Today I shot my first wedding. I hate saying that because I don't like to admit I am inexperienced; which is just pride showing it's ugly head I guess. Actually I did shoot one other wedding which you can read about here; but I don't count that one. This wedding was a little special because It was my oldest son and he especially wanted me to shoot it and so that meant a lot to me. So how did it go?

Well, it went better than the other one I mentioned. I got there early and did Robert's walk around the shot, checked exposure and made a few test shots. That was a good move; I did vary things a bit during the actual shoot but the preparation was time well spent. I didn't follow the shot list because everyone that I was supposed to photograph didn't show up; so that's something to watch for. I shot some of it on film; Nikon FM with a 50 1.8 and that worked pretty well for exposure. I'll find out when the film comes back. Why did I do that; well it was just a preconceived idea. I shot everything available light that i could and did use some flash as needed. No special gear; just what's on the camera. I wasn't used to shooting action so really noticed the flash recovery and card write times. Hint regarding gear; fast equipment and great low light performance, duh :).

Although I did get some decent shots; I realized my limitations in being able to 1. direct the formal shooting session and 2. in order to do an extensive array of shots you need time. I don't have any insight regarding the time it takes but you probably aren't going to get it done between the ceremony and the reception in any short order unless it's a extremely small wedding. So the sequence is important and that's what i learned. Learning how to shoot candid is a good art to learn. Scheduling all of the photography is probably the biggest thing I noticed. If you want to shoot in the photojournalism style then the skill level needs to really increase I would think. 

Being in the moment; you have to have your wits about you; can't be a spectator but always anticipating the action and what the next shot will be. There is more but these were some of the things that stood out as I observed the day. papa

UPDATE: I've been going through my images and I made so many mistakes! So I may be slow in putting things up for view. i did put up a couple of pics, one called Chucks and another called First Dance. Hats off to all of you who do this full time. :)