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Advice and tips for breathtaking wedding pictures
Wedding Photography Tips for Brides
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Q When is the best time of day for photographs?
A In general, the best lighting arrives during sunrise and sunset hours. However, given our location on the West Coast and the accompanying mountain ranges to our East, we've found sunset to be the best and most predictable.
This "window" of magical light exists for roughly 45-minutes before sunset and 15-minutes after sunset. With that said, if you could plan your event and/or the pre-event photographs around that sparkling time of day, you won't regret it.
Q Conversely, when is the worst time of day for photographs?
A Hands down, the worst time to shoot is whenever the sun is directly beating down its hardest; obviously, the precise time of day tends to shift with the seasons, but in general this is from 2-hours or so before/after the sun's transit (i.e., the sun's highest point in the day). To put an actual time on this window though, let's just say from around 10:30am - 2:30pm.
In terms of "why" this is such a poor time, it really boils down to the piercing sun: (a) casting truly unnatural sharp shadows on the face, (b) inevitable "squinting" and strained eyes, (c) the tendency of people to use sunglasses & hats to block the sun...which obviously obstructs the photograph, and finally (d) fatigue & grumpiness which almost always sets in when people are squinting / straining for abnormally long periods of time (stress & strain simply photograph quite poorly...to say the least).
This is not to say that shooting during this time is impossible; however, what inevitably occurs with any photographer is that instead of focusing on the precious natural emotions that are transpiring . . . valuable seconds (or minutes) are spent white balancing, metering, re-metering, and providing clients instructions (e.g., "please remove the sunglasses", etc.) in order to compensate for the piercing light. In short, we tend to waste time with these technicalities instead of shooting in a more relaxed natural fashion.
Q Well, when does the sun actually rise and fall?
A Sunlight is an amazing phenomena and constantly fluctuates throughout the year in harmony with the seasons. As a professional photographer of weddings and family events, it is essential to know how the sun's cycle will impact your upcoming ceremony, reception, family reunion, or other associated festivities which we're striving to photograph.
Before laying out the specific sunset schedule for the next year or so, assuming you're still in the pre-planning stage that is, it is good to remember that December 8th typically yields the the earliest sunset (the winter solstice which is has the fewest minutes of sunlight lands on December 21st). Conversely, the latest sunset takes place around June 28th (the summer solstice which is the "longest" day in the year, occurs on June 21st).
Although I'm not guaranteeing the accuracy of this chart 100%, the following table should provide a good reference for sunrise and sunset times here on the Central California Coast:
Sunset 2010
Note: Add 1-hr for Daylight Time when in use.
Day Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec.
1 503PM 534PM 602PM 630PM 656PM 721PM 730PM 714PM 636PM 551PM 511PM 452PM
2 504PM 535PM 603PM 631PM 657PM 721PM 730PM 713PM 634PM 549PM 510PM 452PM
3 504PM 536PM 604PM 632PM 658PM 722PM 730PM 712PM 633PM 548PM 509PM 452PM
4 505PM 537PM 605PM 632PM 659PM 722PM 730PM 711PM 631PM 546PM 508PM 452PM
5 506PM 538PM 606PM 633PM 659PM 723PM 729PM 710PM 630PM 545PM 507PM 452PM
6 507PM 539PM 607PM 634PM 700PM 724PM 729PM 709PM 628PM 544PM 506PM 452PM
7 508PM 540PM 608PM 635PM 701PM 724PM 729PM 707PM 627PM 542PM 505PM 452PM
8 509PM 541PM 609PM 636PM 702PM 725PM 729PM 706PM 625PM 541PM 504PM 452PM
9 510PM 542PM 610PM 637PM 703PM 725PM 728PM 705PM 624PM 539PM 503PM 452PM
10 511PM 543PM 611PM 638PM 704PM 726PM 728PM 704PM 622PM 538PM 502PM 452PM
11 512PM 544PM 611PM 638PM 705PM 726PM 728PM 703PM 621PM 537PM 502PM 452PM
12 513PM 545PM 612PM 639PM 705PM 727PM 727PM 702PM 619PM 535PM 501PM 452PM
13 514PM 546PM 613PM 640PM 706PM 727PM 727PM 701PM 618PM 534PM 500PM 452PM
14 515PM 547PM 614PM 641PM 707PM 727PM 726PM 700PM 616PM 532PM 459PM 453PM
15 516PM 548PM 615PM 642PM 708PM 728PM 726PM 658PM 615PM 531PM 459PM 453PM
16 517PM 549PM 616PM 643PM 709PM 728PM 725PM 657PM 613PM 530PM 458PM 453PM
17 518PM 550PM 617PM 644PM 710PM 728PM 725PM 656PM 612PM 528PM 457PM 453PM
18 519PM 551PM 618PM 645PM 710PM 729PM 724PM 655PM 610PM 527PM 457PM 454PM
19 520PM 552PM 619PM 645PM 711PM 729PM 724PM 653PM 609PM 526PM 456PM 454PM
20 521PM 553PM 619PM 646PM 712PM 729PM 723PM 652PM 607PM 525PM 456PM 455PM
21 522PM 554PM 620PM 647PM 713PM 729PM 722PM 651PM 606PM 523PM 455PM 456PM
22 523PM 555PM 621PM 648PM 713PM 730PM 722PM 649PM 604PM 522PM 455PM 456PM
23 524PM 556PM 622PM 649PM 714PM 730PM 721PM 648PM 603PM 521PM 454PM 457PM
24 525PM 557PM 623PM 650PM 715PM 730PM 720PM 647PM 601PM 520PM 454PM 457PM
25 526PM 558PM 624PM 651PM 716PM 730PM 720PM 645PM 600PM 518PM 453PM 458PM
26 527PM 559PM 625PM 652PM 716PM 730PM 719PM 644PM 558PM 517PM 453PM 458PM
27 528PM 600PM 626PM 652PM 717PM 730PM 718PM 643PM 557PM 516PM 453PM 459PM
28 529PM 601PM 626PM 653PM 718PM 730PM 717PM 641PM 555PM 515PM 453PM 500PM
29 530PM 627PM 654PM 719PM 730PM 716PM 640PM 554PM 514PM 452PM 500PM
30 531PM 628PM 655PM 719PM 730PM 715PM 638PM 552PM 513PM 452PM 501PM
31 532PM 629PM 720PM 714PM 637PM 512PM 502PM
Q What about particular dates of the year; are their any particular dates to sway away from?
A Surprisingly enough, there are a just a few dates you should avoid. We realize what we're about to say may be obvious but let's just say that such simple things are the items that tend to get overlooked.
With that said, we do not recommend that you hold your event (be it a wedding, family reunion, etc.) on the following dates:
» Daylight Savings Time (i.e., second Sunday in March or first Sunday in November)
» April Fool's Day (April 1st)
» Friday the 13th (yes...it's a silly superstition but you'd be surprised how many people dislike it)
» Major Sporting Events (e.g., Super Bowl Sunday, World Series, The World Cup, etc.)
» Religious Holidays & Events
Q If you, as a professional photographer, could create the "ideal" wedding itinerary, what would it look like?
A To begin, I would highly suggest you read our comments regarding a day-before bridal shoot; in short, we cannot emphasize enough that a pre-event bridal shoot is one of the easiest low-stress ways to ensuring natural, radiant, stunning photographs of the bride.
...more coming soon