If I was going to make a list of the world's most stressful jobs, it would go something like this
1. Surgeon
2. Secondary School Teacher
3. Wedding photographer
Number 2 and 3 may surprise some people, but they both had the same elements in that they require a high level of responsibility over events that they have little control. For example, most parents expect teachers to get little Tarquin to Oxford independently of their ability or desire to work. Wedding photographers have a similar combination of factors in that they are made responsible in creating an image perfect record of a couple's most important day, at an event that may have little control. If they make a mistake, there are no do-overs, no repeats, they are just left with the online trashing and hate of all the parties involved. No landscape photographer ever had a tree publicly scorn them because they did not capture them on their day of full bloom.
I am always been in awe of wedding photographers and the level of responsibility that they take on, especially since relatively you don't really make much money out of it. It used to be a wedding photographer could eke out a reasonable living, but with digital, covid and the fact everyone has a smartphone it must make it a tough gig. I mean, at least a surgeon makes a bit of cash for their skills, while a wedding photographer is looked down on generally as an unwanted expense.
Even saying that, I have always wanted to have a go at wedding photography. I guess it is because it is in my mind the pinnacle of the event genre, and I wanted to see if I could rise to the challenge. So when my niece announced she was getting married, I hoped that I might be asked to take the photos.
However, no call came in, and I must admit this hurt a bit (it was almost as painful as when the church bought a photo from someone else for the Christmas card image). I mean wasn't I the person renowned for hanging around family do's recording them for posterity? Wasn't I that person who hounded her through her teenage phase trying to get an image of her despite her best attempts not to be caught?
There was however no malice in the snub. The wedding had been organized on what could be called the anarchic principle, or the so-called field of dreams concept as in if you set a date something would happen. Basically, it was assumed that people would bring cameras and something good would come out of it.
The second issue was I was not actually invited to the wedding ceremony. Again I hasten to add this was not because I had fallen out with the family or had committed some unforgivable family faux pax. It was more that they had decided on a civil partnership in Oxford registry office and decided that there was only room, for parents and direct siblings, so we would be only attending the later reception (It should be noted at this point that my niece, due to an accident of her schooling, could have chosen to of got married at Peterborough Cathedral. This, with no insult intended to Oxford registry office, would have been a far better location photographically speaking). However, due to a paperwork mistake the partnership was upgraded to a full wedding, and suddenly we were on the list again (although we were not informed of this until a week before the event), so my again my realisation of being wedding photographer for the day was on again.
Generally at weddings I am that annoying bloke which professional photographers at best barely tolerate, but some secretly loathe. The guy with the gear who is always sneaking in to get that shot setup by the pro, and has to be put up with because they are on the guest list. This time however I would have more flexibility on taking shots and this raised a big issue. I am terrible taking photos of people.
In these events, you need to be the sort of person who can connect and link with your subjects. I struggle to do this. Generally, I hate asking people to do things that I would hate doing myself, and being prodded by a photographer is one thing I would hate. What is more annoying is that my brother-in-law would be there (he has to, he is the father of the bride). Despite owning a 10-year-old Sony A-series camera and the inability to tell the Exposure triangle from his elbow, he almost always gets better shots than me at these types of events. Basically he is the kind of person that dropped into an event with 100 strangers, at the end he would be on first name terms with all of them and best friends with at least half, while I would struggle to remember the Christian name of the host. I always thought we would make the dream team. He could set up the shot, and I would take it. As it was, I would have and do my best.
This left the big question to be answered.... Which lenses to take.
Since we were also taking enough party food to feed the Ukrainian front and a top layer of wedding cake that had to be protected at all costs, space in the car was limited. A zoom however seemed essential, but I also wanted to take some primes for portrait shots.
