Why You Need to Take Wedding Family Photos Outside

When I ask couples what they are hoping for in hiring a professional photographer, the most common answer I get is “we don’t want to look stiff and uncomfortable in our photos”.  If our couples don’t want to look stiff in pictures on the wedding day, Im going to go ahead and assume that their FAMILIES don’t want to look stiff either! So how do you get relaxed, fun family photos?

Take them outside!

Now obviously, if you are having a night time wedding and no first look or it RAINS on the wedding day and you don’t want to go outside, you’ll have to do family photos indoors – and thats ok! Thats what off camera lighting is for. But if you can take it outside…then taken it outside (-;

1. Natural setting

By taking your wedding family photos outside, you’re putting your family and friends in a more natural and relaxing environment. Being outside versus being on the alter in a church, which one do you think makes people feel a little more stiff? Its almost like its against the rules to smile in a church family photo (Im here to tell you its NOT, but I find people hardly smile in them even when we ask them to!). When outside, your family wont be afraid to wrap their arms around each other and joke around and giggle. From experience, VERY few people act that way when doing indoor photos – I don’t just mean churches.

2. Better lighting

You had to know this was coming (-; The lighting outdoors will ALWAYS trump indoor lighting. Its cleaner and nicer which makes your PHOTOS look cleaner and nicer! Yay! Im going to use the church alter example but this applies to all indoor spots – the lighting is gross. Its uneven, its mixed (meaning there are multiple types of lights and they each have a different color), and usually its dark. We can always use off camera lighting, but that takes time to set up – and that takes time away from other parts of the day!

3. Permission to have fun!

I guess this one kind of goes hand in hand with the first reason, but I’ve found that very few people are willing to do fun and silly poses during family photos when they are indoors (whether thats in a church or a hotel lobby). While everyone wants a really good “everyone look at the camera and smile” family photo, you also want personalities to shine through! If you’re super goofy, why wouldn’t you want a photo to show that off?

Katie + Jay of Catherine Ann Photography are Charleston SC Based Wedding & Elopement Photographers specializing in candid & fun wedding photos that feel like you!  

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