One thing that I am constantly trying to apply to my shooting style at EVERY wedding is what I call purposeful shooting…. especially with the details. I’ve had some questions recently about shooting details and so I thought that this might help a little!  I try to shoot with the end product in mine… in most cases, this is an album. If most of your clients don’t order albums, then think of the end product as your blog post! I am constantly trying to shoot my details in a way that will really make them look AWESOME when they are presented for others to see! (ps. I’m extremely picky about my blog posts so therefore I’m extremely picky about my detail shots!) For example… at Ajith and Catherine’s wedding, I found out that the main color of the wedding was a deep plum.  So when we were shooting details, I tried desperately to find something “purple-ish” to shoot Catherine’s shoes on! Welp…. the only thing in the hotel room that was purple was her suitcase!! Now that you KNOW that the shoes are sitting on a suitcase you may be able to make out the lines of the different compartments, however, it’s not very noticeable. The whole idea behind shooting these shoes on the suitcase was because I knew this shot would look great in an album spread next to a floral shot or bridal party shot, etc.

Here is a quick album design that I created to show you what I mean by “shooting purposefully”.  When you shoot with an end result in mind, you start to have less and less images that you eventually just send to the trash. Now does this ALWAYS happen for me? Uh, no way! I’m lucky when I can shoot a whole wedding with the end in mind! Sometimes things happen SO fast that you just have to capture them the best you possibly can! Start practicing “purposeful shooting” with your details first! (It can actually make details shots a lot easier when you have some direction!)

Not only did the shoe shot tie into the theme, the ring shots did as well. I shot the rings on a pashmina that Catherine gave to one of her bridesmaids and it coordinates really well with the surrounding shots.

So I hope this little post can help some of you as you are trying to shoot details at your next wedding. Shoot with purpose and with the end in mind!! Happy Tuesday!