My "First" Wedding

On December 19, 2009, I had an opportunity to shoot a wedding in Lexington, KY as a "third shooter".  Wait, let me back up a little bit to tell you how this came about....

My good friend, Amy H. works for Coca-Cola.  She recently was transferred to another managerial route where she had to endure a two week training period.  God placed her with a great guy, named Russ, who has this photographer friend named Danelle who lives in Lexington.  Russ steered me to Dani's website - www.danellealexis.com - where I browsed her photos and left her a comment.  (I love looking at other photographer's work so if you know of a good one, leave me a comment with their URL.)  Dani responded and we began emailing.  She invited me to be a third shooter at her upcoming wedding to give me a taste of wedding photography, expand my portfolio, observe, and learn more about photography.

What a great opportunity for me!  Too good to pass up.  There was no pressure on my end to produce usable photos, of course I was hoping I would, and to have a whole day of just shooting....well, no need to ask me twice.  My wonderful mom came down to cover my mothering duties while I was gone for the day.  Yes, Dennis could have handled it fine, but he was already scheduled to be working on our renovation project in the basement and had 2 guys scheduled to help him out.  So, I took off at 8am and drove to Lexington on the day of our first snow fall.  Not knowing a single person there, I walked in the bride's room and met a wonderful family and Dani.  Dani is one of these down to earth girls that you feel you have known for a long time.  She's spunky, cute and very friendly!  She gave me permission to just hang out and shoot.  I have to say I was a little intimidated.  I'm not a super outgoing person, which is probably why I prefer to be behind the lens.  The bride's family was very nice and they were all so beautiful.  It was really fun to just shoot and to be able to photograph people other than my kids was a pleasure too!  No one stuck up their hands and said "no more"!

Wedding photography is hard work.  It's a lot of time on your feet, scanning the landscape for action shots, while maintaining your commitment to the bride and her family.  Dani does her job well.  She kept an even demeanor even when the girls were 1 hour and 15 minutes late getting ready.  Somehow, Dani got all the portrait shots she needed in the nick of time.  At this point, I assisted Dani and getting the next group of people ready to be photographed.  It was a fast and furious little portrait session as time was running out and running out quickly.  This was not the time for me to be shooting.  It was all about the organizing. 

I was amazed at how quickly the ceremony goes for a photographer.  Such pressure to get the shot with no retakes.  During the ceremony, I was in the balcony, which I might add was packed full of people.  There were 350 guests in a small church.  I did lay low considering there were 2 other photographers milling around.  I knew my shots were not critical and I was trying to be aware to not be in the guest's way.  So, there are few ceremony shots in my album. 

The reception was fun.  I was able to learn a few cool tricks for taking dancing shots, and had a really good meal.  I was very happy we had time to eat since I hadn't had food since breakfast.  Dani says we were lucky we got to eat.  She brings power bars along just in case.

Her second shooter is named Bill - www.kivapix.com   He is actually her mentor.  Bill has the energy of my 3 year old, Kami!  Bill is a great guy.  Super nice, energetic, and always willing to give advice on settings or shooting.  I had a really fun day with these two and slept like a baby once I made it home.  I was exhausted.  I'm looking forward to seeing Dani's finished album and seeing if any of my shots made it!!??

If you have a chance, go check out the album and let me know what you think.  http://www.kdaltonphotography.com/Galleries/Love-and-Marriage/10769663_ZwnUD