Insight - What I do if I have never been to your venue as a wedding photographer.
It comes up a lot when I have a chat with a new couple looking to book me for their wedding, “Have you photographed a wedding there before?”. It’s a legitimate and valid question. It’s important, but probably not as important as you think.
Okay, let’s get into this. It’s a very real concern for nearly every couple that I speak too, whether I’ve photographed at their specific wedding venue or not. I get it. You would possibly prefer someone that’s got experience at your venue. But have you asked yourself why? The answer is probably because you think that means they know all of the “secret” spots, the “best” compositions or the day will run more smoothly.
I’d be lying my chebs off if I said that a couple of those things didn’t matter to a certain degree. A photographer that has shot at a venue multiple times a year for 10-years always has a slight advantage of knowledge because they know the venue and it’s layout. But that is where the advantage stops in terms of venue knowledge, and I will explain why below. No matter the profession, if you have a job to do you carry out all of your due diligence before hand, including a site/venue visit if needed. As the old adage goes, preparation and planning prevents piss poor performance. Being a wedding photographer is no different.
When I was brand new to the industry I shot at lots and lots of venues that I have never set foot in before. I still do now. So what did I do before the wedding day? I carried out a venue visit before hand either by myself, with the venue coordinator or the couple that have hired me to cover their wedding.
This year I had the responsibility of covering a wedding at Pentney Abbey. A venue I knew about, but have never had the opportunity to shoot at. Here’s what I did before hand. Wait, I should mention that a lot of the images in this post have two images. One from a phone, and one from a camera. Make sure to check them both out to see the difference between a site visit and the wedding day images.
*a little disclaimer. Pentney Abbey is an absolutely beautiful venue with lots of light. I don’t mean to do it a disservice with the iPhone images, it’s a phone after all.
It all starts from that initial contact form.
As soon as you hit the send button in that contact form (hopefully) you’ve included your venue. If i have never been to that venue, I immediately pull up my browser and search for it on Google and Maps. I want to know where it is, what it looks like, the style of the venue, previous images captured there, the kind of website they keep and what they offer to their couples. It tells me a lot about your style and what I can do for you in terms of your photography.
Using Maps I also like to check all of the routes I may use on your day. This gives me a realistic idea of start/end times, as well as how realistic any requests are for the day during the consultation process.
When do I carry out my venue visit?
Once you’re booked in and have decided you want me as your photographer, I then start thinking about when and how I will visit your venue.
If your wedding is in the peak of summer under a clear blue sky, there is absolutely no point in me visiting in the cold depths of a blustery British December. That would be pointless and stupid. I want to see the venue in as similar conditions as I can get to the day of your wedding.
I also don’t want to visit the moment you book in if your wedding isn’t for another two years. What if they redecorate by then? What if the layout changes? What if you decide to change venues?
For those exact reasons I typically liaise with the General Manager or Coordinator to organise a time and date for visiting around a month before the day of your wedding. If you want to come along and show me some spaces you’ve seen or just simply have a walk around and chat about your photography that’s good for me too. As an example, I have a wedding at Hautbois Hall at the end of May. I have a walk round already planned in with my second photographer and venue coordinator at the start of May.
What happens during a visit?
Simply put, I am looking for the light, for portrait compositions and to get accustomed with the layout of the venue so that I know where everything is.
Light, where is it?
No matter which room you’re going to be in, whether its the ceremony room or reception room, I want to know where the light is going to be in relation to my subjects, especially the couple. Sometimes I can control where you’ll be, sometimes I can’t, but if I know where the light is and roughly where you’ll be I can plan ahead.
On top of that, if there isn’t enough light? There are some venues that don’t allow flash to be used, such as Norwich castle due to the artwork. So, can I use flash? When can I use it? How would I use it? Quite a lot of questions that need answering.
Above you can see an iPhone image from a venue visit and a camera image from the day of a real wedding.
Now, is this lovely room in Pentney Abbey as dark as the iPhone image makes it look? Absolutely not. It’s a lovely beautiful room. But a camera (without getting too deep and technical) wants to expose for the brightest area so that you can see the details i.e the windows, making the shadows look a lot darker than they are. If you expose for the dark areas then the lightest areas just go white and you can’t salvage them in editing. That’s where the photographer comes in. I want to know where the light is coming from and how each area looks before the day of your wedding so that I can have a plan ahead of your day.
One last example (above). This is the ceremony room. Again, another iphone vs camera image. What was I thinking here?
Well, there is some lovely light coming through the main window which will be on the couple, but I won’t know to what intensity until the day. But look at that light drop off after the first row of seats, almost no direct light getting beyond the third row when looking from this direction. And due to the size of the window, barely any direct light on the walls or ceiling. And this is without people in the room. I knew I would most certainly need to use some sort of flash for how I like to shoot. But how?
In the edited image the couple were sat to the left of the window facing the first row, so no direct or indirect lighting on them. I decided to use direct flash (straight at the couple).
I typically like to bounce the light off of the ceiling or a wall to make it softer, but the ceilings were too high, and in this shot the wall was so close to the couple it would have added severe shadows to one side of the face. And when thinking about it you can’t bounce light off of a red brick wall, it will create a horrible red/orange colour cast on the subject. You do not want to look sunburnt and wearing a red wedding dress. There’s a lot to consider when it comes to photographing a venue, how to use the available light and when to add light using flash.
Checkout the images below for more visit images taken with an iPhone. (I wasn’t looking for quality photo’s from these ones, just some reference images). You can see how the light/exposure changes given the situation, direction and subject.
Finding compositions
Looking for compositions is much simpler. I’m looking for textures, patterns, unique areas, walking lanes and backdrops, as well as colours. I absolutely try and avoid big blocks of green colouring such as hedges and compact trees in my backgrounds. I much prefer using architectural features and textures.
Once I have images from certain areas that I really like, I can go away and begin planning what I want to do with the couple.
Meeting with the coordinator.
If you have an event planner/coordinator then I always like to touch base with them at this point. Having a good rapport and getting the straight facts about the day from the person in charge of running it smoothly is always a wise move. This is also the time for me to ask them if there are any “typical” spots that are used for group photo’s or “special” spots that can be used for portraits. They know the venue the best after all.
Meeting with you.
Lastly, I sometimes get to meet up and walk round with the people that have hired me in the first place. From the time of booking to the big day we don’t get to meet up much on a face-to-face basis, so it’s always great if we can grab a coffee and walk around together whilst having a chat about your photography and your plans for the day.
And if I can’t visit the venue?
Let’s face it, sometimes reality gets in the way of even the best intentions. I’m from a town in Norfolk. If your wedding venue is in Scotland or Cornwall, then it may be a bit of a reach to do a pre-wedding venue visit.
That doesn’t mean planning has to stop.
The internet is a superb source of information, and it’s great for venue scouting in advance.
That being said, if I can’t visit a new venue in advance I will always arrive around an hour earlier than expected on the day of the wedding to have a full walk round of all the areas.
If it’s a destination wedding, typically I would be in the area the day before the wedding at a minimum giving the opportunity to visit before the wedding day.
Was that a lot of info?
Hopefully that gives you a bit of an understanding that it doesn’t necessarily matter whether someone has already photographed at your wedding venue or not.
I will always do all of my planning to the best of my ability for my couples and discuss everything with you as we get closer and closer to your wedding day, especially a venue visit if I haven’t been there before.
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