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Ten Tips to transform wedding photos into wonderful preserved memories.
Ten Tips to transform wedding photos into wonderful preserved memories.
There’s nothing like a wedding for creating photo opportunities. Here is advice for the bride and groom, the parents, guests (especially camera-buffs), and even somebody who wants a novel wedding gift idea. If you’re the official photographer click here.
They flow naturally. Some are predictable and formal, some are informal – a chance to capture a fleeting moment that the bride, groom and all present will cherish for years to come. Then there are the whacky – even bizarre things – seen by everyone – or maybe just seen by one guest from his or her viewport. They all add up to a wonderful day – to be remembered – to be preserved and to be looked back on pictorially, by the couple family and even as-yet-unborn children. What's more wonderful pictures - which need to be made up into delightful books - can be captured by anybody - amateur, hobbyist or even a totally raw point-and-shoot photo taker.
A word of warning: You cannot rely on your hard disk, CD's or on-line service to be accessible in 5, let alone 15, 25 or 50. We asked Microsoft for a guarantee that Winows in 2020 would support JPG and CD files. They said that with technological advances they could not guarantee it*. So - produce not one - but a collection of albums on archival paper easily and inexpensively either in the family or by a professional.
If it's your wedding - God bless you - may your life together be long, prosperous, healthy and happy. If OPUS can help you, we will!
*See our blog www.opusalbums.com/adirewarning
Ten Eleven wedding photo album tips
OPUS albums Tip 0
Check out the Print & Bind Wedding special album packs today - Don't wait till after the wedding - practice on a party (the hen or stag night for instance!).
OPUS albums Tip 1
Have one or two back-up photographers. Some of the relatives or guests are keen amateur photographers – keen to record the event but know that the event does not depend on depend on them. These photographers will be more informal and relaxed, will be more personally acquainted with the bride groom and at least part of the family and friends – and they are not charging for their services! That’s why two are good – one who knows the brides family and friends, one the grooms. Make sure they meet and can work together – but tell them not to interfere with the official photographer. Also let the official photographer know – so that he (or he and his assistant) do not play the ‘mess-up-everybody-else’ game. Guests photographing wedding
OPUS albums Tip 2
Encourage as many wedding guests as possible to participate in picture taking. Everybody sees a different view. And with good high-pixel compact cameras, the results can often be good too – even taken by an occasional user.
Also encourage all ‘serious’ photo-takers to make up albums. Run a competition! (of course OPUS Albums is biased on this one!). See our gift suggestion www.opusalbums.com/weddingday
OPUS albums Tip 3
Find all of the non photo material - copy of the marriage certificate, menu, order of service, newspaper announcement. And have a verbal story ready - or at least some anecdotes.
OPUS Albums Tip 4
Remember photographing weddings is 90% people, and 10% camera technique. But don't try it without the 5%. The album is the same.
Please the bride, groom relatives and guests – don’t push yourself as a photographer – don’t get in the way. Bring out the people – good photography yes – but keep it natural. Let the ‘official photographer’ do the special shots (unless you think of something that person has missed, and it does not detract to do it).
OPUS Albums Tip 5
Produce a range of albums:
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- for the bride and groom
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- for the parents
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- for close relatives and friends
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- for yourself
Maybe these albums could be a wedding present – a present that has given pleasure not just to the couple, but to all there.
OPUS Albums Tip 6
Plan on bringing out the best of the day. Select the parts of the day and allocate a rough number of pages to each:
For example
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Bride’s home before leaving
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Leaving with father
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The Church (or whatever)
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Outside the church
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The reception
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Later parts of the day – and going-away
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The lighter side (but don’t embarrass people – amuse but don’t offend!)
OPUS Albums Tip 7
Map out each album to get the balance. Keep a theme running. Allocate the pages remembering that you have a double page view on Photo Art albums (and on Print & Bind) you can create a double page spread if you so desire.
OPUS Albums Tip 8
Select material for the point of pleasure. You will gain no friends by embarrassing people. You will by bringing out the amusing parts.
Focus on the principal people – no brownie points for you if an album (other than for yourself) is full of pictures of your children.
Add in text items - anecdotes. Aim to have some text on each page. Not just a bland title. The album is a photo-story.
OPUS Albums Tip 9
Make up a suitable background theme using FotoSlate 4 (or whatever software you chose) – a light gaussian-blurred picture of the couple – or something more abstract.
What albums to use
OPUS Albums Tip 10
Let the official photographer do the expensive professionally produced, fixed, leather-bound books.
I would suggest:
For the bride and groom and the parents use albums from the OPUS Photo Art range. I prefer the natural white soft textured paper. Why not A3 for the bride and groom; A4 or 12x12 for the others? 20 double sided sheets should be enough. You don’t want the album to become boring.
Do a draft album on Print&Bind first. This gives a draft – but is a reminder for you to keep of what you gave others. Of course you will need more sheets. As the paper is not double sided you may wish to manually punch alternate sheets to make them face one another.
Offer to give Print&Bind album to other guests. As an OPUS Club member you will even get some introductory commissions if they order from OPUS too!
A novel gift idea.
All of the guests will have had different views of the wedding. All will be pleased with some of their results.
So get a couple of 15-album cartons of Print & Bind. Make them up into packets of two – maybe with a CD with a 60 day version of FotoSlate 4 and a letter to each.
Give the packs away to those guests who are taking a lot of digital pictures.
Tell them the reason why there are two albums is that they should make up two sets – one for themselves and one for the lucky couple.
The result will be the couple having a number of similarly looking albums – each showing their great day from a different point-of-view.
A service from OPUSalbums.com
E-mail us with your thoughts. Date and place of wedding, how many guest parties. Tell us your budget. Let us know anything else. We will give you an idea and a quotation for a package of albums – discounted of course!
To send us an e-mail click here.
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