Things I Learned While Photographing My First Wedding
In October 2017 I did the thing photographers around the world tell you not to do. I shot a wedding as the lead photographer even though I had never shot a wedding before. I had only ever attended one other wedding before. It’s not a brag. At all. The bride is one of my very best friends in the world, we both love her photos even though a small part of me says that some of these should have been deleted or heck, not even taken. BUT the reason I’m writing this is to hopefully help someone who is in the same boat with a little bit of that super special 20/20 hindsight.
Their vows they wrote themselves done up by the amazing Chickaboo Designs
1. Have A Plan.
Pinterest is not the enemy. If this is your very first wedding you should absolutely check pinterest. Look at other photographer’s full galleries if you can find some. Make a shot list. I was confident in what I was doing because I had shot a ton of events and live performances but a wedding is different.
I shot these with the bride to be while the bride and I went to explore. I didn’t have much time to scout and had never been to Emerald Lake before. Luckily, it’s gorgeous everywhere. I just wish in hindsight I had done a little more legwork.
2. Don’t overshoot.
I have always been a terrible overshooter. How many photos of the dress hanging do you think I have? 8 billion. And how many did I need? Definitely less than that. When you overshoot, you lose some of the magic. You are no longer present and you are just clicking along at that point. You want to allow the magic to happen without interfering with the constant snap snap snap snap.
3. Relax.
I was so nervous. Way more nervous than the bride. She had all the confidence in the world. Ella wasn’t even one yet and here I was, the next province over chasing my dream. The bride has a babe the same age as mine so she definitely understood as this was my first trip away from her. (And actually still my only night away less the night Leo was born). I constantly had to remind myself that it was all going to be okay. And it was. These photos are all over their house, I still share them from time to time on my feed. I will always love them.
4. Remember there is a reason they asked you to shoot their wedding.
Chances are it wasn’t totally based on budget. Chances are they are comfortable with you, they like the work you’ve done for them in the past and they know you will work hard. So take a deep breath because that’s the type of client you WANT!
5. Have Fun!!!!
Please have some fun. It’s a lot of work. But the best part of being a photographer is sharing in your clients joy! You get to be there for the most special times in their lives. I was a witness for this wedding, signed my name on the dotted line. How special is that?
6. Second shoot a wedding if you can.
Make a big effort. If you can’t do that, see if you can shadow a styled shoot. If you can’t do that… create your own styled shoot. TRUST ME. It will help you.
You will make mistakes, I definitely did. But hopefully these little tidbits will help somebody. And if not, I love reminiscing about this trip. I hope these two have a great big 10 year anniversary and invite me along for the journey. I’m so lucky to get to do what I do, to make the connections and friendships that I have now because of my job. Thanks for reading!