neglecting the groom

Camera: Canon 20D 1/50 f/5.6 ISO 800  Lens: Canon 17-40mm USM L
Light: 580 EXII 1/4 power through a shoot through umbrella triggered by FreeXwire

Guilty.  I'm the first to raise my hand and admit I am guilty.  Neglecting the groom.  It's the bride's big day.  She is radiant and wonderful.  She is the star of the day.  So where does that leave the groom?  Usually on the side lines gazing in at her.  Looking over my past few weddings I realized that I had some photos of the groom; however, his photos tend to be more canned and less thought out.  Last weekend I tried to focus a bit more on the groom.  He has parents too - and I am sure they would love some solid pictures of him.

Camera: Canon 20D 1/40 f/5.6 ISO 800  Lens: Canon 17-40mm USM L  

Light 580 EXII 1/4 power through a shoot through umbrella triggered by FreeXwire

One thing that helps equity among your photos is taking them all prior to the wedding.  First of all - you have more time.  More time translates into less rushing and less rushing translates into better photos on both sides.  Saturday morning I began by photographing the bride getting ready then moved to the sanctuary.  The bride and groom had a few moments to enjoy each other's company and then we began their photos.  We started at the top of the stage with a few poses of them together then I split them and did individual shots.  We then moved down to the piano and did individual shots then a few together.  Then we moved to the isle and so on and so on.  Having the bride and the groom photographed at the same time with no family (AKA distractions) around allowed us to fly through the photos and stay focused on what images had been taken and what ones still needed to be taken.  Taking one of the bride and then immediately one of the groom forced me to focus on his images in the same way I focused on the bride's images.  I know we spend a lot of time taking pictures of the bride - that will never change; however, let's focus on ramping up the quality we put into the photos of the groom.