One of the main things to consider when planning a retro themed pre wedding photography is the location for the photo shoot. If you really want your pre wedding photos feel retro, consider wonderful locations such as an old church, an old structure or building or set a place and decorate it to recreate a look from that vintage period. Vintage cars are some of the most common presentation of vintage years. Taking pre wedding photos in a vintage car is also a unique concept. You can lease a popular vintage car and take some pre wedding photos while driving or being ferried in an old car.

Another thing you need to plan is the wardrobe or costume for the prenuptial photo shoot. Fashion trend during the 70s or 80s are very retro and cool. You can simply choose the specific fashion trend that you prefer during a specific vintage period. If you want to make your vintage-themed pre wedding photography more fun and special, choose a specific theme under the vintage era like a popular movie or TV show during the 60s to 80s.

After choosing the locations, costumes and props for the pre wedding photos, you should now set the specific schedule or time to shoot the prenuptial photos. If the location is a popular or a private location, make sure to ask permission first from the owner or from the person in-charged with the place. Make sure also to discuss specific details for the pre wedding photos with your photographer. If you want your pre wedding photography to be more striking and classical, suggest a black and white photo style since this type of photography style suits a vintage theme and makes the photos more stylish and dramatic.

Retro is all about the good old days. Do you a specific movie from the yesteryears that you really like? Or are you into the loud and stylish looking fashion from the 80s? Have fun planning your pre wedding photography to create a long lasting impression that you and your loved one will cherish!

If you want to be unique and original with your pre wedding photography, you can use your very own love story as your theme. May you be college/high school sweethearts, attracted to each other on a train, in a grocery store or in the office, it is YOUR story! Photographs can be taken at the place where you first met, your first date, your first kiss, proposal venue and the maybe the venue of the engagement party. Anything and any place that is significant to you and your partner can be a great theme for your pre wedding photography. Just be imaginative and creative so you can make the photographs interesting and beautiful.

Relive those special and memorable moments of your love story through your pre wedding photography! Discuss the details or the main theme with your wedding photographer so that he/she will know what you want to achieve on your pre wedding photographs. Take up any suggestions that your photographer may have, as it may allow the whole pre wedding photography be made more beautifully and exciting. Make a list of the events and put the locations of those moments you want to relive. If the location of the events is too far away or inaccessible, you may want to remake the scene to portray a cheeky attempt at scenery-modeling!

In reliving that special moment/s, you may consider wearing the same or similar clothing you wore on that special day, like during the engagement or proposal, or during your first date or first kiss. This will make your pre wedding photography more original and special since you get to reminisce your memorable moment through your pre wedding photos.

Remember, it is only as interesting and exciting as you makes it out to be. Hence, be bold, be brave, be creative and be original!

There are different locations to choose from when thinking of the best places to shoot your pre wedding photos. With time and budget, you can choose various locations to shoot your pre wedding photos. If there are nice places near your vicinity, like a beach, a beautiful river, a nice mountainous view, amazing landscapes, or even some fantastic structures, you can easily consider them as these wonderful places usually produce great scenery for your pre-wedding photos. For private locations and structures, make sure to get the necessary permits or permissions.

If you decide to leave your immediate vicinity, like deciding to go out of town, make sure that the necessary preparations are done. Some of the locations to choose when it comes to your pre wedding photography are the churches, beautiful landscapes and outdoor locations with nice scenery. To make choosing easier and more organized, make a list of the places you preferred and those places suggested by other people. Look for pictures if the places are far so you will have a graphical idea on the place. If the place is near, you can simply go to the location together with your wedding photographer to determine its suitability.

After checking the prospective locations, narrow down your list and choose the best locations for your pre wedding photos. Make the necessary arrangements and schedule the photo shoot with your photographer. If you need to travel out of town, talk with your photographer and make the necessary preparations, especially your wardrobe or costumes. If the pre wedding photography locations are mostly outdoor locations, make sure to check the weather forecast to have an idea on the best day to shoot your pre wedding photography.

There are many places which are suitable for pre wedding photography. You need to know what you like and what kind of feeling or effect you want to portray in your pre wedding photographs. Knowing these would make choosing the site/s much easier!

There are many types of unconventional wedding vehicles that you may wish to consider hiring for your wedding day, such as vintage buses/vans and scooters. It helps to project a more impressionable memory of your wedding day as compared to the common Mercedes and BMWs.

