Get the Picture?
Get the Picture? is the podcast where fun photography chats meet real education. Think of it as your photography bestie and built-in teacher, covering everything from creative inspiration and business tips to the candid realities of life as a full-time wedding photographer.
Get the Picture?
Wedding Photography Details You Might Be Overlooking
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This week on Get the Picture?, we're talking about the small wedding day details that make a BIG difference. From getting-ready details and in-camera adjustments to symmetry and the little things beginner photographers often overlook, I'm sharing simple changes that make a huge difference in the final gallery. These are the details that elevate your photos from good to unforgettable without requiring expensive gear or years of experience. Whether you're a wedding photographer looking to level up your work or a beginner wanting to make sure you crush your first wedding, this episode’s for you!
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Hey you guys, welcome back to another episode of Get the Picture. I'm your host, Tori Elizabeth, and today we are talking about small details that you might be overlooking on a wedding day and why they matter. Because, in my opinion, the difference between a good photographer and a great photographer is the small details. And I feel like that is something that clients notice a lot more than we think. So we're just going to dive right into it. I have a list on my phone of all of the details that I look for on a wedding day that I just want to start like getting them in your guys' brains, and that you can like recognize, like, oh, I don't do that, or like I don't usually look for that detail, and just like add the ones that you don't already do. You probably already do some of these. Maybe some of you do all of them, some of you don't do hardly any of them. Um, and so the goal is not to overwhelm you with all the little details, but just to give you a few new ones you can put like, you know, in your in the back of your head just to make you a better photographer. Um, you can even like write down a list of all of them and keep them on your phone on a wedding day if you really want to. It's totally up to you guys, but I just want to make sure I'm making you guys aware of all the little details that matter and what matter to your clients. This would be a good episode to watch on YouTube also because I'm gonna be showing examples of all of the photos that I'm talking about, all of the details that I'm talking about on the screen. My YouTube is at Tori Elizabeth Photo if you don't already subscribe on YouTube. So yeah, go watch on YouTube. So I'm first gonna start with your couple. Um, so for a bride, there's the obvious ones are fluffing the dress. Um, most photographers do fluff the dress, but what I wanted to talk about is kind of how you fluff the dress. Um, because I have seen many a dress fluff where it's just not satisfying, where it's like, oh, but that one part, that one part is just like not quite right. Um, clients notice that I feel like this is one of that. I wanted to start with the bride because I feel like this is one of the biggest things clients notice. If you post wedding photos and the dress just does not look good, I feel like right away they're like, I don't trust you to make me look good. I don't trust you and make my dress look good. Like I paid thousands for this dress and you didn't make it look as good as it could look. I feel like this is one of the most important things. In my opinion, the extra 30 seconds that it will take to fix a bad dress fluff is always worth it. Like if I do a bad dress fluff or like an okay dress fluff and there's just one like weird kink in the fabric or just like one weird bump, something that wasn't quite right, unless I know for a fact I can fix it in post and it'll be super easy and whatever, I am just like, oh, so sorry guys, let me fix this. This is gonna bug me. And I make it about me and make it like, oh, I'm being, you know, particular, whatever, but I know that they're gonna appreciate it later. And a lot of times they'll go, oh, thank you so much, I really appreciate it. Like, no, no worries, that really matters to me too, or whatever. Um, so even if you you set up the whole shot, it's the whole family's watching, you walk away, you get ready to take the shot, and then you see it, you still walk back and fix it, or you tell your second to fix it or something, but you don't just leave it. They will notice this is one of like the most important things, in my opinion, one of the biggest things that sets apart like a beginner photographer from a more experienced photographer is the more experienced photographer, make sure the dress looks perfect. Um, so that's the first thing for brides. Um, another thing is when you're taking a dress shot, um, the hanger straps, so this is more for like strapless dresses, but the the straps aren't gonna be twisted, they're gonna be like perfectly straight. Um, yeah. And then oh, the ring, obviously. I feel like this is another thing that most people know about the dress and the ring, but making sure the ring is straight, obviously, anytime you're doing specifically close-ups or ring shots, or anytime where like her hand is on um the bride or groom, whatever if you have two brides or a bride and groom, like on the other person's face, like just anytime you can see the ring