Lesson’s I Learned From My First Wedding

December marked two years since my first wedding- for 8 years I focused on families, children and high school seniors. A sweet friend that I taught with at a local elementary school asked if I would photograph her wedding in December. I forewarned this couple while I have shot smaller elopements and backyard weddings, I have not shot a large scale wedding like this before and that I am absolutely a novice at this. They were incredibly kind and willing to take a leap of faith on me! While I walked away from this wedding in joyful tears at what I was able to creatively capture it in all its splendor, it was not short of lessons to learn from. Here are my top 5 lessons from my first large scale wedding. 

Lesson #1: Flash knowledge is so incredibly important. 

The one aspect of this wedding that I look back on and give a slight cringe, is my flash experience. I cannot tell you how many Youtube videos I watched on how to use a flash at a wedding- I wrote down notes and diagrams and all. In the end, I found time and time again, experience trumps knowledge.  I used a standing soft-box as well as a camera flash which was a pain to carry around and use, not to mention, it misfired more than it helped me. It also did not light the reception well enough so many of my photos are grainy and not in focus (and obviously not delivered). My flash on my camera worked best (Canon with a diffuser), but due to my lack of knowledge at how to operate a flash properly, I either did not use enough flash or overpowered my flash. Add on to all of that the number of batteries I went through to power that flash. Those darn things are power sucks! Two years later I finally feel confident to use a flash set up at a wedding, including two additional flashes with rechargeable batteries, on stands surrounding the stage, if needed. Lesson learned, experience is essential, and most times, the flash on my camera is plenty.  

Lesson #2: Control White Balance with Kelvin!

While I felt well versed in manual mode on a camera (F-stop, ISO, and aperture), one detail I neglected and should have paid better attention to is Kelvin. This setting allows me to adjust the white balance to my photos- and this is one that I now fix immediately at sessions or the first thing at weddings, and check continuously. Editing this afterward is possible but incredibly tedious. For instance, when inside a yellow barn which reflected yellow on all of the guests and walls, I should have lowered my white balance to around 4500 K. This would have helped cool down a very warm and yellow environment. Additionally, the ceremony was outside on a very fogging and cold December day-while outside I should have fixed my Kelvin to be warmer so that skin tones were not cooler and bluish in color.

Lesson #3: Second Shooters are essential 

I did not hire a second shooter for this 10 hour wedding day and I absolutely should have. I had to run between the bridal suite and venue multiple times due to the distance between the two buildings (for reference-the bridal party used golf carts). In the end I wasted so much time trying to capture details, the bride and bridesmaids getting ready, missed opportunities with the groomsmen, and in turn was running behind schedule all day. I attribute the chaos and stress of this to not having a second shooter.

I could have hired someone to help with the groomsmen photos and they would have assisted me during the family formals. Second shooters are also great for capturing candids and details behind the scenes that I would not see as a lead photographer because I am consumed capturing all of the essential portraits and staying on schedule. For example, while I was photographing the first look between the father and the bride, the second shooter could have captured the mom’s and sister’s reactions watching in the background.

Not to mention, second shooters are great for passing ideas off of. When I ran into flash trouble their knowledge could have helped me. Lastly, I barely drank water that day and ate my dinner in a closet for 10 minutes. A second shooter would have given me the extra time to stay hydrated and take care of myself through out the day- so important to stay focused for a 10 hour wedding. 

Lesson #4: Imagen AI photo editor is worth every penny. 

The Friday before this wedding found me in the classroom—on that famously exhausting day when Winter Break finally begins for teachers. The next day I shot this wedding, and while the wedding bled into my winter break, it also drained me. It usually takes me 2-3 days to recover physically and mentally from each wedding, (that’s also not considering the recovery I need from teaching at this time of year) and then throw in all the Christmas plans over the course of two weeks. Short story, I was completely useless to my family for a few days. Imagen AI is my all-time favorite editing tool and worth every penny. While I culled myself, this program took all of my culled photos (about 900) and edited them to have similar white balance (the thing I struggled most with-especially with that yellow barn), cropped them to be straight, smoothed the skin, and did it all in less than 30 minutes. Did it fix all of my white balance issues- no- but that was absolutely my bad not checking Kelvin. It did however fix 90% of my issues, gave me back time with with family, and allowed me to deliver this wedding gallery in 4 weeks instead of 8 weeks! 

Shameless plug here- if you are not using using Imagen AI for your photo editing, you need to ASAP. Here’s a link if you want to try it out: Imagen AI

Lesson #5: Relationships matter more than photos.  

My once co-worker and her finance turned into dear friends of mine and have booked me for multiple sessions since. They keep in touch and still share their family with me, and have been my biggest cheerleaders since their wedding. They have been nothing by kind to me, even when I had to admit that I messed up certain photos and when some were far yellower than I ever wanted. They never made me feel less then when I was a novice wedding photographer and only loved me unconditionally. I am so thankful for the Porter family and for their willingness to take a leap of faith on me. This wedding showed me how much I love shooting weddings, and gave me so many opportunities for growth. The relationship with the Porters will forever be in my heart not because of the photos, but because of their kindness and friendship. 

Final final lesson- if you have read this far- bless you. I hope you gained insight and learned lessons right along with me. The final lesson I extend to you is to look at everything as an opportunity to grow. The wedding stretched me farther than I ever imagined, and also ignited a new love within in. Without it, I don’t know if I would be doing weddings today.

Sometimes the most valuable learning comes from the mistakes we make. 

~Jordan