Tips on Wedding Photography by Dan Harris

Dan Harris is one of Jacksonville’s most decorated and experienced wedding photographer.  He has been shooting weddings for 20+ years and has been with Premier Bride since the beginning of publishing in the local market.  If you are looking to hire a true wedding professional, look no further then Dan!

Below are tips that Dan has complied to help brides and grooms navigate choosing a photographer.

This may be different from what others may say, but: Dan Says: “It’s good to collect images of the type of pictures you like and share them with your photographer before your event. We like to work from a list, especially for the group shots, to insure we don’t miss anyone. We like to sit down a few weeks before the wedding with the bride, her timeline, sample pictures and her list and make sure the photography schedule doesn’t ruin the wedding-day schedule.”

In regards to guest photography: “We want everyone at the wedding to get all the pictures they want on their cameras and mobile devices (but the bride may not want pictures of people taking pictures) so we ask the bride to make it clear to the guests what her desires are and to insure that the paid photographers have priority. We usually ask that the wedding guests don’t move from their seats during the ceremony and not interrupt the flow of the professional group photos as there will be plenty of time during the days activities for guests to get some good pictures without ruining the paid professionals pictures.”

In regards to photo prep: “An engagement session is a great trial-run opportunity for your photographer to see how you do in front of a camera and to show you some posing tips prior to your wedding” – Dan Harris

In regards to makeup: “Professional makeup can improve how the bride looks especially in non-professional pictures, but because we include complete retouching of every picture we take the makeup isn’t as critical to our end results, sometimes less is more.” – Dan Harris

General advice- Dan believes: “Today too many bride’s are disappointed because they settled for unfinished digital files on a CD that they later learned are unable to give them the family heirloom album they had really hoped for. Years later their unrealized dreams are deteriorating in a drawer somewhere. That’s why we include a finished album in every package.”   – Dan Harris

“It’s a wedding day, not a modeling photo session, all photography for the day should naturally flow within the scheduled timeline and not become an interruption to the wedding day.”

Forgot a couple: When making your schedule:  “Be sure to take into consideration when sunset is on your wedding day as that beautiful panoramic view at your location will be gone shortly after sunset” – Dan Harris

ON seeing each other beforehand: “Some photographers encourage couples to break tradition and have a first look several hours before the ceremony so they can get their photographs out of the way without being late to their reception. We don’t require the bride to get her dress dirty several hours before going down the isle. We have found that most brides are a bit nervous before the ceremony and that nervousness will show in the pictures. We work within the brides schedule to get the best photos possible without being an interruption to the day. Pre-planning is the key. Having photographed more than 500 weddings, we have never made a bride late to her own party.”

For more information or to contact Dan Harris Photo Art click here!