Erica and I like to shoot our weddings together. Now, that’s not always possible due to the number of children we have or when we shoot weddings out of town, but whenever we can, we do them together. “Why?” you may ask. Well, not only is it like a date with my amazing wife, but there are other benefits for you, as well.
Imagine this:
Your photographer shows up to your wedding, bags in hand, cameras strapped up and with, maybe, an assistant in tow. They come to the bridal suite, your home, or hotel room to start the obligatory getting ready shots (makeup, hair, dress on a hanger, etc.)
Your bridesmaids are putting their dresses on, eating strawberries and sipping champagne… but what about the groom and groomsmen? What are they doing? How are they behaving? What are they watching, drinking, eating, sharing or playing? We have over 400 weddings under our belts and it is pretty safe to say, we’ve almost seen it all. You can get in touch with us through our page, or if you would like to contact us immediately please call (561) 247-4439.
All the things we’ve seen are the exact things you want pictures of. Weddings today are rather bride-centric. It’s all about the bride and rightfully so. However, the groom, believe it or not, is an integral part of the day as well. With that being said, you want to document your husband-to-be and whatever it is that he and his friends may be doing, along with yourself and what you are doing.
That’s why Erica generally goes with the bride and bridesmaids and I go with the groom and groomsmen. This brings up another issue:
Being at different locations.
A single photographer cannot be at two different locations at once. Until we figure out time travel, there is no way of getting around this simple fact. Although Erica generally gets to ride in the limo with the ladies, she and the limo driver can’t and don’t want to drive back and forth from location to location.
Even if she could, there are moments that would be lost during travel and we surely don’t want to miss any of the moments of your special day. With two shooters, we can do so without being in any sort of rush.
When I travel and do “solo weddings”, I almost always use a second shooter. Sometimes we tell the bride and groom that we will have a second shooter, sometimes we don’t. I have yet to show up to a wedding with a second shooter and the bride or groom be upset.
When viewing your images, after the wedding, it is nice to know what your now husband was doing at the exact same time you were putting on your shoes (usually by the time you put on your shoes, he and his friends have been waiting at the altar for a half an hour or at the downstairs bar, as weddings never happen on time.)
When we make our albums for our clients, they generally put on opposing pages what was going on while getting ready at the same time. (If you were wondering about why you should get an album to commemorate your wedding day check out our post about that here)
Another advantage of having a second photographer is having different angles.
Erica shoots a certain way and I shoot a certain way. Our styles compliment each other rather well, but we are able to get different angles. While the bride is walking down the aisle, Erica shoots her and I can get the shot from behind and get the groom’s reaction as well.
Sometimes she shoots wide and I shoot tight, sometimes the opposite, other times I shoot low and Erica shoots high. Either way, having different angles and vantage points is always beneficial to our clients and makes for better images because we have distinctly different perspectives of the same moment.
Now let’s talk about large weddings.
When you have a wedding with 200 or more people it is difficult for any single photographer to get all the shots of all the guests as well as pay attention to the bride and groom.
Personally, I do not like doing table shots of guests. Erica is the table shot queen. She has zero issue with asking guests, before the food comes out, to bundle together for pictures. That process, for a wedding of 200 or more guests, can sometimes take up to 30 minutes.
There is no way we can leave the bride and groom alone during the time it takes to get those shots. Many times this happens during the toasts or speeches. I will set up for speeches while she does table shots. Like I said before, we don’t want to miss anything on your wedding day and having both of us allows for separate focus. I can focus on the couple while she focuses on the guests and nothing is lost. If you believe that having two photographers commemorating your special day, then make sure to contact us here.
Last and quite possibly most important, having two photographers at your wedding allows for our clients to relax.
It is comforting for someone paying thousands of dollars to have two photographers. There is no worrying about missing moments or not getting enough images. If something goes wrong, which it often does, Erica is my back up plan.
She transitions seamlessly with the clients when something happens and the bride and groom never even knew that my pocket wizard or flash wasn’t working. Erica and I have complimentary personalities and our past clients can attest to the fact that we are calming and relaxed on the big day.
Nothing can spoil your wedding more than having to worry about whats going on. Is the food going to be ready on time? Are we going to get all the shots we want? Is the florist arriving on time? Is grandma going to fall on her way to be seated? Although having one highly trained, capable photographer on your wedding day can in sometimes be plenty, having both of us eliminates some of the stress of the day that you may otherwise worry about. Leave us a message on our page, or call us at (561) 247-4439.
