3 Stages Of Wedding Photography Preparation
By: Tulsa Wedding Photographer
Jake Aldrich

The failure to prepare, is preparation to fail. – John Wooden

While this may have been applied to basketball at the time of the quote, this principle applies to many important things in life, including wedding photography.
This preparation for the wedding day can be followed in three steps. Treat them like wedding rehearsals. Let’s see how.

A Few Months Before
A few months before the actual wedding, a tulsa wedding photographer should
try and do a planning ‘run through’ with the wedding couple, and plan out the day. You may not have all the details chosen yet, but it is a good starting point to get things narrowed down. An experienced photographer can also help you with ideas that you may not have thought of, and details to consider.
Another thing to potentially plan for is a “photo-run-through” aka, engagement photos. As a photographer, you get to know the couple even further, learn about their personalities, and get them ready for feeling comfortable when posing for pictures. Besides these advantages, you get the opportunity to discuss style with the wedding couple, and inquire more intricate details they would want to incorporate in their wedding photos.
You can also use this time (either in addition to, or in place of) to do bridal portraits. Usually featuring the bride and her dress, many times at the place of the ceremony (or at another scenic location) the bridal portraits offer the bride a chance to get some beautiful shots that she and all of her family members will want to keep, and possibly more importantly, gives the bride another excuse to be the princess if the day. Getting dolled up, hair and makeup done, and donning the dress that she plans to be married in is a great run through for the big day.

One Week Before
This is ‘making sure’ rehearsal for the wedding day, in order to ensure the same situations discussed previously are still on the list.
Most important shots like pre-ceremony and post-ceremony shots of the couple or the group shots should be planned at this time. Shot sheets that feature specific family member names can also be very helpful in organizing the day, since it is difficult to off hand remember every shot you may want, especially in the whirlwind of the day.

The Night Before
Sleep well! Your big day is ahead of you, and your photos are the last thing you will need to worry about. With the preparation you have gone through for the day, everyone should be on the same page, and you are free to enjoy your big day!

By: Tulsa Wedding Photographer
Jake Aldrich
Epic Photography Tulsa

One of the inescapable facts about the photography industry in the UK is that it is unregulated. The end result of this is that anyone, yes ANYONE, can buy a camera, read the manual and then declare themselves to be a professional photographer.

A few hundred pounds buys a flashy looking website, a couple of hours writing populates it with content and a few paid for training days gets you the images to put in it.

There is of course more, much more, to being a qualified professional photographer and one of the things you may look at to help improve your skills, is to join a professional trade organisation.

With so many around where do you start?

The first thing you need to do is understand that not all organisations are the same. Sadly there are, like any other industry, good and bad out there and this article hopefully will at least allow you to make an informed decision on who to join.

The first type of organisation is those that only allow full time members in. These are generally geared towards those who make a full time living out of photography. Admission is generally by submission of work which is judged. Upon successful completion you are then admitted and accredited as a member. In some cases the organisation is owned by the members.

The next type of organisation is generally for aspiring photographers looking to improve their skills. There are many of these within the UK, often only requiring a subscription to join. When considering joining these types of organisations always do some thorough background checks first, for example on search engines. Many “Organisations” are private businesses and like any business, have to earn a living. Your subscription to their service helps generate their profit margins and sometimes, they may let their own business profits take precedence over member’s welfare resulting in you paying a fee for a service you simply do not receive.

Their websites may make promises of training, qualifications and mentoring but these promises may not fully materialise. Always do your homework prior to joining. Many of these types of organisations though are highly reputable and members do receive the advertised benefits.

The last type of organisation is the bread and butter of the photographic industry, the camera clubs. Over the years these have proved to be invaluable to the development of not only individual photographers but to the photography industry itself. Often owned by the members and run by a committee, camera clubs have been the life blood of the industry allowing both amateurs, part time and full time professional photographers to improve their photographic skills.

So, to summarise. If you are contemplating joining ANY photographic trade organisation, do your homework first. Be brutally honest with yourself in the first instance and write down your photographic strengths and weaknesses. This list will help you identify what, if any, training you need and armed with this information will allow you to make an informed choice on which organisation to join.