Taking great portraits can be the key to becoming a successful wedding photographer in Chicago. While this is only part of your responsibility on the wedding day, portraits are the photos that clients will hang on their wall and pass down to family members over the years.
Your first goal should be getting to know your client and what their favorite spots are. Meeting with a client in advance of the wedding day to discuss your photo ideas is very important. Develop a good rapport and be comfortable working with each other. Meet for coffee and get in sync on what's expected for the portrait session. You can also exchange ideas and give feed back on their selections.
Once you have a good idea of the clients favorite places, go and explore the scene. You should view the locations around the same time you will be shooting. There's no sense going to see a site at 8 am when you will be shooting there at 4 pm on the wedding day. The same goes for seasons; I wouldn't view a park in March if the wedding were September.
Scoping out locations is also a must if you want to take advantage of the time you have to shoot. You'll want to know what type of light will be available that day. Also, create some potential compositions so you can crank out the best shots in the least amount of time. You may want to view the sites on both a sunny and cloudy day too.
Most couples don't have much time to take portraits or bridal party photos so having a few spots picked out in advance is key. Try to pick the best spots close enough to the ceremony and reception to save time and capitalize on the light that's available that day. Most wedding photographers Chicago clients rely on for good portraits view portrait locations in advance.
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