These days wedding photographers do tend to have a lot of creative freedom in their hands. Thanks to the advent of social media more and more young couples are looking for that unique photo of their wedding which is going to wow their social media contacts. It is not strange to find a T-Rex gate-crashing a wedding making everybody run for their lives. Times have changed since the first wedding images which was a formal affair with stiff poses and several-minutes of exposure time. Wedding couples are looking for creative ideas for wedding photography and they are not shy to try out some bizarre options. That’s the theme of our discussion today – unusual creative ideas for wedding photography.
Playing the opposite roles
Now, this is a real funny idea. Get the bride and the groom to play roles opposite to who they are. Meaning, let the bride play the role of the groom and the groom that of the bride. How exactly would they do it? Get a mask of a painted lip and one of a big moustache and hand them over to the couple to play out the opposite sex. Alternatively, you could ask the bride to use her hair as a moustache. You could even encourage them to do some roleplay. Let the bride pick up the groom (some Photoshop magic required) instead of the other way round.
Jump for joy
This one’s for the whole wedding party. Compose the image, set the exposure settings, set your camera on continuous shooting speed. Then ask for your subjects to jump as high as they can. Make sure that your aperture is small to ensure a large depth of field. This will prevent any blurring in case some of the people drop back or push forward while jumping. Push your ISO a bit higher in case the desired aperture and shutter speed is unable to give you a sharp image. A continuous drive will give you several images to choose from.
The just married photo has been done quite a lot. But then, you don’t have to do the same thing that every other photographer has done before you. Let the bride drive the scooter and the groom ride pillion. Let’s not even have that. Let’s park the scooter, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, with the bride and the groom lost in each other. A good location is imperative for such a shot. If you are unable to get one, you can always shoot the base image against a green screen and then insert the scene in post.
The couple on the wedding cake
This picture will require some smart Photoshop work as it will be a composite image. You’ll have to blend two images – one where the bride and the groom is shot against a white wall or green screen and the second that features the wedding cake. In Photoshop you will then cut the bride and groom out of the first image and place it scaled down on to the second; which showcases the wedding cake. It needs a bit of deft touch to pull this off.
One with the balloons
I have seen far too many images of the wedding couple holding balloons in a multitude of poses. They are always cute and kind of gives off a fervor of the occasion and they are feeling. Two love birds just can’t wait to start their life together. However, I don’t like to see the same pose repeated over and over again. Instead of doing it in the clichéd way try to bring in some unique elements.
The agile groom / backflip move
This is something that is risky. So caveat emptor rules applicable here folks. Only try this with a groom who is super-fit and is capable of pulling off this move. It basically involves a backflip and capturing the precise moment when the groom is in mid-air. You need to set your camera to continuous burst made. That way you have a series of images to choose from.
Loser drops the wedding cake move
Imagine a group shot of the wedding party. The bridesmaids, the groomsmen, the wedding couple. Everyone is in the frame. All of them happy and smiling. And then someone flips over, with the wedding cake! Imagine the shock on everyone’s face. Of course this is not real. This is staged. But it could work as an imaginative party pooper shot. A fantastic one at that, if you can get some good acting from some of the people in the shot.
To do this you need a dummy cake which is expensive. The other solution is to have a cake that is photoshopped. There are platforms such as Phowd.com where you can outsource your photo editing chores. You will find really good photo editors on this platform. All you need is a bit of smart camerawork and some smart actors. You can hire an editor to add that element for you for a small fee.
The stormy sky look
I love this shot. It brings several elements together. The stormy sky forms a tumultuous background and threatens to dampen the mood of the newly-wed couple. But they are completely oblivious of the surrounding. It is a nice image. One that is high in contrast and tells a fact of life – when you have your loved one by your side you can take on anything.
Jump over the dress move
Simple and effective. You don’t even have to do a lot of work in order to get this shot. Simply ask a bridesmaid to hold out the bride’s dress and ask the groom to jump over it. That’s it. Make sure that you have your camera set to continuous shooting mode. Just be careful. Although it is simple to copy and there is nothing difficult in terms of capturing the moment, there are a lot of things moving in the shot. If the timing of the jump isn’t right or if someone moves at the wrong moment, the dress can easily get ruined. In the worst case scenario someone can get injured by landing awkwardly. So, please take care if you attempt this shot.
The flying monk pose
This is for those adventurous brides and grooms who would like to really try something different. The best creative ideas for wedding photography comes off when you have a willing couple. Imagine a groom floating in thin air! Nothing impossible. All you need is a bit of Photoshop magic. To achieve this image you need to shoot two frames. One which will have the groom seated on a chair with the bride looking on. In the next frame all of them would be removed and just the background will be shot. Ensure that nothing changes in between the two shots.
The exposure and the focusing should be locked for the first shot and must remain unchanged in the second. The camera must be on a tripod. In post-processing the two images should be imported as layers. The one with the subject and the chair would be the top layer and the one with just the background would be the bottom layer.
Next, click on the layer mask tool to add a mask to the top layer. Now, take a black brush and paint over the areas that you don’t need. In this case that would be the chair. You will find that magically, the groom will appear to be floating in the air!
If Photoshop is a bit overwhelming for you then hire an expert wedding photo editing professional who will do the work for you.
Rajib Mukherjee
Latest posts by Rajib Mukherjee (see all)
- How to Pick the Best Shooting Mode among Auto, S, A, Manual in any Situation - July 20, 2017
- Camera Settings Presets for Shooting Different Scenes - July 11, 2017
- What to Discuss with Client Before the Photo Shooting - July 6, 2017