file:///C:/Users/Cara/Downloads/pinterest-7f2e6%20(4).html Cara Elisabeth: November 2012

Thursday 29 November 2012

Rachel and Nick's wedding

Wow, took a long time to get just 67 photo's (out of 1300) up on here!

The wedding and the couple were beautiful, and they had me gushing over the speeches, all the little details, the dress, the cake, the first dance... pretty much the entire day! I was so grateful to be welcomed into their big day and I really wanted to make the most of my time there, and get some decent photo's (Gareth ended up using around 100 of my photographs for the couple - greatest compliment I could wish for!) 

I loved the entire day, it was long and tiring, but I was so happy to be doing it! My new 50mm 1.8 was what I used for the entire day, it was definitely the best thing (on my budget) that I could have for the job - the large aperture compensated for the lack of light for most of the indoor work (especially the speeches) 


 The table plan was organised by types of sweet (marshmallow, millions, coca cola bottles...) and each seat had a sweet bag and a name tag attached to it. Such a SWEET idea (sorry). Holbrook House staff were well prepared and had the table's set up and ready for the day at 9.30am, so after exploring the grounds and discussing options for the couple shots, we took advantage of it! The morning light from the windows would be far better to use than the rooms artificial lighting in the evening.    




































My favorite shot of the day (above)! Right place, right time, great light



Very possibly my second favorite (right after the first) - just of her really, genuinely laughing - my favorite shots are generally ones where people are acting naturally, this is just part of the reason why I love Gareth's documentary style wedding photography!































I learned a great deal from this weekend! And just to make easier reading and to avoid me going off on a tangent and rambling... I'll just bullet point the key points!


  • A great deal of the day is out of your control and you just have to go with what you're given and still deliver - you're being paid to capture the entire day and you can't make excuses like 'the light was poor' or else you may be in a little bit of trouble - they can't do it again!
  • Be prepared for any eventuality - back up everything. Loads of SD cards, extra batteries, battery charger, another camera body, a good flash (just in case it is horribly dark and cloudy, and normally for the last dance).
  • Be bold and take charge, but don't be rude, bossy or pushy. It's their day and you have to work with what they want not the other way around!
  • Smile and be friendly. People are normally quite shy around camera's and don't generally warm to strangers who start snapping away at them, even if you have a legitimate reason to be doing so! I found that smiling and interacting with the guests was better than keeping to myself! I think being this way made people more comfortable with me being there and hopefully made then feel they could trust that I wouldn't take horrible photograph of them.
  • You have to know your camera pretty well, knowing which settings you will need for each situation and lighting change. I was caught out a few times and I missed some great photo opportunities! I will do better!
  • Eat well before you go - I didn't notice until food was mentioned, but I don't think you would fare well if you did a wedding on an empty or near empty stomach!
  • Don't take pictures of people whilst they're eating - not the right way to make people feel comfortable! When the speeches are done go off and re-charge batteries, including your own! 
  • The speeches are a great time to get people laughing and people act more naturally because they have all their attention on the couples table and not the photographer taking a picture of them!
  • The little details are important! You want to try and encapsulate the entire day! The decorations on the tables, the wedding book, the back of the wedding dress, shoes, the rings... that kind of thing!
  • Get plenty of sleep the night before - This wedding was technically a 14 hour day including the drive there and back, and it can be more if you've arranged to stay right until the very end. I very stupidly only had 5 hour's sleep the night before because I was trying to fix this 'err 99' problem with my camera!
I had an amazing day and I wish that I never had to sleep - I wanted to go home and start editing right away! A huge thank you to Gareth who let me come along and help out!

Definitely have a look at Gareth William's work if you need a wedding photographer!


I can't wait to get more work!