First Wedding Jitters, Your biggest regret?

mwild · Jul 9, 2013

Relax, I'm not going to ask what gear to bring, what to charge or what to do

however I do have one question, and maybe it's just to ease my nervousness a little;

How did you feel leading up to shooting your first wedding and what was your biggest regret of that day? (I'm hoping to learn from other's mistakes a little here and not make TOO many of my own.) Mistakes are a great way to learn yes, but not at the expense of someone's wedding photos!

MiFleur · Jul 9, 2013

I was nervous, I had prepared well, with a list of the shots, the set ups, I had back ups etc. but it went really fast
and I had 2 cameras with one button that is inverse of the other, by mistake I changed the quality setting to JPEG instead of Raw. I never looked back until I found that I had more pictures on my chip than I expected. That is when I noticed my mistake. Some of my skies were blown out, I did not have as much leeway on my white balance, which (thank God) I had adjusted.
But I had taken a lot of pictures and had enough pictures to satisfy the newlyweds.
I also wished I had taken more pictures showing the surroundings, there were beautiful flower baskets and I cut them off. They were made by a friend of the bride. The ceremony was outside in the sun and there was a pergola that was throwing a shadow on the bride's face. I did not realize that before hand.
I wished I had checked that, I could have asked them to move away a bit.

I really think your question is good and l am looking forward to see what the others will answer.

tirediron · Jul 9, 2013

Nervous as the proverbial cat on a hot tin roof! My biggest regret? It didn't go as well as I hoped. The couple was happy, I got paid, but....

mwild · Jul 9, 2013

MiFleur said:
I was nervous, I had prepared well, with a list of the shots, the set ups, I had back ups etc. but it went really fast
and I had 2 cameras with one button that is inverse of the other, by mistake I changed the quality setting to JPEG instead of Raw. I never looked back until I found that I had more pictures on my chip than I expected. That is when I noticed my mistake. Some of my skies were blown out, I did not have as much leeway on my white balance, which (thank God) I had adjusted.
But I had taken a lot of pictures and had enough pictures to satisfy the newlyweds.
I also wished I had taken more pictures showing the surroundings, there were beautiful flower baskets and I cut them off. They were made by a friend of the bride. The ceremony was outside in the sun and there was a pergola that was throwing a shadow on the bride's face. I did not realize that before hand.
I wished I had checked that, I could have asked them to move away a bit.

I really think your question is good and l am looking forward to see what the others will answer.

Thank-You for being so candid MiFleur! It's somewhat obvious to assume everyone's nervous their first time, but it's always nice to be reassured!

mwild · Jul 9, 2013

tirediron said:
Nervous as the proverbial cat on a hot tin roof! My biggest regret? It didn't go as well as I hoped. The couple was happy, I got paid, but....

That is my fear also, I REALLY want to do my best work, but fear my nerves will get the better of me. The couple were very happy with their engagement photos, but I really want to wow em'!

kathyt · Jul 9, 2013

I think I still get those nervous adrenaline rushes for every wedding that I do, but I wish I would have hired a second shooter for my first solo wedding because of the size of it. It would have calmed my nerves a lot and I would have had someone to a least bounce ideas off of if I was questioning something. It is always nice to have someone with you.

mwild · Jul 9, 2013

kathythorson said:
I think I still get those nervous adrenaline rushes for every wedding that I do, but I wish I would have hired a second shooter for my first solo wedding because of the size of it. It would have calmed my nerves a lot and I would have had someone to a least bounce ideas off of if I was questioning something. It is always nice to have someone with you.

That would be ideal! Luckily it's a small wedding, 30 guests, outdoor ceremony and a small indoor dinner. I've visited the location to get an idea of light direction and surroundings, I think all I can do now is take a deep breath and jump in with both feet!

kathyt · Jul 9, 2013

mwild said:
kathythorson said:

I think I still get those nervous adrenaline rushes for every wedding that I do, but I wish I would have hired a second shooter for my first solo wedding because of the size of it. It would have calmed my nerves a lot and I would have had someone to a least bounce ideas off of if I was questioning something. It is always nice to have someone with you.

Click to expand...

That would be ideal! Luckily it's a small wedding, 30 guests, outdoor ceremony and a small indoor dinner. I've visited the location to get an idea of light direction and surroundings, I think all I can do now is take a deep breath and jump in with both feet!

Oh. I think you will be just fine. Go in with confidence and a good attitude and the rest will be history.

One last tip is to have a good game plan for the day, and write down your must have shots you have envisioned in you head.

mwild · Jul 9, 2013

Thanks Kathy!

P.S. I've browsed your flickr, and your work is AWESOME! Very admirable.

bratkinson · Jul 10, 2013

As a complete amateur and a noob at digital photography, I did 2 weddings for some low-income friends as my wedding present to them with nothing but a point and shoot with a big flash mounted to it. I certainly didn't know any better. But, at least they were happy. I made a "why did I ever bring my camera?" shoot with a 60D and 24-70 f2.8L as wedding guest ex-step father and completely forgot about taking what would be 'important' pictures...if I were the paid photographers which were fortunately there.

My biggest regrets? Not having a list of 'must have' shots...preparation, rings, formals, and more that others have posted on this site (you'll have to search them out). In retrospect, I think I short changed them a bit because of my lack of experience at weddings. As MiFleur noted, having church interior shots should be a requirement. I can still recall my first wedding 43 years ago and that I never 'saw' the church interior until I saw the photographs...I was that nervous at age 22.

jowensphoto · Jul 10, 2013

When my BACKUP batteries failed. FML.

Luckily the wedding coordinator was a follow Canonite.

Mach0 · Jul 10, 2013

jowensphoto said:
When my BACKUP batteries failed. FML.

Luckily the wedding coordinator was a follow Canonite.

Do what I do- grip with a few extra batteries and make sure to have the AA tray along with a bunch of fresh AA's. lol saved my arse a few times.

sm4him · Jul 10, 2013

What I regret the most about MY first wedding is that it ever happened...

...but you're not talking about our OWN weddings, are you?

:lmao:

Stacylouwho · Jul 10, 2013

I haven't shot my first wedding yet, but I have shot as a second with a photographer and yep the pocket wizard batteries went out. She didn't have extras on hand, which sucked because those silhouette shots would have brought a little variation to the pictures they received.

Rob99 · Jul 10, 2013

I shot second for 3 years before my first solo, I was still nervous because I had to please the studio I shoot for and the clients.

Have a list but never promise a particular photo.

You will miss something, it's impossible to get a photo of everything that happens in the day. Just don't miss the big stuff haha.

It goes by faster than you think and rarely goes as planned. You have to be ready to change the plan on the fly.

Don't forget to eat! Long day, you will be dragging by the end if you don't eat and keep hydrated.