I went to a wedding yesterday. Not as a guest, but as photographer. This was the first wedding I have done. I very quickly learned a couple of lessons first hand.
As a wedding photographer, you must be QUICK. There isn't a lot of time to think about the shot before the moment is gone. It's not like doing a portrait. When the bride and groom have their first kiss, that only happens once. No second chances. When the couple turns to their guests to walk out. . . only once. Throwing the bouquet. Once. Cutting the cake and smashing it to each others face (didn't happen yesterday) only happens once. Miss a camera setting or be slow to take the shot, you've missed it. No second chance. I put the camera in full manual mode yesterday so I would have more control of my images, but there were some times I started to second guess myself.
The other thing I learned was that being a wedding photographer is stressful. Mostly for the same reason I listed above. Cari was with me as assistant, and she did a great job. She asked me if I was having fun. I told her it was not fun. It was work. I was stressing. Not only did I have to be quick and on my toes, I had to be very aware. I was getting pictures of some guests and of the bridal party. At the same time I kept an eye on the bride and groom. I also had to keep my ears open to hear what was coming next. Cutting the cake, was not announced. It just happened. I heard a mother talking about it so I stayed near the area. If I had been across the room getting other shots, I would have missed it.
After the reception, back in the car, I took a deep breath. "That was fun.", I told Cari.
5 comments:
My sister is a photographer. That's what her degree was for in college. I have lovely photos of my children, beautiful places, etc... But she's vowed NEVER to do a wedding for the very reasons you've listed! I'm glad you "enjoyed" it... sortof. What do you mean, "it was my first time?" I've seen the photos you did of the other wedding. They were really good.
Congrats! Hope you learned a lot and enjoyed yourself at the same time.
Have a good week.
I took some photos about a year ago during my brothers wedding, but I was not the official photographer. I need to go back and look through some of those, I have a new editing process now.
This was the first time getting PAID at a wedding.
Ahhh... I stand corrected. Well, congratulations on GETTING PAID! That's always cool!
Okay - I'm really late commenting on this but WOW...you summed it up so perfectly! Still though, I think it's awesome that you took the plunge and did a wedding, I know you've been thinking about it for a long time. Do you think you'll do another one or are you satisfied with having had the experience?
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