How to shoot wedding portraits in a small time frame?

When it comes to timelines on a wedding day there is a weird phenomenon: when somebody runs late the time for photography becomes less!

What I mean with that is when the make-up artist in the morning takes too long, the ceremony runs late, there is a traffic jam on the way to the reception it is always the time that was planned for photography that is shortened in the end. And honestly, I think that is ok when you are prepared as a wedding photographer. I have seen this so many times that an hour planned for wedding portraits turned out to be just 10 to 20 minutes. This is one of the stressful situations like rain on the wedding day that every photographer wants to avoid but sometimes just can’t. So here are my three tips for your wedding photographer to shoot the best portraits that you can in just a few minutes of time and make your bride love you even more afterward!

[list style=“style2″] [li]Find one location for all the images.[/li]

Look around and find one location that has all it takes: the light, the background, the possibilities for different poses and settings. If you only have a few images for portraits, the last thing you want to do is waste time on a change of location.[li]Have a planned out shot list in your head[/li]

When you start the photo session make sure you have a list of images in your head that you need to get. With such little time, you surely need to avoid a blackout moment and be totally aware on what you are doing. A storyboard or shot list of pictures you want to get will help you to avoid that blackout moment and get all necessary shots even in a short time frame.[li]Make them move a lot[/li]

The more you make them move (e.g. walk, turn, dance, walk back, etc) the more variety you will get from your photo session. Movement is the key to a great photo session any time but when you only have a few minutes or a short time frame it is crucial to use movement to create variety.[/list]

Do you need more tips on posing? Do you want to see my go-to poses and how I guide a couple in a photo shoot that only has a short time window? Then check out my posing guide. It is available in German and English and shows you how to guide your couples naturally to connected posing and how you can avoid a blackout moment on a wedding day.