skh
15th of September 2009 (Tue), 11:12
To be brief... I had my first paid occasion last week. It was my first official wedding as the main photog. I had some past experience in the way of family weddings.
My main reason for this post is to offer a big THANK YOU to everyone that contributes on this forum. I can honestly put the success of the occasion down to some of the advice given / posts on this forum! In addition, my experience might help some other newbie's starting out. It would be too long a post to detail absolutely everything but I'll try and document some of the relevant bits. Here goes...
Again, having read about planning and preparation time and time again, prior to the big day I checked and double-checked ALL my kit (bodies, lens, flash, batteries, memory cards etc.!). Also checked out the venue and parking facilities (glad I did as parking was a fair old distance from the venue!). I arrived early - infact... before the bride.
So the day started with some bridal / detail shots (which the bride wasn't really expecting for some reason but she was really happy when I started doing them!). Should point out something here... it was my first time using 2 camera bodies! Backup reasons aside, I loved the experience of being able to go wide and then up close without having to stop to change lenses. Some of the shots I have would not have been possible had I not carried 2 bodies. In any case, as you read time and time from different posters, I totally agree you should not go into a situation like this with just one camera. After the bridal shots, there was around 30m to the main event...
The 'pre-main event' period was probably the most difficult. I had met the bride and bridesmaids but not the groom. Anyway, the groom arrived and offered a very brief introduction / greeting and then walked off. I was left twiddling my thumbs and not sure of what to do next. Clearly, the groom was very nervous and so was I. This is where someone with more experience would have felt at home and made something of the situation. Anyway, after an uncomfortable and awkward period, I am glad to say I took the initiative and asked the groom if I could take some pictures of him with his 'best man'. He obliged and we had a good session. We both started to relax.
Onto the main event then and this was great! The room was very bright and airy - 2 massive windows there and the sun was shining outside. By the way, this was a civil wedding. I mention this as my last shoot was in a dark church where I was not allowed flash and had to shoot from a distance of over 20ft from the couple - obviously a totally different scenario!
Following the main event, the whole group walked over the road to a beautiful park where I shot the group pictures and some more bride / groom pictures. By this time, the bride, groom and I were really relaxed and I was enjoying myself!
Finally, it was back to the venue where the main wedding had taken place. Oh yes! A nice touch... as we walked back to the venue, some of the 'lads' in the group decided to 'refresh' themselves at a pub which was enroute. I spotted them... and needless to say I got a few shots for evidence :-)
Back at the venue, I made it a point to ask the bride and groom if they were happy and if they wanted any more pictures prior to me wrapping up and heading home. They asked for another group shot which I happily did.
Now, the best part of the day (no - not heading home!)... Just before I left, the groom who was a man of few words... approached me and took my hand with both of his... looked me in the eyes and told me something to the tune of 'I cannot thank you enough. You were absolutely amazing... you have the patience of god... all of them are asking me who is this photographer because he is so professional and calm...' Needless to say, I was so pleased and totally did not expect that!
Today, out of the blue I have had the bride's mother say the same sort of stuff to me. She said they all loved my approach and the fact I was not pushy in any way. She also mentioned she loved the patience I had around children (not hard when you have your own!).
I hope some of what I have written helps some of you! Again, I thank everyone that contributes on this forum... those that have offered advice... sold me their kit... offered c+c etc.!
Regards,
Sanjeev
My main reason for this post is to offer a big THANK YOU to everyone that contributes on this forum. I can honestly put the success of the occasion down to some of the advice given / posts on this forum! In addition, my experience might help some other newbie's starting out. It would be too long a post to detail absolutely everything but I'll try and document some of the relevant bits. Here goes...
Again, having read about planning and preparation time and time again, prior to the big day I checked and double-checked ALL my kit (bodies, lens, flash, batteries, memory cards etc.!). Also checked out the venue and parking facilities (glad I did as parking was a fair old distance from the venue!). I arrived early - infact... before the bride.
So the day started with some bridal / detail shots (which the bride wasn't really expecting for some reason but she was really happy when I started doing them!). Should point out something here... it was my first time using 2 camera bodies! Backup reasons aside, I loved the experience of being able to go wide and then up close without having to stop to change lenses. Some of the shots I have would not have been possible had I not carried 2 bodies. In any case, as you read time and time from different posters, I totally agree you should not go into a situation like this with just one camera. After the bridal shots, there was around 30m to the main event...
The 'pre-main event' period was probably the most difficult. I had met the bride and bridesmaids but not the groom. Anyway, the groom arrived and offered a very brief introduction / greeting and then walked off. I was left twiddling my thumbs and not sure of what to do next. Clearly, the groom was very nervous and so was I. This is where someone with more experience would have felt at home and made something of the situation. Anyway, after an uncomfortable and awkward period, I am glad to say I took the initiative and asked the groom if I could take some pictures of him with his 'best man'. He obliged and we had a good session. We both started to relax.
Onto the main event then and this was great! The room was very bright and airy - 2 massive windows there and the sun was shining outside. By the way, this was a civil wedding. I mention this as my last shoot was in a dark church where I was not allowed flash and had to shoot from a distance of over 20ft from the couple - obviously a totally different scenario!
Following the main event, the whole group walked over the road to a beautiful park where I shot the group pictures and some more bride / groom pictures. By this time, the bride, groom and I were really relaxed and I was enjoying myself!
Finally, it was back to the venue where the main wedding had taken place. Oh yes! A nice touch... as we walked back to the venue, some of the 'lads' in the group decided to 'refresh' themselves at a pub which was enroute. I spotted them... and needless to say I got a few shots for evidence :-)
Back at the venue, I made it a point to ask the bride and groom if they were happy and if they wanted any more pictures prior to me wrapping up and heading home. They asked for another group shot which I happily did.
Now, the best part of the day (no - not heading home!)... Just before I left, the groom who was a man of few words... approached me and took my hand with both of his... looked me in the eyes and told me something to the tune of 'I cannot thank you enough. You were absolutely amazing... you have the patience of god... all of them are asking me who is this photographer because he is so professional and calm...' Needless to say, I was so pleased and totally did not expect that!
Today, out of the blue I have had the bride's mother say the same sort of stuff to me. She said they all loved my approach and the fact I was not pushy in any way. She also mentioned she loved the patience I had around children (not hard when you have your own!).
I hope some of what I have written helps some of you! Again, I thank everyone that contributes on this forum... those that have offered advice... sold me their kit... offered c+c etc.!
Regards,
Sanjeev