Know your subject:
If you read my last post you will see that one of my most recent shoots was a destination wedding for one of my favorite subjects/models. As I meticulously pored over and edited the images I started to compare them to other wedding photos by other photographers. I have realized two things, one that most of the images I shot did not resemble the current trends in wedding photography. My take on the current styles of wedding photography is most images can be classified as either journalistic or romantic in approach. A good majority of the images I shot during my most recent wedding shoot might best be classified as comical in nature.
“Comical, who wants comical wedding photos?” you say. My response to this comment leads me to my second realization. No matter what or whom you shoot you must know your subject. We all have our own style but it is important, even at a wedding, to capture the subjects personality in order to best tell the story. In the case of Kristalyn and Tim, it meant capturing a bit of Tim’s sense of humor. Tim is really not one for still, unimaginative portraits and in order to get him to loosen up and engage in the shoot I had to let him be himself. In the end this is what produced the best images and made the shoot an enjoyable experience for all those involved. Tim really is a bit of a ham and by letting him stay true to who he is made for a lot of really fun images. For me as a photographer, it means I have to be open to improvising, and ready to shoot what ever is happening as it happens in order to catch the subject’s personality in action. It also means that as I plan and scout the shoot, that I am looking for the shots that will best allow the subjects to express themselves naturally.
In my last post I posted a few images that exemplify what I am talking about. Several of the shots we attempted came from a premeditated vision, and some were simply reacting to the moment. In the case of the latter, I would catch a moment with my eye and have them redo the action so I could catch it with my camera. One shot I had envisioned I had contemplated weeks before the wedding, and was so inspired while watching the movie “Morning Glory”. I had come up with an idea to do a dramatic shot of the bride running in her dress as if late for the ceremony. My vision was dramatic with lots of contrast and motion blur. I had thought of an intense all out sprint in an outdoor corridor maybe followed by a bridesmaid or two. 
Another instance in which the subject’s personality showed through was a shot in which the bride and groom were standing on opposite side of a door and the groom made a funny expression at the bride. I first caught the expression with my eye and then after several tries we were able to create an image that recreated the moment.
Knowing your subject and capturing their/it’s personality is every bit as important as all the technical stuff. Get to know the subject and spend lots of your planning time thinking about how best to capture it. Remember when shooting people, the best images come from collaborating with the subject and allowing who they are to shape your vision. Below are a few more sample of images that captured the sense of humor and fun loving nature that exists in Tim and Kristalyn’s relationship.
