How to get the Right Shot Everytime

After my recent wedding to my gorgeous bride Julie, we went through hundreds of pictures taken by our guests and found a total of six that we wanted to keep (and within that are the pictures on this page). We had supplied each table at the reception with a disposable camera and expected that we would get a few good candid pictures.

After seeing the quality of the pictures taken, I decided to write this short article on how to make sure you can get the most out of every roll of film. If you are going on vacation, or maybe even attending a wedding, please read this important guide.

This is what happens when you don't use the flash.

Step One: If the Room is Dark, Turn the Flash On

The flash on the camera is the bright light that occurs, causing people to blink. Some of the more expensive / evil cameras have multiple flashes meant to confuse the eyes into blinking, opening, blinking then opening again just in time for the picture to be taken with an even larger flash. I believe that this is a conspiracy between Kodak and Ray-Ban to cause our eyes to be so sensitive to light that we need to wear sunglasses inside. [Note: There are more and more people wearing sunglasses inside these days. Concidence? I think not.]

We supplied cheap disposables with only one small flash which was good enough for the lighting in the room. However the problem that our guests seemed to have was the flash button on the front of the camera that was marked with the words [PRESS FOR FLASH] was not clear enough. Therefore we were blessed with at least 80 pictures of the country sky on a moonless night.

The Obligatory Shoe Shot

Step Two: Get the Shoe Shot

Most people do not realize this but it is a law in Canada (I believe it has something to do with our copyright laws) that each roll of film developed must have at least one picture of someone's shoes. One of the interesting things about this law is that Walmart has to ensure that this law is followed. If you do not take a picture of someone's shoes, they must replace the picture you took of the bird landing on your shoulder, with a stock photo of shoes from Corbis.

My recommendation, to prevent this from happening to you, is to make the first shot of every roll of film a picture of a stranger's shoes. Not only will you get to keep your award winning photo, but you will enjoy the hours of fun spent watching your spouse try to figure out who's shoes those were.

Eliminating Red-Eye

Step Three: Red Eyes are from the Devil

There is nothing worse than running home from the developer with 26 great pictures and 25 of them have pictures of demons. I was born with blue eyes but for some reason, I am unable to prove it to anyone unless they see me in person. I know there is a scientific reason for this but I personally believe that it's someone in Walmart with a red marker "touching up" photos for people.

Thankfully, I have learned from one of our guests that there is a simple, yet profound way to make sure that your models won't be left with bloodshot eyes. When it comes to pictures, most people look for the smile. Therefore, make sure that when you take the picture, all you see is from the nose down. This also prevents "Bad Hair Day" and "What is that person looking at?" comments.

Part Two: 'Posed vs Candid', 'Setting up your Background' and 'Using Props'