These days, wedding photographers can capture the elegance and beauty of a wedding vehicle in various angles, all of which makes great additions to a couple’s wedding photography collection. If you want to make sure that all aspects of your wedding are duly taken care of by your photographer, you may want to consider including your wedding vehicle in several photographs just before the actual ceremony begins.

You would have probably seen numerous wedding cars with the big ‘Just Married’ sign at the back. This is perhaps one of the most common angles in wedding photography where your wedding photographer would want a few photographs to be taken around that sign. A skilled photographer senses great angles not only by the norms. He/she should be able to creatively enhance the effects by positioning the wedding vehicle, the couple and the surrounding to bring out different ‘feels’ through the photographs.

Besides your bridal car, the wedding photographer should also take into consideration the accompanying ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters’ cars. Some of these accompanying cars may be decorated to match the main bridal car in order to bring out certain atmospheres. Hence, consider taking some photographs with creative positioning of all the involved cars!

Photographs of your wedding day are truly special and therefore should be carefully planned and arranged. It could be more memorable to feature your wedding cars! The car could be a beauty of its own, and this would contribute largely to generate a great series of wedding photographs. Hence regardless of the type of car you choose for your wedding day, make sure that the wedding photographers you hire take memorable and unique photographs that you can relate to, and cherish for a very long time!

Needless to say, the Wedding Gatecrash is a highlight of the wedding day and wedding photographers would need to step up their game to capture these action-packed and fun-filled moments. Besides having a good wedding photographer, the wedding couples and their helpers can also help to create unique wedding photography by considering the effects on their wedding photographs when planning for the gatecrash.
Here are some tips that could make your wedding photography more entertaining:

Looks can be deceiving
In usual circumstances, the task and challenges would include having the groom and his ‘brothers’ eat specially prepared food items which are usually not too savory. It pays to take special care in beautifying the looks of the food in order, making it look delicious during wedding photography. Needless to say, the expressions on the food-tasters need to be captured explicitly to portray the true emotions of being deceived and the after-effect of this savory food.

Do take care to avoid food mixtures that might cause stomach upset or bad breathe. That will spoil the rest of the day. Also, remember to give the groom and his ‘brothers’ a decent drink to wash down the tastes, otherwise the rest of the wedding party might have hold their breadths around them, not to mention ruining the romantic wedding kisses.

Theme work
Get your ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters’ to dress up in accordance to a theme. It could be about your favorite movie or a particular style that both of you like (ie Geek wear, school days etc). Not only will your wedding photographs stand out, your friends will get a lot of fun from playing dress up!

Props of LOVE
It would be great if the props could be used in the wedding games. Ideally, the props are to be eye-catching and interesting in order to enhance the wedding photography. The ‘sisters’ could even get the groom to create art pieces that declare his love for the bride. Creating an item which could be kept as remembrance would certainly leave a lasting impression and re-collection of the fun and efforts put into creating it. Party props could also be used to create atmospheres. Surprise props like the ‘canon-popper’ would be good in surprising either sides and allowing the wedding photography to stand out.

Action-packed Entertainment
Besides enduring that expected food tasting segment, ‘sisters’ could also arrange to have the groom and his ‘brothers’ perform a skit or dance to entertain the crowd. It is definitely entertaining to have the groom and his ‘brothers’ capture on film when performing a segment from a cliché movie or a crazy dance act.

No Sweat
Quite commonly, the groom and his brother gang have to go through ‘Gatecrash’ games that put their physical strength to tests. It would be better for the wedding photography if games that might result on the groom and his ‘brothers’ being drench with sweat are avoided, especially if they are wearing suits. After a strenuous workout, it would be difficult for the groom and his team to look good and comfortable in the wedding photographs for the rest of the day. If the groom’s team are worried they would be covered in sweat during the day, they could arrange to dress in a more casual fashion.

To conclude, the ‘gate-crash’ could be a very entertaining part of the wedding. Hence, it is the responsibilities of the participants to create the right atmosphere and setting, coupled with fun filled and well planned games and props to leave a lasting impression for the wedding couple. Remember, the bride would most probably not know what is going on as she sits patiently awaiting the groom. Hence the wedding photography which captures the most interesting actions and reactions would certainly delight the bride and the non-attending guests!

Provide professional looking shots for less
Digital cameras, preferably DSLR cameras produce high quality images that cost less because they do not require you to purchase films to capture images. You will not incur unnecessary cost on films and prints processing for unsatisfactory wedding images. Developing the prints through digital images usually cost less too.

