Capturing Love with Lens

Marigold Events had the pleasure of talking to Sunny and Neeva of Photographick Studios about how couples can get more comfortable working with their wedding photographer. Photographick is a couture studio based out of Washington DC focusing on couples who value one of a kind individualized art. The studio focuses on turning timeless memories into immortalized art by encompassing all forms of photography and graphic design.

Q. What is one of the biggest challenges faced by a wedding photographer?

A. Education, a lot of potential clients think that our job is merely to click a camera button. But our job is to capture their love through the medium of the camera, thus we need to position our couples in a way where their love and personality shoots off the frame. Set up lighting, making
sure the background is perfect and they are posed correctly. Since we always do an engagement session they see us work and more importantly they see the results of our work so they know what to expect the day of the wedding. They quickly realize that the artwork they want takes time and make adjustments on their wedding day to ensure they get those priceless, once in a lifetime images. Once the education of what it really takes for an image to be spectacular is understood everything else is a breeze.

Q. How do couples feel about opening up to their photographer?

A. Most people are a little reserved whenever they meet and interact with someone new. This is no different when it comes to your wedding photographer. That being said, opening up to your wedding photographer is vitally important to ensure their day is captured correctly and accurately. Because of the possible hesitation we require an engagement session with each one of our couples, and we encourage every engaged couple to get one done with your wedding photographer. It takes plenty of communication and jokes to ease any tension or discomfort there may be. The goal is to be friends on the wedding days and not vendors. After all you will spend more time with your wedding photographer than your own family, don’t you want someone who you trust and whose company you enjoy being next to you for that long on your wedding day?

Q. How can a couple feel comfortable working with their photographer?

A. One thing our studio requires is an Engagement Session. We’ve noticed that couples who partake in an engagement session are much more relaxed and at ease during their bridal portraits on their wedding day. We also tell jokes, tell embarrassing stories and when that doesn’t work we break out the trusty old flask (kidding…kind of).

Q. How does an engagement photo shoot make the couple more at ease with the idea of being in front of the camera?

A. The benefit of the engagement session is twofold. First, it allows us to see how the couple looks best in front of the camera. If the groom blinks a lot or if the height difference between the couple is significant, it is always beneficial to know these things before the wedding day. We can pose the couple in such a way so the height difference will not look awkward or take several shots of the same pose to ensure we get one of the groom with his eyes open.

Another benefit of the engagement session is for the couple to interact and get comfortable in front of their photographer. You can see firsthand how the photographer works and what their style is. We also share posing tips and tricks. We’ll teach you the best way to pose in order to show off your curves, make your shoulders look more broad, minimize the size of one’s neck, etc.

Maybe the best benefit of the engagement session are the fabulous images you can cherish for a lifetime. You can also use these images for your save the date cards, your wedding website or guest signature book.

Q. How would you suggest the couple choose their engagement photo shoot location?

A. We let our couples choose the location of their engagement session. We encourage them to choose a location that is significant to both of them. It could be the location of your first date or even where he proposed. Significant locations make for more meaningful photos because the couple is invested with the location, the couples can reminisce about the meaning of the location and they both know the area well. We encourage outdoor locations in a season which is different from when the couple is getting married. For example, if the wedding is to take place in the middle of summer we encourage the engagement session to take place in the autumn or fall.

Q. How should a couple pose/be during the engagement photo shoot to get the best out of the session?

A. The couples should be refreshed, happy and excited. After all they are getting beautiful pictures of them taken that they can cherish for a lifetime.