Advice and tips for breathtaking wedding pictures

Wedding Photography Tips for Brides

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tips for spectacular photos

 

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

 

faq index and info about your upcoming carmel wedding Return to the F.A.Q. INDEX