The wedding of Anna and Nicola
11th August 2011
Last Friday (5th August) I shot my first ever wedding for a couple of friends of mine at the lovely venue of Hoyle Court in Baildon, Shipley and WOW what can I say except it was probably the most nerve wracking and high pressured thing i've ever done, seriously!!! WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY IS HARD. PERIOD!
Now I was hoping that by not taking any payment for shooting the wedding this would lower the pressure on my shoulders and enable me to enjoy the big day. Well come the night before the wedding and I was very nervous, in fact freaking out would be a better way to describe how I was feeling, and on Friday morning on the day of the wedding I was all up for running away and hiding. But as this wouldn't have been the most professional of approaches, I got my camera bag together (and my nerves) bit the bullet and set off to the wedding venue.
The wedding was due to take place at 1pm so I arrived at 10.30 am to scout the venue, and also to do the small details shots of the tables, cake, venue etc. To anyone shooting their first wedding I would strongly advise doing this as my nerves soon settled down as I got lost in the photography.
Time soon flew by and before I knew it the guests were soon arriving and my nerves started creeping back inside my belly again I initially found it hard to approach people to take their photo, so I took the option of using the 70-200 to grab some candids. This enabled me to slowly get more comfortable, and also get some great candids.
12.45 came and Nicola arrived arrived. I managed to grab some quick shots of her getting out of the car and posing with her Grandad, then waited for Anna to arrive.
On to the ceremony and by this point I cannot believe how much I was sweating due to the pressure, and although there was a fair bit of light coming in I was glad i took the option of using a speedlite. In my panic I'd switched to AV mode (I had planned to use Manual) the exposures came out ok, maybe a little dark but i've been able to bump up the exposures in LR as I shot RAW (something every newbie should do )
I shot with two cameras, with 70-200 2.8 on one and 35 1.4 on the other. There were times when the 35 wasn't wide enough (on a 1D3) and I wished I'd had my 17-40 on but the pace of the day meant I failed to switch lenses when I would have liked. (in hindsight i'd have rented a 16-35 2.8)
With the ceremony over I was ready for a drink and putting the camera down as the pressure i'd put myself under had been immense, then it dawned on me that was only the beginning of the day and there was still so much more to photograph, and that point was when I realised just how hard this Wedding Photography larky is and why the Pro's charge what they do.
As for the day on the whole though, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Yes it was hard, exhausting, mentally draining, but the thrill you get of getting a good shot is awesome.
Click here to view the best of a fantastic day.
Now I was hoping that by not taking any payment for shooting the wedding this would lower the pressure on my shoulders and enable me to enjoy the big day. Well come the night before the wedding and I was very nervous, in fact freaking out would be a better way to describe how I was feeling, and on Friday morning on the day of the wedding I was all up for running away and hiding. But as this wouldn't have been the most professional of approaches, I got my camera bag together (and my nerves) bit the bullet and set off to the wedding venue.
The wedding was due to take place at 1pm so I arrived at 10.30 am to scout the venue, and also to do the small details shots of the tables, cake, venue etc. To anyone shooting their first wedding I would strongly advise doing this as my nerves soon settled down as I got lost in the photography.
Time soon flew by and before I knew it the guests were soon arriving and my nerves started creeping back inside my belly again I initially found it hard to approach people to take their photo, so I took the option of using the 70-200 to grab some candids. This enabled me to slowly get more comfortable, and also get some great candids.
12.45 came and Nicola arrived arrived. I managed to grab some quick shots of her getting out of the car and posing with her Grandad, then waited for Anna to arrive.
On to the ceremony and by this point I cannot believe how much I was sweating due to the pressure, and although there was a fair bit of light coming in I was glad i took the option of using a speedlite. In my panic I'd switched to AV mode (I had planned to use Manual) the exposures came out ok, maybe a little dark but i've been able to bump up the exposures in LR as I shot RAW (something every newbie should do )
I shot with two cameras, with 70-200 2.8 on one and 35 1.4 on the other. There were times when the 35 wasn't wide enough (on a 1D3) and I wished I'd had my 17-40 on but the pace of the day meant I failed to switch lenses when I would have liked. (in hindsight i'd have rented a 16-35 2.8)
With the ceremony over I was ready for a drink and putting the camera down as the pressure i'd put myself under had been immense, then it dawned on me that was only the beginning of the day and there was still so much more to photograph, and that point was when I realised just how hard this Wedding Photography larky is and why the Pro's charge what they do.
As for the day on the whole though, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Yes it was hard, exhausting, mentally draining, but the thrill you get of getting a good shot is awesome.
Click here to view the best of a fantastic day.
Comments
By Robbie Barratt: I've seen the images on here just now..wonderful stuff to say it was your first go!