Way before I even show up on the wedding day, I meet with bride and we go over the timeline of her day. We go over when I will arrive, when their portaits will take place and every time of her day will be addressed. So that there is time for the things that I find important (and ultimately important to my bride & groom), I tell the bride I will start my day with photographing her details. I allow an hour for this. So that I do not disturb anyone, I ask the bride to have her shoes, jewelry, hair piece, garter, dress and anything else she may have ready at the venue at the time we discuss (generally 1 hour before she arrives/puts her dress on). When she arrives, I will be ready for her to get into her special things and completely out of her way.

something I have seen over and over in wedding photography is a lack of spontaneous thinking when photographing details…and quite frankly, most of the wedding day. I agree…sometimes you have to work with what you have…and that may be a bench in a garden or a pew in a church. BUT, would it hurt to CHALLENGE your way of thinking? just a little. I am guilty of this as well! Don’t be alarmed. Just thought I’d throw that out there.

I think better hands on so I though you might, too. Let’s pretend this room is the room where your bride is getting ready….what would you use to photograph her details? Where would you hang her dress? What would you use to photograph her engagement ring? Here is the room I used and photographed all details with things in my bedroom. Hope this is somewhat helpful!

here are the items that need to be photographed in this space.

using this rug, I’ll photograph the shoes. I could have used the wooden chest at the foot of the bed, the bed, the white & black striped stool but the rug seemed to be the best fit for the light & airy feel I was going for.

this magazine was on the dresser and I loved the detailing on her dress, so i used it to photograph the rings. It went well with the gold shoes & the white rug.

To tie in her dress and show context in my layout, I also grabbed a closeup of her dress to use in my collage.

I also snagged one of the rings on the white comforter in case I needed a more neutral details photo in my blogging layout. I always try to give myself several options when photographing the details.

for the earrings, I used the gold shoes to show off the gold trim and the white comforter on the bed to show off the translucence of the purple stones.

and there we have it. any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them in the comment section or send me an email!

kristin@kristinpartin.com

*I know that some of my methods are unorthodox and maybe a little off beat, but this is just the way I do things. I am not implying that this is the only way or even the right way, just my way. thanks for reading!*