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Wedding Photos Online - Bridal Preperations

The Wedding Photos Online series is a collection of professional wedding pictures by Andrew Gardner, owner of The Boutique Photography Company Ltd.

Introduction

You'll notice that the sample wedding photos in this section are all black and white. This is because there's usually lots of clutter and background distractions when a bride is getting ready. Making an image black and white calms the scene down so the clutter becomes less distracting.

Click on each photo to open a larger version in a new window.

	The shaft of light of light coming in from the window is amazing. And the bridesmaid's expression really shows what she's feeling - most likely the nerves and anticipation before the wedding.
	This bridesmaid wasn't shy of the camera and gave me a lovely smile, just before she had to get ready.
	I darkened the background in this picture to really make the page boy stand out. Again, one of those looks that reveals character, and lovely catchlights in the eyes.
	A friend pops in as the bride's getting ready. Shooting into the light can be tricky - I had to deliberately overexpose this shot so the people wouldn't be silhouettes.
	The shadows from the table legs really stand out to me. Again, I darkened the background to bring the dress 'forward' in the frame.
	When photographing items like shoes or rings, I look for interesting textures to use as a backdrop, like the grain in this coffee table...
	...or the grooves in this picnic bench. I used a setting on my lens to throw the foreground and background out of focus, so the attention is placed on the detail on the ring.
	It's always good to change perspective to make things interesting - this photo was taken from halfway down a staircase. Another thoughtful expression.
	I had to really overexpose this shot to keep the detail in the figures. I'd love to say the groom was looking out of the window for his bride, but unfortunately they're both ushers!
	I really like the foreground/background composition here, and how the eye is drawn into the picture from left to right.
	Wedding photos can be quite static, so I sometimes use a slower than average shutter speed to slighlty blur movement. The static figures emphasise the movement.
	In post-production I darkened the friend in the foreground in, to focus attention on the bride. I love the deep shadows on the curtains in the background.