In today’s continuation of Wedding Photography Week, I thought I might address nerves. Most of us haven’t been schooled by our handlers in the fine art of mugging for the paparazzi because most of us haven’t spent all that much time being shadowed by professional photographers. Consequently, some brides and grooms find the notion of being followed around for six or more hours by hired photographers slightly disconcerting. And that’s on top of the usual worries that many people have about looking not quite right – or worse, just plain wrong – in photographs.

By Chris Hanley Photography

For some, the answer is to grin and bear it. For others, it’s to duck their photographer for as much of the wedding as possible. Others try to pose every time they see the photographer’s lens and end up looking awkward as a result. And still others do nothing, but spend what seems like the rest of their lives groaning over wedding photos they feel do not do them justice. (I was in the latter two camps, but I later assembled a wonderful album full of truly candid shots and reconciled myself to the fact that this is just what I look like.) With all this in mind, I’m curious to know what you’re doing or what you did to prepare for your wedding photos and whether you’re feeling nervous about your wedding photos in general.

Oh, other things I want to know: Do you like how you look in most photos? (I sure don’t like how I photograph!) Did you choose your wedding photographer based on her or his ability to make regular folks look amazing? (I sure wish I had!)

Well, hello, Monday! It’s still, yes, still Wedding Photography Week. Mainly because there are still lots of wedding photos and wedding photography tips I feel like sharing with you. As of next week, we’ll be back to the regularly scheduled programming here at Manolo for the Brides, in case you were starting to worry I’d gone snap happy.

To kick off the second week of all wedding photos, all the time – and don’t forget, you’re welcome to send in your wedding photos whether you’re a bride, groom, or photog – I wanted to talk a little bit about wedding photo TMIs. I’m not so much referring to sassy boudoir photography in the bridal chamber, but more to pictures like this:

Photo by Stacey Kane

And these two:

Wish I had a source for this one!

By Kathryn Brittain

Lest you think brides are having all the wedding photo TMI, grooms and their groomsmen sometimes get in on the action:

By Tim McPain

Whether or not you decide to let your wedding photographer take any TMI wedding photos is up to you – maybe you say no way, maybe you have some taken and keep them in a non-public album, or maybe you proudly show off your bride on the toilet pics and don’t care who sees them. Whatever the case, make sure your wedding photographer knows your preferences with regard to these kinds of photos AHEAD OF TIME. It’s totally normal and okay to say things like “Please don’t shoot until I’m dressed” and “Please don’t follow us into the bathroom” and “I’d rather none of my wedding photos be embarrassing so keep it clean there, dogg.”

Have you given your photog any particularly restrictions (or did you, once upon a time, for our post-wedding readership)?

Naturally, this being Wedding Photography Week, this edition of LOVE/HATE has to do with photos! Specifically, wedding photographs that are taken in such a way as to… actually, I’m not quite sure how you’d explain what’s happening here. Which I assume is happening on purpose.

Nice pair, er, pears!

The other assumption that I would charitably make is that the couple in question was the sort that would be okay with having a snap in their wedding album that was a play on the whole perfect pear thing. Perfect pear, perfect pair. You see? Or maybe it was just an accident? What do you think of cutesy wedding photos that are vaguely naughty?

In today’s Wedding Photography Week post, I’d love to hear about your outdoor wedding photos. And I don’t mean posed shots in the scenic gardens next to some reception venue’s parking lot, but rather brides and grooms hitting the streets in their wedding finery along with willing wedding photographers. Which is SO something I wish I’d done, but we weren’t nearby anywhere worth running around. I want to know how many of you went gallivanting in gowns or plan to!

By Craig Williams Photography

Also by Craig Williams Photography

Now, the only problem with taking your wedding photos to the street is that it requires some planning. You have to find the time to do it – as in, you need to schedule the time before your ceremony or before the reception if there will be a longish break after the ceremony. You need to have a destination in mind and some way to get there and back to your venue. There should be a contingency plan in place in case of weather, and you should have a reasonably good idea that you won’t end up being questioned by Homeland Security for taking photographs in your chosen location. And so on.

