My First Wedding
So, the Philmont photos can wait a bit because I’ve been preparing to shoot my very good friend’s wedding.
Isn’t this how everyone starts their wedding photography career?
Friend: Hey, you have a nice camera and take nice pictures!
Photo-fan: Gee, thanks!
Friend: I’d love for you to photograph my wedding!
Photo-fan: Wow. Uh…you know I’m not a professional, right?
Friend: Yeah, I know. I don’t really care that much about the photos.
Photo-fan: Riiiiight…well…okay, but fair warning: you just might get what you pay for – nothing.
Friend: Ha ha! Yeah, yeah, yeah. No really. Don’t worry about it! I want you to do it!
I would barely venture to call myself an intermediate photographer. Still, I took it on and in doing so I learned a TON. I managed not to make the mistake of not preparing myself at all. I immediately ran out to the library and checked out books on photography and specifically digital wedding photography. I also immediately got a little overwhelmed.
There is a lot that goes into wedding photography. I understand that now after the fact more than ever!
I may have read a lot of books, but was I really prepared? Honestly, not really.
Still, I know so much more now that I’ve experienced a wedding as a photographer. You can read the words “The ceremony goes by really fast” as many times as you like and not understand what that means until the loving couple have swapped rings and you managed to get a total of 2 acceptable shots. Not even 2 great shots. Just 2 shots that you can salvage to prove to future generations that they did, in fact, put rings on each others’ fingers.
Do I feel bad? Yes. I really do. Going through the ceremony photos, I was terrified that maybe I hadn’t got a single good shot of anything important. Thank God that turned out not to be true – but it easily could’ve happened based on my inexperience.
Is the couple who agreed to let me photograph their entire wedding solo going to have to just accept whatever I manage to give them? Yes. Yes, they are. And I know they will. Fortunately, I did get some good shots and at least a couple great shots over the course of the entire day.
Besides that, though, I got a nice dose of reality, too. That is going to be very valuable to me in the long run, I think!
Photography by MED 
