Sunset pictures aren’t hard. There’s a sky and you take a picture, or so it would seem. When you’re planning the destination wedding of your dreams you would think it was this easy but it’s amazing how many couples end up with terrible pictures because their dream sunset image didn’t come out as expected. Whether it’s bad weather or poor photography skills here’s the common pitfalls to avoid so you can say yes to your perfect sunset.
Hire a Professional
If you’re having a destination wedding you have two options – hire someone local to the venue or fly your photographer there. While it can be expensive to fly an extra person missing your images will haunt you for the rest of your marriage. When you’re already paying for a destination wedding this isn’t that much more. If you do opt for someone local make sure you’re very familiar with their work and their style and that they are capable of getting good images before you pay anything. Don’t forget to read their contract carefully so you know what happens if they don’t get it perfect.
Hire a Professional 2
If you’ve got a photographer already and they’re offering you a discount based on editing take it. Professional editing services aren’t expensive and you can also use them for friends and family photos too. Any destination wedding means you’ve got lots to take pictures of, but in the moment pictures may not come out right which is where editing can help. Professional editors can adjust everything from the lighting to making Aunt Sally disappear. Even if your photographer does give you quality images you can still tweak them just how you want them by hiring someone else to look them over (just make sure it’s okay in the contract).
Head West
Consider the beach you want to get married at. Does it face west? Something so simple gets missed plenty of times with destination weddings because the photos are almost always taken during the day. Sunsets happen in the west, and if your beach is facing east then there won’t be a sunset. Google the beach or ask the resort if it does to be sure. Don’t forget to time it right either. Sunset times change through the year and with the geo-position so time your wedding so the sun sets when you want it to during your ceremony.
The Sun
While you’re checking the times and the direction make sure the weather is going to oblige. Even if you can’t change the date of your wedding too much you’re much less likely to get a beautiful sunset if you book your destination wedding during hurricane season. A little research can save you a lot of headache and the possibility of missing out on a sunset or even a beach wedding entirely. Don’t forget that the southern and northern hemispheres have different seasons on the calendar too so what you might think is the middle of summer may turn out to be the dead of winter!
Even if you’ve planned everything perfectly things can still go wrong. This is another reason to consider professional editing. Thanks to things like sky overlays you don’t even have to have a sunset for your pictures to look like your destination wedding had the most perfect backdrop created by nature. Professional editing services are a good fallback in this case and cheaper than trying to move or redo the pictures.