like close up, you need to make sure it's perfect and straight. Um, that's kind of those are my biggest tips for brides. Obviously, hair, make sure the hair looks good. Those are kind of givens. Um, and then in post, just like especially in the second half of the day, touching up makeup creases, creases are a big one. You might get like smile line creases, forehead creases, um, like you might get like mascara that's starting to like crumble and get on their face. If they've cried, you might need to fix some things like that. That's specifically the second half of the day, or like right after a first look or something where they might have been crying and haven't had time to touch up their makeup yet. Those are big things that will go a long way. Like they will remember, like, I know that my makeup did not look good at that point and they fixed it. Or even if they don't, the truth is, like, even if they don't notice, they'll notice if you don't fix it. So that's really something you need to look for. Um okay, for grooms, the biggest thing that I always okay, it's it's it's the hand in the pocket, okay? If you don't already tell the groom to stick their thumb out of the pocket, you don't have to do the thumb out of the pocket, but you need to do something because their default is to take their fist and just plunge it down into their pocket, and it just like looks really bad. Like it just it's like half like their entire wrist is gone, it's just disappeared, and there's this weird lump on their leg. We do not want that. So you need to either tell them like what the stick the thumb out of the pocket does, like hand in the pocket, thumb out. What that does is it prevents them from sticking their hand too far in their pocket and making it look weird. So that's why I usually go for that. If it's for some reason it's looking weird, you can say, um, sometimes I'll do thumb in, rest of the hand out. If it's just looking like their hand has disappeared, you can do that. Um, or you can do just regular hand in the pocket, just tell them don't put it down all the way in your pocket, just sit it right at the top. So make sure you're watching how far down in their pocket they're putting their hand. It really makes it look really weird. Um, so that's a big thing. Um, if you hate the thumb out, you don't have to do thumb out. Some people like it, some people hate it. For example, my husband thinks it looks super weird. That's okay, you don't have to do thumb out. The point is just so that their hand is at the top of their pocket and it looks normal. Um, it's also hard when you go to have a groom tuck in his, tuck his hand in his pocket. Sometimes it makes the suit look really weird, like it's just not working. That's why sometimes I'll go for thumb in, hand out, because it messes with the suit a little bit less. Um, or you can go for like a hand on the lapel. If you don't know what the lapel is, it's like the V part of their suit, the part that like the little flap that sticks out from the V. You can have them put their hand on the lapel um if for some reason the pocket is just not working, or obviously a hand on their partner's waist. Um, if they're two grooms, you can chest, whatever you're gonna do, whatever is natural for them. So those are options if the pocket thing isn't working. Also, don't be afraid to like have them re-tuck their hand a couple times in their pocket if the suit is doing weird things. Sometimes I will literally tell them, put your hand down, reset, and just re-tuck it in, and it will look fine the second time. So that's like with the dress thing, it's like don't be afraid to redo a detail like that. You can also obviously unbutton the suit and like mess around with that too and see if that looks better. Make sure if they're doing movement of any kind that the suit is unbuttoned, otherwise it will like bow bow out, I think it's called, or like pucker out weird, and it will like it just it just looks stupid, but it makes the suit look really bad. Um, it's like equivalent to a bad dress, dress fluff. It just like look the suit doesn't look good. So if they're gonna be doing anything where they're moving their arms up, like their elbows are gonna go up, they're twirling their partner, they're doing a like a dip, anything like that, the suit needs to be unbuttoned so it's not like poofing out weird at the top. Um so that's a big thing to look for. It other than other than that, if they're walking or just like standing still, make sure that top button is buttoned in the suit, it will just like kind of slim them down, look really flattering. Um yeah, I think that's all for. Oh, one more thing for the groom that I usually look for is sometimes they just when you put people in front of the camera, they just get awkward. And so sometimes they'll go and they'll just put their feet really close together when they're standing. But ideally for a guy, you want them like shoulders width apart or like slightly less than shoulders width apart for their feet. You don't want them like super wide, but you want it to look like natural and like balanced. Um, sometimes they just put their feet really close together and you need to tell them like shoulders width apart. So that's something I look for too. Usually I'm not too worried about that unless it like specifically looks weird and then I'll notice it. Um, but that's just something to look for. We're gonna go right into groomsmen um and bridesmaids. So, groomsmen, biggest