Cake and Lace is excited to share these rainy wedding photography tips from Chelsea Dawn Photography! If you’re a photographer or even a bride, these tips are great to share for the picture perfect rainy wedding day.
From the wedding photographer: “As a wedding photographer, you generally have to be pretty flexible, rolling with the punches as they unfold throughout the day. Being an Iowa wedding photographer means we have the added pleasure of being at the mercy of the weather pretty much year-round! Tornados, flashfloods, thunderstorms and 110 degree days, we see it all!
Justi and Sam’s wedding day was an incredibly rainy one – but we didn’t let that stop us from having the best day (and from getting some really fun photos)!
Some tips for photographers who find themselves in the middle of a stormy wedding day:
• Know the weather activity in advance. I use and LOVE the If This Then That (IFTTT) app because it will send me a text the day before there is suspected rain activity. Zero effort on my part, which is the main reason I love it.
• Bring enough umbrellas for the entire wedding party. My awesome and prepared second shooter offered to bring her stash of umbrellas to the wedding . You can find these (or similar to these) at most Target stores!
• Find a porch or covered deck that gives enough protection from the rain, but still lets you capture natural elements in the background, making it look like you had outdoor photos done.
• Have an assistant to help protect your gear with an umbrella over your head.
• Prepare your clients to get a little wet. A dress will dry, but photos are forever-lasting.
• Utilize window light indoors in between attempts to shoot outside. Because a slightly damp couple is much easier to please than a soaking wet one.
• Make sure your contract has a foul weather clause, protecting you when you are unable to work outdoors entirely.
Most importantly, be realistic with what you can accomplish. If your clients are unwilling or unable to brave high winds and rain that actually feels painful to the touch, please don’t force it to happen. Focus on what you CAN do and let go of what you wish you could instead do, and everything will hopefully fall into place.”