How long does capturing a portrait take?

The timing of your wedding day or portrait session is one of those things which seems easy to plan, but may require a closer look and more planning. The question is why is it so difficult to plan out a simple schedule? It’s not that it’s difficult to plan out a schedule, where it becomes tricky is that you must have an understanding of how your photographer operates and the process of creating an image.

When we take a closer look at planning out your wedding day schedule, the first thing that you must ask yourself is “What is most important to me?” To some couples it’s their wedding album images, while others may prioritize video or the reception entertainment. Your priorities and preferences are a good starting point when it comes to setting your schedule for the day. If photographs and memories of your day are very important to you, then a good amount of time must be allocated for capturing those memories. What is a “good amount of time”? This is a question which is best answered by the photographer with whom you are working with.

The schedule that we follow in my studio is that we arrive approximately one hour before the bride is ready. I work with the bride to capture images of details, hair/makeup, and the girls having a fun time. This is also enough time for me to capture images of the guys as they get ready as well. Once the bride is dressed and ready to go, we spend about 20 minutes doing bridal portraits.

Then we move on to the part of the day which many feel shouldn’t take as long as it does…portraits of the bride and groom. What’s important to understand here is that a professional photographer will rarely just point a camera at you and capture a perfect image. More often than not there will be other sources of light used to create your images or a variety of other photo equipment which professional photographers use. This is where the time comes into play so that each image captured can be well lit, posed, and composed. For the bridal portraits I advise the brides that I work with that three hours is a good amount of time. It seems like a long time and for a professional they should be able to work much faster than that, however you must remember that on your wedding day, everything takes just a smidge longer than normal. You’re now riding in a larger limo perhaps and not your personal vehicle, makeup retouches, coordinating the entire bridal party…all of which takes time. And one of the biggest reasons for the three hour window is so that you are not being rushed! Your portrait session is typically your final moments together alone before the chaos and excitement of your ceremony and reception. It should be a time for you to relax and enjoy each other’s company and not simply be rushed from pose to pose. Your portrait session should feel like a nice deep breath of fresh air.

The same idea caters to an individual or family portrait session. I always tell clients that they should not approach their photo shoot as just a portrait session. In fact the words “portrait session” to me sound like something I would go to Sears for. Your photographer is there to capture you…the true image of you, with just a click of the shutter button on the camera. If you have a busy day at the office before and then have 20 minutes for a portrait session before having to run off to pick up the kids from day care, then perhaps that will show in your images. What if instead of approaching it as a portrait session as indicated by a small time slot on your calendar you were to take your significant other out on a lake front picnic which you planned in advance. Bring along some candles, your favorite bottle of wine and approach the entire evening as a “date” for which I will be with you for a brief period of time for some relaxing and fun images…how would that experience compare to just being a time slot in between other busy events on your calendar?

Keep some of these ideas in mind when you’re planning your wedding day or other photo session and you just might be surprised at how the entire experience may end up being a lot more fun and relaxing. As always, please feel free to comment or send an email to mike@novophotography.com