thing is nothing in your pockets. Obviously, that's for grooms to make sure they don't have anything in their pockets, but um, groomsmen love to be like, oh, but I can put it in my back pocket, right? No, just take it out. It doesn't go in your back pocket, it doesn't go anywhere, it goes on the ground, actually. It doesn't go in your pocket at all. Um, they also love to take out everything except chapstick and keys and their pocket knives because I don't know, those things just belong in the pocket or something. I don't know. So when you say everything out of pocket, I say, okay, groomsman, take everything out of your pocket. That means phones, keys, pocket knives, wallets, chapstick, I list everything. And then I say it like five times because a new groomsman each time realizes that it applies to them and then takes something else out of their pockets. So make sure that you are like really good about that. Um, don't let them put out their back pocket because if they're doing any kind of movement, like if they're if you're doing the pose with the groom where you have all the groomsmen kind of like tackle him and push him around, they might be turned a little bit. You might see their back pocket. Like just have them take everything out. It's just easier. It's they can do it for the photos, it's fine. Um, make sure when you have all the groomsmen standing, all their hands are the same. So this means if the groom wants to do hand in, thumb out, all the groomsmen are doing hand in thumb out. And make sure they're doing the same thing with their backhand too. So if all their right hands are hand in, thumb out, make sure their backhand is hand in, thumb out or straight to the other side. Make sure they're all doing the exact same thing. If you're having them do like a V where like the groom is in the front and the groomsmen are like lined up, like going backwards, make sure you're all like right over left. Um, for I mean, you can do hands in the pockets too, but I feel like typically we've they like to do like right over left with their hands kind of like what do they call it, like the football pose. Um, and then the other thing is make sure their hands, if you're watching on YouTube, I'm kind of like showing you, but make sure some of them aren't holding their fingertips and some of them are holding their wrists. You want them to all hold at the exact same spot of their hands. So it should be like holding the palm of their hands and then closing their fingers. Um, so hopefully that makes sense. If you're watching on YouTube, I'm kind of like showing what I mean. But just make sure the groomsmen's hands always match. Um, the equivalent for that for the bridesmaids is make sure their bouquets always match and are always the same height, which I'm gonna get into that in a second. Um, groomsman, make sure their feet always match, they're all like a perfect 45-degree angle. I am really picky with this. I'm really annoying. If you've ever been at a wedding party with me, if any of my, I don't know, past wedding party members are listening to my podcast for some reason. Like, you know, I am really annoying with this. I make sure all their feet are lined up perfectly, I make sure they're all at a perfect 45-degree angle. I this is something that really matters. If you can pick out a beginner based on a wedding party photo, you can say, like, this is not symmetrical, this is not even not everyone's doing the same thing, like this is a beginner, because someone who's experienced pays attention to the little details. That's kind of what I want to drill into your head today, is like the little details matter. They do stand out to clients. When you're looking at something like a big group photo of 10 people, if one person is off, it sticks out like a sore thumb. And that sticks out to people other than just photographers. This isn't like a photography-specific thing. Like, clients notice that. So, and especially like wedding party clients are like great repeat clients. Like, they're people that might be getting married soon. You want to be showing them that you pay attention to details too while still being fun. It's like a hard balance sometimes. But like you want them to see the photos and be like, wow, she really did a good job. Like, wow, they really paid attention to all the details. Like, that made it worth it. Um, you just yeah, you want to be showing that you pay attention to the details. So getting into bridesmaids, um, like I said, bouquets all at the same level is like the biggest thing that I pay attention to. If you're having them all squeeze in for a photo, it's a little bit different. They can be a little bit staggered, but especially that like straight-on wedding party shot where they're all just standing holding their bouquets, make sure they're all on the same plane. Like you should be able to draw a straight line horizontally across the photo and it'd be right in the middle of all the bouquets. Um, and then if one of them is off, it just doesn't look right. So they need to all be even. Um, another thing is when they're squeezing in for like a cheek-to-cheek photo, make sure they're not like squishing the bride's face or hair. Same thing if you're doing the bouquet wreath photo with where they're holding like their bouquets around her face. Make sure they're aren't not putting the bouquets like in her face, like getting like leaves caught in her hair or whatever. It just it looks weird in the photo. Um yeah, and