fun.stuff.fridays. intro and second shooting.

Not so much.

When it came down to it… I am just WAY too busy to be making lots of different commitments to my blog… but I can handle posting SOMETHING…anything I want… every Friday… and that is where fun.stuff.fridays was born. Every Friday I will blog about something other than a photo blog from a session or a wedding. Really, it is going to be whatever my little heart desires. Awesome… yes.

With that being said… today’s is going to be photography related. My clients almost always ask about having a second shooter… What the perks are? Is it worth it?
The short answer… YES.
I have been so lucky to have the best photog friends/assistants/helpers/co-dance-floor boogiers… also known as second-shooters.
I mean really… check out everyone I have somehow conned into working with me…
Jeremy Grieff
Alicia White
Amanda Manupella
Leigh Skaggs
Tyler Adams
LeZandra Persinger
April Campbell
Kayse Reese
… and Katie who helped me a lot last year but who moved away to Chicago.
and my husband… who second shot with me quite a few times last year…

I’ve shot plenty of weddings without second shooters… but there is so much to cover and only so little time… trying to drive between the bride’s and groom’s getting ready locations, take all the formals we can before the wedding, take the family ones after the ceremony, and then try to get to the reception room before the guests arrive to take the detail shots of the room without jackets and purses everywhere and before the place settings you picked out get messed up is do able… but tough. My style of photography definitely tells the story of your day… and in order to do that I need to have time for everything. If I could clone myself i totally would… but having amazing photog friends there shooting with you definitely takes the stress level down just a tad…

I completely LOVEEEE taking the detail shots but I’m not the one who usually gets to take them these days… if I have a third shooter with me they normally are tasked with those so I can concentrate on getting the awesome makeup and hair shots of the Bride. (ok ok… I’m a sucker for the shoe shots. And the ring shots. I still do those.) It was exciting switching sides and second shooting for Alicia a few weeks ago because i got to go on a detail shot rampage.

While Alicia was busy doing this…

I was off doing this…

And while I was galavanting around Gwynn’s Island shooting bridesmaid formals at Jamie and Steven’s wedding (which will be coming up soon on the blog)…
Alicia took the time to shoot the centerpieces and the details before all of the guests started arriving.

Most of the time… the guys and the girls get ready in completely different locations. If it wasn’t for Jeremy going with the guys at Ryan and Jenn’s wedding… I would have never been able to get both of these shots.

A lot of focus is always on the family of the couple… which is perfect. It’s how it should be… but its nice to have an extra camera around to get shots of the other people getting ready as well… and to capture different angles. Being the main shooter you often get stuck in the main dead-on angle at weddings and throughout the day. It is SO nice to be able to have the variety to spice up your photos. I think it is the perfect finishing touch.

The ceremony is where having a second shooter is the MOST helpful. I would never have been able to get both of these angles without Alicia being hidden in the bushes. (Being attacked by wasps.)

Or this one that Amanda got while being sneaky and I was taking shots from the back.

And its kind of nice to get those behind the scenes shots…Thanks Leigh!

So, all in all… are second shooters a necessity… no. Are they really really really really really nice to have? YES.

And I’m going to finish every fun.stuff.friday with a favorite song of mine… if any of you are friends with me on facebook… you probably see this guy’s music get thrown on my profile via youtube a l o t.