But don’t forget that you’ll still have your wedding gear for a while after the wedding – and if a tux rental is involved, it can be extended – so you don’t have to take your walkin’ around photos on your wedding day. You can even do what Rain and Peter did, and take your walkin’ around photos on your honeymoon! Easy? Maybe not, but it sure beats rushing around on your wedding day to stage outdoor wedding photos designed specifically to make it look like you’re not actually rushing around, no?.

Is that Dick Cheney under there?

Whether you’re taking photos indoors or outdoors, you run the risk of seeing a couple of wedding photobombs in your collection of wedding photos. Especially if the bomber is particularly crafty or just not all that obvious, you could even end up with wedding photobombs in your otherwise pretty wedding album! While I’m guessing a guest’s huge grin or, yes, a horse isn’t what you imagined you’d find among your wedding pics, it’s better to laugh about it than to cry about it. Even when a bomber interferes with an otherwise perfect picture. And there’s always Photoshop, right? Until it happens to you (and also when it happens to you) my advice is to have a chuckle at wedding photobombs because they’re all part of the fun.

HEY, GUYS!

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…I guess the first half of Wedding Photography Week is dealing mainly with silliness!

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that my favorite style of wedding photography is wedding photojournalism. Given a choice, I’d rather see gritty, real wedding photos with brides and grooms who look like themselves. Best case scenario? I’m looking at action shots or spontaneous that give me a pretty clear idea of the kind of wedding ceremony and reception you had and how the day really looked and felt. Posed wedding photographs? Eh, nice in a frame on the wall, but not the kind of thing I want to flip through. For serious – on a table in my house you’ll find both my traditional wedding album and my photojournalistic wedding album. Guess which one I look at more often?

BUT given a third choice, I’d much rather look at either traditional wedding photos or photojournalistic photos than I would weird photoshopped wedding photos featuring, well, this sort of thing:

I think I need a drink...

And this sort of thing:

A la Harry Potter, they yell at you when you don't sign in.

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It struck me just the other day that we probably don’t talk about wedding photography as much as we could around here. Possibly because we’re not expert wedding photographers – unless Twistie has been keeping secrets from me. Or I’ve been keeping secrets from her and from you. But I haven’t. I’ve just been taking a lot of photographs recently, so photography is on my mind. Wedding photography in particular, of course. And since having a theme for the week makes my life easier and two and two make four, I am declaring this WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY WEEK at Manolo for the Brides!

Now, you don’t have to wait until the actual big day to have some serious wedding photography fun. For the hardcore wedding photography enthusiast, there’s the Chinese practice of taking insane amounts of wedding photos way before the actual wedding. And for the less dedicated among us, there are always engagement photo shoots and photo save-the-dates and photo wedding invitations. Which is what Toni shared with me just the other day, and she was kind enough to say I could share with you. (Uh, in case you missed it, our very own Toni is engaged, so show her some love!)

This is the back

And this is the front (or is that the other way around...)

I love ‘em, don’t you?! Toni’s wedding invitation makes me wish The Beard and I had done something with photos of ourselves – even our postcard save-the-dates featured a vintage photo with a dour bride and groom instead of a snapshot of us. Oh, well! That’s why I live vicariously through you lovelies and through all the research I do for this blog. Speaking of, to kick start Wedding Photography Week, I though I’d make a list of some of my favorite posts about wedding photography here at Manolo for the Brides for those who may have missed them the first go around.

• A link to a great instructional site for DIY wedding photos
• Fun wedding photos to take as a group
• Wedding photography etiquette for guests
• Some of the best wedding photos around
• Just some brides on bikes!
• How about those artsy-fartsy wedding photos?
• Handling the taller bride and shorter groom “problem”
• On being yourself in your wedding photos

Enjoy! (P.S. – I may extend Wedding Photography Week into two weeks, just because there’s plenty to talk about! P.P.S. – Want to share your wedding photos or wedding photos you’ve taken? Email me the best ones, and I’ll post them!)