My First Wedding Photography Shoot… I Think I’m in Love.

I said I would never shoot a wedding. As much as I love portraits and event photography and art shots, I was listening to that little voice of fear about how stressful a one-time event like a wedding would be. The voices we listen to can be intimidating.

Can I hack it under pressure?

I guess I was about to find out. Aren’t they cute? That was taken at the rehearsal dinner. I was playing with my off-camera flash. Her skin is flawless and she’s as cute as a button. What could go wrong, right? I can’t imagine anyone has ever taken a bad picture of this beautiful girl.

Even when she’s goofing off. And especially when she’s not…

In my blanket refusal to ever branch out into wedding photography all these years (even after doing events with thousands upon thousands of people), I was accepting defeat without ever giving myself a chance. I was letting fear win.

I remember what it was like when it hailed, thundered, and poured buckets of rain on my own “formerly sunny” wedding reception nearly 22 years ago…

It seems like weddings are a magnet for things going wrong. Like problems with the wedding dress.

Or flowers not showing up for the cakes (they still tasted fine).

I guess I was afraid that the worst thing could happen, would. It sometimes does at weddings. For a photographer, the worst thing that could happen (besides dropping the camera or forgetting the extra battery and memory cards) would be REALLY BAD LIGHTING SITUATIONS.

How in the world was a photographer to manage if the sun disappeared and the electricity went out?

The morning we woke up to take photos for her hair appointment the forecast said there were chances of downpours, hail, and even a slight chance of a tornado. God has a sense of humor. Good thing I had met Jennifer a few weeks before the wedding. She has a lovely image of a bride and groom kissing under an umbrella in the rain… the rain looked like diamonds in her off-camera flash. I was inspired to go ahead and spring for my flash system just in case we had a downpour.

I figured whatever came, God would work out the details for my images. After all, this wedding fell into my lap, so I figured He had a plan. Luckily, the rain didn’t come even though it was a bit overcast. There were moments of dreamy perfect light, though…

But… What if I missed THE kiss?

{ All those guys on the right look jealous, don’t they? }

My 18 year old actually took this photo! He was my second shooter. I got a close up of the kiss from behind the preacher until they dove down in the seductive dip above….

I learned a valuable lesson at my first wedding: never go without a second shooter!

Sometimes you need a little push in the right direction to get out of your comfort zone and shake free of the voice of pessimism. I am so glad that when the time was right, God sent my friend Melinda to knock me out of my cozy nest.

Our conversation went a little like this:

“Hey, Heather, I know you take good photos and you are a photographer… and we’ve been looking at photography for weddings and it is so expensive, so we wanted to know if you would be willing to give us a quote.”

“I don’t do weddings,” I said.

(The typical response I was so used to popping off when people have asked me in the past.)

“Well,” she said, “We were just going to take our own photos if you can’t do it.”

WHAT?!!! She couldn’t possibly not hire at least someone to do the photos! Having no photographer at your wedding is just not acceptable – sorry, but amateur photography doesn’t cut it for the big events. It isn’t worth losing a memory that could be preserved. PLUS: The last thing mom wants to have to do is pick up a camera and waste the moment when her son or daughter is saying “I do”.

 

Sorry, but there are some events in life where you just have to bite the bullet and pay a photographer. Even if you can’t afford an annual sitting fee for a family portrait, you’ve gotta have a wedding photographer, a newborn photographer, and a senior portrait photographer. Those are non-negotiable.

What was I to do? Say no to my friend? This was certainly a tricky way God was opening this door; by making it impossible for me to keep it shut.

“OK,” I said, “Well, if you put it that way, I’ll get you a quote.”

I used to think that wedding photographers made good money… and I guess if you did a wedding every week, you could. However… in doing my homework for this wedding, I also discovered that I might have to do a multitude of weddings before I’ll be earning a good living. The gear is fantastically expensive and the task is difficult (even though I love doing it).

I spent the better part of this entire week burning my retinas out on editing images. Who knows… maybe it gets easier with time. I’m willing to give it a shot and find out.

After telling Melinda I would take pictures, I delved into a whirlwind of online photography research. I stalked other wedding photographers online and lived on Pinterest searching for ideas. What was crazy, though, is that I ended up losing my shot list after I got there, and had to just wing it. I found that living in the moment, I was capturing unique memories that belonged to Chelse and Nathan. Like those tears when he first saw her in “the dress”.

Some of my favorite shots from the wedding were things I didn’t plan ahead to take. Like this one of her “something new” and the one at top of grandma and grandpa giving her a kiss.

The beauty of weddings are that they can be as unique as the people they are for. This was one thing I loved about this type of photography. It is more of a story you are telling; one that is personal and one-of-a-kind.

Before the wedding, though, I read everything I could find on taking good reception shots in low lighting. I’ve used flash before, but haven’t ever felt comfortable with it, so I needed practice. Thankfully, Melinda hired me back in January, so there was time for all this preparation and I even got to go see the wedding venue before hand to get an idea of the lighting and backdrop situations I would have to work with.

