A busy day....

With the advent of digital it's easier to shoot all day long without giving it a second thought, this may be the case in certain circumstances but that depends on what you are working on. When I shot my first wedding I came away with over 2000 images from an eleven hour shoot, looking back I would say this was down to over-excitment and not wanting to miss anything!
My most recent wedding was at the Livermead hotel in Torquay with Penny and James, who I am now very friendly with. Penny saw some of my work on Facebook and contacted me through there. I know there are some out there who believe Facebook is the work of the Devil, for me I have a personal page and a photography page, which I treat professionally!
Coming away from Penny's wedding I had shot 700 images from 11 am to 9 pm, looking through I have a fair amount of doubles which I always check through on full screen, you could have 'the' image only to find the subject has their eyes shut!

©2012Matt Elliott

Sadly the weather on the day was what I would call 'squint' conditions with very little contrast! I never like bright cloudless days with harsh light or overcast 'bleached-out' skies, but you can't control the weather and have to work with what you have! 

For this shoot I took a friend along who wanted to get an idea of what the wedding game was all about. As a second photographer wasn't added into the price plan Penny and James were more than happy to have a second pair of eyes. Looking through Paulina's work before the wedding I felt she had a good eye for the small details and told her to work to this. She was a bit nervous at first, but I told her to relax and have fun. I'm not sure after the day was out she had caught the wedding 'bug' but you never know.

©2012Matt Elliott

What I found enjoyable when working with Penny is she knew what she wanted from day one. I had already travelled to Torquay previously to plan for the shoot and study the location. Sadly on the day we couldn't use the small beached area for a backdrop so I made use of the steps leading to it for their posed shots, with a muted tone to give a classic look.
For some the traditional group shots are not wanted, which I'm sure will make some photographers smile (crowd control). However, personally I don't mind being asked to do large group shots, as long as you

1. Ensure you can fit everyone in (wide angle lens)
2. Compose your group well (can you see everyone)
3. Ensure there's good light (flash probably won't be enough outside)
4. Eyes, there's nothing worse than having four or five people with their eyes shut or looking the wrong way! I deal with this by telling everyone to shut their eyes and open on a count to three! 
5. For the person who really would rather look at their feet be polite and ask them to look at you, it's their friend or family members images they are spoiling.

I'm still learning about wedding work, although I like to feel I have served my apprenticeship, there's always something you can improve! I never suffer from nerves anymore but what I enjoy is the fact no two weddings are the same...and if you get it right the couple will remember you forever!