So I shot at my 1st wedding this weekend as a 2nd shooter. Here is my story with pictures (just a quick edit on these.)
8 am I woke up feeling good that I'd have a stress free day. I was volunteering my services to a photographer who's work and business skills that I admire. This will be a great day.
1:45 Sara, the main photog, asked that I met her at the meeting spot at 2:15 but I arrived early as a 2nd shooter should. A little too early. So I drove to a gas station down the street to go to the restroom. (I didn't know the venue had rest rooms. lol) As I approached the highway, I saw tons of cars going back towards the park but not moving much. Ruh Roh.
2:00 I make it back (a la less traveled route) to the meeting spot and the 1st call comes in. Sara tells me she's stuck in traffic and not moving at all. On a normal day, she would have been 2 mins away from the park. But this day was not so normal. She left way ahead of time too. But any who we agree to lets try to wait it out and hopefully traffic will clear up and all will be well.
Wrong!
2:15 Sara calls and says "I haven't been able to reach the bride and I'm still by the Taco bell (about 1/2 mile away). I'm calling the cops to tell them they need to get someone out here to direct traffic. Jerren, I'm going to need you to go down to the Grand Basin and Start taking photos of the couple." And in my coolest most neutral voice I say, "No problem Sara, Relax, I'll go down and meet them." *end call*
Me: "Oh. S@#%!"
I hadn't been thinking about posing for any formal shots because I didn't intend on doing so this time around. So at about 2:20 the panic attack begins.
2:30 I make it to the Basin on time and lucky for me the limo carrying the wedding party was stuck in similar traffic as Sara was.
2:45 I see the limo coming. I call Sara to check her status. She can see the entrance. So I greet the bride and groom. Gulp. ok can I get every one to stand over here. I snap a shot of the wedding party.
Eek Potty poses from all the guys. Boring arrangement. Not good.
"Ok guys, you can go and sit over there. Ladies come with me." And right as I said that. A car drives by and a guy yells, "look at those fat female dogs!" (Except they didn't say female dogs) So I'm thinking to my self, "I know that didn't just happen." I take a peek from behind the camera and none of the party reacted. Great. So I position the girls, and I hop on top of one of the walls and...
Ok, that one wasn't so bad, blew the flowers a little but... And at that moment I look up the clouds parted, a rainbow formed, Cats and Dogs played together, pigs were flying, and Sara arrived and thankfully took over.
The Panic attack began to subside at this point and we went to the wedding venue and I was able to do my thing. I carried the Main's gear when I could I did a little crowd control while the main did the formals. And tried to be creative for the remainder of the day.
Well thats it for the story I hope you enjoy the rest of the pictures.
Interesting story. On my first second shooter outing, I was early/on time and the photographer was twenty minutes late. It was so embarrassing to me because I am always early. The photographer's day job was as a psychologist. He was on the cell phone to the bride letting her know where he was on the highway, etc. and the bride did not seem to mind.
He had all of the film for me, so I could not get started.
It is great to ride in the same car on the wedding day, unless of course, the car breaks down!
Hey David, thanks for the comment. I did a lot of shots like that with a item in the foregroud in focus and wedding party in the backgroud oof. I hope the B&G likes some of them.
Pressure. I'd have to say that was the 2nd full blown panic attack that I've had in my life. lol. I really tried to keep my cool when I was alone with the wedding party though.
Jerren totally saved my a$$! I have never ever ever been late...I am one of those super freaks who still goes super early. I am soooo glad I left early (I wanted to check out what was in bloom around the park) Thank goodness the wedding party was late too...but still it was embarrasing to say the least...Thanks for not having a stroke Jerren! You have a lot of talent and I can't wait to work with you again. hopefully under better circumstances!
Loved the story. The way you tell it, it's almost like we are sitting with you as you tell it. You've got some really nice shots by the way. Great job! Yvette
Hey Tim, I hope you don't mind me looking at your site for some inspiration for the next time I tag a long with Sara! Thanks for the kind words of advice.
Thank for the compliment Golden1245
Hey Sara, I had a blast! I'll probably try to stick a bit closer to you after for the bridal party pics the next time.
Thanks Peter, I liked the String Quartet a lot. I wasn't really able to capture what I had in my mind. Where they were sitting was pretty tight and I didn't want to bother them to much as they were playing
Hey Yvette. Thanks for the response! Honestly, that story told itself. It was a very interesting series of events to say the least. I'm just happy to have gotten my feet wet early on. I know these weddings very seldom go off with out any problems. I'd prefer to get the tough situations early on while I'm 2nd shooting so I'll be prepared when I go off on my own.
Make certain you leave a little room around the frame so that you can crop to a 4x5 ratio. Your group shot would not be able to be cropped to an 8x10...
ahh, very true Chris. Thats something that I've been working on. I've been told that I need to shoot a bit looser to be sure to leave some room to be able to crop. And actually for this one, this isn't the original crop. I cropped it quite a bit. So there should be some room there to make a 8x10.
