The Bridal Portrait

Damien Franco | Jan 26, 2009 | Comments Comments

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The bright future is right out there

Bridal portraits are all about style and elegance. A good photographer should work at capturing the natural beauty of the bride in her wedding gown. While the details of the wedding gown shouldn’t be overlooked, it is important to not to let those details override the woman wearing the wedding dress.

During a formal bridal portrait session it’s probably a good idea to get a variety of poses that would include; full length images, 3/4’s images, and head and shoulders images all with and without the use of the bouquet as a prop.

During the posing of a full-length bridal pose ensure that you pick up the train of the gown and let it fall naturally allowing for graceful flow and curves. This will add to the elegance of the occasion. Be aware that in these full-length poses you do not want to “cut off” the gown at the bottom of the image.

The grace of a bridal portrait can be further enhanced by ensuring that the bride is not standing square to the camera. Have her pose at an angle with the majority of her weight on one foot. This will allow for a more flowing curvature of form and a flattering look. It a bouquet is in use it should be held slightly above the waist in a natural and graceful way. Look for flowing lines in both the body and the dress and have the arms bent in a way that does not produce hard angles.

One thing to be aware of is the possibility of “blowing out” the dress. This often occurs when the light metering mechanisms of the camera get fooled by too much white in the image. Use your exposure compensation to correct for this or a light meter.

Soft lighting tends to work best in these situations. If you’re in a studio environment or are using strobes you’ll want to use a soft box or shoot-thru umbrella. Feathering the light also works well in these situations. If you’re on location look for soft window light with diffuser curtains. You really want to pay close attention to the contrast in lighting and to try to keep the lighting as soft and low key as possible.

Of course these are just some simple guidelines to get you started. As with all guidelines in photography, experimentation is fundamental to becoming a better photographer. I’ve seen plenty of really great “hard light” bridal portraits using sharp angles. Practice and time will help you to fine tune your own style.

Photograph The bright future is right out here by Stina Stockholm

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