Julie + Steve’s Wedding | Millstone at Adams Pond | Columbia, SC

Jun 15, 2017 | Wedding

As photographers we strive to capture the personality and style of the bride and groom, and one way we are able to do that is by capturing their details. Not all, but most of the images in this blog post are purposely composed of detail shots. Detail shots are important for bringing to life the personality of the wedding day and of the couple. Every detail sets one wedding apart from another. A wedding can be a bit of a blank slate until the details start to pile in. Details help to define the mood and to set the tone of the big day. For Julie + Steve’s wedding day the details shots spoke volumes about them. Simple, clean and classic, their wedding day was intimate with friends and family whom they wanted to share their day with. Julie + Steve are laid-back by nature and they chose a calm, serene environment to help celebrate their memorable wedding day.

GEAR: In order for us to capture close-up shots that are crisp, clean, and detailed we use a 100mm Canon macro lens. We often use our Canon macro lens for engagement & wedding ring shots. This lens is so sharp, it never fails to produce high quality images. For most other detail shots we use our 50mm Canon lens, which is also great to use for portraits and low light settings.

WEDDING DAY TIP: A friendly tip we try to remind our couples to do before their wedding day is to get their rings professionally cleaned. When photographing their engagement and wedding bands in detail, a clean and polished band can really go a long way. Our lenses can pick up on every little detail and often times when we are photographing the wedding rings, finger prints, lotions, hair and smudges can be seen or caught on the stone or band. Also, polishing and cleaning the rings make them extra sparkly! and who wouldn’t want that on your wedding day?

Emotions are key in detail shots too! Capturing the intensity or the delicacy of emotions found on the bride’s or groom’s face (and wedding party) can bring a unique vibrancy to their wedding day story. Capturing natural expressions can sometimes be easy, and sometimes, it’s hard work. For some people being in front of a camera is not intimidating and for others it’s just about as uncomfortable as one can be. Our goal is to capture the natural personality of each individual, we try not to force a pose or a grin as we strive to capture their unique way of smiling! Sometimes we encourage naturalness by suggesting to our bride’s and groom’s to “just look natural” or “just feel natural” as it is more about feeling really, than a look.

“Natural” is a feeling that comes from within and there has to be confidence that comes with that too. For those who are timid and more reserved we often say “pretend we are aren’t here taking your picture” or “act like you would if we weren’t here taking your photo, show us what that would look that?”. It’s always so obvious that we are there taking their photo, and they are already so self conscientious of it that it often leads to funny comments that just gets us all laughing, which is perfect because laughter and joy are really natural expressions. Before they know it, they are acting natural and having fun!

Julie + Steve were awesome to photograph and we felt so privileged to be a part of their special day!