If you are planning to take pictures at a friend or relative’s wedding chances are you will be using a digital compact “point and shoot” type camera. These cameras produce very good quality shots (now days entry level digital compacts have more the 6 Megapixels) These cameras are super easy to use and you don’t need to know much about photography to achieve crisp, clear and colour saturated images. Here are 5 tips to really improve your images and the presentation of them. You will get far more satisfaction from your results and people will think your pictures have been taken by a professional!

Look for spontaneous moments. Your best pictures will be of people who are unaware that you are even taking a picture. Look for the flower girl dozing off or the best man nervously reading over his speech outside the reception. Most amateurs wedding picture collections consist of a whole bunch of posed pictures that are generally pretty boring. If you have to line everyone up ask them to say “CHEESE” chances are the picture is going to look just that, cheesy!

Look for detail. Close up detail shots can greatly enhance an album by helping to tell a story. Take close up shots of the icing on the cake, the bride’s shoes or your place at the reception table before you’ve fiddled with the arrangement of your 5 forks and 7 knives! Be creative, look for detail that will fire the imagination.

Try to use natural light. Flash light is harsh and un-natural and can leave ugly shadows behind the subject. Where ever possible use natural light source. Switch off that flash in the church, it’s never going to reach the altar anyway! Steady your camera against a wall or on your church bench to get great mood shots which add atmosphere to any album. Avoid direct overhead sun light if it’s a mid-day wedding as subjects tend to squint in the bright sunlight which also makes ugly shadows particularly around the eyes. Fortunately most weddings are held in the late afternoon where the sunlight is warmer and at a lower angle which yields lovely warm picture tones.

Think about composition. Almost all amateurs put their subject matter slap bang in the center of the frame. The rules of composition can get really technical but sticking to a few basics will go a long way in helping you deliver professional looking shots. The “Golden Mean” or rule of thirds states that images are more pleasing to the eye when divided into thirds so; don’t put vertical or horizontal elements in the centre of your image, rather 1/3 or 2/3 of the space. Also if there is a horizon line, you must make sure it is level. There is nothing more disturbing than a beach scene with the bride and groom strolling at the waters edge and a skew horizon! Avoid competing elements. The focal point of an image must be clear, the viewer must know if they’re looking at a picture of a bridal party or the lovely bougainvillea at the botanical gardens!

Be experimental. Try different camera angles for interesting images. A worm’s or bird’s eye view can yield exciting results. Try shooting overhead with your arm stretched up or stand on a chair. We were always taught not to shoot into the light but doing so can make very interesting silhouettes. Be creative, you are no longer wasting film, if the digital image looks awful just “bin” it!

And one final note, be disciplined with your digital files, make prints and backups. All your fantastic results from the above tips won’t be any use when your files get lost! Most digital photographer’s images get opened on their PC and are saved on the hard drive. That is until one day when your PC crashes or gets stolen, your precious memories will be gone forever! Save your images into logical descriptive folders incorporating the date. For example: “Brett’s Wedding Aug 08” and make a backup copy to DVD or CD and store together in a safe place with your other digital image backups, Learn to use a program like Photoshop and to operate a few basic tools like colour saturate, crop, contrast and to make sepia or Black and white. An album punctuated with a few classic B+W images makes a very interesting browse.

Happy Shooting!