§18. Why is there a second photographer at the wedding? If the photographer does not let the newlyweds take a single step, and is always nearby even in the car, who will take pictures of the guests preparing to meet at the door of the restaurant?
What is needed to organize a good wedding? It goes without saying that you need to book a good restaurant, negotiate with artists and the like, but perhaps the most important point is the choice of a wedding photographer, because it is very important to preserve the memories of this significant event for many years. However, if a large number of guests are expected, then a second wedding photographer will be necessary. One cameraman may simply not have time to film the entire celebration in full. In addition, wedding photography by two photographers has many advantages, for example:
- Possibility of photographing from several angles;
- More photos;
- Separate photography of guests and newlyweds;
- Possibility of conducting several photo sessions simultaneously;
- Different types of shooting in a shorter period of time.
Is it necessary to call a second photographer and what should you consider when ordering photography?
This service is optional if you are not planning a particularly large wedding or want to limit yourself to a small photo session of the newlyweds. But if you want to capture all the guests without taking up your time for photos, then two wedding photographers will be the best option.
No matter how many photographers you call, the main attention should be paid to the professionalism of the operator and how well he does his job. Any good photographer in Moscow or St. Petersburg must:
- Provide a professional portfolio with examples of work;
- Have all the necessary machinery and equipment;
- Be able to work with photo processing programs;
- Be able to work at different times of the year in any lighting;
- Find an individual approach to each client.
Where can I find a second photographer?
As a rule, most photographers work without assistants, that is, they may have a team of assistants, but nothing more. However, there are photo studios that will happily provide you with two photographers for your wedding, but the price will be appropriate.
To order a second photographer for your wedding without overpaying, use the YouDo.com website. Only qualified performers are registered here, who can guarantee the quality of their services, and ordering two photographers will not cost you a lot of money.
Here you can find:
- A second photographer for the wedding, or a corresponding photo studio;
- Professional makeup artists;
- Stylists who will help you create a unique image for a photo shoot;
- Professional photo and video operators;
- Image processing specialists.
Ordering the services of two photographers on YouDo is also very simple, just fill out an online application and post it on the website. Another advantage of our portal is reasonable prices, which, on average, are 20-30% lower than standard ones. Below is a table describing the services of specialists available on YouDo, and approximate prices. You can obtain more detailed information directly from the performers.
Shooting by two photographers is not the most popular service on the wedding photography market. Let's face it, with the total spread of digital photographic equipment, the idea naturally arises that you can do without inviting a professional photographer to your wedding. If for three guests you have at least one camera (often very expensive), perhaps it makes sense to save on this expense item? Newlyweds are increasingly thinking about this when planning their wedding budget. Thank God, a simple comparison of hundreds of photographs taken by guests at the weddings they attended with the results of the work of professionals sobers up their hotheads, and they finally begin to search for their photographer. Well, why invite two at once? A wild thought at first glance. Let's figure it out.
What does the photographer (the first one) do at a wedding? Throughout the day, he tries not to lose sight of the bride and groom. The newlyweds are his absolute priority. This is normal, this is exactly how clients imagine the role of a photographer. Willy-nilly, a lot of what is then missing to create a comprehensive picture of the holiday remains out of sight. Yes, the main characters of the wedding celebration are quite understandably in the very center of events, but even on the periphery of this cycle there is a lot happening that is worthy of being captured.
When during a walk the newlyweds, at the request of the photographer, leave their guests (for about ten minutes, no more!) and retire for a short photo session, the guests, of course, do not start smoking with boring faces. Returning half an hour later, the newlyweds discover that the celebration never stopped without them, that the fun, on the contrary, was only gaining momentum.
the wedding is not where the bride and groom are, but where the accordion player is playing
hold the props while the newlyweds pose for the camera one of the duties of a witness; This shot wouldn't have happened if only one photographer had worked at the wedding.
The second photographer plays the role of a free artist at the wedding, an observer who records what is happening without interfering in the course of events. His task is to convey through minor details everything that makes up the atmosphere of the holiday. It is in this capacity that many leading wedding photographers prefer to work at weddings. In countries where the wedding photography industry is much more developed, this practice is very common.
