I’ve been working away all week on Amy and Jason’s Mexico wedding and I can’t wait to share a sneak peek with you very soon!

Tonight though, I took a little time to go sit in the grass with my son and watch the fireflies (or lightning bugs as we call them here in the south) dance through the night sky. They have always been one of my very favorite things. This is the first year that Seven has been old enough to really enjoy them too and it is so much fun to watch him run through the yard with his blanket shouting “light-ing bug!” :)

If there is one thing that is most wonderful about being a photographer, it is being able to create images like this of my kids. It’s like being able to bottle up these memories and keep them forever. What a gift.

Having a professional take beautiful photos of you with those you love is something I think everyone should have on a regular basis. But what about when the professional photographer isn’t around? Everyday life deserves beautiful imagery to preserve it forever and that’s what this post is about. Below are 5 tips for creating better photos, no matter your skill level or the type of camera you own.

In fact, the photos in this post were all taken with an iPhone only.

This way you can really get an idea of what’s possible with the camera you probably have in your pocket right now.

1. Look for the light.

When shooting indoors during the day, try to position your subjects near a window and put yourself on the same side as the light.

When outside in bright sun, look for solid shade, the emphasis being on “solid”. A shade tree can work so long as there isn’t light coming through the leaves and creating undesirable blotches on your subject. The shade of a building is almost always a win.

Also, when shooting in the shade, the very edge of the shade has the very best light.

2. Get Closer.

This applies primarily to portraits. Compose your shot where you would be first inclined to do so, and then get much much closer for a more intimate view.

You can also do some composing after the fact by experimenting with cropping. Often time the difference between a good and a great image is just giving it the right crop.

3. Shoot from different angles.

Rather than just taking the straight-on shot, try shooting from above or below your subject. Shoot down the length of a door, or leave a lot of negative space around your subject. Mix it up.

4. Have your subjects do something other than sit and smile.

Don’t stop the action to have everyone look at the camera! The best photos are of people enjoying each other or doing something.

5. Practice, Experiment and Play.

Have fun with your personal photos! Try new things and do it often. You’re sure to improve if you do and when you see your personal photos down the road, you’ll be so glad you did!

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Since this is a wedding blog, I held out piling another baby post onto the blog over the winter. I didn’t want to send our brides into early baby fever after all. ;)

But now it’s Spring and I really think this blog could use another dose of munchkin cuteness. I photographed Raleigh for his 3 month milestone a few months back. This kid is all rolls and pleasant disposition – he is awesome! :) And did I mention his wild, out-of-control rockstar hair? It’s pretty amazing too…

Such sweet cheeks!

Of course we had to get his big sister, Miss Violet, in on the action while they were here.

Nothing like some good suffocating sibling love.

What a stud. ;)

You’ll be seeing more of this little guys soon! In the meantime, have a great weekend everybody! :)

I was just going through our archives the other day and realized that I never blogged this session! We took this lovely couple out before their wedding day for a shoot around downtown Nashville. Originally, it was going to be a standard bridal session, but when Melissa and I talked, she mentioned that Rhyan would be with her and seeing her dress anyway. It only made sense to include him in our session and I’m so glad we did! We had so much fun getting to know them and having these images made ahead of time allowed them to have them on display at the reception which was an awesome touch! Now that the wedding has past and the dressed has been revealed, I thought I’d share them with you. :) Thanks for looking!

Every bride hopes her wedding photographs will be the perfect reflection of her big day and I’ve never met a wedding photographer who didn’t want to deliver that. Yet, I can’t tell you how often I’ve heard a bride say “I really wanted XYZ, and my photographer didn’t get it!”. On the same token, what I’ve heard over and over from photographers is “The bride was upset because I didn’t get XYZ, but how on earth was I to know she wanted that?”

With a little preplanning on the front end, so many of these stories can be avoided by asking the right questions.

Sean and I have put together a questionnaire for our brides over the years, based on all of our wedding experience as well as stories of countless brides and other photographers. Today I’m going to share some of key questions from that questionnaire with you: the pivotal things to ask (or to tell your wedding photographer) to make sure that all the i’s are dotted and t’s are crossed and that everyone can walk away happy when the images are revealed.

The first few questions are more standard, but incredibly important nonetheless. As you go further, you’ll find the questions we’ve noticed are less touched on in standard preplanning, but give incredible insight into what your bride and groom want from you on their wedding day. Let’s dig in!

1) What is the color scheme of your wedding?

