I have a confession: I love second shooting. It's not really possible to live off of second shooting or even replace expensive gear on a second shooting wage, but you also don't have nearly as many responsibilities, pressures, or expectations as you do when you're the main photographer. You just show up for the event, create tons of great images, and then wash your hands of the rest. There's a certain creative freedom that comes with not being required to get "the" shot- and I love remember what that feels like every once in a while to help spark new ideas and creativity I can give my own clients. I did quite a bit of second shooting as I was toning down the marketing efforts of my own business in preparation for (and return from) my Adventure Year, but since my work from these events are spread out on everyone else's blog - I wanted to share them here so I can always go back and reference the work I've created for other people. So, here are some of my favorite images that I've captured for other photographers - which is why you'll see their watermarks and links to their sites where you can see more. ;-)
State Room Wedding Details with Krista Photo
I love atmospheric details - and sometimes they get missed when we need to focus as primary photographers because we never want to get too far away from the action. They're usually more interesting for us from a creative perspective rather than meaningful for our clients. ;-)
Above was one of those moments where I couldn't eliminate the distracting person in the background but I just HAD to get the shot without it being "perfect" because the look on his face was too priceless. Below, Krista had run upstairs to get a shot from above, but I loved the light and detail of the staircase, so I grabbed it from the front.
I love it when clergy surprise us all with quirky little personal stories and analogies. A minister who can create laughter at a wedding is a true joy for everyone in the room.
I always try to find a way to grab a "working image" of the photographers I work with so you can get a real sense of what things are like behind the scenes of creating beautiful imagery. In this case, Mike & Kate were doing double duty because it was a family wedding.
I was herding the wedding party from the sidelines, but there is always a lot of adjustment that needs to happen with large wedding parties before we can get just one "normal" posed group photo....
While everyone else was enjoying cocktail hour - I saw this little girl twirling and running through the grasses down the side of the hill, quite care-free about all the hubbub happening inside...
The biggest drawback to second shooting for me, personally, is that these aren't "my" clients, which means I don't get to have that lovely 2 year relationship of anticipating these amazing moments together and then reliving them through the album design process together. All I get are the fond and fun memories that I captured for someone else based on only what was happening right then and there on the wedding day- but not the satisfaction of seeing how their lives transform and evolve over time, or how meaningful certain images were to family members that I never could have known if I hadn't spent time on an album together afterward. So, while second shooting is fun and it fills in some of my creative itches- there's nothing like working one on one with a couple and their families from before their wedding to well after. It's a joy and an honor to be present to these transformational moments in people's lives- and even more satisfying when I can continue that relationship beyond the wedding day.
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