then girls also love to like lean in before it's time to lean in for a photo. So make sure you get that one of them like standing up straight, just like the normal wedding party shot before you have them like lean in and do the smiley ones. The leaning in ones are always cutest, but I always make sure I get one normal standing up straight just so that they have it. Um, it's just like the classic one you need to make sure they have. Okay, so I'm gonna kind of go throughout the day now. I started off with, you know, bride, grooms, groomsmen, bridesmaids, and then now I'm gonna go like flat lay through send-off and go through the day and kind of tell you the details I look for in each one. Um, like I said, you might already, I feel like if you've paid attention to these things, they're probably the ones I've already talked about. So I'm gonna get into things that you maybe haven't thought about, or just there might be one here or there you haven't thought about. So just make sure you listen to the whole thing so that you can, I don't know. Hopefully the goal is pick out something that you haven't paid attention to before to just make you a little bit better, a little bit more detail-oriented. Um, okay, so flat lays. Um, the biggest thing for flat lays is please make sure the rings are straight. Um, like it's like with the dress. I said this is worth the extra 30 seconds to a minute it will take to sit there and make sure it's perfectly even and perfectly straight, because that sticks out so bad. If you take a ring shot that's like perfectly straight on, and the like the diamond is just like slightly crooked, it drives me insane. It will ruin a good flat lay for me. Like it, it really, it really ruins it. So make sure the ring is straight. Um, the stationary also needs to be straight. If you've ever done a flat lay and looked at the photos later and one is like slightly crooked, I mean just ruins it. Like you need to make sure, like take the photo, look at the photo in your camera, like zoom in, look at it, make sure it's straight, then keep taking the photos. Don't just throw the flat lay together and start taking photos. Like, make sure, like, like quality check it. Be like, is the ring straight? Are the are is the stationary straight? Is is this even? Does anything look off? Are there wrinkles in the fabric? Like, whatever, like quality check first, then start taking the photos. Um when you're taking a shot from above, this is something else I've noticed with like more beginners. If you're taking that shot from like above the flat lay, just of like the you know, flat, flat photo of the flat lay, make sure you're centered when you take the photo. Um, and I don't mean like I mean centered in the middle of the flat lay, but also centered like how far you're leaning over. It should be like a perfect like aerial shot of it. And so you're gonna take that shot and you're gonna look at it and be like, do I need to adjust? Yeah, I was a little bit too far to the right. And take it again, go a little bit to the left. And you're gonna take it till you get that perfect shot. Because something I'm trying to stress today is like symmetry. Symmetry is like one of those details that sticks out if you don't do it. People might notice, not notice that it's perfectly symmetrical if you do it, but they're gonna notice if it's not symmetrical if you don't do it. So be picky with your shots, be picky with the shots that need to be symmetrical and need to be even, and where everyone's bouquet needs to be lined up and you need to be perfectly in the middle for this flat lay. Like, make sure you're picky with those shots. Another detail that I feel like not everyone does, like when I've worked with other photographers, some people just get the whole flat lay shot and they just move on. I love to get like individual shots of each like like piece of jewelry or each part of the flat lay. I feel like this is one of those details that elevates your work. Not every photographer looks for that. Like, trust me from experience, not every photographer does. Some people just take the big shot and they move on. Um, so make sure you're the photographer that gets an individual shot of the earrings and the necklace and the handkerchief that's embroidered and each of the stationery and whatever. Like you've set up this whole flat leg, get individual photos of each thing. It takes an extra one to two minutes and it really elevates the gallery. Also, make sure that ringshot focus is just perfect. Um I mean that that's the entire point of the ring shot, is like think like if they lose their rings in two years and like they want a photo of their original rings, is this gonna be a good enough photo to show you the detail in the rings? Is this gonna be the photo of the rings? Like, make sure the focus is perfect, make sure it's not blurry at all, make sure just make sure you nailed focus. Okay, this is like a huge this is not something you can mess up focus on. You need to make sure you have a solid ring shot before you move on to the other parts of the flat lab. Okay, for dress shots, make sure that the dress is sh centered, like for example, my last my wedding I just shot in Oregon. I hung the dress on a chandelier, and I made sure it was just in the middle of the chandelier, perfectly hanging, perfectly straight on, but I also made sure I was centered in the room so that the shot was symmetrical because that's something you can't really fix in post