While I’m sure you will figure out the answer to this question by the time you get to the wedding, it’s very helpful to you when photographing the couple’s engagement session. Should you be looking for bold, punchy backdrops? Or for more muted scenes? The colors they are drawn to for their wedding day décor can tell you a lot about what they are drawn to outside of their wedding day as well. The answer here can also help you when deciding how to tone the images from their shoot to best suit their taste. Please note that this is not the only thing you should take into account when determining how to compose their engagement session, but it is a great place to start.

2) What does your wedding dress look like?

Get a detailed description, or better yet, have her send pictures. The shape and style of her dress can both tell you a lot about her personal style, and be a great aid when thinking up ideas for their wedding day. You may have a magazine page in your back pocket of a girl in a long flowing dress that you plan to use as inspiration for their couple’s photos, but that won’t help you if she’s in a sleek evening gown with no train.

3) Who are your wedding vendors?

Get a list of all the wedding vendors your couple is using ahead of time. This way you can gather their contact info and send them images as soon as they’re ready. You can also reach out before the wedding to say hello and offer to shoot anything they may need (if time permits). All of these things promote goodwill in the industry and will most likely lead to more wedding bookings for you.  This info is also a must-have if you want to get your weddings published on blogs and in magazines!

4) What is your favorite type of music? / What are your top 5 favorite songs or artists?

The answer to these questions will guide you in how to pick music for their slideshow later on. Even if you don’t use their favorite songs, you’ll have a good idea for what direction to go in when making music selections.

A great source of royalty free music to use for your wedding day slideshows is Triple Scoop Music.

5) What are the names of EVERYONE in your wedding party?

Get the names of all immediate family and wedding party members. These are your allies. When you need to know if everyone is present for a particular photo these are the people who can tell you. If the bride asks you for a photo with someone you don’t know, these are the people who can go fetch them for you, etc. Calling bridesmaids by name may just be the added bonus that makes them feel comfortable enough with you to want you at their own wedding. Remembering the names of child attendants, especially small ones, can help you a great deal as they are much more likely to respond quickly when called by name.

You may not be able to remember the names of every bridesmaid, but you can at least remember the Best Man and Maid/Matron of Honor as well as the parents of your couple. This is a nice personal touch that reflects warmth and thoughtfulness and everyone responds more willingly and happily when called by their name rather than “hey you”.

6) Would you like your family portraits to take place at the altar or in a scenic location with nice light?

I’ve heard many times from photographers that while they wished it could be different, they have to photograph the family at the altar. But unless you’ve asked the bride, you don’t actually know that that’s the case.

Some couples are more traditional and will want the family photos at the front of the church regardless, and for them, we are more than happy to oblige. But for others, showing them there is an alternative may be all that they need to plan family photos elsewhere.

For more on why choosing the right location for family formals can make all the difference, check out our previous post: 6 Steps to Amazing Wedding Day Family Photos.

7) Are there any strained relationships we should be aware of?

After their names, the very next most important question about the wedding party is this one. Often times there is divorce and hurt feelings, particularly among the parents, and you need to know about this. It’s your job to make the wedding day as stress-free as possible for your couple, and sometimes that means doing your part to keep tension, or an all out cat-fight, at bay.

If you find that parents don’t get along, offer to split up family formals so that they don’t have to be in the same place at the same time. For example, if the bride’s parents act toward each other in a way that makes her uncomfortable, take all the photos with the bride’s mother first so that she can leave, then bring in the groom’s family for photos, and then photograph the bride’s dad last. This makes it so that they don’t even have to wait in the same area together.

Side note: Do make sure that you clear the family formal list with your couple ahead of time. Some brides or grooms want a photo of them with both of their parents together, even if they don’t get along. Others would rather take two sets of photos in order to keep them separated completely. Nailing all of this down ahead of time is especially important when some of your subjects are at odds with each other.

8) (If applicable) Do you realize some or all of your photos will take place after dark?

This seems obvious, but often times bride’s know in their head that the sun will have set after the ceremony, but are still pinning tons of natural light images on Pinterest and thinking that this is what their wedding photos will look like.

Asking this question allows you to prepare them for the different look their images will have and make sure their expectations are set accordingly. If video light and flash doesn’t appeal to them, they then have the opportunity to rearrange things in their schedule ahead of time to accommodate their desires.

9) Are there any special elements to your wedding day that we should be aware of? i.e. details/surprises we would not otherwise know exist.

Let’s say the bride will be surprising her mother with a dance at the reception. If you know ahead of time to look for this, you can ask for a cue so that you can be honed in on her mother’s face as they make the announcement.

