This last weekend was very exciting for us. Sarah’s step-sister was getting married down in Richmond VA, so she got to spend the whole weekend down there doing very girly bridesmaid type things. Meanwhile, I got to stay home with the pets and catch up on Fringe (I am in season 4 now, no spoilers!). That is, until Sunday. The plan was that Sunday morning, I would drop off the dog at the doggie-sitters house (Thanks Stacy!) and then pick up Sarah’s Grandma and head down for the wedding. We would sit for the wedding and then go home and enjoy the extra day off on Monday.
Oh plans.
Remember kids, no battle plan survives first contact! Most of the morning went fine, well, sort of. I had forgot the umbrellas, and to feed the rats, and a few other things, so I had an extra trip back to the house. Now, I had heard a rumor that someone was expecting me down at the wedding early to snap some photos before the ceremony, but it was all rumor. No one actually said anything to me about it. There was also a rumor that they were able to hire a photographer at the last minute.
When I arrived at the venue, I headed up to were the wedding party was preparing and noticed a lack of anyone taking pictures. I had attending various weddings before and knew there there are some pictures that are on “The List”. You know, those shots that are kind of important. When I asked where the photographer was, they said she was downstairs. I rambled my way down and found someone, standing at the doorway, with a “camera” around her neck. She was just standing there. Not shooting, not testing light levels, not scoping locations. Just standing there.
I put “camera” in quotes because she held a Sony cybershot camera. You know one of those crossover type cameras that aren’t quite a point and shoot, but not a DSLR. Now I am not in a place to start calling out on equipment. My Nikon D5100 is not a high end professional level camera. It’s a crop DSLR meant for the level I use it at. The weddings I have been to always had a photographer with high end gear. Usually two people, with two camera’s each and lenses staged everywhere! But even more important, THEY WERE TAKING PICTURES, not standing around.
Disgusted, I went and grabbed my gear (never leave home without it) and headed back upstairs. The rest of the wedding, I took pictures. After the ceremony, I quickly scoped locations in the area, arranged poses, and made sure that “The List” got fulfilled. During the reception, I relaxed some and tried to let the “hired” photographers do their job. Oh yea, turns out that the girls husband also had a small camera and was shooting as well. He, at least, made some effort to walk around and take some pictures. She sat on her butt.
The last few days I spent sorting and processing and, while I am not the best wedding photographer in the world, I think I got some pretty great shots. I took a total of 941 pictures and sorted out to process 135 of them.
[zenphotopress album=107 sort=random number=5]
https://www.wizzersworld.com/zen/Special%20Events/Emily%27s%20Wedding/
Disclaimer: I really hate to bitch about someone else trying out photography. Normally I would give all kind of kudos to someone branching out and trying something as daunting as wedding photography. It’s stressful as all hell, which is why I really try to NOT go about doing it. BUT, if you are being PAID to take pictures at an event, TAKE PICTURES.
