Have you ever wondered what it is like to be a wedding photographer? Over the years, I have had so many people say “you’ve got a great job just working weekends”. Well each wedding is between 60-80 hours work for us so the wedding day is just the tip of the iceberg.
There are so many activities we do as wedding photographers, let me share my activities over the last 7 days.
Friday 7th October
Prepping for a weekend of weddings on the Sunshine Coast. I had a final planning meeting with Kylie, my bride at Sunday’s wedding. Photography run sheet sorted, see you Sunday!
Our big iMac got a workout today, we met with Stacey and Dan to finalise their wedding album design with them, it’s going to be stunning.
In between appointments, my email inbox scored some needed attention, answering client emails and new wedding enquiries.
Kim and Roger also popped into the studio to collect their gorgeous wedding album, best wishes to you both, we hope it brings you many years of happy memories from your wedding day.
Saturday 8th October
It rained through the night. I was woken by the 6am ABC news and severe storm warning for the morning. We were on the road by 9am bound for our wedding up near Cooroy, a treacherous drive in heavy rain in our way. Miraculously, the weather improved through the day to a sunny afternoon. We photographed Jodie and Peter’s wedding at her parent’s farm, what a stunning wedding it was. What an awesome couple. We photographed right through to after dinner and speeches when when everyone was on the dance floor. Time for farewells and the drive home. Our end of wedding routine is to download, back up, recharge, it would be a quick turnaround because it all starts again early in the morning.
Sunday 9th October
Up early, drive to Coolum for Kylie and Todd’s wedding. We arrived while the girls were relaxing n the day spa, the Todd and the guys were chilling over breakfast. A midday wedding, evening reception, plenty of time for everyone to chill and enjoy time together. Their wedding at Hyatt Regency Coolum was very relaxed. Congrats guys, we wish you all the very best for the years ahead. Our drive home to Brisbane saw a late night come to a close. What a weekend, time to tumble into bed.
Monday 10th October
Back in the studio, time to download and back up the photos from Kylie and Todd’s wedding. While images are downloading, I select images from some recent commercial photo shoots for Weston Milling and some engagement portraits.
Jasmine a photography student accompanied by two of her fellow students interview me about being a photographer asking searching questions about where I began, building a photography business, marketing ideas and challenges for today; we had a good chat, best wishes as you complete your studies.
Monday night, ahhh, time with the family, relax over diner and watch some telly.
Tuesday 11th October
An early start today, I fly to Sydney this afternoon. My morning is in the studio answering client emails, new wedding photography enquiries and selecting images from recent photo shoots. We use Adobe Lightroom and it is brilliant to catalogue your images and process them.
I dash home to pack the gear and some clothes before getting a taxi to the airport. My Yellow Cab driver texts continuously on his iPhone on the way to the airport driving with one finger or knees at times, I hope I get there safely!
A QANTAS flight to Sydney, yes it is on time. I am loving my iPad, while on the flight I begin writing an article on photojournalism and documentary wedding photography, it will be on the blog soon. I arrive at Darling Harbour in time for dinner and prep for my early morning photo shoot.
Wednesday 12th October
Alarms at 5.30am never sound nice. Funny that. Morning routine, breakfast, shower, shave, you know the rest and time to check out. Jon from Weston Milling is picking me up and we are off to our first photo shoot. Over the last few months, I have been doing some documentary food and workplace photo shoots for Jon’s company, I have photographed some of their key clients all over Australia for their 2012 calendar. It’s been a fabulous project and we have some terrific images. Today we are photographing pasta making at Pasta Vera in Pyrmont and production at Croissant d’or at Potts Point. Alex the owner at Croissant d’or has french pastry chefs working with him, after living in France in 2009, being around French speaking people feels a bit like “home”.
We leave Potts Point with some delicious bakery treats and ate them in the car on the way to the airport. My flight was on time again, thank you QANTAS, those travelling tomorrow would not be so lucky.
Hello Bud, my dog a moodle gives me the excited I haven’t seen much of you greeting when I arrive home. Dinner with the family, time to relax.
Thursday 13th October
Morning Melinda! I arrive at the studio and catch up on the latest news, client emails and new enquiries. Finding appointments for everyone can be a challenge at times, these days, everyone is so busy and has weird schedules.
Hello inbox!
Shayne collected her beautiful wedding album today, best wishes to you and Simon!
Time to download, backup, select some images , catch up on admin tasks in the studio. Kim and Kerri, two sisters who had organised a family portrait photo shoot last time everyone was in Brisbane are in the studio this afternoon for a viewing and ordering meeting, they have selected some gorgeous canvas prints.
Friday 14th October
Kelly and Dan are in the studio today to complete their wedding album design, their wedding was at Songbirds rainforest Retreat and they have some beautiful photos.
Alison is in Brisbane from interstate and is wedding planning with her mum. We meet in the studio to chat about the wedding plans and how we can help.
Its been ages since I’ve posted on the blog so I’m getting a post drafted.
Then the phone rings… “Are you available for a wedding… right now?” As it turned out, the type of right now is exactly RIGHT NOW. Unbelievably, Lilly and Garrick’s photographer (a friend of a friend) hadn’t turned up to photograph their wedding as they had double booked themselves.
One of the quick thinking guests got on the phone to his PA and she did a google search for wedding photographer Brisbane and found us. Two quick calls and I’m on my way. I grab my camera bag and arrive as guests are enjoying drinks in the garden with the bride and groom. Introductions complete, I discover the wedding is over. With the celebrant’s help, I recreate some scenes from the wedding so they can have images of what happened. I photograph the family groups and then do a bridal party shoot before wishing Lily and Garrick all the best for their reception and the years ahead.
I’m so pleased I was available to help, being a wedding photographer is such a responsible role and I can only imagine the distress Lilly and Garrick went through as they came to realise that their photographer wasn’t just late but wasn’t going to turn up at all.
Arriving home, my son asks “How was your day Dad?” I begin to tell the story….
So, what a day, in fact what a week! Being a photographer is such an amazing role there are so many different activities we do each day, I hope this gives you an insight into what it is like to be a wedding photographer.
