Being a second shooter

On rare occasions I get asked to be a second photographer; what that means is I follow the lead of a primary photographer who has the relationship with the bride and groom. It also means I can totally relax and not have to worry about any pressure. I can concentrate on shooting the moments that don't necessarily involve the bride and groom together. This was the case at the wedding of Hayley and Daniel

I rocked up to Cheshunt in Hertforshire a little ahead of time. I never know what traffic is going to be like so I always allow myself an extra thirty minutes. I had never met any one from the wedding before so I find it best to introduce and establish myself as soon as possible otherwise it can seem very surreal.

Daniel was still in the middle of preparations when I arrived but in a very casual way. He was there with a couple of his friends. Everyone was very relaxed which made my shots very natural to capture. They wanted me to lead the way in terms of what type of photos to capture so I suggested a couple of posed shots. During the morning, Daniel received a text from a England football star saying he coudldn't make it because he was preparing for the 2010 World Cup. The rest of the morning I captured in the popular reportage way. But before we could leave for the pub, there was one more thing I had to cover.

The Fudge scenario

I had very specific instructions from the primary photographer to get shots of their pet rabbit Fudge. It would seem that although he could not attend the wedding, he was still integral to the day. So I set aside abit of time to get Fudge.

To the White Bear

Very soon there was a convoy of cars heading to the White Bear pub which is very near the Church. It was a great chance for the lads, and one lady, to have a very short relaxing moment. I captured what I could trying to document the event and being creative about it also. There was a moment where it seemed to overwhelm Daniel; the gravity of the day suddenly hit him.

It's only water

Time for the ceremony was fast approaching. The rain showed no signs of settling but that did not dampen anyone's mood especially your's truly. I had never photographed a wedding in the rain before so I was more excited than I should have been; however I knew the photos would be something special.

The primary photographer arrived a bit later than expected due to the Bridal party getting stuck in traffic (which I fortunetely avoided). He took his position, but then I realised neither of us were outside waiting for the Bride to arrive in the car! So in just my suit I ran out to greet the car. I got some great shots so I'm very glad I was able to think fast on my feet.

Shooting from the back

The Church Pastor was adament that we could not be near the front during the ceremony, in fact he told us not to shoot at all during the ceremony which is ridiculous. In my experience, it's normally they have had bad experiences with photographers out there. I won't defend cowboy photographers; they are a disgrace to the profession I love and enjoy, however there comes a point were the photographer has a responsibility to get the shot, so we did take photos very discretely.

Once the ceremony was over, the rain had settled a bit so we took that opportunity to get some moments infront of the Church itself, then swiftly off to the next part of the wedding.

Onwards to the reception

As with all my weddings, the best way to get around is by using my Sat Nav, in my case it's a Tom Tom app on my iPhone. However it was very lucky that I followed everybody else because Tom Tom would have taken me miles away! As it was I followed a very long convoy of cars so I figured they must know the way!

The evening was very relaxed. Like I said, because I was the second photographer, there was no pressure on me so I could really relax and blend in to get more reportage shots of the guests while the primary photographer got the main photos of the Bride and Groom.

They had the speeches before the breakfast so we set ourselves up in the optimal positions without getting in anyone's way; HOWEVER the videographer plonked himself right in the middle. Not only did this mean we couldn't get a wide shot of the main table, but it also meant he was blocking the view of some of the guests! Had this been my wedding client I would have told him to move! He was completely unprofessional, an amateur as far as I'm concerned.

On one occassion, the kids were running around and dancing to the DJ's music as only children can so I got some great shots of them on the dance floor

Very soon, it was early evening. The clouds had parted in time to light up the skies with a fantastic orange hue. We got time to grab some food, then it was onto the cake cutting and first dance.

I had a great time. It's always fun to be a second photographer but I would always prefer to be the Primary photographer, perhaps it's the control freak in me :-)

Many thanks to Dwiko Arie for his outstanding work as the Primary Photographer.

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