I had my first official wedding shoot this weekend. I was the assistant photographer for a friend of mine who was the main photographer for his brother. It was his first wedding as well. I learned alot from this experience. Here are some of my thoughts and reflections: I need to work on posing people. I’m good at getting candid shots, but not as good with interacting with people for poses. In one of the shots, I wasn’t sure how to pose people and the other photographer was a little unsure as well. I have never had to pose more than three people before, let alone a full wedding party. Smiling is awesome. Blinking is not. Be invisible. I talked to Jennifer after the wedding and she mentioned that one of the other guests brought a camera and was very visible during the ceremony and thought it was cool that I was invisble. Shooting in burst mode is great… until you give your camera to someone else. It was funny to watch Jennifers face when she realized the camera was on burst mode. For alot of the shots, I shot with burst mode to ensure one or two good shots. High ISO is nice, but low ISO is noise free… I shot the vast majority of the shots at ISO 800 and very few at any other ISO. Some of the outdoor shots got a lower ISO because it was really bright out. I’m really thankful for the main photographers wife, Veronica. She immediately figured out that both of us (the photographers) weren’t sure about some of the formal shots and helped us make sure we got all of the formal shots that the bride and groom requested. Use the flash as little as possible. I didn’t use the flash at all during the ceremony and used it a bit during the reception. I rented a Speedlight from Glazers for the occasion. It proved to be very useful. Don’t change lenses as much. I brought almost all my lenses because I wasn’t sure which ones would be best. I ended up using mostly two lenses, a 17-40mm f/2.8 and a 50mm f/1.8. Next time, Ill bring less lenses. Have a water bottle. Jennifer was an awesome help to me. She brought me food and water. Figure out the order of ceremony ahead of time. This wedding was super casual which was really cool. There were a few shots during the ceremony which could have been better planned. More pictures is better. I ended up taking over 800 pictures from this. I will probably cull this down to 500 decent pictures and 300ish good pictures. This was a great experience. After the wedding, I finished a product photo set that I started and ended the day with a date with Jennifer. It was a very full and rewarding day. I really want to do this again.
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I had my first official wedding shoot this weekend. I was the assistant photographer for a friend of mine who was the main photographer for his brother. It was his first wedding as well. I learned alot from this experience. Here are some of my thoughts and reflections:

  1. I need to work on posing people. I’m good at getting candid shots, but not as good with interacting with people for poses. In one of the shots, I wasn’t sure how to pose people and the other photographer was a little unsure as well. I have never had to pose more than three people before, let alone a full wedding party.
  2. Smiling is awesome. Blinking is not.
  3. Be invisible. I talked to Jennifer after the wedding and she mentioned that one of the other guests brought a camera and was very visible during the ceremony and thought it was cool that I was invisble.
  4. Shooting in burst mode is great… until you give your camera to someone else. It was funny to watch Jennifers face when she realized the camera was on burst mode. For alot of the shots, I shot with burst mode to ensure one or two good shots.
  5. High ISO is nice, but low ISO is noise free… I shot the vast majority of the shots at ISO 800 and very few at any other ISO. Some of the outdoor shots got a lower ISO because it was really bright out.
  6. I’m really thankful for the main photographers wife, Veronica. She immediately figured out that both of us (the photographers) weren’t sure about some of the formal shots and helped us make sure we got all of the formal shots that the bride and groom requested.
  7. Use the flash as little as possible. I didn’t use the flash at all during the ceremony and used it a bit during the reception. I rented a Speedlight from Glazers for the occasion. It proved to be very useful.
  8. Don’t change lenses as much. I brought almost all my lenses because I wasn’t sure which ones would be best. I ended up using mostly two lenses, a 17-40mm f/2.8 and a 50mm f/1.8. Next time, Ill bring less lenses.
  9. Have a water bottle. Jennifer was an awesome help to me. She brought me food and water.
  10. Figure out the order of ceremony ahead of time. This wedding was super casual which was really cool. There were a few shots during the ceremony which could have been better planned.
  11. More pictures is better. I ended up taking over 800 pictures from this. I will probably cull this down to 500 decent pictures and 300ish good pictures.

This was a great experience. After the wedding, I finished a product photo set that I started and ended the day with a date with Jennifer. It was a very full and rewarding day. I really want to do this again.