Hey friends! Just a Quick Tip post for those of you with less-than-perfect vision (like me!). If you’ll be wearing glasses (or contacts) for wedding pictures or a portrait session, this post is for you! But first, let’s go back to the early 90’s, when I first got my glasses:
On picture day in third grade, the photographer didn’t know how to deal with the glare in my glasses. So he asked me to take them off:
I couldn’t even see the camera. 🙄
Then in sixth grade, the glare from my glasses came up again on picture day–and this time, the photographer angled me just so to avoid it showing up in my picture:
When I look at this picture, that’s literally ALL I can remember about this day–knowing I couldn’t look at the camera. 😆
If you wear glasses or if you’re a photographer who’s ever worked with someone who does, you know avoiding glare in pictures is a pain sometimes!
This probably isn’t something everyone thinks about prior to a portrait session or wedding. But since I have awful eyesight, myself (for real–it’s like 20/800, people!), it’s often on my mind when I’m prepping for a session!
So here’s my quick tip: If you wear glasses, there are two things you might need to consider before your wedding pictures or portrait session!
1. GLARE
If you wear glasses regularly, they’re probably part of your identity. So removing them during portraits wouldn’t be a great solution–you should feel like yourself in your pictures! For that reason, I’ll never ask someone who wears glasses to remove them during a session.
However, the glare created by normal lenses can be super distracting in pictures, or may even completely cover your eyes. So although the average person may not feel anti-reflective lenses are worth the investment, I highly recommend updating your glasses or lenses with anti-reflective coating prior to your engagement session or wedding! As a photographer, I have a couple tricks up my sleeve to try to minimize glare when clients wear glasses with regular lenses during their session–but I have to warn you that it severely limits the way I can pose and position you, and the angles I can shoot from. If you can update your lenses, do it–I promise, you won’t regret it.
2. TRANSITION LENSES
If you have Transition lenses that change from clear to ‘sunglasses’ when you’re out in daylight, you need to think NOW about how that will affect your pictures. For one thing, your eyes won’t really be visible and–fair warning–there’s pretty much nothing I can do about it. 🤷🏻
This is, yet again, another reason a new pair of glasses or updated lenses would be a good idea, especially prior to an important session like your engagement or wedding portraits. When you look back at these special pictures, you’ll want to see your eyes, promise.
Anti-glare coating is AWESOME. It makes the biggest difference and is absolutely worth the expense!
ONE FINAL THOUGHT!
Contacts make my life so much easier, and I seriously don’t know what I’d do without them! I’m sure tons of you feel the same way, right? But even if you wear contacts and don’t need to think about glare and lenses, contacts still affect photos, too! This is especially true if you’re getting married, participating in a wedding, or are a wedding photographer. What would happen if your contact lens tore? I can’t imagine how stressful it would be to not be able to see on your own wedding day! And if you’re shooting a wedding? That would be a disaster.
So my last little tip is to keep an extra set of contacts somewhere handy. I bring a new set of contacts, contact solution, and a case in my bag to every wedding, just in case! Because luck favors the prepared. 🙂
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