Picture Perfect Weddings

Wedding Photography

You’ve booked your dream venue, ordered you five-tier, intricately iced cake. Outfits, make up and hair have been planned with military precision. Your wedding day really is going to be the best day of your life. Now, you just need to rely on someone to capture it all for posterity – those hardworking, unsung heroes, on whom it all depends - the photographer.

Your wedding lasts only one day, but the photographs will be around forever, so it’s vital to capture everyone at their very best. marbellas.com spoke to Shaun Chandler, wedding photography expert and owner of Weddings byshaun, to find out how he achieves his perfect wedding images.

With an interest in photography for over 20 years, Shaun started in his teens with shots of wildlife and landscapes. Very quickly he was roped in to photograph friends’ weddings, and it all took off from there. Shaun quickly developed a love of taking people pictures, whether they be gritty, news-style reportage shots or glamorous fashion images; enjoying watching a scene unfold and being in the right place, at the right time, to capture those seminal images.

Precise Planning
Specialising in destination wedding photography, Shaun believes a beautiful location deserves beautiful photography and covers weddings across Spain, throughout Europe and even further if necessary. But getting that perfect shot isn’t just a case of pointing and clicking, Shaun plans every wedding in absolute detail. To achieve the best effects throughout the day, he plans what photographs will be taken in each part of the venue and what lighting set up is needed for each of those locations.

Talking about his own style, Shaun explains, “Wedding photography was once very traditional with stiff, formal, posed shots. Then it became more relaxed, with reportage shots being the latest trend. I have taken my style of wedding photography a step further and combine a modern, reportage-style with more glamorous, fashion shoot style shots. Brides in particular want to look and feel beautiful on their big day, so I am trying to bring some glamour back into wedding photography.”

Shaun’s Top Tips for Top Wedding Pics

1. Experiment with different points of view. Lay on the grass, or position yourself up high to get a different angle.
2. Turn off the flash. Flash can ruin images by giving red-eye and making the scene appear flat and washed out.
3. Don’t just concentrate on the bridge and groom. You may capture some great images by looking at what everyone else is up to.
4. Photographing children always makes for great images. But, make sure you bend down to their level, towering over them is not the best view point.
5. Get close. Many photographs lack impact because although the subject matter is great, they are taken too far away.
6. But don’t get too close. With auto focus cameras, most are unable to focus on subjects closer than around 3/4 feet, and many pictures are spoiled this way because they are out of focus.
7. Tilt your camera. Try tilting your camera at an angle, you may be surprised how it can liven up a photo and create a more dynamic shot.
8. Shoot into the sun. Conventional wisdom is always to have the sun over your shoulder. Try breaking that rule and see what happens…..
9. Get people into the shade. Normally everyone tries to stand in the sun, but this can produce harsh shadows and make people squint. Move people to the shade and the light will be softer and they will be able to open their eyes.
10. Delete your photographs. If you want to give the bride and groom a copy of the photographs you have taken, try to go through them and delete the worst ones first. Having a small selection of good photographs creates more of an impression than having a large selection of poor photographs.

For further details, prices and collections of images visit www.weddingsbyshaun.com

Tel: 637 084 432