Advantages to having a second shooter
A lot of my couples ask me whether they need a second shooter. Only you can answer this; your priorities for your wedding day will be different to someone else’s, but there are generally a lot more pros to having a second shooter than not. Let me take you through my personal top 5 in more detail;
More attention on you
A second shooter is a secondary wedding photographer who will accompany me to your wedding day. Their primary job is to capture the general atmospheric hustle and bustle of your wedding day, and candid photographs of your guests so I can focus my attentions to you, the wedding couple.
Also, having both our attention on you at the same time is an added bonus. Walking down the aisle for example, I sadly can’t split myself in two (one day, maybe), but allowing us to have one of us at the back of the ceremony and one at the front gives you a whole other outlook on your wedding entrance and enables us to capture both your emotions and first glances.
This also links into my next point;
Wedding day preparations
Another huge advantage is that both your wedding preparations are photographed, an especially great idea if you’re planning on getting ready in different locations (one at the venue, the other at home for example).
Just to note, this point is also perfectly doable with just me and I have done this on many occasions, when you’re both getting ready at the same venue, but it does mean that I only have limited time with each of you to capture everything going on. I would hate for you (or me) to feel rushed on your wedding day, and it could mean some of the more ‘wow’ shots might be missed due to time. A number of other factors such as traffic, weather, delays with other people can hinder this as well, especially if you’re getting ready at different places.
Assistance with group photographs
Group photographs are also such an important part of wedding photography that I think a lot of people take for granted. You have one day of being in your wedding attire and how often is it that everyone gets dressed up to the nines with you all in the same place together? Not that often! When I photograph solo, I very nicely ask a member of the wedding party to assist with rounding up guests for group photographs. They’re likely to know most of the wedding guests so this makes sense with speeding the process up to allow more time for you, but what about when they’re needed for a load of the photographs? A second photographer is a great help with ensuring while I’m photographing one group that the guests needed for the next group are close by. This speeds the process up which in turn creates more time for your more creative newlywed photoshoot.
More candids captured
There are so many times that people have given me a list of ‘must have’ photographs, but then their favourites are the ones they didn’t know they wanted (me included). The way your new husband or wife looks at you when you’re not looking, the natural laughter amongst friends, the tear that your mum or grandma sheds when they see you enter the ceremony, the children playing together. All significant memories of your wedding day, along with the creative couples photographs.
Extra back up equipment
Touch wood this has never happened (totally jinxed myself now, right?!), and I always bring spares of everything with me everywhere, but what if I drop a lens, or something malfunctions. It’s always good to have a backup, but a back up of a back up is even better.
As you can see, there are many reasons (and probably more that I haven’t mentioned) to having a second photographer at your wedding. But I also can’t stress enough that I am more than capable of photographing weddings solo, and do so the majority of the time. If your budget doesn’t allow for, or you’d rather not have a second shooter, don’t worry about receiving a reduced service as I will still capture your ‘best day ever’, perfectly. This blog is purely to emphasise the added value of a second shooter on top of the service I already provide.
A second photographer can be added onto any of my full day wedding photography packages for an extra charge. Anyone who second shoots with me is someone I can trust, and will also be a professional photographer. I edit both mine and my second shooters images from your wedding day to keep the consistency with editing styles.
