7 Tips for Amazing Bridal Portrait Sessions
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Loading... - Mia Graham
- 06 Feb 2023
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For many brides-to-be, having a bridal portrait session while wearing the wedding dress is a tradition. I love these sessions because you often get to photograph the bride when they are feeling the most beautiful they’ve ever felt – but without all the stress of the actual wedding. You can take your time, thoughtfully determine lighting and posing, and choose the time of day and location. Plus, the bride is a lot more relaxed than she is on the big day, which makes for more natural poses.
But while bridal portrait sessions are often very rewarding, they can be difficult, especially for beginners. The pressure is still on to capture stunning portrait shots, and unless you take the right approach, you may end up with a lot of mediocre results.
I’ve conducted many a session with a beautiful bride, and I’ve learned a few things along the way that’ll help your session go much smoother (and ensure you capture some outstanding images!). So if you do bridal photography – or you hope to break into the market – I encourage you to read the following tips, starting with:
1. Try the white sheet trick
Most brides are extremely concerned about keeping their dresses pristine for the wedding. Lots of dresses have long trains and can very easily pick up dirt and debris, especially if you do your photoshoot outdoors – on a beach, by a river, on a lawn, etc.
And while it may not be possible to avoid dirt and debris completely, there is a handy trick that you can use:
Put a large white sheet down on the ground where you’d like the bride to pose. Have them hold their dress and carefully step onto the sheet. Then carefully arrange the dress before tucking the sheet right under the edges.
Before you take your first shot (or after you ask them to make a major pose shift), be sure to check to make sure the sheet isn’t extremely obvious. Fortunately, if a bit of the sheet happens to peek out, it usually isn’t detectable, since it matches the dress!
Pro tip: You could keep your own dedicated “bridal portrait sheet” for your outdoor portrait sessions, or you could ask the bride to bring one along with them. Just make sure that one of you remembers that sheet on the day of the photoshoot! Read More…
