Wedding 101: Family Photos!

Hey guys!  Today I'm introducing a new feature to the blog called Wedding 101.  Weddings are usually pretty complex affairs and I figure that it might be helpful for you if I show and/or talk about some aspects of the wedding and how they relate to photography.  So many times, I have clients that love our style and how we work, but don't really know or understand what is needed from the day in order to achieve those results.  So, today - family photos!

So many people ask me of I shoot family photographs and the answer is...of course!  I don't often show these photos my blog, only because they are really for the individual families and I usually show photos that are more for the general public - more creative and apply more to the wedding itself, rather than the particular family.  But (!), while they are not the most creative photos that we take, they are a high priority for us.  Weddings are about love and family.  They are it and they need their picture taken :).  We go out of our way to make sure all the photos you want of you and your parents and grandparents and Aunt Sally are done and done in a way that is efficient and allows everyone to have a good time.  The last thing we want is everyone standing around, just waiting to get them over with!  We work from a list and that keeps it fast, because we know you don't want to spend 3 hours shooting these (and neither do we!) - you have a party to get to!  We usually like to shoot the closest family (think parents, grandparents, siblings) during the time we set aside for 'family photographs' and save the extended family photos for later in the evening, in a more casual set-up.  Happy family members make for happy photos! 

Family portraits to me really take you back to the day - I love to look back at photographs from our wedding of me and my mom, or Tim and his brother, or Tim and his uncles.  They are truely a moment in time, captured.  Pretty amazing stuff.  Being that we have been to a few weddings :), we know how long we need for these family portraits and we also include a few extra minutes, because, for us, the real moments are the in-between shots.  Sure, we always line the family up or position them nicely in a more formal pose, but it is the sneaky shots, the small moments that are the real keepers.  I'm going to post some of those today - I dare you to not smile looking at these gorgeous brides and grooms with their parents and family members.  I bet you can't do it!

Happy Thursday everyone!

And, to end this, one of my favorite photos from our wedding - this is Tim and his brother Craig (photo by Zlatko Batistich, shot @ Locust Grove). I love that it is both formal and informal at the same time (and Tim looks so happy!!).