Photography Jobs

Over the summer I picked up a couple of big photography jobs which were quite well paid. Iv been doing photography for about 3 years now and its only recent that my work has had to be better than ever. I shot my first wedding on my own this summer which was an interesting experience to say the least. Doing it for the first time has taught me just as much as what I have learnt over the past 3 years and it has made me realise that assisting a photographer for a couple of wedding would be a good idea before I go on to take another job on myself. I felt an incredible amount of pressure from the minute I woke up in the working of the wedding, till the moment I looked through the photos on my mac. I never realised why professional wedding photographers charged so much but experiencing it myself for the first time, I know exactly why they do so. I felt like I had earned what I got paid in total, in the first couple of hours of the day. Their cant be a minute where you switch off, as this could lead to you missing something incredibly vital. So apart from food time (which was absolutely amazing) you are on your toes all the time. Luckily my friend said he would do the driving for me which meant I could be at both houses of the bride and grooms before the wedding to get shots of them getting ready. I started off at the grooms house which was great fun. Again the family was really laid back and great to be around. A lot is explained when I tell you we ended up ordering 3 large pizzas from dominos to tuck into. I know the bride and groom quite well and I knew they had family coming from abroad so I really wanted to capture moments that would be photos that they would look at in a couple of years times and smile. The last thing I would want is my photos to end up in the attic in a few months time. After an hour or so at the grooms house, I headed to the brides house. Nothing at this point went wrong for me which meant I was really looking forward to the day ahead. I was planning on staying their for half hour - 45 minutes as I wanted to be at the venue before everyone to get setup. I was told that they were running late which is quite common but when you see someone that had just came out of the shower 10 minutes before the ceremony was due to start, It really did make me panic. Quite comical at the same time. Finished off at the house and we was 45 minutes late. Turning up to the wrong location didn't help things either. Luckily the other place was round the corner. Arriving 3 minutes before the bride arrived. Success! (kind of)

I was always worried about it coming to the time where everyone has to gather for group photos as this meant everything is on you and taking charge isn't a great strength of mine. Luckily they was a couple of people who helped out with getting people from each family together etc which was a BIG help. A lot of this part would be a lot easier and less stressful when more experience and more planned. If i'm honest I really didn't know who should have been with who in which photos. Luckily the customers were very laid back and made me feel really comfortable.

The most enjoying part of the evening for me was when it came to the speeches and reception. This is when the drink starts to set in and the laughs and jokes come out. It was the point of the day where I could relax a bit more and go around getting some candid shots (capturing the atmosphere). I struggled more towards the end of the night when the lights went out and the disco started as my wide angle lens is only an f4 -5.6 which means not a lot of light is let into the lens. My 50mm 1.4 was usable but I wanted to change things up now and again with focal lengths. Using flash was fine but at times I feel the images can look quite flat so I try not to use it as much as I can.

Their was an awful lot of things that I took away from this day. All things that I can take into my next job and put right which means my work could improve even more. The things I took away from this wedding were:

• Pre planning shots. Even if this meant attending rehearsals or even going to the venue to check things out a day before. 
• Planning who is going to have photos with who and what times
• MORE MEMORY CARDS! (Long process transferring hundreds of RAW images to a laptop)
• Two bodies would be helpful which two different lenses on. Focal lengths being 1 wide angle and 1 telephoto. 70-200mm 2.8 recommended.
• Price rates
• Taking charge more. Being more vocal and getting people to do what you need them to do. (without coming across as bossy)