What makes a wedding location picture perfect?
I have many favorite locations of my own, and when it comes down to it, the perfect wedding location is really just a matter of taste.
Would you prefer a wedding on the top of a 10,000 foot high Colorado mountain with a clear view of the nearby 14,000 foot peaks and the gorgeous plains on the other side?
Or, a wedding on the white sand of Hawaii overlooking the clear waters and colorful fish swimming around?
Or, maybe your preference is the beautifully crafted interior of an 18th century cathedral or, instead, the simplicity of the 100-seat sanctuary of the small-town church you grew up in.
What most people don’t think about is that the location you choose can have a impact on the level of the photography you walk away with. The best photographers, including myself, will get great pictures wherever the wedding is; that is what you pay us to do! But, there is a difference between great and stunning.
In some situations, it really takes an expert to get any worthwhile pictures at all. For instance, it doesn’t matter how amazing the camera is, most photos of a nightclub will either be an excessive (“artistic”, as some would say) blur of light and hardly identifiable persons or just the washed out faces of a few of the closest people to the camera with a pure black backdrop behind them with which their clothes and dark hair blend in.
If you’re reading this, I will assume those aren’t the kind of pictures you want for your wedding. You want the pictures that make people stop in their tracks when they walk in your front door and see the frame on the wall containing a gorgeous couple carefully positioned as the centerpiece of an already jawdropping background.
So, step 1: Find a place that has great lighting.
The best way to do this, especially if you live or are traveling to a location with little precipation, is to have the wedding outside. Remember to also consider the time of day and nearby shadows. Early morning and late afternoon are the best times for pictures. If you choose the afternoon, make sure to leave enough time for the ceremony and portraits afterward before the sun goes down. Shadows are good, but only if they are solid shadows and your entire body is in the shadow. Try to stay away from areas with splotchy shadows. There is nothing worse than a weird shadow pattern on the bride’s face!
Outdoor weddings almost always have great lighting.
Inside can also be a great place for photos, so don’t rule out your favorite church or other indoor location for photography sake. However, do consider how much light is able to enter the room from the outside or is provided by the overhead lighting. There must be ample white light for the pictures to really be stunning, especially if the venue does not allow the photographer to use flash. Stained glass windows and dim incandescant bulbs don’t usually cut it. You should be looking for big, clear windows that will be in the path of the sun during the time of your wedding or bright florescent or halogen ceiling lights.
Don’t give up hope if your favorite indoor wedding location is indoors with low lighting. One option is to bring in extra lights for your special ceremony. While I wouldn’t recommend going to Home Depot and getting tacky floodlights (as those will appear in the pictures as well), there are some great lighting specialists who will bring in very decorative and bright lights to illuminate the space of your celebration.