without like warping it. And like that's just one of those things again that like really makes a difference between a beginner and like a really good photographer, is like they will make sure it's perfectly centered. You don't just like eyeball it and go standing, oh I'm about in the middle of the room. This looks right. You look at this frame, you look at the the grid, you look at everything, make sure is this shot perfectly symmetrical? Um, so that's for dress shots. I also like to get in and get a close-up of like the what are they called the the bodice? Like, what would we call them? That's like probably not the right word. The like top part of the dress, the like torso. I don't know what's that called, I don't know. Um, but get like a shot, like close-up of that um like any cool details or like lace. I get like a close-up of like the fabric material of the dress. Okay, I'm gonna go along with that like perfectly centered tangent that I'm on. I'm gonna talk about ceremony photos. This again is I'm not sitting on Instagram like ripping apart photographers' photos, I swear, but it's just one of those things you can't help but notice. Like, um, like this the ceremony shot, you need to be perfectly centered in the aisle. Um, or like maybe not in the aisle, maybe you're further back, but you need to be perfectly centered. Like that is something that really will stick out. You need like one, it's like the ring shot. You need one solid, perfectly centered ceremony shot. Like that's like a must-have. That should be the first thing you get, in my opinion. After they get to the end of the aisle, um, they they set up, mate of honor fluffs the dress, you back up and you get that perfect ceremony shot, in my opinion. Um, you also want to get a far away shot. So some people kind of step to the middle to back of the aisle, get one ceremony shot, and then go in for close-ups. I go, I tell my second shooters, I go all the way back, super, super far, as far back as I usually can, and get one super wide shot, like super duper wide, tell the whole story, get far away, then step in closer, then get that regular San Juan shot, then get in closer for close-ups. Um, I feel like a lot of people forget to get that super wide shot. I always get it right at the beginning so that I'm not missing anything important because nothing important is happening right at the beginning. Um, I feel like that's a shot a lot of my couples use and love. And I feel like it's a shot a lot of people forget to get. So make sure you're getting like that faraway shot. Make sure you're getting far away, super far away, super close up, telling the whole story. That kind of goes for any part of the day. I get super far away and super close up. And I always get the super far away first and then move in closer. It just makes it super easy so that I never forget to get that far away shot. So if you're someone who finds yourself shooting really tight sometimes and you forget to step back, make it. Have it set up the pose, step back, get the faraway shot, then get in closer. Um, okay, so oh yeah, for ceremony, make sure you're looking for guest reactions. So this should be when you're up on one side getting like um the perspective of like, let's say it's a bride and a groom, and the groom is reading his vows and the bride is like crying and wiping a tear, and you're getting the that shot of the bride and she's wiping her tear, then you're gonna peek over your shoulder and be like, is the bride's mom crying? Is the bride or which side would that be? Whatever, is groom's mom's crying, and then you turn and be like, Oh, she's crying, and then you snap a quick photo and then you get out of the way. But you grab that photo of them crying, like you could them crying, smiling, they don't have to be crying, but just like look for the reactions when you're up there already getting the couple. Um, those are photos that like mean so much to couples. Other details I look for in ceremonies are like I like to get like a close-up of like the vow books, or at least get a photo that I know I can crop in on a vow book. But yeah, for um ceremony details, I look for like the vow books. Obviously, you know, you get the ring exchange. Um, I always get like bridesmaids' bouquets, but I go to like the end of the row of bridesmaids and get kind of like a perspective shot of like focused on one of the middle of the bridesmaids' bouquets, um, so that I have some like blurred in the front and that type of thing. You can get like the groom's middle standing, like holding their arms, like that type of thing. Um I like to look for anyone who has like their arm around their partner during the ceremony. I feel like that's a cute shot. So I also like grab one like that. Same with speeches. If there's like cute little people are cuddled up, I always grab cute photos of their guests. So I just feel like it's fun. Um, as long as it's not like too obnoxious. If you're like right in their face, don't do it. But um, okay, same thing for speeches, look for reactions. Um, one of my favorite shots to get for speeches recently is like the person who's giving the speech and then focus, so like get them in frame, then focus on the couple behind them. So, like, for example, um, I got one where like the groom's dad was giving a speech, and I had the groom's dad like blurred in the front, like probably third of the camera, and then I was focused on the groom behind him, like looking up at his dad watching the