Part 6 The Woman's Touch

You saw some of Stephanie Smith's wonderfully creative images in the previous chapter. Well, I was so impressed with her photographs and her willingness to share that it seemed right to give her a special section to provide you a woman's perspective of shooting wedding photography.

Check out more of her work on the following pages, and you'll see why I have the utmost respect for this dedicated and talented individual—whom I have never actually met, by the way. Thanks to the Internet for helping me find her!

Read more about Stephanie's photo philosophies, in her own words, on the next few pages. And if you still want more, check out her work at 831 Photography (www.831Photography.com).

Be Cool, Calm and Collected

My clients tell me all the time that I have a calming influence on them. When everything is crazy and everyone is stressed, I usually remain cool, calm and collected.

In the midst of commotion, a bride or her attendants will ask, “Is this normal?” I assure everyone that all weddings have chaotic moments and stressful times. Then I suggest that everyone take a deep breath, relax and just enjoy the moment—because it will be gone before they know it.

How can I remain so calm in the midst of the chaos? Well, I’ve been there before … hundreds of times as a wedding photographer. And more importantly, I have been a bride. I have been in those shoes, and I can relate to the butterflies that brides feel in their stomach. I know the anxiety, the excitement, the stress and the relief that they feel now that their wedding day has finally arrived. So when I tell them to relax and enjoy it, they know it is coming from someone who speaks from experience.

The bride in this image was very calm all morning while she was getting ready. However, when she arrived at the back of the church—waiting for her moment to go down the aisle—and heard the music playing, she showed her first signs of anxiety. She looked up to keep from tearing, took a deep breath and said a little prayer to herself. Then it was time to get the show on the road.

Persuade

Sometimes, in order to get beautiful images, you have to ask your clients to do things they normally would not do. Groomsmen, in particular, can be challenging. Many times they don’t want to do things that they think will make them look silly. However, because I am a woman, I often have an easier time than my male colleagues in convincing grooms to comply with photography requests.

One thing that rarely takes much convincing is when I suggest that the couple take five minutes and just enjoy a few moments alone together. I love getting them to just be together and soak in a few moments of each other on their wedding day.

It took just a bit more convincing than normal to get this couple positioned for this shot. A massive storm had rolled in just two minutes after their outdoor ceremony ended, which cut short our portrait time. So later, during the reception, when the rain had finally passed, I suggested that the couple join me outside for a few more pictures. They were very open to the idea of walking around the grounds of the wedding location, because the landscape was a main reason they had selected the site.

The sun was setting so we had very little time to shoot, but a beautiful rainbow developed and I knew that we had to capture it. I asked the bride and groom to walk into the grass on a small hill so I could line up everything the way I wanted. The grass was very wet which caused a moment of hesitation, but my clients trusted me and cooperated. They were rewarded with this memorable image.

With a Little Help From Friends

Bridesmaids can be a tremendous help when shooting a wedding. They want the best for their friend on her wedding day, so they include me on inside jokes and things I should photograph. They provide insight that perhaps I would not get if I was male.

Maybe it’s general female camaraderie. Women in general like to make others feel special, and so they go out of their way to make sure that the bride gets the very best of everything on her big day.

This image was created with the help of bridesmaids. I was in the back of the church, waiting for the bride to walk down the aisle, when one of the bridesmaids came out of the little room in which they were waiting to tell me that the bride was peeking through a crack on the hinge side of the door leading to the sanctuary. I went into the sanctuary and got the shot from the other side of the door.

Now the bride will always remember her smile as she saw her ceremony about to begin, and it is thanks to her bridesmaid…who let me know what was happening when I was elsewhere.

Blend In

The brides I’ve worked with have been very comfortable with me photographing them getting ready. As a woman, I blend in with her mother and bridesmaids. This allows me to capture some of the most intimate moments that a bride has on her wedding day.

The time spent getting ready is when the bride transforms from her normal self into the stunning bride she has likely pictured herself to be since she was a little girl. It is amazing to see emotions change as the transformation progresses. Usually the veil is what sends the bride and the family over the top emotionally.

The bride has likely worn fancy dresses before, but only on her wedding day does she put on a veil. The bride tends to be less than fully dressed while getting ready and usually needs a handful of helpers to get into her gown. Getting into the wedding gown can be a fun and chaotic moment and one that definitely should be preserved.

I love this image because it shows how many people it takes to get a bride ready for her wedding.

Be a Friend

Often, my clients become my friends. It feels good to arrive at a wedding to photograph it and feel like I am spending the day with good friends. I appreciate that my clients feel comfortable with me and that they let me into their lives—allowing me to share this extraordinary time with them and their families. I often feel like a part of the family by the time I leave at the end of a wedding day.

Because I feel so close to my clients, I’m able to suggest and capture images that I would want if it were my own wedding. This photograph is one I created to bring my client’s wedding day full circle.

The groom’s father had passed away before the wedding. During the reception, they played a song dedicated to him. Afterward, those who were close to him drank a toast of his favorite drink. The best man was holding a picture of the groom’s father while they toasted him, and I thought that it would be appropriate to capture an image of the groom with his father.

I asked the groom to hold the picture and I made sure I could see his wedding ring. I felt that this was a great way to show the groom starting his life as a husband—and maybe someday as a father—while including the memory of his own father.

Think Creatively

I find myself trying to find new ways to look at things—all the time. I love to see things from angles that few others would think to consider.

For instance, I try to look for creative ways to show the wedding gown in photographs. Obviously, this is a very important part of a wedding day. And many brides spend hours trying on gowns before finding the one that’s perfect for them. They examine all the aspects of the dress, and I love to take detailed images of it.

This detail of the dress is taken from a very unusual angle. I hung the dress from a light fixture in the room where the bride was getting ready. I used a wide-angle lens, got down low to the floor and took the picture only inches from the dress.

I loved the detail at the bottom of her dress, and that’s what I wanted to highlight.

Keep in mind that beautiful images are even more beautiful when they are captured in creative and different ways.

Follow Your Instincts

When I started my wedding photography journey, I didn’t know of any female wedding photographers. Instead of limiting my growth and development, this was a bit liberating; it pushed me to cut my own trail.

That is to say, the lack of female mentors freed me to create my own vision and develop a style that came from my own instincts and vision. In doing so, I eventually found that I was breaking a lot of the traditional photography rules.

Part of my photography style is capturing bodies—hands, in particular. I’m not as concerned with getting a face in every image. I believe that you can tell a lot about a couple and their relationship through their body language. Hands are especially telling.

In this image, I wanted to catch the couple in an environment in which they are comfortable. Walking on the beach hand-in-hand is a natural activity for this couple.

By watching them walk, I was able to build an image that told a much larger story than a basic portrait. I focused on the footsteps they left in the sand to show that where they have been is just as important as where they are going. I was able to show the beginning of their new journey as a couple.

Follow your instincts and create interesting stories.