Wedding Photo Chat with Ralph Alswang, Thursday, March 20, at 11 AM

I think you should choose a site that has great importance to you. Maybe you had a great date there, or it's important to you somehow personally. That is a better way to approach the portrait session than just picking a random site. The reflecting pool is a beautiful site, and the DC area has many great locations to photograph in.

I think cheap in photography is always dangerous. This is the one concrete piece you're going to walk away with besides each other, so it's important that it's done right. I totally understand the need for budgeting, but on the Washingtonian list of recommended photographers there are many who have associates and different pricing for them. I would contact a few of them. I think it's great to use your friend, but I would be very careful of the results, and the loss of memories if the pictures don't turn out and the loss of friendship if things don't go well.

It depends if you want the photographer to do "getting ready" photographs, such as putting on the dress or doing hair or moments with your good friends as you're getting ready. If you do want that plus take portraits before the ceremony, I think you should give yourself at least two hours. As far as total amount of coverage time, I think you need to book the photographer for at least six hours.

I love all color. I think what makes you happy on your wedding day is what is most important in choosing those things. You should go to Hitched, which is on Washingtonian's vendor list, and Julia and Carin will give you a good point of view on color choice and what's going on with bridal fashion and bridesmaids dresses.

Give yourself a solid 30 minutes by the time you get everybody together to take care of the photos that are needed. I have a theory on posed portraits. It should come down to about 6 groupings. You want a good one of yourself and your partner, you want one of your family together. Make sure you take really good pictures of your direct family. It's always important to keep the parents happy at a wedding. Do his family together, both families together. Then, do the bride with the bridesmaids, then have the groom come in, and the same setup for the groom and the groomsmen. Finally, an image of your bridal party at the location that puts it in context of where you are. I can do all of that within 30 minutes. All of these groupings are important, but what is most important is you all being comfortable and enjoying the process of the portraits. So if less is better for you, then do less. And always share a good kiss.

Two important things: Choose a really good makeup artist from the Washingtonian vendor list. It sounds like you have great eyes and it's important to enhance them and bring them out. If I'm photographing your wedding and you told me this, I would try to find really good locations in the open shade, such as under beautiful trees, or in the indirect sunlight in the door of a church. If you feel yourself squinting, tell your photographer that's happening and you need to find another location to take the picture. 

I can't agree more. Do you have a favorite bar that you had a great date at? Is there a location where you had a wonderful dinner together? Do you have a place that you have a favorite milkshake together? Go there and have a drink together, and you're laughing together and holding martini glasses or sharing a milkshake, and have the photographer capture that. Then, I would go on the street, because usually these places you like are in great areas, and do some really great street portraiture.

I think the use of your time is the most important thing. But with that said, you should discuss this with your photographer one more time to make sure that if you don't all go out there together, that you're comfortable with this not happening and the photographer not getting the info and approach they may need to do the work well. You could ask the photographer to do it early on the wedding day, but it might cut into your coverage time depending on how your package is put together. I would ask the photographer if they've worked there before and what their concerns are.

I believe a photojournalistic documentary style is the best approach. Take 15 to 30 minutes to do a few formal portraits of your family and friends. I think what you'll remember in 20 years are the images that have emotional impact and historical importance, such as your father and mother giving a toast talking about how amazing a person you are and what an incredible moment this is for them. And that's a completely candid moment.

About six years ago when I started really doing serious wedding coverage, I photographed a wonderful bride with her father. At the time I did not know, but her father was dying of cancer. He was an amazing man who had retired as a New York police officer. I grew up in New York City, and so we had a connection. About a week after the wedding the bride contacted me and asked if I could have the photographs ready. This is when digital photography had just started, and it was a month-long process to get images ready for a bride. So I stayed up for 3 days straight so that she could bring the pictures to her father in his bed in the last weeks of his life. These were the last images he saw of his daughter and himself. This is why I love being a wedding photographer—capturing memories that clients will have for their lifetimes and beyond.

I would go on the Washingtonian list and look at Web sites of makeup artists and contact them and see if they need an intern or somebody to help them on wedding days with clients. 

Two years ago I did a beautiful wedding on Bald Head Island in North Carolina. I think it would be a great destination wedding location for Washington couples, especially April or May weddings and September/October weddings. It's off season on the island and you would get good deals. It's a barrier island off the coast of Wilmington, North Carolina, and it's just pristine and beautiful.

I love black and white. But the majority of my weddings, about 30% of the images are in black and white and the rest are in color. I would love to do a complete black and white wedding, but my clients always want a mix. I love black and white because it gets directly to the connection that the couple has to their wedding rather than people looking at how beautiful the pink dress is or how great the red roses look. It gets down to, that was the most amazing kiss, or look at that smile.

If you want to have a really good marriage, you should start now and let her walk the dog down the aisle if she wants to. I wish you all the best and I wish I was your photographer. It will make for amazing pictures. And remember, smile through all of them.

Be very direct with your photographer. Tell him you don't like posed pictures and you don't want to do them. But I would still do one large wedding party photo and a really good portrait of yourselves together.

I totally understand your concern, but if you give everybody a half hour to get to the cocktail reception, everybody has a drink and a smile and is ready for you, during this time you should be able to fit in the photographs that are  necessary. I think it's great to walk in to your reception and feel like the party is happening.

You should do this as an engagement shoot. Much more relaxed, and more time. I call this a lifestyle engagement portrait, and they are really fun and wonderful to do, and you need a few hours to do them. That's not the best use of time on your wedding day.

It depends where your wedding is, but try to find shade for the time of day at the location that you want to be photographed at. And don't be outside more than 15 minutes! Have cold drinks available while you do the portraits outside. An opening to a building is always a good shady spot. If you want to use the monuments, there are a few locations that have shade. The Capitol, I think on the North side, has a park that has shade.

The majority of good wedding photographers take a percentage of posed photographs and very rarely are action shots staged. Sometimes you encourage a couple to kiss or hold each other a little bit, but you're trying to work in a way that they're comfortable and that's truthful to what's going on at the moment. 

I do give images at the end of the process to my clients. I build the pricing of this into my packages. Usually the images are given to the client about six months after the wedding. 

Use an umbrella and a bottle of Champagne and have a great time.