Convenient image selection and wedding photography inventory
The most winning function of digital camera would have to be the convenience of previewing the images immediately after the shot. This allows the wedding photographer to attempt as many shots in as many creative angles and setting possible until the best image is attained. In a way, digital cameras provide the wedding photographers with more room for creativity, at lesser cost and time. Also, the wedding photographers with digital cameras could capture more of the wedding as they do not have constrains of a film cameras.

With this advantage, digital wedding photography also benefits the clients. The wedding couples would have more wedding images to choose from and find out about the special wedding moments that they might have missed out on during the hype of their wedding.

Post-production of wedding pictures made easier
The post production of the wedding prints had definitely become much easier with digital wedding photography. Processing wedding prints no longer means you got to get a dark room or engage a lab to develop wedding photographs that might not meet the expectation of the wedding photographer or the wedding couples. Digital camera means digital processing for your wedding photography. In a world where most people know how to operate a computer, digital processing for your wedding photography becomes a much easier skill to master in comparison of developing prints from films in a darkroom. Post- production of the wedding prints could be done out in the light, requiring only a computer and a special printer for photographs. Most importantly, no time, cost and effort need to be wasted on substandard images.

After understanding the advantages of digital wedding photography, there is really just no mystery in why it is gaining popularity in leaps and bound.

So if you are an amateur photographer looking to venture into wedding photography, you should learn a few tips and tricks first, to make sure your wedding photographs will look great. Here are a few tips on how to produce great wedding photographs.

Get some practice first
Before venturing into the business, you would have to gain some hands on experiences. It will be nerve wrecking to dive straight to be a solo wedding photographer to an unrepeatable event. Again, no pressure there, but it will be best to ask your friends and relatives to allow you to take their wedding photographs alongside with their hired wedding photographer.

Set to higher shutter speed
Capturing the special moments in the wedding is vital to get the memorable wedding photography. There are plenty of action shots in weddings as people are always moving around, or you can have it staged by having the bride and the groom pose in a certain way. It is important to be sure that the wedding photographs do not come out blurry. See that your focus is good to prevent getting the subjects blurred in the picture. At the same time, you are recommended to use a faster shutter speed. The rule of thumb here is that if you have a higher shutter speed setting, you will be able to capture shots better even if the subjects are moving.

No high shutter speed? Use Panning Technique
If your camera cannot accommodate a higher setting for shutter speed, you can still do a trick that many professional event photographers do to capture great action wedding photos. You could use the panning technique to take a shot of a moving subject. Follow through to give your camera a bit of time to focus on the subject so that it will process better without blurring.

Long exposure for limited lighting situations
For a wedding held in the evening, you need to be prepared to get great wedding photos even if the lighting will be artificial. Take care to use long exposures to allow more light into your camera, that way your subjects will look better in the wedding photographs. Test this setting first before the actual wedding shots to get some ideas for the exposure setting you would want to use.

Test shots at the actual venue
It is also recommended to go to the venue to do some test shots, so you will have an idea on what kind of setting to use with your camera during the actual event.

Learn about your tools
As an amateur photographer, it is important to learn more about your camera and the equipment you use. Many are using digital cameras with many automatic settings and functions. Be sure to learn each one and how you can properly use them in different situations so that you will produce great looking wedding photos at any venue or setting.

What comes next? The challenging process of selecting your wedding service providers like wedding banquet venue, gown and tea dress rental/purchase, makeup artist, wedding planner, wedding photographer and videographer. These wedding services make up the core part of your wedding planning and budget allocation.

During this process, you may realise that there is actually a great selection of providers for each type of wedding services, differing in styles and rates. You are likely to come to a junction to choose between one stop boutiques which covers most of the required services or to go the ‘ala carte’ way of choosing each wedding service providers seperately.

In the former method, you have all the convenience of settling every wedding service with a single point of contact. The bundled services could also mean a lower price as compared to the ala carte option. It is also a good option if you are not particular with the style of each type of service. This also mean that you have lesser options and control over what they can provide.

However, if you have a clearer vision of what you like to have/not have, the ala carte option might be a better option. Despite being typically higher in price, you have more control with what each wedding service provider can do towards your vision for your wedding day. One challenge is that you will have to contact and liase with each service provider for discussions before we come to your decision for each of them.

