Year End Review - 2010 Weddings

Photographing a wedding has got to be one of the most rewarding experiences I have had as a photographer.  I’m not going to lie.  It’s a long, hard day of work.  You’ve got to be alert so that you don’t miss any special moments.  You’re on your feet, constantly moving, for 10 hours or more.  At the end of the day you’ve got thousands of photos to sort and process.  But when you get to sit back and look at those photos, it makes it all worthwhile.

Some of you might recall that I shot my first wedding this summer.  It was done, with some hesitation, for a friend.  After that first time, though, there is really no going back.  When I was done working on their photos, it felt so good to sit back and see all of the beautiful images that they would be able to enjoy for the rest of their lives.  Judging by their reaction (and that of their family and friends), they felt the same way.

Because I felt that I still needed some more experience before I took the plunge and started photographing weddings on my own, I got in touch with a local wedding photographer, Ken Miller, who has been photographing weddings for over 30 years  He graciously allowed me to shoot a few weddings with him.  This opportunity, combined with his experience, has been invaluable.

Thanks to Ken, I had the opportunity to shoot a Catholic wedding in a large church, a small, non-secular ceremony in a clubhouse and a Jewish wedding at sunset.  What a variety of weddings!  These experiences have given me so much experience and really made me realize what I didn’t know (and wasn’t prepared for) about shooting weddings.

Some of my favorite parts of shooting a wedding with Ken were the times when things slowed down a bit and we had a few minutes to talk.  Having been in the industry for over 30 years and shooting over 40 weddings a year, you can imagine that he’d have some pretty good stories to tell, which he does.  I could sit and talk to him all day and he’d wouldn’t run out of stories to tell.

Although I still have a long way to go before I have as much experience (or as many stories) as Ken does, I am feeling much more confident and passionate about shooting weddings.  I’m excited to start offering wedding photography packages for 2011.  I’m also excited for all of the people I’ve yet to meet and the moments I’ve yet to capture.  If there’s one thing I’ve learned with my very limited experience of photographing weddings, it’s that you never know when that special moment is going to unfold before your eyes.  Here are a few images from weddings that I was fortunate enough to photograph this year…