Please enjoy these weddings photos from a recent special event at the San Jose Country Club. For this post, I want to go into a little more detail about the pictures, my workflow and my philosophy. Kind of like a tour of my work and an insight to how I operate on the wedding day. As a San Francisco Wedding photographer for more than 20 years now, I want to be able to share my experience with brides…even the ones that don’t hire me.
As usual, there is a slideshow at the bottom of the post that has more images from this wonderful wedding at the San Jose Country Club.
Below the bride gets ready. This is often referred to by wedding photographers as Bridal Prep, Pre-Ceremony preparation, bride getting ready, etc. These shots are primarily photojournalistic as you can see.
For the bridal prep, I like to hang back and capture the fun and whatever is going on with the bride and her bridesmaids. I’m also ok with anyone taking pictures at this particular time. As you can see, you can get some really fun moments during the bridal prep.
For this particular wedding, the bride was running late. So I followed her outside as she headed to the limo. I shot some impromptu posed shots in front of their house. I did not plan for this but it worked out great. What usuaally happens is this, if I see that the lighting is great for photos then I recommend we take some. I never miss an opportunity if the lighting is great!
The shot below, believe it or not was not planned. The father of the bride just happened to be standing off to the site. This is a perfect example of a posed-candid wedding photo if there is such thing.
Next up is travel to the wedding venue and then the Groom and groomsmen pics. When you are shooting in the hot, bright sunlight, it’s best to keep the subject’s back to the sun. This is not always possible in that often, the background is undesirable. In this case things worked out great as I had good backgrounds to the North.
As I mentioned, the wedding was at the San Jose Country Club, a little after noon on a scorching hot summer day. You can tell by the highlights and shadows where the sun was. This is typically not ideal in that the subject matter must always have their back to the sun if the photo is to be good. Fortunately, the Country Club is situated in such a way that the sun back lit my subjects almost perfectly. Things worked out pretty good.
The wedding march photo below [which happens after the kiss] is one of my favorites sequences and I can usually get a good moment. This one you see here is just one of about a dozen I shot as the bride and groom make their procession.
After the wedding ceremony, we proceeded to take the posed shots of the Bride, her bridesmaids, family and friends. This is the part where a wedding photographer can go nuts. What I do is focus on my job, the task at hand and let the chips fall where they may. I do not rush this part of the wedding. If there is little time, then less photos will be taken. I’d rather take fewer pictures of higher quality, than try to burn through quickly and lose quality.
More often than not, there is little to no time for these shots and I can’t be faulted for shots not taken during this time. I always recommend that the bride and groom do as much as possible [bride with her maids, groom with his men, etc] BEFORE the wedding! I also advise to let the people know beforehand, that they are needed for photos and to stick around so we are not waited and running around trying to find them.
I always try and get some fun shots with every pose. So with each pose, you have the standard shots like above, then the fun version like below. This gives the bride more variety to choose from for her wedding album.
The shot below is often referred to as ‘detail shots’. I also call them ‘shimmer shots’ or ‘sizzle shots’. Basically shots of the place, details like favors, flowers, close ups and what not. With the shot below, I once again did a variety that included straight shots, the entire cake and then close ups like you see below.
The reception is primarily shot photojournalistic style. The only poses I do are at the cake. Everything else is pretty much run and gun style photo journalism. I do set things up the way I want [see garter toss below], but this is just a matter of telling people where I want them positioned, then letting the action happen as I capture it.
Shooting photo journalistic means that I also keep an eye on the room and try for some emotional REACTION shots like the one below. I think these shots are very important as they tell another side of the wedding story. Not just the action but the reaction. I can do all this with just myself as Primary shooter and no second shooter. I often shoot with a second assocate photographer, but it is not necessary to have one to get shots like the one below.
Below is what the banquet room at the San Jose Country club looks like in it’s entirety. It’s a very large room and can hold many people.
Ok so now the fun part. I never miss a chance to get some amazing sunset shots. And even though the bride and groom were on a really tight schedule, I convinced them that it would be worth the time to go and get these shots. It would be a shame if we didn’t do these.
Anyway, they give us a golf cart to use and we drive up this big hill to the top of a bluff. Below is the view from the top of the bluff.
As I mentioned earlier, my usual workflow is to get multiple shots of one pose. So the next few shots are exactly that. I direct the bride and groom to stand there, kiss and hold and then I do my thing getting all kinds of different angles, adjusting lighting, focus, etc.
I also used my flash to get some shots like the one you see below. I try and stay away from direct on camera flash as much as possible as it does not produce the most natural results. That’s not to say I don’t do any of that. In fact, for dark receptions, most of the shots are run and gun, on camera flash photography. Also, I don’t think the clients care either way how I do it…they just want to see their face. So in the case below, I think it’s totally appropriate to use on camera flash.
The picture below is one of my favorites and I try to do it at every wedding.
So now we get into the fun part. I use my lightstick to throw light on the background to light up the girls. I’m also dragging the shutter a bit [using a slower shutter speed to let more ambient light in the shot], as to light up the background. I don’t drag too much because things can get a little too blurry for me as I like tack sharp foreground subjects. Sometimes blur is cool but you have to keep in mind these subjects are moving so their movement will also cause a blur on their own. I try to balance everything out and the result is what you see below.
With my finger on the trigger I wait for the exact moment and take the shot. Here, the bouquet is inches from the floor. These girls didn’t seem too excited to catch the bouquet.
For the shot below, I actually set it up so that the men are behind the bride and groom for the background of the picture. I also position the chair where I want it. So in a sense, I am posing this shot, but it’s also more like I just set it up the way I like it. Much of the success of my work is the fact that I set things up the way I like it. I don’t just sit there and be passive about things. Often, the DJ or MC won’t even call the men up until after the groom takes off the garter. So when this happens I step in and have the DJ announce that all men come to the dance floor prior to the garter being removed. It makes a great picture don’t you think?
For the finale, I always try and get some night shots with my lightstick. I don’t always get them for various reasons…some clients don’t want them for various reasons, like if they don’t want to leave their party which is totally understandable. As with any of my shots, nothing is mandatory and the client decides what they want me to take. But if you hire me, and you like these night shots, then please remind me on the day of and we can take them on my way out.
I hope you enjoyed this visual and worded tour of San Francisco Wedding Photographer photos. Please leave comments and/or email me if you have any questions about these pictures or wedding photography in general.
To see more pictures from the wedding at the San Jose Country club please click on the image below. Enjoy
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