Wedding Photography | Taking Wedding Photos in a Church

Taking Wedding Photos in a Church

Filed Under Misc Wedding Photography | 4 Comments

It is your wedding day.  If you’re the bride, the most important day of your life.  The dress is perfect.  Your groom is in the building; your brothers are guarding the exits, so he can’t escape.  The flowers are here, the cake is perfect.  Everything looks to be perfect, that is until your professional wedding photographer comes and says there’s a problem.  The church is telling him that he is limited to certain areas, and that will limit what photos he can take.  Even worse, he could be restricted from taking ANY photos during the ceremony.

Take this advice from a church pianist / organist:

Each church has its own restrictions on locations and timing for photos. Often, there surprises at wedding start time or during the ceremony.

1. Some churches do not allow ANY photos during the ceremony.
2. In most Catholic churches, photographers are forbidden to stand on or walk near the altar area for shots. This greatly limits your chances to get face views of the bride and groom during the ceremony.

Last year I played for a wedding where the photographer got too bold in shooting and the minister stopped the ceremony to banish the photographer from the building for the remainder of the ceremony. It was ugly, but keep in mind that the minister has that right because it is seen as a sacred ceremony.

Be certain to discuss your shoot areas with a CHURCH representative. Church wedding coordinators usually help make your job go smoothly. A good coordinator will give you tips on hidden locations where you can get some fantastic shots during the ceremony.

What is important to remember is that this goes for the professional as well as the amateur.

Here are some points to remember and hopefully you won’t be kicked out of the ceremony:

  1. Turn the sound off on your camera.  On some cameras, the flash makes a noise.  It’s annoying, turn it off.
  2. Don’t disrupt the event trying to get a shot.  If you must move during the ceremony, try to do so during songs.  You will not be stealthy, no matter what you do.

Working with a wedding planner will also help not only get you the information you need for your wedding photography needs, but also can help with planning for what shots you MUST have along with the best possible positioning.

Comments

4 Responses to “Taking Wedding Photos in a Church”

  1. April on June 23rd, 2009 10:51 pm

    Pretty cool post. I just came by your blog and wanted to say
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  4. melissa on August 14th, 2009 7:01 pm

    This was quite helpful, especially the part about turning off the sound on your camera. I would of never of thought of that.

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