speech. So it was like very obvious what's happening in the photo, but the focus was on the groom and the groom's reaction to the speech. So it's a cool way to like tell the story of the day while still focusing on the couple. That's like one of my favorite shots to get. Um, and I'll I'm skipping ahead, but same thing for first dances. I look for reactions for first dances. I love to get like during like the mother-son dance, focus on the bride behind them. Like, oh my gosh, such a cute shot. I had um a photo go like I don't know if it went viral or mini viral, whatever, on TikTok of the bride or of the groom watching the bride dance with her dad, and he's like looking at her all sweet. Um, those are like some of my favorite shots to get. Those are just those mean so much. So those are really good shots to look for if you're not already. Um, so that means positioning yourself in a way to where the other partner would be in your shot. So you gotta kind of like move around strategically for that. Um this is just kind of like a general tip, but anytime you're using Flash on a wedding day, make sure you have new batteries or at least new batteries like at the ready before any new event. Um, and by event I mean like cake cutting, um, like party dancing, send-off, bokeh toss, whatever. Like make sure you have new batteries in. Because as we all know, flash is temperamental and they love to just get really slow when you really need them to be fast, just at the absolute worst times. So if you are not already doing that, try to like put in a new battery. Um, or you know, if you have like an older flash, like new double A batteries, whatever. Um, but make sure you have a new freshly charged battery that you put in before each event. Um, it depends on which flash you use. So, for example, my Godox V1 Pro, which is linked in my Amazon storefront. So if you need a good new flash, really quick side tangent, Godox V1 Pro, amazing. Um, linked in my Amazon storefront, which is linked in my podcast Instagram and my photography Instagram bios. So like Amazon storefront, go to photography gear, gox v1 pro. I think I have it linked for Canon, Sony, and Nikon. So if you have Canon, it should be um Godox V1-C, Sony is V1-S, and Nikon is V1-N. So make sure you get the right one. But oh my gosh, I typically like re like put in a new battery before each event. This last setting I shot, I used one battery the entire night and had zero problems. Uh just I love my V1 Pro, it's so good. Um, so anyway, cake cutting. This is one tip I wish I had been told as a beginner. Um I don't know if this is something other people think about a lot, but I feel like I tend to go a little bit tighter in. I either go super wide or super tight, like I said. And so sometimes I'd be in really tight for like a cake cutting. And so they'd cut the cake and they'd go to feed each other the cake, and I would have this perfectly framed shot, and then they would go to feed each other the cake, and they would like push it in each other's faces, and then they would like lean out of frame. Like, if that makes sense. They're like pushing the cake in each other's faces, and they're like leaning out, and so like their their heads are cut off, or they're like the sides of their head are cut off, and like it's okay, still like the shot was alright, but like would have been a much better shot if you had their entire like torsos in it. Um, so I always go a little, maybe a lot wider than I think I need to for the like them feeding each other the cake or like smashing the cake because I never know. And even if you ask a couple, like, hey, are you gonna smash the cake? They might tell you no and then still do it. Like, for example, my husband and I did not, we were just gonna feed it to each other all sweet, and we we didn't like smash it or anything, but we we gave each other like a little boop on the nose, and that was like a lot for us. We are not I I've broken out of my shell a lot, but we are like very timid people at our own wedding. We were just like so uncomfortable with all the attention on us. So even doing the like boop on the nose was a lot for us. Um, so anyway, people people change their minds, like people randomly will decide to do something crazy. So make sure you have your shot wider than you need to, just in case they like smash it and lean out of frame really quick. Make sure you're getting like that whole, I don't know, the whole shot and you're not cutting anything off. Um, for first dances, I always recommend getting close-ups first, then getting wide. So this is reverse what I do for the rest of the day. Anything else the rest of the day, I get wide first and then close up. Even flat lay, I get the wide shot first, then I get the close-ups. Ceremony, wide shot first, then close-ups. Same thing with wedding party, same thing with couples photos, you know, everything. Um, except dances, because especially if it's not a choreographed dance, um, if it's choreographed, maybe it's a little bit different. Maybe start wide. Um, just you'll have to kind of go in and out and just play it by ear because they're probably doing things the entire time. But if it's not a choreographed dance and they're kind of just swaying, they're gonna feel crazy and wanna do like a little twirl or a little dip halfway through. And if you wait till halfway through, or like that first chorus to start getting close-ups, they're gonna be twirling while you're trying to get a close-up, and