Wedding Photography  Workshop for Family Photographers

Wedding Photography Workshop for Family Photographers

Giving a Wedding Photography Workshop for Family Photographers had been on my mind for a long time, but it took Ashleigh Raddatz and Ana Guisado, owners of  the brilliant DFP community and website, to give me the final push…

And, hooray, here it is and I am mighty proud of it!

So, if you are a family photographer thinking of expanding your business – I am here for you to teach you about the differences to your regular line of work. There are less than you think, but still: A jittery bride can be very different from a mom doing the dishes with a baby on her hip.

Expanding Your Family Photography business

Documenting a family at home is just going with the flow of what is happening around you. Not so much with weddings! There are certain given situations that you just have to cover because they are such an essential part of the wedding day. The ceremony, the kiss,  bouquet toss and first dance, group and couple shoots. 

This might sound a bit overwhelming but don’t be afraid. This ain’t rocket science – everything can be learned.

I always feel that the most important thing is to be prepared and this is what I intend to do with this workshop!

Become a Wedding Photographer Step by Step

And even if you are pretty busy now with projects and plans and can’t make time for a workshop in your agenda, I have the perfect solution. This workshop is meant to be self-paced! It is split up into eight videos which you can watch whenever you want to. There are no mandatory workshop assignments – no pressure!

There will be a closed Facebook Group for participants where we will discuss problems you might face and discuss members‘ images. But I will also be available in private for critique and help.

Wedding Photography is Storytelling

What you are about to learn:

Preparing for a Wedding Day:

The course will begin with pointing out the essential differences between documenting families versus weddings. (And yes, brides are very different from mothers!)

It will teach how to communicate with your couples and how to help them plan their wedding (what is their timeframe, organizing group shots in advance, etc.).

Learn how to assemble a portfolio and present your own style.  The pros and cons of entering for awards and how to prepare for them.

Getting  you through the Wedding Day

Getting through the Wedding Day :

Let’s talk about equipment: What you need for shooting a wedding and it is not much more than you already have).

 The wedding day: What do you need to document and how.

Getting Ready: Must haves and creativity. How to work the room, use flash, cover details and portraits.

First Look: What to look for in a location, how to position yourself, privacy of the couple and shooting through the moment.

Ceremony: Know where you want to be and when. How to get variety out of an often very long and static ceremony.

Well wishers, moments, groupshots – how to get it all in a limited amount of time.

Reception and group shots, bouquet toss, cutting  the cake, speeches: so many special moments. Learn how to cover those must haves easily and in creative ways.

The Couple Shoot – that very special moment when you need to pull out the magic. How to pick the right location, prepare your couple and deal with their nervousness. How to pose and light them.

First Dance and Party Time: Don’t be afraid to use your flash – it is so much easier than you think!

What to do after the wedding: Post processing, creating a slideshow and blogpost.

So, if you are excited to broaden your business, head right over to DFP Education and join me there!

Wedding Photography will broaden your business

And, finally: My best advice for photography:

As a photographer you have to anticipate. If you see the perfect moment and then decide to take the picture, 99% of the time you will be too late and the moment will have passed. So I have to think ahead and position myself where I expect that circumstances will favor me with a good moment.

Even if I catch something great by chance, it will sometimes be ruined because I wasn’t in the right spot, did not find the right light or framed too tightly. Of course, there will always be moments when you know exactly that you hit the jackpot and it may only take one click but, as I said, it is the jackpot and not a matter of course.

The best photographers in the world shoot thousands of images during a whole documentary day. They are not only great photographers but also amazing editors. To get to the nugget you have to sift through a lot of plain soil.

This is one of the major lessons in photography: To get better you need “to shoot more crap”, as Martin Parr likes to advise his students.

If you want to see how I photograph a whole wedding day, take a look Sommerhochzeit im Falderhof.