The earrings the bride is wearing may have belonged to her grandmother, or her mother’s veil may have been used to make the aisle runner. We have even had handkerchief’s pinned to the inside of gowns, and without knowing to look for these things, they can be easily missed or at least not adequately featured. This question avoids that.

10) Are there any special relationships we should be aware of or people you would like to be photographed with at your reception?

This is a prime opportunity for you, the photographer, to discover ways to make the photos more rich and meaningful for your couple. By knowing the people who are most important to them, you can be watching for interactions between them throughout the day more keenly.

Also, by having a list of people they would like photos of at the reception, you will be able to avoid the ever dreaded question of “are there photos of so-and-so?” If you’ve been photographing weddings very long at all, then you know that the person you’re asked about is usually an aunt or old neighbor you really weren’t even aware existed. They slipped out early or were hidden in the crowd and you just had no idea they needed to be sought out. This is an honest mistake, but now you can avoid by having the bride think through those important people on the front end, and using your allies from question #5 to help you find them. :)

A word of warning: Photographers, be sure to prepare your bride ahead of time that reception guests are a moving crowd, some slip out early, etc. and that you can’t promise you’ll get everyone on their list. Also, as they make the list of people they want you to photograph them with, encourage them to make the list small, as they won’t actually want you to be interrupting their evening all night long and they’re probably not thinking through just how many time you’ll have to drag them away.

11) If you had to choose one photograph to walk away from your wedding day with, what would it be?

This can also be phrased as “When you think of your wedding photos, is there one photo in particular you’ve been envisioning?” or whatever gets the point across. This question is so important to our preplanning success because it gives us valuable insight into the bride’s priorities.

One bride may say that she would choose a great portrait of her and her husband where they look so in love. This bride’s priorities are with their couple time. You want to make sure that plenty of time is allotted for it and that you really rock it out.

Another bride will tell you it would be an intimate moment from there ceremony or maybe a photo of their first dance. This is a bride who values photojournalism and candid moments over the posed portraits. You’ll want to think through how you can make those images special for her and really be on your toes to capture the emotions of the day.

Now you may be thinking that you could just ask them if they prefer posed images or photojournalism, but I would encourage you to stick with this more veiled answer for this reason: so often photographic terms get misused, even by photographers. When your bride tells you she really loves photojournalism, for example, what she really might mean is that she loves casual portraits. This question removes those terms and reveals what’s really important to her.

12) What is the most anticipated moment of your wedding day?

This is one of my favorite questions and I usually follow it up by telling the bride that she can give me more than one answer. What we’re looking for here are the moments she thinks are most important. You can bet we’ll be paying extra close attention to them when they occur, and scripting out beautiful and interesting compositions for these moments ahead of time is a nice added touch.

Of course there are many pertinent questions that go into wedding day preplanning that we’ve not covered here, but by adding these to your standard list, we hope you’ll find that you are able to make the wedding photography a richer and more enjoyable experience for everyone involved at your next event! Do you have any great “must ask” questions on your preplanning list? We’d love to hear them in the comments section below!

Thanks for looking!

- Mel

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Weddings don’t always go as planned (in fact, most of the time they don’t), but when a couple loves each other as much as Kelly and Roger do, they are always beautiful and a joy to photograph. :)

This lovely couple wed at Scarritt Bennett last Saturday and treated their guests to a stunning reception at the Noah Liff Opera Center. Angela Proffitt never fails to impress with the gorgeousness she can conjure up in a wedding reception venue! A huge thanks to her and all the other vendors who made our job so easy with all this eye candy!

Kelly and Roger – you are tremendous. :) We hope you enjoy your honeymoon and this little sneak peek at your wedding photographs. We can’t wait to see you when you get back! Congratulations!

- Mel

Want to improve your wedding photography business?  Join us on May 3rd for the Pricing, Process and Profit Workshop.  Brought to you by our friends at ShootDotEdit, free of charge!

Dial in your Pricing and Packaging (Jared Bauman)

Jared will explore pricing and packaging for professional wedding photographers and how important it is to the success of your business. Jared will reveal the secrets behind pricing and packaging, the basics to each pricing strategy, and the science behind effectively setting up your pricing, whether it be Packages or A La Carte.

