Say cheese- A few tips to make your photosession fun!

Photo courtesy of Sidi & Ronald. Wedding by Waridikenya.com. Photo by Billy

Meet the photographer: Am sure you would hate it if your wedding day photographer referred to you, the bride, on your wedding day as " Nani"!!! Your wedding photographer needs to know who you are, your family members and who are in your bridal party . This would mean that before wedding day you need to spend some time with your wedding photographer. This is always advisable because not only does it give him some time to learn who's who but it also enables your people to be familiar with him. It is often recommended that you invite your wedding photographer for your wedding rehearsal, or if your budget allows you can have an engagement photo-shoot with him prior to the wedding

Photo-session Location!! Well, for the traditional bride a photo-session venue is in order! When selecting the location for your photo shoot you can consider different venues e.g. a beautiful beach , a gorgeous garden, a lovely lake e.t.c. Whatever venue you choose it should have a lovely background remember the picture that you will hang on your newly wed home will probably be from the photo-session you do not want an unsightly background like a safari com billboard at the back!

Pre or Post Wedding Photo-shoot?  Often the wedding photo-shoot is done between the ceremony and reception venue but do you know that you can actually have a pre or post wedding photo shoot.

A pre-wedding photo-shoot is often recommended for the couple whose wedding program starts in the afternoon. If you are a non-traditional bride, are not superstitious about seeing your groom before the wedding you can have your shots taken in the morning of the wedding. Most photographers often say that morning light is the best so take advantage of this while you are at it!

For the couple who are having a marathon wedding ceremony and reception, i.e. no break in between then the post wedding photo-shoot would be ideal this is done after the wedding reception at the photo-session venue selected.

The wedding photo-list:  You don't want to go through your wedding album and have no idea of the people in the wedding photo's to prevent this create a wedding photo-list. This is a list of all the pictures that you would like to be taken, the photo-list can either be included in your program so that the guests are well informed of which pictures will be taken, or can be used by the wedding planner, mcee and your family photo co-coordinator.

Family photo-coordinator: Great shots are lost at photo sessions because the photographer & wedding planner do not know who is a member of the family. Get an aunty or an uncle to stand in as your wedding photo-coordinator, their work will be to ensure that all the wedding guests are queued for their photos in order. Getting a family photo co-coordinator will save you  time and they make work easier for the wedding co-coordinator & photographer.

Determine your style: Before the wedding day, show the wedding photographer samples of styles of photo's that you would like him to include in your album. If you like black & white shots, sepia or grey shots ensure he has a few included in the edited prints. If there are particular shots that you would like him to include in the album e.g. a group shot of all your wedding guests have him also include them.

Props & Props: Use props during your wedding photo-sessions, use parasols/ umbrella's, walking sticks, picture frames, balloons, hats, any props to make your wedding photo session fun! Instead of having  the same old poses e.g. bride being carried by grooms men or bride carrying grooms jacket have interesting shots like groomsmen jumping in the sky e.t.c. Look for creative spots and props in your photo-session e.g. ornate doors, windows ( you can have a shot of the bride peeping at the groom  through the window), trees, e.t.c.

Slideshows: Have the wedding photographer project different wedding ceremony and photo-session shots during the reception on a screen . This gives the wedding guests something interesting to watch especially during lunch or in between speeches. This is very possible to implement all that you would require is a projector screen and digital camera.

Timing: For your outside church wedding photo-session it would be best to allocate a session of thirty minutes, for your photo-session at a location allocate 45min-1 hour, this is enough time for the photographer to get all the great shots he would require.

Don't forget your make-up kit for touch ups!