Denver Colorado Wedding Photographer
Hey! I am obsessed (in a healthy way)
with wedding photography and am always training to be a ninja in the shadows to capture your best moments. My wedding experience is of value, and I am here to help. Ask away!
Have you ever passed gas in a quiet church when you were little? I feel about as comfortable in front of a camera as my mom did when little Jason let one rip. This would be the #1 answer on Family Feud. “What is the first thing couples say to their photographer?” The survey says! Feel awkward in front of the camera!
It might be a shock to you, but this is my first and most important job as a wedding photographer. It’s not kick-ass photos; it’s helping you shake off the nerves and be yourself.
Here are a few things I found that help with this.
Just tell me? What makes you nervous
What makes me nervous when a camera points at me? Or better yet, what happens in that state? I feel like a stiff statue when someone points a camera at me. I catch myself looking away from the camera and making a weird half-smile and feeling totally awkward as my anxiety rises. The pressure to perform.
Being honest about what makes you uncomfortable helps us understand how to support you. More info and communication are always better.
Some people want more direction. Others need space and time to settle in. You may have an insecurity you do not want highlighted, or a past photography experience that left you feeling uncomfortable.
None of this makes you difficult; it makes you human.
I would much rather know what is going through your head than have you quietly stressing while I assume everything is fine. Cameras are powerful tools. They freeze memories in time. I wouldn’t want to freeze the wrong one.
Choose a photographer you can be your weird self around
In my wedding photography experience, I am the person you will be with the most! Isn’t that crazy?
If you ugly cry when Mom is putting on your veil, I will be there. Cry with joy when you see your partner for the first time, I will be there. When your maid of honor belches like a 60-year-old trucker and everyone busts out laughing, I will be there. In every emotion, I will be standing there with a camera. So, first and foremost, meet face to face with your photographer prospects. I can’t stress this enough. So many people go to book a wedding photographer on pricing and pretty pictures alone. Personality and values add to your comfort so much. More useful info specifically on this here.
When you talk with a photographer, pay attention to how the conversation feels. Do they make you feel understood? Are they digging to find out what your top values are for your wedding day? Can you picture being around them when emotions are high and your dad decides that right before family photos is the perfect time to disappear to the bar?
When you trust the person behind the camera, it becomes much easier to stop thinking about the camera.
Focus on each other, not the dude with the camera
This is coming from the guy that gets to HIDE behind the camera, I know. Here me out, though. I’m just spitting out numbers, but the time you will be actually looking into my lens is only 10% to 15% of the day. That’s not bad at all!
I will tell you to focus on each other and enjoy this moment a lot through the day. Just be together in the way that is normal for you. Some couples are constantly touching. Others show love by roasting each other until one of them can’t breathe from laughing. Both are real. This is when the candid is created in the couple’s portrait.
I may give you prompts to walk together, hold hands, look at each other. I will set you up to look good, then you just be you. If that is goofy or weird, I want your goofiest and weirdest selves together. Those are the money photos that will make these memories gain so much value years down the road.
Not every photo needs to be your next Instagram profile photo
I get it, you have been dreaming of this day since you would cry out “I love him” to your Jonas Brothers poster in your bedroom. The fantasy of having this perfect wedding day, not a cloud in the sky dream has possibly lived with you since then. But a wedding gallery should be about more than making sure every frame is perfectly flattering.
Some of the photographs you love most may show your face scrunched up from laughing. Your hair may be blowing all over from the wind. You may be crying so hard that mascara no longer has a chance. And one of my favorites: dancing with absolutely no concern for rhythm or personal dignity.
That is the juicy good stuff.
Your photographer should show what the day actually felt like, not just what you looked like when everything was controlled.
These are the photos where the memories of that day live and breathe for years and years.
You do not need to know how to pose.
You are not getting in your dress to walk out on the final round of this season’s America’s Next Top Model.
It is not your job to arrive with a list of poses or spend the month before your wedding practicing a casual laugh in the bathroom mirror. A professional photographer should know when to give you guidance and when to let things unfold.
For example, if your mom is zipping up your dress, I may ask you both to stand by the window with good light. Sometimes it is a small adjustment that keeps you from feeling like Ricky Bobby trying to figure out where to put his hands.
You do not have to be good at being photographed. That is what your photographer is there for.
When you think the pose is done, that is when the best photos happen
In between photos is when I like to keep my eyes open.
When your partner says “Wait, there is something in your teeth.” When the bride is getting a family portrait with dad and mom yells out “Hank! Your fly’s down again.” These moments cannot always be planned, and they should not be.
After working a wedding, I am usually exhausted.
The passion of capturing these unicorn moments keeps my radar on all day looking for them. When I hear a laugh behind me, my camera turns before my head does. Make sure you hire a photographer that has that.
Remember, you are normal if you feel awkward
To wrap this up in a bow, hire a photographer you can trust. Be with your people and be yourself. Laugh when something goes way wrong. If a cry hits you, let it.
Forget about the camera as much as you can. I will take care of the rest.