Move Your Body

Yesterday evening, a client told me that her guests had taken lots of pictures of me sprawled on the ground or balanced on walls or generally throwing myself about to get the best shots I could of her wedding, only the second one I had covered exclusively with “prime” lenses—that is fast, fixed focal-length non-zooms. Unlike some other enthusisasts, I think (modern) zooms are excellent tools, but having a zoom lens tempts you to stand still and use the technology to “bring” your subject to you. Taking good photos is not just about filling the frame, it’s also about finding an angle.

Most of the time the best vantage point for a portrait, three-quarter, or full-length shot is roughly level with your subject. At a wedding you will almost certainly be taking photographs of the seated or stooping elderly and of children. This inevitably means getting down low. But you should also vary the way you photograph standing adults. High and low angles can be used to striking effect.

Every couple wants a picture of their cutting the wedding cake, but cake-cutting pictures are boring as hell. While the guests were upright, gathered around these two with their own cameras, I lay on the floor at their feet, waving a remote flash over my head. My rolling around their ankles made them laugh naturally and the flash filled in their faces so their features weren’t blotted out by the light from the window behind them.

Of course, climbing on walls for mass group shots or lying on the ground for an interesting view or to get level with children will mess up your clothes (and somebody will spill food or drink on you at some point), so wear something that won’t show the dirt too badly for the rest of the day and that you can wash easily at the end of the job.

Remember:

• If you don’t have the angle you want then move until you do.
• If you are using a good fixed lens (a so-called “prime”) then don’t worry too much if you are a little further away from your target than you want. If you see the shot, take the shot. A good sharp negative will survive judicious cropping.
• If you are attending a wedding as photographer then don’t wear a suit. I once made this mistake at painful expense. If you must dress smart, dress cheap.