Systems are Sexy (Leeann Marie)

Do you find yourself always saying “This is the year I’ll get organized an efficient!”? Let’s talk…

I’m not talking a pretty branded website, latest gear, or Photoshop actions – I’m talking about creating a business that not only meets your client’s needs, but exceeds them. A wedding photography business that is as efficient as possible – even if you consider yourself more a photographer, and not so much a “business person”

Top Profit Tips (Sean and Melanie McLellan)

The Pricing, Process and Profit workshop is also sponsored by:

I am totally in love with our new home out in the Franklin countryside! I love the lines of trees, the winding country roads, the wildflowers and the way the golden evening light pours over all it as the sun sets. I’ve been eyeing the field across the street from our house for the past couple of weeks as I go on my walks. It’s covered in yellow flowers right now and the scene is just breathtaking! It’s the kind of place that makes me want to create something. It calls to my photographer side like nothing else!

Brian and Kristin are dear friends, fellow industry professionals, and former wedding clients. That makes them the trifecta for creating a desperate need in me to make sure have beautiful images of their gorgeous new family. They say the cobbler’s son has no shoes and this is too often the case with photographers and photographs of their whole family together. We had in mind to correct that for these guys sometime this year, but with a view like this, there was no time like the present!

Brian and Kristin – we’re lucky to have you guys. :) Your family makes me smile. I feel so honored to have been allowed to capture your life at its many milestones these past few years and to have been invited in as your friend for the moments in between. Thanks for coming out to play with me in the field the other night! I hope you enjoy the results!

xo,

Mel

Hey there! We hope you all had a wonderful Easter holiday! We spent ours with loved ones and good food which is my very favorite way to spend time.

We had plans for casual brunch and an Easter egg hunt for the kids, but the weather was entirely too gorgeous to pass up and so was the shade of the beautiful tree in our front yard, so brunch became a rustic garden party and feast on the lawn. Any excuse to break out the vintage linens and hammered aluminum is a win for me, and we love a great party! A short walk down the street to gather wild flowers, a few trips next door to steal seating from Sean’s grandparent’s front porch, a little ironing and it was on! I love a good old South dining experience. :0)

Here are a few of my favorite photos from our Easter celebration.  Voila: garden party!

This year was especially fun too because Seven and his little friend Violet are old enough now to really understand the whole concept of presents and an Easter egg hunt. Seven about died when he found his Thomas the Tank Engine basket and he loved running through the yard gathering eggs. For him, it was all about the search and the candy didn’t matter. Violet’s approach was the opposite: find an egg, sit down and eat all the candy, and only then do you move on to the next. So funny. :0)

The eggs were scattered for the little ones, but some of the young at heart partook in the candy search as well.

And finally, one of my favorites – sharing the spoils afterwards. :0)

It’s a challenge at times for us to take the time to break out the “big camera” and document our life, but I’m always so glad when we do. What had already promised to be a beautiful day turned into one of my favorite days of all time. I don’t think it could have been any more perfect. I’m so glad we have photos to remember it with.

Thanks for looking!

- Mel

My how life can change over the course of just a few months! Right before New Year’s this year, we were parents to an only child living in a townhome in the city. Now we live in the country as a family of four. It has been a wonderful crazy journey — one that we’re still adapting to, which is why we are just now formally announcing to the world that 6 and a half weeks ago, our daughter was born.

Serai Claire McLellan came into this world on February 23^rd at 9:06am, weighing 7 pounds and 7 ounces – a fitting homage to her brother. :) I’ll spare you all the details, but her entrance was a bumpy one and after uterine rupture and an emergency c-section, we were so relieved to have her here safely. Modern medicine is a wonderful thing and we can’t say enough about the tremendous staff of Vanderbilt Hospital. Our daughter is with us because of them and we are so grateful.

It’s funny to me how a person who can’t speak or really express much of anything we understand can be in your life for only a moment and you can’t imagine life without them. Their presence stretches you in every way possible and yet you love them without end. You hold them for the first time and you already love them every bit as much as everyone else you love most in this world. Babies have amazing power like that.

If we are friends on Facebook or Instagram, you’ve already seen tons of photos of our new life with Serai. In case you’ve missed all the action though, here is our life as we currently know it – a sweet, chaotic, lovely mess in one big chaotic, and thus totally fitting, blog collage. :)

Serai my love, you complete our lives in ways that we didn’t even know needed completing. I’m so excited to have a little girl to do all the mother-daughter things in life with. Your brother loves sharing his favorite things with you and helping take care of you. But maybe my favorite thing is how every evening your daddy holds you and talks to you  about how you’ll dance together at your wedding as he soothes you to sleep. We all love you so very much. Welcome to the world little one.

Xoxo,

Your mom