The ceremony was at 6PM, so the evening got darker than I was used to shooting. The place was magical, though… and while I definitely could use some improvement with reception photos (like the one below where my off-camera flash didn’t fire), I managed to capture all the things that needed to be shot.

I have no idea what they paid for the venue, but it was certainly a dream-come-true for sweet Chelse. She looked like a princess at a ball.

I can’t tell you I wasn’t nervous. At the last minute, my friend’s daughter who had already shot a few weddings in her small town cancelled on being my second shooter.

I begged my artistic 18 year old to tag along and help me as my assistant and he obliged. Amazingly, even though he is mainly an iPhone photographer, he did a spectacular job using a Canon 5D Mark II. A friend of mine lent us an extra one for the shoot. That’s another thing I can’t imagine being able to afford until about 20 weddings from now!

Kaden took this shot of Chelse’s grandparents. I really liked them even though I only got to meet them for a few short moments. They look fantastic in silver and grey. My man-child is a ‘chip-off-the-old-block’ for sure. I got the biggest kick going through his shots and finding so many ‘keepers’!

He did all his “homeschooling” for the wedding starting only at about two weeks out. He had to learn how to use the buttons on the camera and everything. Don’t tell me you CAN’T be a photographer. If you have a “good eye” (see things artistically) and want to learn, you can do it!

I think he took this one, too. We were both standing there but he had the wider angle lens on his camera body. He’s does have a great “eye”. I hardly had to crop this at all. The only thing I took out was a pink pot light on the grass to the right.

A couple of years ago, my teens did a black and white film photography course at the Carver Museum in Austin. They did about 10-12 weeks of dark room labs and took weekly photo-walks, talking about different rules of composition. Me being a photographer and them being cut from the same artistic cloth, they have also had quite a large body of informal “homeschool” (not always at home) learning on the subject of image art.

Leave it to me to turn a wedding shoot into a homeschool assignment.

They get their artistic from me … (well, from me and their dad’s side, as well)… and they get their crazy from me, apparently. I love a little crazy. Kind of like asking two people who are barely 20 to strike a ‘Charlie’s Angels’ pose and knowing they’ve NEVER seen the TV show.

BUT. Look at his hands. You know this guy has actually learned proper gun safety. Rednecks are awesome. At least we know Chelse will always be safe, cuz her man’s going to be packin’.

All of my second shooter’s past photography education paid off well for Chelse. I couldn’t have been happier at his work for her wedding – nor the fact that he thoroughly enjoyed taking the pictures (that’s what it’s all about). It was really cool to think that maybe we both might end up being wedding photographers. He assured me that he still wants to be a helicopter pilot first, though.

I’m going to give him an A+ in Photography on his transcript for sure. And I’m going to take him on my next wedding photoshoot. YES, I said NEXT.

Chelse and her beau have been in love since they were 15. I’m not sure if that makes me melt or scares me to death. Especially since I have two kids older than that. Kudos to the lovebirds for finishing school, getting jobs, and working hard to make this dream wedding and honeymoon happen. I was so happy her and her lovely mama let me be a small part of it.

It was a lot of work, sure. It felt a little like being thrown into the deep end of a pool and having to learn to swim fast. I wasn’t sure how well I would do, but I stepped out in faith. It is nice having others believe in you. Sometimes you just need a push in the right direction.

{ There’s a sermon in there if you want to read those last two lines again. }

But man, what a fantastic experience. What a rush. What an awesome thing to see two people joined together in Christ as man and wife.

Bonus points: There were friends there and lots of Texas brisket. For those of you up North, you may not understand this perk. If there’s any way to keep a photographer going for twelve hours straight, it is a good smoked brisket. Now that I’ve typed that, I need to go down and sneak some out of the fridge for a midnight snack… (my husband makes the best brisket I’ve ever eaten).

It’s sad that some of your favorite people are only in your life at weddings and funerals. Why is that?!!

And these images! My perfectionism can’t even accuse me loud enough of their imperfections to make me enjoy them less. I can’t wait to see them in pearl-metallic print and watch Chelse and her mom when they see them for the first time.

I can’t wait for wedding number 2. I’m in love with the love business.

Know anyone that needs a photographer? I’ll mail them a business card with Chelse’s gorgeous face on them. She’s my new model (even though I don’t know I had her sign up for that… note to self: need to get a contract together stating that if I take your picture, you may end up online and in fancy print).

Remember back when I told you I kept listening to my doubts to talk myself out of wedding photography? Well my biggest fear for this wedding was… What if I couldn’t get the perfect shot of a sparkler exit in the pitch black after the reception was over and the bride and groom made their escape to the get-away car?

Just so you know, I was really unhappy about how many of the night photos came out. This one included. The lady who ran the show at the venue wouldn’t let me have them park the car facing the sparklers so I could use extra headlight lighting. I was miffed. However, this is a decent shot for a first time trying… and I would have laughed at you a few months ago if you would have told me I would be branching into weddings.

You live and learn… and grow from experience. What is blooming in your life garden? I hope you are creating and blossoming, too.