About ten minutes into the ceremony, terror hit me. I realized I had no way of knowing when the kiss was coming! I watched for queues like the ring exchange, and then realized I could watch all the wedding guests. Suddenly guests started to get out their phones and held them up, and pointed their cameras. I crouched into the position in the middle of the isle, and just froze until it happened. Delightfully, I timed it just right and caught the moment.

But for this post, I’m going to back up a bit, to the bride walking down the aisle with her father. In most weddings, everyone enters except the bride and her dad. At Kelly & Eli’s everyone entered, including Kelly, and waited at the back of the sanctuary. This photo of Kelly walking down the aisle is one of my favorites so far. Her expression just makes the photo for me.

This past summer, I photographed a large wedding. The groom was from Nigeria so the wedding had traditions that were a bit different from what I normally see. The couple also had piles of family and friends, making it a very large wedding, of over 300 guests. This wedding is a great example of when having two photographers is ideal. My assistant for this wedding, Sharla Stenerson, was an amazing asset.

We started photographing at the bride’s parent’s home, then went to the church, then to a park for wedding formals, and then to a reception hall. Sharla was with me at the park but once the bridal party was in the limo, she went onto the reception. I stayed and did portraits of the bride and groom. What this meant, was an opportunity to take photos of the details before everyone arrived, and for her to be there when the bride and groom arrived, since I was following them.

When should you consider having a second wedding photographer?

• You have a large wedding, maybe 200 guests or more
• You are having a wedding reception in a venue that is very spread out
• You have a very large extended family that you would like to participate in formal portraits, and have limited time worked into your wedding day schedule
• Getting different views of the same exact moment is very important to you
• You have multiple locations planned throughout your wedding day, and may need a photographer to be in more than one place at a time

Have I worked in these situations without a second shooter? Yes.  I can, and even enjoy the challenge at times, but for certain weddings it can make things go smoother and give you additional images if you elect to have a second photographer.

Would the second photographer need to be there for the entire wedding? Probably not.  I recommend about four hours for most weddings.  This covers a little of getting ready, wedding formals, the ceremony, and a bit of reception time.

If I want a second shooter at my wedding, how does that work? For you, it works seamlessly.  We work it into your wedding package, and you communicate with me.  I have several photographers that I will check with for availability.  They all shoot in a similar enough style, that the images will all be cohesive.  At the end of the day, the photographer hands over their RAW files to me, and I process all the wedding photos as one entity.

Do you always recommend having two photographers? Absolutely not.  It completely depends upon your wedding plans.  There are plenty of brides that I recommend just having one photographer for.  I actually shoot the majority of weddings alone.

Below is an example of how you get the same moment captured differently with two photographers.  I am standing in the aisle taking the photo of the bride entering with her dad.  Sharla is standing at the entrance to the church, and took the photo of the bride walking down the aisle from behind.