Your top three things before pressing the shutter...

SMP_Homer wrote in post #15461003
I once drove from Ottawa to Toronto the day after a wedding... just outside of Toronto, I was meeting a couple for their engagement shoot at a very popular waterfall...
after roughly 7 hours of driving, I arrived a bit tired, but ready to go... or so I thought...
slapped my dual strap on... hooked up the cameras, locked the truck and headed down a whole bunch of stairs, down a long-ish path, climbed over some rocks, and when it was finally time to shoot I realized all cards are locked in the truck...
Future groom was nice enough to run up and get them - he figured he would get there a lot faster than I would with all this gear!

Ha ha,,, funny. Mine was totally lame. Had a Saturday wedding and i usually have all the cards loaded and formatted the day before. A HS senior called me and asked to change her appointment to Friday night before the wedding. So i changed cards and did her shoot. Got back home downloaded and forgot to put the 32 GB cards back in camera for next days wedding,,but left the SD card in place:o... abou.t 1/4 way through the morning i decided to view some shots during down time and i saw the HS shots from the night before ad it was like WTF are these doing here:o,, opened door and saw what i did... didnt loose anything but all the getting ready shots and the first look were on the SD card and not backed because the other card was not in the camera:o,,,,,,total bonehead move... nothing lost but pretty stupid

1. Do I look cool?
2. Do I look really cool?
3. Do I look really really cool?

I'm surprised I even take pictures...

3. Does this [Shot] work ? Will waiting a couple of seconds yield a better shot [e.g expression] ?
2. Can I move slightly / zoom slightly / recompose to clean up / improve the composition ?
1. What's my next shot ?

You guys think too much.

1) Is there anything behind me that I will walk backwards into while I recompose a shot? (don't ask).
2) What will this shot get me on the "Rate the photo above you" thread?
3) What gift am I going to buy Nicksan for bailing me out on my post processing... again...?

1. Have they paid me
2. Is my position relative to the subject optimal
3. Are they all looking where they should

Simplistic wrote in post #15473737
1) Is there anything behind me that I will walk backwards into while I recompose a shot? (don't ask).

Never done that one before....lol

It is true that you have to have eyes in the back of your head to shoot weddings.

^ When I was 5, I saw a photog knock over a wedding cake while he recomposed a shot.

Singing this song before i press the shutter:

"I'm bulletproof, nothing to loose... fire away... fire away".

There are a lot more than 3 things I think about, and a lot of them are posted here. Checking focus, checking background, are people looking where they should, expressions, etc.

1) Check background is clean.
2) Check camera settings (shutter speed, aperture and iso) are ok.
3) Wait for eyes to be open, looking at me and not somewhere else, smiling...

Click.

4) Repeat if necessary.

0) Don't forget to yell "Say Cheeze!"

1. Ensure that the background does not have any elements that will split the interest of the photograph.
2. Verify that camera and flash settings are correct so that my subject is well lit and background is a stop or two dimmer.
3. Ensure that the subject is entirely in focus (don't try to shoot a group at f/1.4, even when shooting at 24mmops.

tkbslc wrote in post #15469372
You guys think too much.

I agree. I would think at this point all the thinking is over, just shoot the photos. I would look at this like I do a golf swing, when I address the ball I don't think about anything. I let my instincts and practice take over.