Planning the photography for any weather on your wedding day

This is the fourth in a series of articles all about how we prepare for your wedding photography. To read more of this series, please go to the index on Preparing for Your Wedding Photography.

Pre wedding kiss in the rain

When it comes to the weather, I tell all my brides not to worry about it for the big day. Granted, you don’t *wish* for rain, but at the same time we have to accept that it is something entirely out of our control. With the majority of our couples getting married in the UK there’s always a fair chance of rain, particularly if you aren’t getting married in the summer months.

I did a blog post a while back about the ‘perils’ of the wedding photography weather, but I wanted to add a couple of things.

First and foremost, photography is my passion. I shoot weddings because I love portraiture and macro (think “small things, big”) and weddings provide ample opportunity to do both. Photography is my release – my escape if you will – and so I spend practically every waking moment that I can taking, or thinking about taking, photos. I attend seminars with photographers that inspire me (more on that to come) and we go out and take photos just for fun. I love trying out new things and if circumstances don’t provide me with the opportunities I want, then I will create them for myself… as in photography, so in life; you should ALWAYS seek out opportunities, not wait for them to fall into your lap!

Take the weather, for instance… some time ago, I had in my mind a vision of a particular shot I wanted to take when the moment presented itself… the one key ingredient that was needed and not within my control was RAIN.

Of course, the one thing we don’t want to do is to head into a situation unprepared, so, after a little bit of ingenuity, we came up with our very own rain machine. Cue excited Jakob, like a kid with a new toy, popping into the garden and running a few tests.

Ok, I admit it… it’s not glamorous, and I hope you can wipe the memory of seeing the above out of your head, but I just had to get out there and try out the amazing rain machine. (This thing is a bargain like no other. All you need is a bottle… with a few holes pierced in the lid).

After just a few minutes, it became clear that, no amount of rainfall was going to scare me off and as long as we had a couple willing to brave the bad weather, we would make sure they got something unforgettable.

Thankfully, with Nancy and Andy we had just such a couple and the shot at the top of this post is one of the very last from their pre-wedding shoot. It had gotten cold, wet and miserable but thanks to their patience and willingness to get a little wet, they have themselves a beautiful portrait unique to them.

I’m sure you’ll agree, playing with the rain machine paid off.

The other thing about bad weather is of course the potential for some really dramatic background skies which can add a unique flavour to your pictures.

Anyway, the ‘rain machine’ is just one example and Dasha and I are always playing around trying new things and most of the time the effort (and your patience) will pay itself back in a great final image. We draw our inspiration from many sources, be it other photographers, music, magazines and film. You may even have some ideas of your own and we love that! It’s great to work with you to create something memorable that we have all played a big part in building, so if you do have a certain vision in your mind, don’t be afraid of sharing it with us.

Amongst others, I am still waiting for the following visions to be realised;

Volcano-bride! Snowball love! Rollercoaster kiss! PADI-proposal!

I guess maybe one or two of those may take some time before they become a reality…