There’s no one secret to taking a great photograph. It’s almost always a molding of many different aspects coming together in a fraction of a second. The slightest tilt of the head, twist of the hand, or blink of an eye can turn good image into a great image, or a good image into a poor image.

As photographers there are so many things on our mind when we are getting ready to take a photo or set up a shot. Here are just a few of them: (Note: We shoot in manual mode 99.9% of the time. When not in manual, we may use Av – aperture priority.)

Shutter speed
ISO
Aperture
Light – intensity/angle/etc
Shadows
Type of lens
Positioning of the subjects

Take this photo for example.

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This was taken after the Bride and Groom had already done their portraits, family photos, ceremony, first dance, etc. They were pretty wiped out, but the Bride was eager to get some shots during the golden hour – it was definitely worth it. We didn’t have much time at all until they had to return to their party, so when we hit this spot with the light coming through the trees, we had to take advantage of it. I quickly had to decide if I wanted the blown out, backlit look, or more a silhouette, dark look. I chose the blown out look, made sure my aperture was wide open (F 1.4 with a 50mm Sigma ART), moved the ISO to 200 and the shutter speed to 800. Turned out to be too dark. Cut the shutter speed in half and it was a little too bright. Bumped it up a little and it had the look I was going for. Now, we had to set up the kiss, and get the proper angle for the light not to blow them out too much. I took about 8 shots in 5 seconds and this was the CLEAR winner. The other ones just didn’t quite cut it.

See what I’m getting at… there’s a lot happening, and as a subject, much of that is out of your control, but by reading the 10 step guide below, you can be prepared on your end for when these moments do arrive. In doing so, we’ll be on our way to achieving beautiful images.