then you can't get a good shot of the twirl. So I always start off while they're not doing anything if it's not choreographed. Like I said, only if it's not choreographed, um, right at the beginning. They're not doing anything, they're just kind of swinging, get those close-ups right at the beginning, then step back, then get the wide shots, and then you can capture those twirls, those dips. That's kind of the one time that I start off close. Um, like I said, look for reactions to dances. Also, pay attention for the dip or the hug at the end. Be ready for that. Um, for the dance floor. I'm almost done. I have two more, you guys. For the dance floor, pay attention to your aperture. Something I didn't realize as a beginner is that you should be on a higher aperture for dance floor photos. Um, so you shouldn't just be shooting at f2, f2.8 for dance floor photos. You should be at like, I like to sit at like 5.6. I feel like that's a really good aperture for dance floor photos. Um, because you're likely shooting horizontal, you're shooting above people, and you're getting a ton of people at the edges of the frame. And so if you're shooting at like F2, they're all like distorted and like blurred, weird. Um so you want to shoot on a higher aperture to get more in focus. That's a big thing for dance floor photos. Uh higher angle is also always, always, always going to be better. It just looks better. It looks like there's more going on, it looks like it's a fuller dance party. It just looks cooler. So if you haven't gotten used to this already, your camera should be above your head and you should be shooting down. If you have like, you know, like the new mirrorless cameras all have like the screens that can like pop out so you can still see what you're shooting while shooting down. Um, but that's like the angle you want for dance floor photos usually. Okay, last one for an exit. Um I'm gonna talk about sparklers and bubbles, but for sparklers, oh my gosh, make sure they're high, not out. Um, especially if you have a lot of drunk guests or little kids. Um hopefully you're not mixing a ton of drunk people and a ton of little kids, but you never know. Um, but like little kids will just hold them straight out. Literally, it can catch the dress on fire, like hold them up, tell parents you're responsible for your kids, make sure their sparklers are up. You gotta be a little bit bossy for exits. Um, just make sure everyone's a little bit farther apart than they need to be and the sparklers are up, just in case. You never want you like imagine you don't direct the send off very well and the bride's dress catches on fire. Like, we don't want that. Um, so yeah, sparklers high, not out. Bubbles, um, I always make sure to tell them if you've shot a bubble exit before, you know exactly why I do this because you've probably ended up with shots where you can't see the couple's face and it's just bubbles. I tell them blow the bubbles as they're passing you, not before. If they blow them right before, it's just bubbles in their face, and that's all I can see in the photos. Um if you know, like with flash, you don't get that many shots. Like they're running probably, and you're, you know, your flash, depending on your recycle time, like you might not have a million shots that you're gonna get. And so you want to make sure the shots you do get, there's not bubbles in their face. So that's something for bubbles. Um, I also tell them to keep cheering the whole time because people love to like stop cheering halfway through for some reason. I have no idea why. Same with everything besides the dances. Um, I do wide at the beginning, close up later, just because naturally they start to kind of I don't know, I feel like most people get well but nervous or excited and like start to run toward the end or get faster, and they're just gonna get closer than you're they're gonna be going faster than you probably are backpedaling, and so you're gonna just have to get close up. So I always go wide at the beginning just in case they get too close to me, and I have to get close up at the end. I hopefully that makes sense. Um, so yeah. Um, okay, those are all my tips for you guys. Hopefully, there's a few things in there that you haven't thought of before that can help you on a wedding day. If they're all things you've thought of, great, you're doing amazing. Um, but hopefully, you know, some of the beginners that listen to this podcast have some ideas of things to look for on a wedding day now. Like I said, the little details really stand out to clients and they show you who's experienced and who's not. So if you're not already paying attention to the little details, I know it can be overwhelming with how many things there are to focus on on a wedding day, but like take a deep breath. Just like look at the photo and be like, how does this look? Before I take the photo, is there anything I need to fix? Just like take that extra breath, take one more scan, like quality check, just like make sure what you're taking photos of looks good. Don't just like start holding down your shutter, like take a deep breath, look at it, say, Do I need to change anything? Then start taking the photo. Um, so yeah, start putting that into practice, you guys. You're doing amazing. I'm so proud of all of you. Comment on YouTube if you have any questions. Um, rate and review the podcast. And yeah, I'm so excited to talk to you guys next week. Have a great rest of your day. Bye.