by Brett McNally

When booking your Wedding photographer, it is always a good idea to meet them before hand so that you can discuss whats on offer in their photography packages aswell as learn a little bit more about each other and find out more about how your photographer works.

I recently had a lovely meeting with Georgina and Adam in Dorchester at their home to discus their upcoming wedding at St George's Church in Dorchester and then their Wedding Meal and Speeches at the Dorchester Corn Exchange.

We discussed my style of natural photography where I document the Wedding through photos being as unobtrusive as possible while they enjoy their special day. I discussed with them how I like to capture happiness and expressions between couples, family and friends as most often at weddings, your wedding guests would probably have not seen each other for a little while and theirs normally lots of catching up to do. As a photographer, it is my passion to capture these emotions and all the little goings on thats happening around the bride and groom during their special day as well as capturing the celebration of their wedding day.

I got out my laptop and showed them a Wedding slideshow of one of my favourite weddings and they really loved the style and how natural my photos were.

I answered any questions they had regarding my experience and style and I feel that we bonded very well. The atmosphere of the consultation was great as we got on really well and they happily decided to book me as their wedding photographer.

I feel it is important that the photographer and the client(s) bond well as this makes the day of shooting their wedding in a much more relaxed enviroment rather than having some stranger turn up to your special day who you may or may not like.

I always try to make my clients feel as comfortable around me as possible as this helps in the process of creating beautiful photography.

If you are getting married or know of someone who is getting married and in need of a reasonably priced professional photographer then please do get in touch so that we can meet up and discuss your special day as well as asking any questions you may have and get to know each other so that you will book me for your wedding day.

I really am a nice friendly photographer, get in touch to see for yourself

There are some concepts you should know that can make you look better in pictures, regardless of whether it’s a professional photographer who poses you or it’s your uncle whose instruction is limited to “stand over there and smile”. For the most part, these tips about how to pose yourself are optical illusions, usually caused by the fact that the camera is monocular (one-eyed) as opposed to binocular (two-eyed). The tips are easy and might be likened to the world’s most painless diet. If someone were to say that you would look ten pounds thinner simply by standing a certain way, I’m sure you would jump at the chance.By knowing these secrets, and even spending some time in front of a mirror practicing thembefore the big day, you can help look your best on your wedding day.

TIP #1: The Movie Kiss

This is probably the most important tip that you should learn prior to your big day, if you master this, then your photos will look AMAZING!!



During your day, there will be a lot of kissing going on and it is normal to passionately smash you lips and nose together and become one face whilst having a very passionate “I truly Love you Kiss” but on photos these just don’t look good!.

Instead, Do it like they do in the movies (for the photos at least!) Barely touch your lips together, keep your noses and cheeks apart and tilt your heads in slightly opposite directions. Now Hold it! Your photographer (hopefully me) will need some time to take some photos and capture the moment. Now once your photographer is done, you may release and come up for air. repeat as needed.

TIP #2: Point Your Toe

By pointing your toe, you shift your weight to your

back foot, which in turn causes your hips to shift.

This hip-shift makes you look more appropriately

curvy. You want to end up with one of your hips

and one side of your buttock slightly more

pronounced than the other. As with everything, a

little goes a long way, so just shift your hips a little.

TIP #3: Stand Strait, Don’t Slouch!

Standing straight can do wonders for your image.

Although the groom can also benefit from good

posture, it is especially important, and perhaps

more difficult, for you. This is because chances are

that you have never worn a headpiece and veil for

a whole day before. Don’t worry about your

headpiece falling off; if it does, there will be plenty

of willing hands to help fix it.

TIP #4: Relax Your Shoulders!

People have a tendency to tighten and raise

their shoulders when they get nervous. This

causes a few problems. It makes your

shoulders appear narrower than they really

are, your neck seems shorter, and most

importantly, it creates a feeling and look of

tenseness. This is quite subtle, and to resist it

you have to concentrate on relaxing your

shoulders. Let them fall naturally.

TIP #4: Position Your Shoulders to 45°

Because of the camera’s monocular view, it is

hard to judge depth in a photograph. If you

turn your body slightly to the right or left, you

can appear thinner.

For example, if you are standing with your

shoulders parallel to the camera you might be

24 inches wide when measured from shoulder

to shoulder.But, if you turn your body to a 45°

angle, the measurement from shoulder-to shoulder,

in the photo, might be reduced to

only 18 inches.

With your shoulders square to the camera

your body might only be eight inches deep

from breastbone to spine. With your

shoulders at a 45° angle, the depth of your

body, which is now measured shoulder to

shoulder, is probably 12 to 15 inches.

In fact, generally speaking, your entire body

should never be square with the camera; is

should always be at some angle, usually 45°

or more.

TIP #5: Get Your Elbows Away!

In a photograph, if you stand with your

elbows touching the sides of your body,

your body will look as wide as the elbow-toelbow

dimension.

On the other hand, if you move your elbows

slightly away from your sides, creating a

small separation between your body and

your arm, people will notice the cut-in of

your waistline in your photographs.

With your arms out, separate from your

body, your torso appears slimmer.

In the course of moving your elbows

outward, make sure that you don’t also lift

your shoulders.

This trick requires care in its use. You want

to see a slight separation between your

body and elbows. If you move your arms

too far away it will look like you’re doing the

chicken dance!

