Wedding photography is a huge part of the work that I do, some people think that being a wedding photographer means waking up, going to a wedding and taking as many photos as you can, then at the end of the day it’s ‘job done’ and you get a nice big pay-cheque for it.
How can I put this….NO it’s not!
Being a wedding photographer is about being ready, weeks (if not months in advance) talking through details with the bride and groom to the point where you know and understand the in’s and outs of their wedding day as well as they do, and sometimes even knowing more than they do as discussions with groomsmen and bridesmaids might reveal some unexpected surpises in store for the bride and groom. And that’s just the start of it.
Before the day itself, there’s often the need to walk through the venue and plan things (where’s the sun going to be on the day, where are the best shooting angles, where can I hide for a moment to change a lens without drawing the attention away from the couple during the ceremony, are there any angles I can shoot from that would be really ‘wow’ but might need the venue’s position) then there’s the cleaning and checking and re-checking of the equipment to make sure it’s ready for the couple’s important day. Then on the wedding day itself, yes there’s the wedding photography and taking lots of photos, but that’s paired with the in depth knowledge and understanding of the day itself. Making sure you’re in the perfect spot to catch that ‘magical moment’ which in reality has been carefully planned and prepared for…as with all ‘magic’ it takes careful preparation.
There are moments in the day where sometimes the photography has to be put aside (one bride I worked with had a nose bleed and tissues and protecting the dress with a towel was more important for her than a photo ‘capturing the moment!’) being there as an extra pair of hands to help is part of the job, making sure the couple’s day goes off as perfectly as possible.
Then once everyone is sleeping off the party and booze, after the big day, there’s the process of going through thousands of wedding photos to pick out the best for the bride and groom to preview. I try and do this within a week of the wedding, and when you’re talking sometimes 2000-3000 photos, even at a couple of seconds to look at each photo, that’s a full day, if not more just to review the raw wedding photos. Once that process has been done, then there’s the long process of editing the images, again days of work (if not weeks) to go through editing those wedding photos.
Lastly, there’s putting everthing online for the couple to preview and approve the edits, then onto a USB stick, packaging it up nicely and delivering it to the couple. And even that process written down sounds so much simpler than it really is. So when you say being a wedding photographer is easy or fun (and yes it is, great fun…at times) it’s also very hard work, especially when you take into account the fact that you are singlehandedly being trusted with recording and capturing a couple’s most special day, one that you only get one chance at it (there’s definitely no chance of a do-over!) then you get a little taste of what being a wedding photographer is all about.
And I love my job, I wouldn’t change a thing. I love meeting new people, love finding out what makes them tick, and then making sure I photograph their wedding day in a way that shows their joy, love and happiness in all it’s glory.
