Lexi Critiques – Loren

Welcome to another installment of Lexi Critiques!! In case this is your first time here, Lexi Critiques is a little series where I will be looking at a real session from a real photographer in our industry and pointing out strengths and leaving tips that would have made the session stronger. Over the last 8 years I have seen hundreds, if not thousands, of sessions from being a publisher and running my own photography business. I have learned a lot about what makes a session stand out among the rest and I am here to help you achieve just that!

Today we have the talented Loren Gifford (which is so close to my last name!!!) who has shared this gorgeous wedding with us! And I can not wait to dive into critiquing it for you!!

So with out further ado go grab a pen and paper (for notes) and dive on in below.

* Keep in mind this is a little series and I will not be showing the full gallery that was provided. Each post will include a handful of tips and tricks but know there is a lot more that goes into perfecting a session. I hope these posts help you reach this goal and you are more then welcome (encouraged even) to leave questions in the comments below.

If you are looking to dive more into perfecting your sessions and telling a cohesive story with your images that grab the attention of editors as well as your clients, then check out our guide Shooting With Intention. And use code LEXICRITIQUES to save 30% off for visiting this post!

I will say, before we dive in, weddings are a little more difficult to critique as so much goes into the story of someones wedding day. So I am going to focus on one part of the story for this wedding & critique.

Getting Ready.

The time that the bride is getting ready is normally the first thing you photograph as the wedding photographer. All the wedding butterflies are fresh, the bride isn’t warmed up to the camera yet, and everyone is just so excited for all the days festivities.

Here Loren photographed the bride, her mother, and maid of honor (I am assuming) getting ready before the lovely wedding. She started out with some portraits in the bride in her PJ’s (which are adorable) and I love how she utilized window light in the (hotel room I believe) as we all know hotel rooms are not the prettiest or have the best light.

Loren then moved on and made sure to capture her family in matching PJ’s as well. Can we just all agree that it’s the cutest thing ever.

I know family portraits are not everyone’s favorite images but I love seeing images of the bride alongside her family and bridal party while getting ready. As a photographer it’s your job to capture the whole story and the memories of the day. And to our clients, sometimes the small images like this are the most important and end up being their favorites. Even though they may not be the funnest for us to capture, the ones that push our creativity, or the ones that make the cover of a magazine. It’s just a little reminder that being a photographer isn’t just about capturing those images that a publication would want or that you would put on the front page of your website. It’s about capturing all the little things going on during a day that will fly by and immortalizing it in images for your clients.

Next we transition into the brides mother helping the bride get dressed, which Loren captured lovely here. I will say I wish there were few more images of the bride putting on her dress to help transition the story from her in her PJ’s into her wedding gown. Some common captures here are the bride’s hands up in the air putting the dress over her head, pulling the straps over her shoulders, or even taking the dress of its hanger. Just another image or two would have added a little more to this part of the story.

And then of course Loren did an amazing job capturing the bride getting the rest of her ensemble on!! Including jewelry and shoes!! Another two must haves.

Thank you so much for reading through another Lexi Critiques. It’s seriously one of my favorite weekly series I get to do!! If you would like to have Lexi critique one of your session you can submit a session for consideration HERE. Until next time … happy shooting!