TIP #6: Banish Those Double Chins

In an effort to hide a double chin, many people will

tilt their head slightly backward. In actuality, this has

an adverse effect. It makes your chin more

conspicuous, shows off the insides of your nostrils,

and makes your eyes, the most expressive facial

feature, look smaller.

Lifting the chin is the right idea because it stretches

the folds under your chin more tightly, helping to

eliminate this unwanted feature. However, the

foundation for this illusion starts much lower in the

body, it starts at your waist.

To reduce the look of a potential double chin, lean

forward slightly at the waist and then tilt your head

slightly backward. This keeps your face in its normal

position, and the tilt at the waist cancels the

backward tilt of your head.

TIP #7: Lower Your Chin

Now that we’ve taken care of any double chins,

it’s time to accentuate the facial feature that

expresses the most about you—your eyes.

If you lower your chin by a small fraction of an

inch, you will be tilting your face downward and

your eyes will therefore be closer to the camera

than your chin and mouth. This will make your

eyes appear larger.

Just a tiny dose of this little trick is all you need,

so use it sparingly.

You will need to practice these two techniques

together in front of a mirror. They may feel

unnatural, but like all professional posing, the

results should be beneficial.

TIP #8: About Eye Glasses

I’ve seen brides with a tired eye who don’t wear

their glasses and then are unhappy with their

photos because their eye is wandering in every

picture. Other brides go to the trouble and expense

of getting contacts, but don’t spend enough time

getting used to them before the wedding. Their eyes

then get bloodshot, or they find the flash annoying.

These brides often end up with a stack of proofs in

which they blink a lot of the time.

If You Wear Glasses

1. Photo-gray lenses are just no good. They

darken when outdoors, and even when you

are inside, they appear dark in photos.

2. There are non-glare lenses that you can

put in your existing frames for relatively

little cost. While not 100% effective, they

help reduce reflections.

3. Have your frames professionally adjusted

before the wedding. Make sure the lenses

do not tilt upward because this will amplify

the reflection from the camera’s flash.

4. If possible, the lenses should tilt slightly

downward so the flash will be reflected

harmlessly towards the ground. This trick

can also be accomplished by lowering your chin slightly.

TIP #9: Relax Your Forehead

Many times, in an effort to accentuate their

eyes, brides will try to open them as widely as

possible. You’ve probably heard some family

photographer say, “Don’t squint.” Yet all too

often in the process of ‘not squinting’ people

raise their eyebrows.

This only creates unwanted wrinkles on their

forehead. While it is important to avoid

squinting, you want to avoid raised brows or a

furrowed forehead.

It helps greatly to practice your facial poses in

front of a mirror. This is true of all of the posing

mentioned; take the time to practice until you

are familiar with the movements

TIP #9: Important Words to the Wise

All the suggestions and little tips and tricks

about posing should be used sparingly. Your

application of these ideas should be measured

in fractions of an inch.

As a test case, stand in front of a mirror and

look at yourself. Now lower your chin 1/4 of an

inch (such a tiny distance). Then, try it again, but

this time lower your chin a full inch. In the first

case you’ll hardly notice the difference in the

mirror, but in photos, your eyes will look larger.

In the second instance the photo may result in

double chins.

No one trick is going to magically transform

you into a super-model. However, by using all

of them, each one improving your presented

image a little bit, the end result should add up

to a noticeable change in your photographs.

TIP #10: Bouquets

There are three basic types of bouquets; arm,

cascade, and snowball.

The arm bouquet is made from long-stem flowers

and doesn’t have a handle in the traditional sense. It

most often looks best running along one of your

forearms with the blossoms nestled into the crock of

your arm. Place your free hand on your waist or

wrap your fingers (with your hand palm-down) around

the lower part of the stems.

Hints for the Arm Bouquet

1. Never cup your second hand under the

end of the stems. It appears very

uncomfortable and your hand will look like

a closed fist.

2. You should flip the bouquet to either arm

depending upon how you are standing so

that the blossoms and not the stem-ends

are more prominent.

3. Never hold an arm bouquet vertically.

Snowball and cascade bouquets are similar, but the

snowball is round while the cascade is elongated

with the flowers flowing out and down. Both have

a handle.

As with the arm bouquet, you should never cup

your free hand under the base of the handle.

Instead, keep your wrists near your hips, with the

rear hand holding the handle and the other palm-up,

supporting the blossoms.

Finally, when holding either a snowball or cascade

bouquet, you should not be able to see the flowery

top of it when you look down. Tilting the bouquet

slightly forward, you should be able to see a bit of

your hands and the handle next to your belly. This

way it will be set appropriately for the camera.

A Final Word on Flowers

All too often the flower sizes chosen do not fit the

bride that they were made for. An overly large

bouquet for a petite bride, or a very small

bouquet for a full-figured bride, can create an

imbalanced look.

Also, whichever bouquet you happen to choose,

the question, “How should I hold my bouquet?”

can be answered with just two words, “Lower it.”

If you are unsure how low to hold your flowers,

just remember to point your palms inward and let

your wrists rest on your hipbones.

* The majority of this post was adapted from Steve Sint’s book ‘The Bride’s Guide to Wedding Photography’, Lark Books, 2004, pp. 20-25, 32-33,35.