A Shot-List is often brought to a wedding photographer’s consultation by a prospective bride. At Sterling photography, we have mixed feelings about these photography Shot-List. If you are a perspective bride, you know you can find these Shot-List charts in most wedding planning guides and bridal magazines. A Shot-List is a list of “must have” moments, portraits and images to be made on your wedding day. These shot lists can be a blessing or a bane to a photographer.
Sterling has recently been called, “the memory-whisperer” for smoothly creating group shots like this one in record time.
On the one hand, they are organizational helpers. On the other hand they tend to transform weddings into cookie-cutter versions of each other. In a subtle way, the shot list can block the unique story that each couple–and each photographer wants to tell.
The intrinsic problem with a Shot-List is many brides want to include everything they find in the shot list published by the latest issue of a bridal magazine or online.
We wish a bride would realize these lists are general guidelines that present an entire wardrobe of possibilities. For example, we recently saw a Shot-List distributed at a wedding fair, and it was was 9 pages long! 4 of the pages were lists of posed formal groupings at the front of the church after the ceremony!
A Shot List: Good for Planning, But Don’t Chain Your Day or Your Photographer to it.
We are sending you a special alert. Let Sterling warn you about a long, contrived Shot-List: That much pre-planned shooting before the wedding or after the ceremony might halt the flow of the story of the day.
What We don’t want is to be accused of turning the wedding experience into a modeling photo shoot. We want to maintain the sense that it is a celebration of the couple and perhaps, the joining of two families. By the same token, we want you to have the shots you most want as the memories are made.
Short Shot-List! Our Version of those Critical, Historical, Family Group Formal Shots:
At their best a list of pictures to make, can help keep everyone organized and maintain your time line on track at the wedding day. At their worst, they can
An unplanned, unposed but major groomsmen portrait–not on any Shot-List!
inject a joyless militarism and a paint-by-number approach to the wedding.
In other words, some brides neglect the most unique aspects of their wedding day story in order to follow the classic outline.
The same thing can happen if a bride chooses to fake out a spontaneous Pinterest moment that was originally a unique moment for some other bride.
A Shot-List: Some of the Most Memorable Moments are not On It!
The most famous example of this is the shot of the wedding party lined up and running in the surf and down the beach. At some individual wedding long ago, this happened spontaneously.
It went viral, and became widely popular. However, you should remember, a big jolly run down the beach might not really fit the people, style and mood of your beach wedding, –It is not required.
Shot-List Bliss or Bother?
A bride with a detailed shot list thinks she can end up with the exact images she wants of her wedding story. The operative word is “thinks,” because when, dear bride, you are in the moment, new experiences always reveal themselves. Those unique and unplanned experiences become the memorable moments.
If your photographer(s) are busy sticking to a list, how can they catch those rare spontaneous moments that happen very quickly? –Or–How can they stroll away, blend in and catch lovely, cute or enlightening little photojournalistic moments?
The Short-List: Shot-List Precautionary Suggestions
It’s their day, too! Stress-free fun with Sterling Photography
Of course, we believe some wedding photography lists provide great talking points to orient a photographer to a bride’s taste and wedding style. However, the purpose of our article this week to extend a few precautionary suggestions about planning your wedding day images.
Naturally, part of the plan is for group shots after the ceremony. Sterling suggests the time be spent with these main ones:
- The wedding party.
- The couple with both (or all) sets of parents, grand parents.
- The couple with immediate family members of each family.
- Sweet, elegant, or romantic shots of the couple, alone with each other, in the ceremony environment. Sterling has specialized training in these beautiful moments, to make you both look your best as a couple. (Alternatively, yes it is trendy to do these shots before the wedding, if the couple so prefers.)
- More groups can be photographed as part of the reception assignment. This includes the new couple with aunts, cousins, best friends, guests. They do not all need to be shot at the front of the ceremony hall or church
So…Set Your “Must Have” Group Portrait Limits!
You notice there are not 9, 6, or 4 pages of these must-have family shots! Our list includes only the most historic ones everyone should have. Even with an experienced photographer, formal photos take a little time to set up and light. The photos in between your ceremony and your reception should be a limited part of your list. We want you to have photos of special family groups. However, some lists are extremely detailed, and they block the flow of the wedding day story.
- We say this because, not matter what you plan, you and your friends and relatives will be eager for the customary festivities of the party. Realize, the organizational structure makes them slower than you want to them to be. Thus, by their very nature, they have to be. We suggest you plan a limited number big shots of family groups after the ceremony. Warn your selected family people to meet at the back of the venue. (See “A” Below.)
- This will allow the guests to depart for the reception, and will keep the family group together. When the groups scatter, it is endlessly and embarrassedly difficult to keep calling for people to add to the shots. Sterling and most photographers cringe at this behavior, and here are three great cures for it:
Avoid Scatter Problems And Save Time For The Party!
A. Notes! Place a note in the pre-selected portrait group’s invitation. Let them know that they will be involved in this phase of the day and we can avoid the scatter effect.
B. Appoint a Hero, the Pointer! Secondly, people tend get bored with these directed set-ups very quickly. One great help for your photographer is to assign a “pointer” who can point out the most important people who are at the reception.
C. Table Shots! Plenty of smaller group shots can be made during the party. They might make more sense for the story of the day, and their different backgrounds will enhance the variety of shots you will have in your collection. Plan to visit each table with your photographer, and visit with small groups of your wedding guests, for memorable shots.
Give Yourself Time To Enjoy Your Wedding Day!
Remember to enjoy the day you planned. When the that glorious day arrives, relax! You’ve got this! Makes sure you invest in a professional photographer(s) who appeals to you in talent and temperament. Then have a talk about shots. Then relax, and but let him or her tell your story through the lens on that special day.
Sterling helps make your wedding stress-free. He’ll help you focus on being in the moment. That way you won’t get so wound up in the details that you forget to enjoy the big picture: It’s the groom’s day too! And it’s a love story day.
