How to get Stunning Photographs – Tips from SCV’s top photographers

Tips from SCV’s top photographers

Photos are one of the most important parts of your wedding journey because, as you’ll hear from every bride and groom post-nuptials, the day goes by in a blur.  If you want to remember that blur of emotions and beautiful moments, make sure you’re at the top of your photo game when the big day comes.  Here to help you get the best photos possible are SCV’s top wedding photographers.  We picked their brains for the tips only their trained eyes can see.
The road to beautiful photos starts early – with thoughtful preplanning and a strategic day-of timeline.
“To get the best photos and the best light, you need a rock solid timeline,” explained Michael Anthony of Michael Anthony Photography.  “The events of the day should be planned around the photos.”
Michael Anthony recommends meeting with your photographer at least six months before your date to go over the day-of timeline, so you have the most flexibility.
“If you wait too long, it may be too late to work your timeline around photos,” he said.
When planning the timeline, aim for the best hours of lighting, or the “golden hour” during sunset.  The majority of the bride and groom’s portraits should be shot during this time.
Michael Anthony also suggests couples do a first look early in the day because it gives the bride and groom more opportunity for photos before the craziness of the day sets in.  Family and bridal party portraits are best shot before the wedding, as well.  That way, the couple can save the golden hour for their own shots, and they won’t be pressed for time.
“It’s hard to cram the couple, family and bridal party photos into the cocktail hour, which is typically when those pictures are taken,” Michael Anthony explained.
To ensure you plan the appropriate timeline for your wedding, the photographer should have time to meet with you and workout a sufficient plan.
“Make sure your photographer has the capacity for good customer service the whole way through – not just on the big day,” he said.
Once you have the timeline nailed down, its time to think about the shoot – or if you’re taking Michael Asmar of Joie de Vivre Photographie’s advice, don’t think about it too much.
“The key to beautiful wedding photos is just relaxing,” he explained.  “You’ve waited your whole life for this day; it’s time to have fun.”
To help couples get the most natural shot, Michael Asmar generally takes a low-key approach to engagement and wedding shoots.  During an engagement shoot, he may let the bride and groom walk around and enjoy the setting, snapping pictures until the attention drifts away from the camera.  This approach helps him avoid the more posed shots and allows the couple to start to feel comfortable in front of the camera.  Slowly, the stunning shots roll in, one by one.
“The most important thing is feeling comfortable with your photographer,” Michael Asmar explained.  “If you trust your photographer, you can focus on each other and let the camera do all the work.”
Many weddings books and magazines suggest using the same photographer for engagement and wedding photos, and Michael Asmar agrees.  By the time you’ve gone through the experience of engagement photos and seen photos you love, you’ll have developed an even stronger trust in your photographer.
“If you don’t know your photographer well by the big day, you may not get the natural shots you’re hoping for,” he explained.
“Trust is everything,” he reiterated.
Both photographers also highly recommend opting for an album when all is said and done.  Why?  Most CDs or digital albums end up in a drawer or backed up on a hard drive – where you probably won’t notice them on a daily basis.  Keep the love, passion and promise of your wedding day alive throughout the years by having physical prints displayed throughout your home. 
How To Get the Sexiest Boudoir

In addition to the traditional engagement and wedding photos, some brides also are adding a boudoir shoot to their bridal To Do List.  When asked for her top tip to getting the hottest boudoir shots, Lindsay Schlick of SchlickArt didn’t even hesitate before answering: “You have to do boudoir for yourself first – not for anyone else.”
Every woman struggles with self-esteem and body image issues, Lindsay explains.
“Everyone has bits they like about themselves and bits they don’t like,” she said.  “Boudoir is about the empowerment you feel when you decide to embrace it all.”
If you’re not ready to take on the personal and emotional challenge of self-acceptance, you may not be ready for boudoir, she said.
“You don’t have to love every bit of yourself before you go through the process,” she said, “but the point is to be ready to enjoy it, and possibly overcome a block or a fear.  The experience can lead to self-acceptance and feeling comfortable in your own skin.”
Creating a safe space for women to feel empowered is incredibly important to Lindsay, and when SchlickArt was first launched, she promised she would never pick on herself again.  To feel confident and produce beautiful pictures, her clients need to embrace and love what they see in the mirror – and if Lindsay expected her clients to do that, she would too.
“Getting to a place where you love yourself is a decision you have to make,” she said.  “It’s like any other decision to better yourself.  Know that you’re going to be nervous if you do boudoir, but also that you’ll learn something about yourself and feel better for it afterward.”
Lindsay does have a few other tips up her sleeve.  Wear something that makes you feel comfortable and sexy.
“Just because you’re shooting boudoir doesn’t mean you have to put on the skimpiest piece of lingerie,” she said.
A black dress works, too.  There are many styles of boudoir – from pinup to fur coats.
“We’ll accentuate the bits you like and flatter the bits you don’t like,” Lindsay said, “but I can prove to you that you don’t have any bad bits.”

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