Taking Better Family Photos

Wedding slideshows consisting of images of the bride and groom, set to excellent music are all the rage right now. While you can pay a videographer or video editor to create a slideshow for you, you can save a lot of money--and still get a fantastic finished product--making your slideshow yourself. It is not terribly difficult to make your own wedding slideshow, but there are a few things to keep in mind to make it look as professional as possible. Listed below are three tips for making a great wedding slideshow by yourself: 

1. Make the Music Fit the Mood

Something that immediately distracts from the impact of a slideshow is poorly chosen music. Think about the emotions you want to evoke with your slideshow; do you want people to laugh? Cry tears of joy? Also, think about the tone of your wedding. Is it a formal, black-tie affair, or a casual, backyard event? Choose music that matches the occasion, but don't overdo it. Music should still be an accessory to the slideshow, rather than the main event. 

2. Tone Down the Transitions

Limit your transitions to one or two types, and make sure they are not too distracting. If you have a variety of transitions, especially several complex ones, your slideshow will look disjointed and your guests will definitely be able to tell that it was not made by a professional. Keep things clean and simple so that your pictures can be the star of the show. After all, that's what people really care about, not how they get from one slide to the next.

3. Mix Up Your Pictures

While you want to limit your transitions to one or two types, the same rule does not necessarily apply for pictures. If your slideshow is made up entirely of one or two styles of pictures (school photographs, formal family portraits, etc.), your guests will get bored and stop watching after a while. Mix things up with candid shots, black and white prints, and even short video clips to keep everyone entertained. Just check the quality of your pictures before adding them; if they're blurry in the original photo, they'll be even blurrier when they're projected on a screen.

You can easily save a lot of money on your wedding slideshow by creating it yourself. As you get started, keep the tips listed above in mind, and no one will ever know your slideshow wasn't made by a professional! Good luck!