There is also an upcoming trend whereby various wedding service providers come together to form collectives that allows you and your partner have the best of both worlds in the above mentioned methods. Firstly, you can view more than one wedding sevices under one roof. Secondly, you can expect tie up promotions between the wedding service providers. Thirdly, you do not require to commit to all the services if you prefer to have particular wedding service providers elsewhere. The only downside is that you may still have to liase with each individual service provider before and after your wedding. In this case, a good wedding planner who understands your ideals can help you handle most of the liasing.

With these options available, it might take a little thought to decide which is the best option for you at first. However, with a relatively clear idea of your preferred styles, available wedding preparation time and budget, it is actually not as difficult to come to your decision. Lastly and most importantly, you should ensure that the wedding service providers that you have chosen can deliver your vision of your wedding.

Happy wedding planning!

Article attributed to the launch of www.weddingservices.com.sg

Although wedding photography was not fully introduced until the 1800’s, artists and painters have already been documenting couples’ wedding portrait as a remembrance of the special event. This type of wedding documentation, however, was tiresome for both the artist and the couple, having to hold a certain position for long hours while the artist completed the portrait. As technology and industry improved, so did the techniques used in capturing a couple’s matrimony.

After the first photographic image was produced from the camera obscura…

As photography was gradually introduced to the public in the 18th century, the techniques used in capturing a couple’s special day improved as well. Although they still had to pose for a time before the shot itself was made, the resulting photograph was more of a daguerreotype image. The practice of shooting wedding photos was also limited to a studio, as the first forms of photography equipments were bulky and very difficult to transport. As technology progressed, the methods of photography also developed, and the use of glass plates and introduction of color photography made it all the more popular among couples getting married then.

Incoming, the handheld cameras…

It was not until after the World War in circa 1940-1950 that the first prototypes of smaller handheld cameras were introduced, and people were able to take their own photos without needing to go to a studio. Wedding photography equipment in studios also became easier to carry to different wedding locations, and everyone became engrossed in film photography. The development of a compact camera gave opportunities to amateur photographers to take photos of weddings and receptions even without the help of professional photographers.

As the technology involved in film production and photo developing evolved, so did the shape and the sizes of the cameras that were made available to the public. Wedding photography became easier for professionals, as they no longer had to carry around heavy equipment, thanks to the manufacture of compact cameras and other photography equipments.

The world of Digital Wedding Photography…

At present, digital photography is considered the norm in today’s society, although the old methods of film photography are still very much in use. The advancement in technology has allowed people to own cameras that are professional in function regardless of their expertise. Photography techniques are now widely available through the internet and anyone who wishes to get into this hobby or profession can easily do so with the right type of equipments and basic know-how. Wedding photography has indeed evolved by leaps and bounds, from being a professional photographer’s job to being a well-loved hobby by a lot of people today.

The following are a few pointers to note:

ISO/Light Capabilities
The first thing that you have to remember when doing wedding photography is to use a camera that has high ISO and low light capabilities. Traditional weddings are usually held in an enclosed area (at home, in a ballroom), and you already know how the lighting can be in these places. The essence of having a high ISO camera is to allow you to take photographs of the ceremony/event, even if the lighting inside the venue is poor. This type of camera is also good for receptions done indoors or at night, where lighting is at a minimum.

Aperture Lens
Having a camera with a large aperture lens will also be a great advantage to you as a wedding photographer. This will allow you to focus on the couple amidst the ceremony and the celebration, and be able to make the couple stand out in pictures when you produced a blurred effect on the background. Large aperture lenses that are used in wedding photography are also good for low light usage.

External Flash
Of course, an external flash should also be part of your inventory as you will never know when you might need that extra lighting. This is especially so in places where there is very little light and could not be handled by low aperture lenses alone. Video lights are also quite handy to use whenever you are doing wedding photography, as these can give you the flexibility of playing with light contrasts and effects, enabling you to produce spectacular photos of the event.

Accessories
Lastly, don’t forget to include your other necessary tools like a spare battery and of course memory cards for extra storage of pictures and backup usages. You can regularly switch memory cards throughout the event to make sure that photos are evenly distributed in your library and that you would still have some excellent shots of the event if in case the current memory card you are using for wedding photography becomes corrupted for some reason.

Regardless of the level of expertise, you should be able to come up with fantastic wedding photos that the newlyweds can cherish for a very long time as long as you keep these basics in mind.