My first wedding

So Last week I had the honour of photographing two of my friends wedding from start to finish. I had managed to get this simply by offering to do some photos for them when they had gotten engaged, they were so happy with these that they said there and then you can do our wedding. Normally I think a photographer should be happy at that news to be thought of in such a way to cover such a special day for the couple, now at the time I was hesitant, not 100% in my abilities and I knew just how important these days are, how it has to go right, you cant mess up and how it could ruin a reputation.

Skip forward a few years, I'm thinking the wedding is soon, I haven't heard much about it maybe they got somebody else. then off goes my phone a text from the bride who is finalising everything asking am I still good to do it? I waited a while and tried to give a vague answer of I should be, still hesitant as by this stage I had not touched my camera in quite some time and just didn't want to mess up. This was not going to fly with the bride and rather than face the wrath I said okay and set up a meeting to run through everything with the couple.

The meeting definitely is a must in all ventures in photography as far as I'm concerned, just some form of conversation be it phone or video or in person. I got to sit down talk with the couple find out their plans for the day and of course vital information such as locations, times and so on. So I left feeling better about the day as a whole. Off home I went and ordered a few books on the subject and to get ready for the big day.

In terms of camera equipment, I had a few lenses they would definitely do the job, however I did have a few dilemmas in terms of equipment. My main one being should I bother having a second camera for the sake of not having to swap lenses on camera's I can see why this would be a advantage and if I had the money I'm sure I would have went this route instead I opted for battery life and found a battery grip for my camera to save the risk of running a battery dead and having to swap them out, also I had wanted a grip for sometime.

A few weeks later I received another text from the bride letting me know the rehearsal was happening and if I would like to come along to see the church. I'm also thankful for this as not only did I get to scope out the church before the day but I also got to meet the minister and ask him the important questions  such as what was okay to photograph on the day. The great news was he didn't mind me moving around as long as I was quiet and didn't get in the way but I could also take photos all throughout the service, to me this was great as it gave me a chance to get some important keepsakes. His only rule was no flash to me that's a given so I was okay with this. I also took this opportunity to swap out lenses and see what worked for where I would be on the day and made my notes to go over.

All that was really left now was for me to pack, charge all batteries and format the memory cards. I have to say once all this was down there was a nice calm of being ready for this going over in my head, my ideas, movements and what lens to use.

Packed and ready there was a nice calm of being prepared for this, I had started out nervous and unsure now I was ready for this day to go there and do my best for the couple. The day arrives and it was non stop on the go all day with little down time.

The job started at 9.30 and finished around 10 that night. I tried to cover as much as possible to give the couple a selection of photos of their day. The morning was in my mind the busiest of the day it consisted of:

• Bride and bridal party at hair salon
• brides house
• groom and best man at church
• brides house again for leaving house
• church

Once we were at the church the day went at a slower pace it was more relaxed. After that it was up to the botanic gardens in Belfast for more photos. Luckily we had a great day for the wedding it was bright and sunny , I was hoping for a little overcast but I was not going to complain at all for having to deal with shadows and squinting and lens flare in my mind it could have been a lot worse.

After this we moved onto the reception and the photos here were all very informal anything the bride wanted she got there was a huge weight lifted of my shoulders the day was nearly over and apart from a few hiccups in timing the day had gone great I really didn't know why I had worried or doubted myself so much.

By the end of the night I had filled three 8gb memory cards, took over 1000 photos taken and only had to swap my hot flash batteries near the end of the night.

I did tell myself to wait before going over the photos but in the end I was too excited and did that the next day. The 1000 photos became 400 then it became 350. All in all I had a good time, the couple enjoyed themselves, more importantly liked their photos as did other family members and guests. Even got me another job.

Would I do another wedding? I'm sure I would, I want to grow and learn and improve. Now I have one done I'm not so sure why I worried just as much as I did.

To exhibit or not?

Lately I have been thinking all about holding another exhibition for my photography. To be honest I have been thinking on and off over the years about doing another one. A few years back I had the joy of holding my first ever solo exhibition, sure there was stress and costs and panic but in the end I felt it was worth it people turned out to see it and I even sold a few photos. (photos of how it looked at the bottom)

I have to say I got lucky at the time my tattoo artist had free space in his studio and told me the space was there if I wanted it. This was too good a opportunity for me not only was there no cost to hiring the space but they also printed fliers for me.

The reason I keep going back to this thought is simply I did not do the theme I wanted to do first time round. I had wanted my first exhibition to be all about toy photography I had gone so far as to have prints selected and even had physical prints in hand to be framed but in the end I decided to mix it up and give a selection of everything I liked to take photos of. To this day I still wonder what if?

So here I am again pondering should I go through with it again? not to mention all the questions that are still go unanswered such as:

• Where can I get to host it?
• How much would it cost me?
• How many prints would I need?
• How to go about promoting it?

There are no doubt more to go with this but maybe I should go with Nike and their slogan and "just do it" and worry all about the rest as it comes. Time will tell if I go about it and if I do I'm sure I will post all about it. For now it stays in my mind being pondered over.