by Charity Curley

Scott Whittle specializes in candid wedding photography. With an MFA from the School for Visual Arts in New York City and several hundred weddings under his belt, he's got plenty of secrets to share for getting your best wedding photos possible.

iV: Every couple -- and the rest of the wedding party, for that matter -- wants to look their best for the pictures. Do you have any surefire tips for fabulous results?

SW: Relax and have fun. Get everything in order before the day, and don't sweat the small stuff when it all happens. Part of my job is to make people comfortable, because that always makes for better pictures. When that fails, I try and catch people a little off-guard -- mid-laugh in a conversation, for example -- and often that makes for some beautiful pictures.

Do you have a set agenda for what pictures to take when? Or would you rather take your cue from the couple? Either way, what are your must-have shots?

I'm happiest when we take pictures that happen spontaneously. I've never been to a wedding where there weren't a host of unexpected moments that were worth capturing. It's those shots that really give a wedding its own personality. As far as must-haves, of course I try and get pictures of the bride and groom. But I also make sure to get good pictures of important family and friends. Mostly though, I just get everything interesting that happens.

I'm sure you've seen your share of frazzled families during emotional events like weddings, so what's your advice to brides on keeping calm -- and keeping the peace -- under pressure?

Be flexible. Once you've put all your planning in, don't get invested in having a "perfect" day. If you're marrying someone you love, it's already perfect. And there's no way to make sure that every single thing goes exactly the way you want it to without making yourself anxious and unhappy. You are, after all, dealing with a lot of people, and people are never entirely predictable -- that's the fun of it. If you don't insist that everything be letter-perfect, then you'll be able to make last-minute changes and fix any problems that come up.



Can you recall some of your favorite weddings to shoot? What made them so special?

I just shot a wedding in Eastern Maryland that was terrific. The setting was a large farm that went up to the Chesapeake Bay, and it was all outdoors. There was a big tent, and we got incredible light as the day went on, so photographically it was great. In addition, though, everyone there was friendly and relatively relaxed. Another thing that made it great was that the wedding wasn't too heavily structured. People really got to wander about and do what they wanted, and that made for good pictures, too.

On the other end, I have really enjoyed some city weddings. For example, I shot a wedding on New York's Upper West Side where the whole thing took place in the couple's apartment. It really felt like a great group of friends getting together and celebrating in a comfortable and intimate way, and that feeling definitely came through in the photographs.

For such a tradition-steeped event, weddings still seem to evolve with the times. Is there one element of weddings today that has changed since you started?

It's hard for me to say if it's a trend in the industry or in my clientele, but I think more people are turning towards less formal weddings to more comfortable settings. That makes me happy, because the most important thing on a wedding day is that everyone has a good time, and comes out as a community to give their heartfelt support to the new bride and groom.