Break from the chaos - how i shoot wedding day portraits

Here we go, strap yourself in, and expect to NOT be blown away by anything you’re about to read!

Or at least thats how I see it. After all, It’s the only way I can shoot them.

A simple (and brief) explanation to my ridiculously relaxed and carefree approach to shooting portraits on a wedding day.

I totally understand how from an outsiders perspective (that of a wedding guest even) it may look like the couple have hired an absolute amateur that has no idea what he’s doing. No plan of action. No real structure. And no real concern that I’m often making a bit of a dick of myself. Anything to get the shot… that’s how I see it!

I simply cannot work any other way. If somebody was to give me a shot list, or even worse, a bunch of posed photos they’d seen on Pinterest, my head would explode. The creative side of my brain wouldn’t know how to function, and I would no doubt shut down.

For me, going into the portraits part of a wedding day has to be fun… and I’m talking about selfish fun. I don’t just want my couple to be having fun, I want to be having fun too… I need to be having fun to produce good photos. What’s the point of working for yourself if you’re not having fun?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not spending 15 minutes making god-awful dad jokes. Believe me, my memory is so shockingly bad that I can’t even remember a single joke! I’m shooting the portraits with an open mind, no clue what might happen, but always with a strong emphasis on making sure my couple are relaxed, happy, and want to be doing the portraits.

I’m essentially making it up as I go along. (VERY DIFFERENT TO WINGING IT!). If I was winging it I wouldn’t know if it was going to work or not, and that would be risky. I know from years and years of doing this, and shooting over 600 weddings, that this works for me.

How do I do this? Its pretty simple, and its just common sense. I don’t take a photo, or even raise my camera until I’ve chatted to my couples for a minute or two. I’m treating them with respect and am fully aware they are currently going through one of the weirdest and sometimes most stressful days of their lives! Hence why I’ve called this blog post break from the chaos… thats exactly what I feel the couples time away from their wedding party is when they slope off for 15 minutes with me and my camera.

The key to a successful 15-20 minutes of portraits (or however long you take them away) is to make sure the chaos doesn’t spill over into the portraits!

Too often in the past I’ve heard stories from couples where they were at a wedding at they had to witness a bossy photographer take their friends away for the couples shoot, and talk to them like it was a one hour intensive photoshoot for a lifestyle magazine. This sounds like hell to me! Just my personal opinion. But I could not take a couple away for an hour on their wedding day. The day goes so fast, and that time is precious.

WHEN TO DO THE PORTRAITS

As wedding photographers I feel the timing of the portraits shoot is one of our most important decisions we make on a wedding day.

Again, its common sense, I judge a good time to approach the couple through nothing more than gut feeling. Honestly! There’s no secret, no certain time… I don’t even really care much for golden hour. I’ve shot plenty of portrait sessions in golden hour in the past, but the couple weren’t feeling it… they just wanted to be with their friends on the dancefloor. And I get that… and I don’t blame them!

We need to remember as photographers that its NOT our day, its our clients. And thats what they are… clients. They paid us, trust us, want us to take the best photos… they don’t want to be interrupted and taken away from their favourite song on the dancefloor with all their Uni mates.

GO WITH YOUR GUT!

My thought process on a wedding day is very simple… couple are happy… I’m happy… photos will be cool! It works, and I’m not saying this is a “works for all” approach, it most certainly isn’t, but for me, someone with very little patience, someone that like to work fast and have lots of fun on a wedding day, it works!

You might be into forward planning, love having a detailed brief, working from a shotlist, and thats fine. If that works for you, and you love the results you’re getting, keep doing it!

But if you’re really struggling with the portraits part of the day I urge you to maybe use my technique. Just go with your gut for when you approach the couple to take them away, chat to them to relax them before you start shooting, and just don’t give a shit about making a fool of yourself. Don’t obsess over perfection, shoot LOADS and look out for those genuine in-between moments of joy and fun… trust me… the shots will come, and everyone will be happy with the images.


BELOW IS A SELECTION OF COUPLE PORTRAITS THAT SHOW JUST HOW RELAXED I LIKE TO KEEP IT…

I put it out there on Instagram for photographers to ask me some questions on this interesting topic, and here they are… along with my answers.

All anonymous of course!

How much guidance are you giving?

Very little.. honestly! I’m just chatting to the couple to make them feel relaxed around me before I start shooting. If I don’t think they look particularly happy or slightly stressed for any reason, I’ll just be a decent human being and ask if they’re alright! Trust me, couples relax if you just show compassion and understanding towards their nerves and fears. They will soon be put at ease if you ask them that… and you will then be able to do the portrait shoot as well as possible.

Posing women who have told me they are uncomfortable with their weight, and I think they look fab, but they feel like they look horrible in every shot?

If I’m made aware of this, either by a bride telling me they don’t like their appearance, or I can actually spot it as a concern with my own eyes, then I just do the polite thing and shower them with compliments. Its their wedding day, they need to be told how amazing they look!

Have you got any ‘get out of jail’ prompts? I know the type of couple I don’t gel with as I’ve got older.

Very often my only prompt is “walk to that tree… turn round… and walk back together hand in hand… and look like you like each other” :)

Seriously, that works for me. And if said in a fun manner, and not in a dead-serious instruction with a straight face, then you should be good to go!

Some of my couples have zero energy! Some people are really stiff and struggle to follow instructions. I absolutely love doing the portraits, but not with people that are unable to get into the groove of the shoot?

This is where I find making a fool of myself works. I know not everyone is into acting the fool, but for me it comes easy (I don’t know if thats a good or a bad thing!). I’m not talking about reeling off a string of jokes, or pretending you’re a comedian on acid, I just mean don’t take yourself too seriously, try to get their true personality out of them. And if that doesn’t work… then maybe THAT is their true personality.

I always like to meet my couples on a Zoom call the week before a wedding, and often at the time of booking too, so I’ve already done the simple groundwork on finding out about them and working out how they may possibly act on the day. My couples are attracted to my work because I bombard their eyes with fun and happy photos all over my social media and on here on my website, so I’m in a fortunate position where I don’t get couples that have zero energy or are dead serious. So maybe you need to look at the kind of people you’re attracting through your advertising and website.


So thats it… sorry its not rocket science, particularly in-depth, or even a industry secret!… but it generally is just a case of making people feel comfortable, and not taking over their day. It really is as simple as that. And my wedding photography totally revolves around simplicity and not over-complicating things. Let your expensive camera do the hard work, you just concentrate on connecting with your clients before the wedding day, and definitely on the wedding day itself!

If you did learn something from reading this long ramble I’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment or DM me on Instagram and we can chat :)



And if you’re keen to learn more, or are interested in taking part in one of my 1-2-1 training days click below!