At most weddings, there is a spot with spectacular light waiting to be discovered by you. Once you have found it, you only need to know how to use it. The light should be natural light that shines through a window (under these circumstances it is difficult to make a really bad picture). Look for a window that does not directly illuminate the sunlight (for example, a north window).
Where should you place the bride after finding the right window? It is best to be at a distance of 1.5 to 2.5 meters from the window so that the light falls evenly and softly on the bride. This situation is suitable to make a few shots of the bride before the wedding – only from the bride or from the bride with her mother or her father.
If you want to have the bride posed together with other people and want to convey a certain familiarity, the heads should be very close together. This does not sound like a problem, but you will find that it is not easy. When they fall into natural poses, the gap between the heads automatically increases – the people then seem to be no longer so familiar with each other. I am experiencing this situation again and again, and I also have to remind the bride regularly to move the head slightly closer to the other person, so that the photos do not look unnatural. Watch out for your next wedding photos – you’ll be amazed at what it’s like when the heads are closer together.
Formalities: What they should focus on
If you are photographing large groups for the formal portraits, you should choose an aperture that focuses on all people. Try using f/11 for a good sharpening depth. To what point do you want to focus now? If there are more than one set, the old rule still applies: Focus on the eyes of the people in the first row. Since the picture is posteriorly deeper than forward, the rest looks good. If the first row is out of focus, the whole picture is ruined.
Tips for beautiful poses of the bride
Another tip, which I took over from David Ziser, concerns the poses with the standard photos of the bride. In this case, the shoulder facing away from the light source is slightly deeper to produce a diagonal between the shoulders. Tell the bride to align the feet in V-shape (as shown in the picture).