We were approached by a local wedding network about wedding trends a while back. They asked if I had any examples of WIDE portraits from wedding days and I had to think about it for a minute! Was this really a new “Wedding Trend”? After I started thinking about it, I realized that I think they are on to something! When I think about my parent’s wedding pictures and other wedding portraits that I have seen from that generation, I don’t recall ever seeing really WIDE portraits!
Even back in 2010 when Michael and I were getting married, this wasn’t a normal type of image to see from a wedding or engagement! The word “portrait” makes me think of “people” and so I naturally think of shooting close and tight. However, these WIDE portraits allow photographers to set the stage and share a bigger view of the day! After chatting with the wedding vendor about this trend, I told them that I would pull some WIDE portraits. After searching for a few minutes, I already had a big handful of examples. Evidently I shoot REALLY wide quite often!! This type of portrait really breaks up my blog posts! It adds variety to my client’s gallery and I actually prefer this style of image for large prints and canvases. If you’re going to print a large portrait, it probably shouldn’t be a big shot of just your FACE! Instead, a WIDE shot would be more like a piece of art on your wall instead of a portrait of yourself. There is nothing wrong with printing large portraits of yourself… however, from even a decorating perspective, wide shots are more attractive!!! So, if you want to start shooting WIDER here are three tips!!! :
1. Avoid distractions! If there is a car on the street or a big sign, that’s probably not the best location for your wide shot!
2. Use a WIDE Lens! I use a Canon 35mm 1.4 and a Canon 24mm 1.4. The 24mm isn’t necessary but it does provide an extra dose of “epic” in some wide scenarios!
3. Strategically place your couple so that you have awesome lead lines! For example, the branches of the tree and the lines from the fence both lead you to the couple in the image below!
Thanks for reading!
— Katelyn
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