Being asked to be the photographer for a wedding is a big responsibility.  If you’ve been asked to do it as a favor, or have been asked to do it professionally, here are 5 tips to do to get the job done right.

This tips are coming from first hand experience as a San Diego wedding photographer.  So whether you are seasoned pro, or a rank amateur, if you follow these tips, you will feel comfortable and not have to second guess yourself.  You will be fully prepared for whatever may come.

Our first tip is a simple thing you can do and that is to have the couple and the families go and make a shot list.With a day that can be as hectic and chaotic as a wedding day, doing this will help when you are trying to organize all the group and family shots later on in the day.You will love how you can just go through your list and get all the shots you want without leaving anything out.

The second tip on our list is to not delete any shots.  In this day and age of digital cameras, most photographers use them.  Great as they are, they also are tempting to delete a shot since it is so easy to do.Don’t bother even peeking at the previews.What you think may be a great photo, can differ widely in what the couple considers a great photo.You never know, they might like all those so called un “professional shots.

The third tip to make sure you do is taking candid shots.A good wedding photographer doesn’t look to just take your typical shots, like group shots, or wedding shots or your standard newly married shots.  But they will also try and capture the emotions of the day through the shots of all the people that were there.It could include things that don’t go perfectly, like a flower girl not wanting to walk down the aisle or the ring bearer making a wrong turn.Every picture counts.

The fourth piece of advice is make sure you have back up equipment.Do you even want to think of the horror of not being able to take any more shots of the wedding because of a broken camera.Plan for the worst that could go wrong.By being ready with extra equipment, you will avoid the uncomfortable time of not being able to take any more pictures of the wedding day with a broken camera.

Lastly, make sure to practice for your lighting. The difference between the lighting in the church and the outside reception can throw you a curve ball, so just practice for all different lighting situations. Go see the locations and scout it out for the big day, by finding the best places to shoot as well as studying the lighting needs.

Taking these 5 tips into account will help you immensely.  It will prepare you for whatever might go wrong, it will prepare you for capturing what goes right, and it will prepare you to help contribute to this wonderful day by being the best photographer you can be.  Take it from my years of experience as a San Diego photographer.