My First Wedding Shoot

((shouting from a mountain)) I had my first official wedding photoshoot - I must say that it went surprisingly well! I was skeptical to shoot a wedding on my own, mainly because of the horrid stories from other photographers about wedding shoots. Admittedly I was partly swayed because the couple stated that they didn’t want anything too formal and preferred more of a casual style of photography and would want most of the images taken in that style. It also helped that the very loving couple were a joy to be around, they project positive energy to all that are around them. I am happy that this beautiful couple chose me to document the most important day of their lives. As the time grew closer I became more and more nervous about the big day and started to browse the net to see what information I could find about wedding photography. I received loads of great advice from Wedding Photography Survival Tips I highly recommend this site to any new photographer looking to shoot weddings.

The night before the wedding I made sure that all of my gear was packed and ready for action; batteries were charged, plenty of memory cards, etc

I felt soo under (my own) pressure to get everything right - but, I believe that no matter how much you research and rehearse you can never predict the outcome - for us "first timers" atleast. I became a bit more relaxed as the couple and the groom's mother suggested to me that I enjoy the day as well as taking photos as I was just as much a guest as I was the photographer.

Seems obvious, but here are 2 main things that are on a need-to-know basis:

• Weddings move quite quickly, know your kit and know it well - saying "hold that pose" during the first kiss is NOT a good look for you! Especially for those group shots - you do not want people to stand around waiting on you to play with your equipment and learning the day of.
• Try being mobile during the ceremony - Be alert of the building structure... try getting both the entrance and exit of the bride and groom... having a second shooter would have helped me a lot!

All in all, I am very grateful for the couple for giving me such an enjoyable experience - they knew that this was my first official wedding shoot and they were happy to give me a try anyway... I learned tons - mainly that I have much more to learn... through experience ofcourse. If you were like me and browsing books and sites to find answers, stop now and use your time to shoot more, as "practice makes perfect".