Behind the scene with a wedding photographer

Have you ever been to a wedding and thought while watching the wedding photographer, that must be the best job to just show up with a camera and take a few photos.

When people think about wedding photographers and the work they do, they think about someone who directs people where and how to stand shoots a couple of quick pictures and moves on to another group of photo setups.

What many people may not realize is that we are so much more than just wedding photographers. We wear many hats at weddings.

So what exactly goes on behind the scenes of each wedding we photograph?

Before your wedding even starts, we’re researching your venue (even if we’ve been there before). Coming up with an image game-plan. Prepping our gear to make sure the cameras and lenses are clean, the batteries are fully charged (with loads of backups) and that we have plenty of SD/Flash cards. We send a questionnaire to our couples to help us develop our wedding timeline. If the couple has a wedding coordinator, then we’ll develop a plan with the coordinator.

On your wedding day, we take photos of all the prep work that goes into your wedding. We are taking detail photos, photos if you getting into your dress, photos of boutonnieres being pinned.

An important element of our gear is a set of walki-talkies that help to communicate to the other photographer and between the couples on their wedding day. This allows us to move about with confidence that no one will see the bride before she is ready.

We bring snacks and emergency supplies like makeup remover, pins, a sewing kit… We help out in any way we can. I can’t tell you how many boutonnieres I’ve pinned, and how many lessons on “how to pin a boutonniere,” I’ve given.

Before your ceremony, we are getting into place and making sure everything is good to go. We try to move around quietly and without blocking your guests views. After your wedding, we gather your family and wedding party and start whittling down the people. We slowly send people inside until it is just the newley weds. This gives us some time to take some intimate photos between the two and allows time for everyone to settle for the couples grand entrance.

At the ceremony, we get a little breathing room. We check out schedule and talk with the DJ to make sure we’re on the same timeline. At this point, the DJ is usually running the show. We are taking all of the regular, cake cutting, first dance, speech photos, but we are also taking candid photos and group photos. Sometimes we answer guests questions, direct them to the bathroom, let them know when things are going to happen. I can’t help to dance at wedding, especially if the dance floor is empty. At the end of the wedding night, I try to help pick up a little before I leave.

After your wedding, some photographers are done. They send images off to someone to be edited (or they don’t edit). As soon as I get home, I start the download process. As the images are downloading, I grab a few to run a quick edit so I can throw some sneak peeks up on Facebook. For the next few weeks, I spend my time behind my computer culling and editing through every image all while making sure to upload images to social media and post a blog about your wedding.

When all of the images have been edited, I upload them to an online gallery that I send to the newlyweds. The cool thing about the link is that it’s instant and it can be shared with anyone.

Have you seen me dance at your wedding or at a friends wedding? Didn’t happen unless you have video proof! (wink)