Wedding Photography

I had to set up a shot today for my blip because today was a very big day for me!

Today I received the title of, "Wedding Photographer Assistant". I got to wear the all black outfit complete with a black fanny pack full of lenses. A ladder in one hand and flash screens in the other. I have to admit, I did feel very professional and quite important at the wedding site today. Being the assistant was an incredible experience for me. I learned more today about the complex process of shooting weddings than I could have even hoped for. I've been to many many wedding but you don't realize how intense the planning is for the event when you are just there as a guest.

The biggest eye opener today was learning that the lead Wedding Photographer plays more of a role of wedding planner than photo taker. I was given three print outs at our pre-wedding meeting. And my task at hand was to keep track of the time and make sure that we didn't fall behind schedule. Then we all quickly began the process of memorizing the names of all of the bridesmaids and groomsmen. Six on each side, so that when we met them, their name would ring a bell and hopefully stick permanently in our memory. I was told not to take anything personally and that the pace will be incredibly fast with most likely highly emotional family members. But I felt good. I felt confident that I could do what was asked of me. I can handle high amounts of pressure on a worksite. Six years of teaching Kindergarten has been good preparation for that. I just needed to complete my first task and not let us fall behind on our 'to the minute' time line.

And then we were off. Three fanny pack wearing black outfitted camera strapped and geared up photographers. It was awesome! We met the bride and she was incredibly warm and welcoming and then we hit our first mini hurdle. We had twenty minutes to meet the bridesmaids and take the bridesmaids photos with the bride but a) The bridesmaid's weren't ready b) Their hotel rooms were locked and c) The bride wanted quiet time to herself before the shoot. Right off the bat we fell thirty minutes behind schedule and there wasn't anything that we could do about it. And the photo shoot with the groomsmen and the groom set us back a good twenty because one of the guys was too drunk and sloppy to participate well in the shoot so extra time was taken trying to position him in a way that would make the photo still appear classy and timeless. And then the Mother of the Groom burst into tears as well as his sister and they appeared to be arguing, that was an interesting moment as well. Like I said, Wedding Photography is more than just snapping pics. It is time management, problem solving, counseling, and being able to progress to the next main event. Because think of it this way, if the schedule falls behind an hour, then the ceremony starts late, the reception even later and then the food is getting cold, the band waiting around and on and on. So yes, this is why you need to be a professional photographer with Wedding Experience to take on Wedding Shoots and the team that I worked with today are the best of the best. At no point did I ever see their confidence or their patience waver. They led the way with ease and complete professionalism which made my job as the assistant pleasant and exciting.

My goal for this shoot was to work as hard as I possibly could for them. I tried to anticipate their next move. I held the schedule in my hand. I called out the time. I set up the ladder and moved it when necessary and I made sure that the ladder was always my responsibility so that they never had to worry about it. I kept my questions to an absolute minimum and tried to move around the space quietly and efficiently. In between my responsibilities, I was given an ample amount of time to shoot photos. I got to play with many different lenses. I tried to focus on small details. I threw a little 'Abstract Eyes' into the mix. And the whole time I thought, "Thank the good Lord above that I am just the assistant on this shoot and that I GET to be the assistant on this shoot".

By the end of the evening, I had filled three cards and the two lead photographers eight cards a piece. The shoot went beautifully. 7000 photos to review, select and process. Even though we were pushed behind at the beginning, the photographers found a way to catch us up so that everything would flow well. I was so incredibly impressed with each of them throughout the entire evening. I could tell that the guests were very happy with the work that we were doing as we spent a lot of time taking special portrait photos of people at the reception. And we did a good job of highlighting the band. The band was one of the best I've ever seen and they greatly appreciated the photos.

And when I got home from the eight hour shoot, I was still buzzing with excitement and energy. I kept my husband up until 2:30am retelling the stories of the day. And I just feel so blessed that I was even given this opportunity in the first place. And my photography team told me that they were very pleased with the job that I did so that made feel like I accomplished the goals that had been set for me. Now the editing process begins and I get to sit in on the process as I'd like. I am fascinated to see how the final photos are going to look. Wedding #1 was all I could have hoped for. Thank you thank you thank you the JP team for taking a chance on me for this shoot. It reconfirmed the fact that photography needs to be a major part of my life always. The feeling of taking an amazing photograph is something that I have trouble putting into words. That feeling of being passionate about something that contributes to the happiness of others is absolutely wonderful.