The second photographer is not burdened with the need to take some mandatory set of shots at any cost. He can allow himself to look at a situation from the other side (often literally), this is the meaning and value of his work.
this frame probably perfectly complemented the dozen photographs in which the center of the composition was the fresh stamp in the happy bride’s passport
If the photographer doesn’t let the newlyweds go a single step, and is always nearby even in the car, who will take pictures of the guests preparing to meet at the door of the restaurant?
We and our memory are designed in such a way that every little thing, at least somehow connected with important events in life, only becomes more valuable over time, and it is they, these small features, that paint a living portrait of the past. Years later, the rain that so mercilessly poured down on those present and confused all plans will become part of the warmest memories, a strong memory association.
many photographers love rain; in such weather you can take expressive shots
the organizers, who planned a beautiful meeting of young people on the shore of the bay, are literally waiting for the weather by the sea
So is a second photographer needed at a wedding? Perhaps your memory, even without such material evidence, will retain everything that it may need in the future?
You may have heard about the very beautiful wedding of Alina and Patrick, which I went to Greece to film with nastya_volkova
Very soon we will show the photo results of this trip, but for now I want to talk about what it means to be the second photographer at a wedding.
But let's take it in order :)
In July nastya_volkova
, whom you all know well, wrote that she was looking for an assistant to work at Alina and Patrick’s wedding. The scale of the event meant that Nastya herself would be focused on the bride and groom, and to photograph everything interesting that was happening around, a second photographer was needed.
A lot of applications came in.
I am incredibly flattered and pleased that Nastya chose me! I am very grateful for the opportunity to gain this invaluable experience! Not to mention, we had a great time in Greece :)
As you understand, I was the second photographer at this wedding.
Being second is not an easy task, especially when you are used to being first :)
Sometimes Nastya and I were in different places. For example, before the ceremony, I photographed the groom with his friends, and Nastya photographed the bride’s preparations; after the ceremony, Nastya took the guys for a walk, and I took the cocktail reception and the guests during it. The rest of the time we took pictures together, and I tried not to forget for a minute about the role of the second photographer.
In practice, this means several important points:
First and foremost- do not interfere with the main photographer, constantly ensure that under no circumstances do you get into his frame.
Secondly, do not fight for the best shooting point and do not shoot the same thing that the main photographer shoots.
It is clear that the main photographer will most likely choose the most convenient shooting point. And the specific moment will already be recorded by him from this angle. No matter how much you want to shoot from behind your shoulder, get the same shot in your portfolio, or simply succumb to the herd mentality, you should always remember the task of the second photographer - create a different view of the event, show a different picture. One that the main camera might not have noticed.
This applies to everything: shooting angle, sometimes inconvenient light, the need to move further away and put on a telephoto if you see that the main photographer is shooting a general plan, that is, make sure to even use a different focal length.
You must constantly remember that you are working as a couple, and your task is not to compete with the first photographer, but to complement and diversify the wedding story for the bride and groom.
In general, the second photographer automatically turns into an assistant as soon as the main one needs it. Holds the reflector, borrows his lenses, gathers the family for formal portraits and makes sure no one misses an important and interesting moment during a long 12-hour shooting day.
Being the second photographer is a kind of ego-taming exercise :)
I'll be honest, sometimes it's fun to be second! Of course, you do not have complete control over the situation, you cannot attract the attention of the bride and groom, you are forced to look for new angles and sometimes shoot from a position that is not the most convenient. But if you set the right mood for shooting, these frameworks spur the thought process and tap into your creativity reserves. You get the opportunity not to take “mandatory safe” shots and can start looking for something interesting. And the responsibility for the result lies on the shoulders of another person. This does not mean that you can relax :) it just gives you a certain freedom of maneuver.
I remember how in his master class Jonas Peterson complained that the second photographer, with whom he often works at weddings, managed to take very interesting shots while Jonas himself was filming the obligatory program. And he even showed examples of what each of them filmed at a certain point in time. After that, everyone immediately wanted to be second :)))
By the way, when Lesha and I work together, we can switch roles “first-second”, “boss-assistant” several times during the wedding. This gives us the opportunity to maintain freshness and drive throughout the long wedding day.
A short summary of everything written.
