The most valuable photographs of a slideshow are of the people watching it: the couple, the parents, the grandparents, the friends who laugh at the old pictures. Tell the photographer which screen, which seats and which reactions matter. If you also want the screen itself photographed, treat the source images as a separate permissions question.
A slideshow or memory presentation brings the past into the room. It can make a hall laugh and cry in the same three minutes. This page sits within our guide to wedding reception photography and focuses on what to photograph, and on what is a separate question of permissions.
What is the best photograph of a slideshow?
Usually it is the audience. The couple glancing at each other, a mother wiping her eyes, an uncle pointing at a younger version of himself. Those reactions say more than a photograph of a screen, and they belong to your wedding.
Tell the photographer who matters most and where they sit. A position that sees both the screen and a few key faces gives a context frame. Our priority photograph list builder helps rank which reactions you most want.
Should the screen be photographed?
A wide frame that shows the screen and the room is helpful for context. Close-ups of individual pictures on the screen raise different questions. The pictures may belong to someone else, they may show people who did not agree to be photographed again, and they may be personal to the family.
If you want some close-ups, tell us which ones. The photographer will not decide for you.
How do rights and permissions come into this?
We do not give legal advice and we do not infer permission from the fact that the event is a wedding. Photographing a screen reproduces what is on it, and the source images have their own owners and subjects. Our guide on copyright ownership and permission to use event photographs sets out the principles, and permission to photograph and permission to publish explains why the two are separate.
If you plan to publish or share the photographs of the screen, check with the people who made or appear in the source images. Our post-event image use planner helps record the uses you agree.
What affects the room?
Slideshows are often shown with the lights down. The screen then lights the faces nearby. A very bright screen with a dark room is a hard combination, and we check the exposure on arrival. The venue may be able to leave a gentle light on key seats.
Our guide on stage lighting, LED screens and mixed light describes what we look at in this kind of lighting.
An example scenario
For example, imagine a reception where, between dinner and the cake, a three-minute presentation of childhood photographs plays on a screen at the front of the hall. The couple wants the reactions of their parents and grandparents. One grandparent is unwell and sits near the exit.
The brief places the photographer to the side with a view of both sets of parents and the screen. The couple asks for no close-ups of the screen, and for gentle photographs of the grandparent that do not intrude. The emcee warns the photographer a minute before the slideshow begins.
A common mistake: moving into position after the lights dim
Once the room is dark, any movement across the hall draws attention from the screen. Tell the photographer the start time and the screen position early, and ask the person running the screen to give a short warning.
If the venue can keep a soft light on the front tables, the reactions are easier to photograph without flash. Flash in a dimmed room pulls every eye away from the presentation.
What to tell the photographer
Share the time, the length, the screen position and the seats. Name the people whose reactions matter, and anyone who should not be photographed. Say whether the screen should be photographed.
Our page on wedding tribute moments for absent loved ones covers a related situation where emotions may be strong.
How this affects coverage
The presentation is short, but the photographer must be positioned before the lights go down. We confirm the date, venue, crew, deliverables and quotation in writing, and follow the person running the programme.
Checklist
- Confirm the time, the length and the screen position.
- Name the people whose reactions you most want.
- Decide whether the screen itself should be photographed.
- Check whether the slideshow contains images that should not be photographed again.
- Ask the venue about lighting during the presentation.
- Brief the emcee and the person operating the screen.
- Agree who approves photographs that show the screen.
Send us the slideshow time, the screen position and the faces you want to see, and tell us whether you want the screen photographed. We will plan positions and confirm the arrangement in writing.
Plan photographs of our slideshowCommon questions
Should the photographer photograph the slideshow screen?
Usually the audience matters more than the screen. A few wide frames showing the screen and the room give context. Close-ups of individual photographs on the screen are a different matter, and raise questions about the people in them. Tell us if you want them.
Who owns the photographs on the slideshow?
That depends on who took them and who is in them. Reproducing someone else's photograph, even by photographing a screen, is a separate question. Our guide on copyright ownership and permission to use event photographs covers the principles. We do not give legal advice.
What if the room is dark during the slideshow?
Presentations are often shown in a dimmed room. The screen then becomes the main light source, which is usually enough for reactions. Tell us if the venue can keep a soft light on key seats.
Can we ask the photographer to avoid certain people on the screen?
Yes. If a slideshow shows someone who prefers not to be photographed again, or a private moment, tell us so we avoid capturing it. Photographs of a screen can reveal more than you intended.
How early should the photographer know the slideshow time?
When the programme is set. A change in timing is easy to handle if the photographer knows who to ask. We recommend telling the emcee as well.
Plan photographs of our slideshow
Send us the slideshow time, the screen position and the faces you want to see, and tell us whether you want the screen photographed. We will plan positions and confirm the arrangement in writing.
What happens next: You send your event details on WhatsApp. Our team reads the brief, asks what is missing, then confirms in writing whether the date, venue and coverage can be booked, with a quotation. Opening WhatsApp does not send anything, and a message is not a booking until both sides confirm.
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