Drones and Wedding Photography

If you are planning a wedding, you’ve undoubtedly considered a long list of potential companies with which you may contract, including musicians, bakeries, and officiants. But drone pilots? Probably not. Let us help prepare with what you will need to know when choosing an aerial photography service suitable for your big day.

Brides and grooms alike want something out of the ordinary for their wedding, and aerial wedding photography can provide you with exactly that. Most weddings nowadays incorporate standard photography and videography, but by hiring a company capable of shooting your big day from the sky, you can record your event in a fashion worthy of a final rose ceremony.

Depending on the venue, there may not be the option for a photographer to run upstairs, take photos from the balcony, and capture the shots you might see in various bridal magazines. Drones have become a favorite tool to gather pictures and video because they enable photographers to go where they otherwise couldn’t creatively.

If you choose to take advantage of aerial photography for your wedding, there are some specific things you want to look for to ensure a quality experience. Your search will include learning more about the photographer as well as the equipment.

Learn About the Photographer

There’s a big difference between a pilot and a photographer, and not everyone who simply owns a drone is qualified to capture imagery of your big day. You should take the time to learn about the photographer’s background and experience. Find out how many weddings he or she has photographed, and ask if you can see the photographer’s portfolio. Doing a little bit of homework in advance will give you a sneak peek into what you can expect and help you avoid any unexpected surprises.

Learn About the Equipment

There are quite a few different models of drones with cameras on the market, and you should consider how the model your photographer uses will implement into your wedding. For instance, your photographer will likely fly relatively close to the venue and your guests, this means you want to ask about the noise, the safety precautions, not to mention the quality of photography.

With so many different available camera options, you want to ensure that your drone pilot is using a quality camera capable of producing high-quality imagery. For most brides, this means selecting an aerial photography service(s) that uses drones that will create images with the resolution of five megapixels or more, and video in 4K quality. Selecting such a company will ensure that you get stunning photos of the wedding that could be enlarged to poster size and possibly framed and displayed in your home.

Be sure to also ask about various other types of equipment as well, this includes the types of lenses used as well as what kinds of photos you can expect. For example, are all of the photos going to be from overhead? Can the event be streamed live via Facebook or Youtube? Learning more about the equipment that the photographer uses will make it easier to know what you are going to get – and if your imagery will stand the test of time.

Ask About Their Approach

Your wedding day is not a day you want to compromise in any capacity. Talking to the photographer/drone pilot about his or her approach is important. You likely have a shot list that you want to capture to cover all of the key moments of your wedding. Share the list with the photographer to ensure that he or she is capable of taking the pictures you want.

Take the time to meet with the company, view their portfolio, and ask questions. Then, and only then, will you be confident that you have found the right match. Shortly, aerial photography might become a staple of most weddings, but in the meantime, you can get impressive and unique imagery worthy of sharing through any channel.