If you're wondering why the main photographer no longer invites you to assist him, remember: did you get in front of him during the ceremony in an attempt to get a close-up photo of the rings being put on; whether they tried to command the bride and groom during a walk; how many times have you turned around and seen that the main photographer is not filming and is waiting for you to leave the frame or frantically waving his arms because you got carried away and stopped making sure to stay out of the way; didn't you publish the footage earlier :)
Lesha and I are often asked if it is possible to be the second photographer at our weddings. We periodically shoot separately, in different countries and cities; there are large weddings where a second photographer is needed. Yes, you can work with us!
But such a shoot should be considered as work experience, training a different perspective, an opportunity to learn, but not as an opportunity to build your portfolio.
“On March 3, during a big storm on the East Coast, I headed out to the ocean to document wave activity. The road took me to Great Island Common, New Castle, New Hampshire, where the Whaleback Lighthouse is visible, standing 12 kilometers from the coast. I was hoping to photograph the large waves crashing around the lighthouse and Mother Nature did not disappoint.
Great Island Common is a vast open park where people come to picnic in the summer and warm winters.
Upon arrival, I mounted my Canon 5D Mark IV DSLR with a Sigma 150-600mm lens on a tripod, positioned to the right of the tree to shelter myself from the gusts of the north wind. Many people know how difficult it is to hold a 600mm lens stable in strong winds, even using a tripod.
I set up the camera and waited until I saw the wave begin to hit the lighthouse. Then I continued filming until the episode ended, not knowing how the wave would behave. Most of the shots weren't great, but about three of the shots that were taken over the course of about 45 minutes were pretty decent.
When I got home, I selected one image to edit and uploaded it to Instagram. When a local television station shared the photo on their Facebook page (with my permission), numerous shares, comments, and likes immediately followed.
But one comment said I stole the image from another New England photographer, Eric Gendon. First I told the commenter that this was indeed my photo and that I had the original RAW file, and then I looked at another photographer's page and was amazed. We had the same images, captured down to the millisecond, with seemingly the same perspective and location.
This photo was taken by me, Ron Riesman.
Photo by Eric Gendon.
Lightroom processing aside, the photos look virtually identical at first glance, except for the water in the foreground and the different placement of a few patches of white foam. But even they were identical in size and shape, and I know that such elements can be easily moved using the stamp tool in Photoshop, so I was worried: maybe my image had been stolen and slightly altered?
Initially, I only had access to a low-resolution image of him, so I couldn't make out the finer details that ultimately helped me make sure we both had the originals. But after overlaying the images in Photoshop, I was amazed: the lighthouse and the waves matched almost down to the pixel. The differences in the water in the foreground and the white caps of foam on the horizon kept me from claiming that he had stolen my shot.
Another local photographer compared my photo to a higher resolution version of Eric's image and noticed that the spacing of the vertical strips of iron fencing around the top of the lighthouse was slightly different compared to my image. This meant that the other photographer was most likely standing slightly to the left of where I was.
Location of photographers.
Since the 60D that Gendon shot on has an APS-C sensor, he was likely positioned a little further away, which would have compensated for the 1.6x crop factor or used a shorter focal length. And this would explain the difference in the location of the white foam.
However, the lighthouse and the crashing wave matched exactly, which is surprising since the pictures were taken by chance by two different photographers.
I didn't know Eric, we each picked the location at random, we were both shooting on different cameras (60D and 5D Mark IV) with different sized sensors; the 60D has a continuous shooting mode with a frequency of 5.3 frames per second, the 5D Mark IV – 7 frames per second. We both used the 600mm focal length; The aperture, shutter speed and light sensitivity settings are also almost the same (F/8, ISO 400, 1/1600s and F/8, ISO 320, 1/1000s). We both ended up choosing the same photo from that day to post online, and later found out that we were only 28 meters away from each other.
I turned to Google to see how often this happens and was able to find just one article from 2011, which talked about two photographers shooting at a surfing competition in Huntington Beach who captured almost identical shots of the surfer and the movement of the wave.
If you've shot water in continuous burst mode, you know how different each exposure is, even if the time difference is only 1/7 of a second between frames. For five years, I taught night sky photography workshops to over 200 photographers, often focusing on the same subject, shooting with similar cameras and lenses at the same time, even using continuous time-lapse photography. But until now, I have never seen two images so similar, as if they were virtual clones.
Although this is a rare occurrence, I think that as cameras get faster and photographers get more and more prepared for their shoots, such cases will become more frequent. This happens every day with stationary or slow moving objects (buildings, sun/moon rising), but almost never with moving water."
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