I have 3 primes that I use, 23mm and 35mm f2.0 and a 85mm f1.8. However the 23mm and 35mm are not that fast and as the light dimmed in the evening I felt I would need something a bit faster. So justifying to myself that new lenses were needed, I went looking at what was out there. Unfortunately the Fuji fast primes, as good as they are, are a bit pricey. Fortunately, Sigma had decided to enter the Fuji lens space and brought out 3 fast primes, a 16mm, a 30mm and a 56mm f1.8. These were tempting because, while not perhaps quite as sharp as their Fuji equivalents, they were half the price. However, I felt all 3 would be a bit much, so I decided to get two. But which ones?
In the end I went with the 30mm and 56mm, hoping my 14mm Fuji prime would be good enough for wide shots and taking my 23mm 2.0 to fill in the gap. This left the zoom. In truth, apart from the 400mm, I have never liked Fuji zooms. For example, there is no good constant aperture 28-70mm in the Fuji line up which is pretty well the standard kit in an event shooter bag, but I put in my 18-135 as my zoom of choice. Adding to my bag was a flash. I don't generally like flashes, but with the event barn dance scheduled in the evening I thought it may come in useful.
However, this was not my only new kit. I had decided many months before that as a present to the bride and groom I would create a book of images taken on the night of guests who could write their own messages. To do this I had purchased an Instax Mini Evo camera (Review here )which allowed photos and printing. My plan was to go to each couple at reception, get an image, give them a card to write a missive and present it at the end. The plan seemed so good in my head, however things did not turn out as hoped. Firstly the couple had their own Instax camera which was passed around, and secondly the marquee which held the food was so cramped it was impossible to move. So instead I just took images when I could, got my daughter to stick them in the album and presented that. The couple seemed appreciative, but it was not the kind of thing I had planned.
The wedding
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| The bus we missed... |
So how did it go. The plan was to arrive at the in-law's house at 8:45 where once we had dropped off our dog at some friends of the couple, we and the wedding party would be taken on a vintage bus, the 30 minutes to Oxford. We arrived at 8:40, only to see the bus being waved off, with us not on it. Fortunately, some friends of the grooms parents took pity on us, and one took the dog off us while the other rang the bus and asked it to stop while they gave us a lift to catch up.
Once on the bus, I positioned myself on the top deck to try and take photos. Not sure if anyone else has ever tried taking photos on top of 1960's double-decker going along country roads, but let us say the ICM effect was more CM than I. Still, we got there and after a few shots outside next to the bus, we went into the registry office itself. This is where I learnt lesson 1.
1. Always have your camera on
Weddings are a set of orchestrated moments, with random events in between. You need to capture both. While the organised bits were fine, sometimes I would turn off my camera to save battery. This was why I missed the 1st married kiss. Of course, there was no reason to turn the camera off. I had enough spare batteries to power a tesla, it is just something I always do. It was often at those moments were essential events happened. The 1st kiss, a look, a hug. This is why the pros have the big battery packs. That 5 second period as your camera comes out of standby is an eternity in these situations.
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| Just missed that kiss.... |
After we congregated outside the registry office which is in a busy part of Oxford, where we tried to take the obligatory group shot. I thought I had done pretty well in that I made sure that all the camera settings were correct, and took a number of shots to ensure that at least one was correct. It was only when I got back I found that every single image has someone looking away or blinking. Fortunately there was enough material to construct one good image from all of them, but here is lesson 2
2. Exist outside the moment
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| The before and after after some tweaking |
What makes a great astronaut, pilot, etc is that when all things are going wrong they can raise themselves above the chaos and do what is needed. Wedding photographers must have the same ability. They must be able to rise above the chaos of the location, and people, and concentrate on the fundamentals in getting the image. I thought I had done well to make sure the camera was set up, but in doing so, I had forgotten to organise my subjects, given clear instructions, making sure everyone was looking in the same way, etc. In these situations, a partner to do these sort of things is useful to take some of the pressure off.
3. Plan your photos
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| The groom and father. One I did get... |
I thought however I had done a pretty good job in getting some images, but it was only when I got back that I realised I had made a fatal mistake. While I had plenty of photos of the bride and groom, there were many people I did not get images of with the happy couple. Such as
- The Grooms Parents
- The Brides Parents
- The Brides grandparents
- My Family
- Me
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