Photographing My First Wedding

Leah (http://www.leahdavisphotography.com/) was kind enough to let me tag along for my first experience in wedding photography a couple of weekends ago.  She’s got some photos up on her site too.  I had a blast doing this wedding.  And being the secondary photographer was the way to go for me since I could watch Leah work her magic and learn.  It was great fun to meet all those new people and to be able to sit back some times and people watch from afar.  Plus I was doing photography.  So, what could be better then that?

Ryan and Jen (the happy couple) have been together for over 12 years and had the cutest little 2 year old girl, Paisley.  I’m a sucker for little kids.  It was a challenge for introvert me to step out of my comfort zone and get to know people well enough to make them feel comfortable in front of the camera.  I can see that this skill is critical for being a successful people photographer.  Leah has it down pat.  She is everyone’s friend the instant they meet and does a great job of coaxing out genuine smiles.  Anyways, here are some of my favorite photos from the wedding.

  Cute little Paisley showing her smiles for Leah.

The father of the bride giving Jen away to Ryan.

The dishes are done, dude!.

Ryan’s mother passed away recently.  He kept a picture of her in this locket on his boutonniere to remember her.
  Another one of cute Paisley on the 18th fairway at Sunridge Canyon Golf Club.  I tried a little Lightroom “preset” that I created here.  It’s more of a washed out look with red highlights.  The jury is still out on whether or not I’ll use it much.  It may be better for an urban, modern portrait look.

I was having so much fun taking pictures, I didn’t  eat any cake.  It looked delicious, but I was already feeling wired from the excitement of trying to capture everything that was going on.

Paisley getting her groove on with her backup dancers.

So, some of my key lessons learned on this outing are…

1.  Get out there and meet people.  Get to know them and make them feel comfortable in front of the camera.  They won’t usually feel comfortable unless they can see that I’m comfortable.
2.  People like it when you show them the pictures you took of them.  I love LCD on cameras.
3.  Be prepared for every lighting situation.  We went from harsh shadows and bright sun during the wedding to a dimly lit reception area.  I can’t wait to get some faster lenses.
4.  Have a plan and list.  Leah had scribbled out the poses she wanted and such. 
5.  Be prepared to spend a lot more time editing than taking the pictures.  These are only a few of the ~800 pictures I took.  Leah had more than that and there is a lot of sifting, picking, tweaking, critiquing to get the final keepers.  Luckily, I enjoy working on computers.  It’s great fun to play around with a picture and try to get as close to reality as you can or play around to make something new.

Overall, lot’s of fun!  I’ve got a long ways to go, but I’m willing to work for free right now.  So, let me know if there are any other wedding photographers out there that are as nice as Leah and willing to let me shadow them.