Sally & Mike Destination Wedding and Second Photographer Perks

As much as I love working with my own clients and being the primary photographer on their wedding day, I also try to fit in some second photography jobs throughout the wedding season. There are many articles out there with tips on how to shine as a second photographer but not many speaking to why you should go through the experience. Here are five personal reasons why I enjoy being a second photographer:

1. I get to play around with settings and different techniques that I normally don't have the luxury of doing on the day of the wedding when nailing that perfect shot takes priority. It's especially great when I work with someone using the same brand since I also get to try out other lenses that I don't normally shoot with like the macro and the 70-200 mm, FUN!

2. Have you ever had couples who are relaxed and laughing one minute but as soon as you raise the camera to your face, they tense up and give you their "I'm-going-to-stop-what-I'm-doing-now-and-pose-for-the-camera" look? Being the second photographer, you hang out behind the scenes so you get a ton of those amazing candid shots that capture the couple's true personality. It's also a great opportunity to work on your photojournalistic technique.

3. The experience you gain from watching the primary photographer interact with their clients and how they run the show is paramount. It is also a great chance to find out about another photographer's creative process (obviously you'll want to time your questions for the down times during the day). I've had many insightful and inspirational conversations with fellow photographers during the car ride to different locations on the wedding day or in between speeches at the reception.

4. It has been said many times and I'll say it again, practice makes perfect. This is never more true than for photography. The confidence I gain and the quality of the images I get with every new wedding I shoot improve exponentially. 99% of the time, you don't want to shoot in the the same spot as the primary photographer so this really forces you to think about your shots and move around in order to find that unique angle and composition. This gets your creative juices flowing and enhances your wedding photography reportoire.

5. The food, the venues, the food. Although this is true for being a wedding photographer in general, you can double the number of venues and resturants you get to visit. As a second photographer, I've had the chance to shoot inside gorgeous and unique locations such as Casa Loma, Canoe, Jump Restaurant, the Bata Shoe Museum, the Eglinton Grand, the Old Mill, Oakview Terrace and the list goes on.

Here are some images from Sally and Mike's wedding in the picturesque Jordan Village, Ontario at Inn on the Twenty. These were shot by me as a second photographer for Lisa of LG Weddings. This wedding was a ton of fun. Riding in Porsches and visiting wine cellars for starters, then getting to meet Sally and Mike who are super cool and friendly! It was a real pleasure working with them on their big day.






Special thanks to Lisa for letting me use these images on my blog. You can also view more images from the special day on her blog.
That's all I have for now so if you are considering going for that second photographer job - go for it!

Until next time...

The Offbeat Bride Photoshoot

More photos in Bridal Shoot Set.

This, definitely, is not your everyday bride. A little behind the scenes from our Bridal Photoshoot at the Evergreen Brick Works...

Our model actually found her funky bride's dress at a thrift store and bought it figuring it'd be useful one day (she was right!). And oh what a dress, it's so eighties-retro-awful that it's awesome! I mean, check out the 'wings' on the shoulder! For this shoot, we decided to go with some crazy make up and hair - to match the dress of course.

The hair being built, one strand at a time.


Close up of the hair creation - yes, those are feathers.


There's Sora, working on Roxane.


And here's Jen, doing some touch up on location.


That's me! Thanks, Jen, for taking this pic.


My two favourite hair and make up girls.

Oh and going with the thrift theme here, unless you are doing a magazine photoshoot with budget of a few thousand dollars, you'd obviously want to try to keep the expenses low. Especially when doing TFCD shoots. Don't underestimate the Dollarama! For this shoot, those black beads you see in the model's hair and around her bouquet (I think she also wears it as a necklace in some shots) were found in the Hallowe'en section - 3 for $1.00. The dried up flowers, also $1.00. The ribbon around the bouquet were leftover from some X'mas supplies and the pack of feathers, another dollar. So, that's the Photoshoot-on-a-budget tip of the day - visit a dollar store. Lol. Just make sure you choose "tasteful" items and props that don't actually look like you paid a dollar for them. Finally, once you start shooting, if you find that the props aren't quite working out as you envisioned, do yourself a favour and toss it. Hey, it was only a dollar!

That's it for the behind the scenes. Don't forget to check out the final photos on my Flickr page here. Also, if you haven't already, find me on Facebook and become a fan to keep updated with my latest shoots! See ya.