User Q&A: How Do I Not Mess Up My First Wedding Gig?

Last Updated: February 15th, 2020

The question…

Hey! I just booked my first wedding this upcoming Friday and I’m scared of messing it up. Client said it’s about an hour session, 7-10 people, nothing fancy or big. Pictures are being taken in a local park. I’m going tomorrow to scout out the park and get an idea of what I like and see how the client feels about it. Any tips to help calm my nerves? About how many pictures would you deliver in an hour long shoot?

Also should note that it would be around 11am (direct sunlight?). I have a flash and feel comfortable using it to fill but would it be worth it to buy and practice with a reflector before the wedding?

Our answer…

There are definitely many things to keep in mind here, let’s go through each one by one.

Wedding Photography Tips (to Calm the Nerves)

The good news is: this does not sound like a traditional wedding by any means. Given you will just be shooting for an hour, we’d imagine you are not going to be facing the difficulties of shooting in multiple locations, handling bride & groom prep, or night reception photos.

This will likely be relatively easy as far as wedding days go.

With that said, there are a few things that can make life a little easier for you:

• Scout the location beforehand (check – you’re already doing this!).
• Understand the timing of events for the day (you will not need a full wedding timeline like we normally suggest, but you should know how long the ceremony is expected to run, and be prepared for family photos and couple’s portraits).
• If doing family photos, have the couple provide to you a list of pairings. Print this out and run down the list to make sure you get everything.
• Be willing to take control to get good poses and have people in better light. This is often very difficult for beginner wedding photographers, and realize that struggling with this is okay.

For more advice, check out 135 Wedding Photography Tips – our immense guide to shooting a wedding day created for beginners!

How Many Pictures Would You Deliver in an Hour Long Shoot?

75-100 pictures per hour would be a reasonable rate.

From the sounds of your day, you may also have a little bit of waiting around without shooting. For example, you could be set up and ready for the ceremony to start, but the processional takes an extra 5-10 minutes to get going. This will quickly eat into your working time and impact how many photos you deliver.

Ultimately – most wedding photographers want to provide only quality images vs. a specific number of images. In cases where image counts are specified, this should be supported in a written contract.

Tips for Shooting in Harsh Sunlight?

The lighting of a day is often the biggest challenge we face as wedding photographers. Coming prepared to work with flash to fill shadows is a great option if that suits your photography style.

When it comes to shooting the ceremony, this is where things are the most set in place. You can’t exactly pick up the ceremony site and put it somewhere else. In order to take great photos at this time (regardless of the light), you should be sure to move around and get many different angles.

We always get some front-and-center shots, as well as photos from the sides to get the bride & groom’s reactions. This makes for some really great images during the vows!

When it comes to shooting family portraits and bride & groom portraits, this is a little easier. Move to a location with more ideal lighting conditions (often shade only really sunny days). This allows you to focus more on posing, and less on fighting poor lighting conditions.

If shade isn’t available, you can always use backlighting techniques (ie: have the sun behind the people being photographed) or use your flash as a fill (assuming you can properly expose for the background too).

Should I Get a Reflector?

Reflectors are a great tool that can benefit a lot of outdoor portrait photography, but we would not recommend picking one up today and expecting to get the best use out of it during your first gig in just a few days. We would suggest sticking to the things you know and are comfortable with, as you will already be learning plenty of new things as the wedding day unfolds.

Not to mention, reflectors can be a bit challenging to use if you are shooting a wedding alone.

For sure, though, feel free to buy a reflector to use down the road once you get more experience with it and are more comfortable putting it to use!

Conclusion

The first wedding is always the toughest. Trust us when we say – shooting weddings gets easier as you go.

Anyone else have wedding photography questions you want answered on our blog? Leave us a comment or drop us a line today!