Joyce and Vince in Paris, the E session Slideshow

Erin and Christian's Wedding

Erin and Christian

I had the blessing of photographing Erin and Christian's wedding in Seoul, Korea. Some of you might remember our E session. I was also fortunate to win an international award with one of our images. If I were to sum up this wedding with one word, I would have to use the word "joy". Erin and Christian are such a wonderful couple. I have to thank my good friend Bandele who came all the way from the UK to help me with this wedding. I think my most memorable time for me was getting to know Erin and Christian and their friends in Korea, we went bowling the day after the wedding and it was the most memorable bowling experience of my life!

If you would like to view this slideshow on your iPhone, iPod, iTouch, iTunes, etc. just email me at scott@scottrobertgallery.com

How to Photograph a Wedding

Over the years I have developed a system for shooting a wedding, a four tier method that if done correctly, will ensure any photographer a successful career. If you are new to wedding photography, don't expect to master these four skills on your first go round. It may take years to develop and there are many photographers who are extremely successful that may not even incorporate all four. The obvious questions is, why do I go to the trouble of teaching all four? Longevity!

I want to give my students the highest chance of success and to be well rounded photographers. Styles may come and go but I know that if a photographer can master these four skills, he or she will have a long career that could lead into other types of photography projects. Here are my four deadly skills, that if mastered, can yield much success:

1. Create Killer Portraiture. Create images that look like they belong in the latest fashion magazine or in an art gallery. Good portraiture is timeless and has an enduring quality. The last time I looked, people are still waiting in line to see the Mona Lisa. One test that I use to judge my own portrait is that if I can zoom in as close as I want to any area of the picture and it looks good to me, I know I have a great image to work with. Beauty never goes out of fashion and a great portrait can immortalize your subject.

2. Capture Emotion. No other art form can quite capture emotion like photography. A fleeting smile, laugh, hug or a single tear of joy can be frozen in time by your camera. Always look for the emotion charged moment, it can happen at any time so be prepared.

3. Tell a story. Remember that the photographer is painting a story. Tell the who, what, when and where and do it with artistic style. Make use of your wide angle lenses and it is a good idea to carry a macro lens too for detail shots. Be a photojournalism and learn to be good at composing a photo.

4. Be a master of light. Nothing adds drama and impact into a photo more than good lighting. Learn to find it and to create it with the simplest of tools. A wedding photographer does not have the luxury of carrying around big and heavy equipment around so a master of light can create studio quality lighting using his environment or can easily create it with basic strobes and constant light sources. The more you know, the less you need.

In general, I would say most wedding photographers have the easiest time with #2 and #3. However, if you want to be a world class photographer, #1 and #4 are essential to developing a life long career in photography.