Behind the scenes of a wedding photographer

For some of you this might be the boring bit. But for those who really want to know what goes on before, during and after you collect your images, here you are.

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What happens before your wedding?

First, as a wedding photographer even before I put finger to shutter button, I must make sure all your paperwork is all in order and your preparations for the day are still on track. There's nothing worse than those last minute changes I don't know about. I see it as my responsibility to contact you before the day to check if everything is going to plan. That way I have no unexpected surprises on the day. I need to make sure that the list of specific photos has been completed and the start time and location have been confirmed. Not forgetting making sure you have arranged the pre-wedding shoot with me. I know you'll be exceptionally busy with other preparations they don't want the extra pressure with me stressing about a pre-wedding shoot. But if I don't hear anything, I tend to give you a nudge. I see the pre-wedding shoot as a major part of the wedding prep. It enables me to enhance the connection between you, the couple, and myself as the photographer, which only helps the photography on the day to be more relaxed. Have you ordered a guest frame? Then there are frames, mounts and prints to order and put together before the big day and an added pressure NOT to forget it on the way out of the office!

On the day of your wedding…..

So, to the day itself. It's usually an early start for me, whether it's for full day or half day coverage. There's batteries to charge (something I don't like doing the night before as temperature and other factors can affect the batteries which could result in them not charging or loosing charge before the day), cameras and equipment to clean and service, spare camera equipment to sort - it’s always a good thing to have a back-up system, of which I carry two camera bodies and a whole host of lens. Both cameras have dual memory card slots and are set up to make an instant backup as I shoot.

Memory cards to format, paperwork to gather, the little details like step ladders, sweets (for me), drinks, guest frames, mobiles to charge, babysitters to organise, dog sitters in my case too. The prep work seems endless some days. So, with prep work complete, its wedding time.

After introducing myself to the wedding coordinator (it's always helpful to have a rapport with them already, but the ones I don't know it’s about forging new relationships and making a good impression) I need to find a nice quiet corner to drop my bags and make my "base camp". Somewhere I can leave my kit away from everyone and still gain access when needed, somewhere the guests (especially the kids) can't see me munching sweets to keep my energy levels up.

Introductions over its time to start shooting - I hear the phase " you’re only a photographer, you only take pictures'' so many times, but how many people know what a photographer does when they actually do attend a wedding? Well from the onset you’re constantly checking your camera's setting for example the ISO, shutter speed, lighting, white balance, aperture metering etc., making sure things are right for the creative shot you have in your mind and trying to be one step ahead of the day. Making sure you have the correct lens for the occasion you're about to capture. Checking memory cards and batteries have plenty of life and do you have spare either handy in the bag or in your pocket ready to swap so you don’t lose any coverage. Mentally, being a documentary wedding photographer, I never stop looking for that shot, apart from when the guest and clients are eating, something I never do is take images while you’re eating, I see it as being disrespectful. Plus you want to enjoy your meal without feeling you're on display to me.  From the onset of capturing you, the bride,  in her room or home getting ready, I'm looking for your details such as flowers, presents, cards, shoes, dresses etc as well as the emotion of your parents and excitement of the children. At your venue it’s just the same, ideally you need to be everywhere all at once capturing everything that going on, pretty hard work as you can imagine.

During your ceremony I’m trying to put myself into a position where I can capture both of you and your expressions. This is difficult because as a photographer I’m usually bound by the rules set out by the vicar or registrar. A lot don’t like photographers using flash, which makes lighting difficult, neither do they like you moving around as it can distract not only them but you too.

With your ceremony covered it’s now time for me to step in and control a your guests, this is the time the guest shots get done, everyone wants to capture different family combinations, but for me it’s one of the most difficult times, guests nipping to the toilet or to the bar and I even had a bridesmaid disappear to check in to her room - she was the only bridesmaid! If I don't get these shots done, swiftly, it means the venue will run late with the meal.  After the guest shots have been done, it's time for me to head off just me and both of you to get a little time to ourselves and snap those loving shots. This is the bit you’ll like, it's almost like a bit of down time for you. I like to give a little variation, so this usually means walking between various locations on and off site to get different backdrops. I also make a point not to pose the couple, I like natural shots and usually love or alcohol make you  interact that's when I capture the shots.

The next is the speeches capturing the emotion and laughter, before I step back for a while to allow your guests to eat in peace, but still have my finger on the trigger, you never know when something might happen.

After you’ve finished eating there is usually a few hours till your evening guests arrive and I'm just snapping people enjoying themselves and chatting to the guests. Soon comes time for your first dance and cake cut, trying to push the camera to capture in low light and hold as still as you can working with slow shutter speeds and disco lights. 

Finally, the wedding has been captured and I've had the time of my life chatting to you, your guests and capturing some precious moments and memories. I've said my goodbyes and wished the both of you well for the evening.

It's back to the office now, usually around 8 or 9 o'clock at night and the PC is woken up to carry out the back up of your wedding images, I've been known to be at the office until midnight doing this. I have to copy all the images from each of my memory cards to the relevant file on my master drive, writing on the paperwork how many images are on each card as I go, hoping the total I have written down matches the total in the file on the PC. Once all the cards have been backed up, I then copy the whole file across to a two-master drive ghost, that's the three copies of the wedding files. Once this has been completed its time to plug in the fourth and final drive, a portable master drive and copy all the files across to this. Which is sort off site. Now I can finally lock all the camera equipment away. So that's it right? I’ve captured your precious memories, and everything is backed up. What more needs to be done?

What happens after your wedding day?

Well when it comes to that weddings turn to have its post-production, bear in mind I do family, pet portraits and commercial work too, I will look at each individual image using Adobe Lightroom. I must make an informed choice to whether the image makes the grade and can be worked with or simply needs deleting. Take the last wedding I did, 1084 images to look at. Throw that into three more portrait shoots and another six weddings that's a lot of images to look over. But that's still not the end....... Once I have processed them using Lightroom it's Photoshop time. We have all said or heard the famous line " you'll Photoshop that" well I try not to, but there will be those annoying items that will need tweaking or removing that child out of the background picking his nose. Now it’s time to contact the clients and get them to look over the images and make any final changes you want. After all the images are your wedding photos. The final adjustments will be made before I individually design the USB box and send it off to be manufactured and the wedding images finally presented to you. Phew! That my learned friends is one whole wedding start to finish. Now put that into two weddings a weekend??? You might understand why I get a little defensive when people say, " you're only a photographer" and hopefully you can see how unbelievably passionate, dedicated to and in love with my job I am. I really wouldn't swap it for any other profession in the world. Well expect my kids of course. I look forward to capturing your memories.

I’m also fully insured with public liability and indemnity insurance. The car is also insured for business use on the little excursions too.

Grab a cuppa if you’d like to know a little more about me and have a read what my clients say.

If you’d like to discuss your wedding day then drop me a line.