10 Wedding Photography Blunders You Don’t Want to Make

Photography Tips  •  Wedding Photography

Do you want to know how to avoid the biggest mistakes you can make while shooting a wedding? If you’re looking to get in to the wedding photography business, or even if you’ve got some experience, this is a great video to watch and learn from. Pye Jirsa and Shivani Reddy from SLR Lounge polled 200 wedding photographers to find out the top avoidable blunders wedding photographers make, and some of them might be surprising:

1. Backing up without looking behind you

This is the number one mistake, and it can be very dangerous. Jirsa tells us about the time his second shooter at a wedding backed up without realizing there were steps right behind her. The steps were right in front of the cake table, and Jirsa made the save of his life when he ran behind his second photographer and caught her before she fell right into the wedding cake.

2. Running out of memory cards or batteries

This should be obvious, but so many photographers forget to check they have enough memory space. Running out of memory just before a big moment like the first kiss is a massive screw-up. The same thing applies if your camera batteries die during the ceremony. Always make sure you have spare batteries and enough cards.

3. Noisy autofocus beeps/loud shutters

These distracting noises can really annoy people, and if there is a video team there, you and your noisy camera won’t be popular with them. Shoot with silent shutter, and turn your autofocus beep off in your camera menu.

4. Not having a backup camera

You should have at least one back-up camera, even if it’s a lesser model than your main one.

5. Being on your phone in front of your clients

It looks unprofessional to be constantly checking your phone. If you have the wedding day timeline stored on your phone and you need to check it, make sure you tell your clients what you’re doing and show it to them.

6. Stepping on the bride’s train/veil

This happens quite a lot; watch where you put your feet.

7. Cultural insensitivity

Be aware of any customs that you need to follow if you are shooting a wedding for a culture different from your own, such as making sure you take your shoes off before stepping on the Mandap during an Indian wedding ceremony.

8. Blocking the guests’ view

Try staying low to the ground until the time comes for you to take your shots to avoid unhappy guests.

9. Standing in front of vendor camera angles

If there are videographers there, talk to them before the ceremony and try to work around them so you’re not screwing up their shot.

10. Improper wedding attire

Don’t turn up at a wedding in old yoga pants. Dress like a guest to look professional, with men in a dark suit and women wearing a long skirt or pants suit.

If you follow these guidelines, you’ll hopefully be set for the next wedding you shoot to go off smoothly. After all, you don’t want people to remember you as the wedding photographer who ruined the big day by making one of these blunders!