leelicini's photostream

MY WORK HAS VALUE!
Photographers' Rights Group.


Visit me at my blog the Mamma Goddess
themammagoddess.blogspot.com/

I love photography! Next to my family it is my biggest passion. I am here to share my work, seek critique and comments and to learn from the best. My other love is travel, in particular to Italy. I feel very attached to Italy for reasons unknown. If there is such a thing as past life, I am sure that I was Italian, likely Sicilian!

My real job - bookkeeper
www.thebookkeepingsource.com/

My Gear-
Canon EOS 5D MK ll
Canon EOS 40D
Canon IS USM 17-85mm lens
Canon IS USM 70-300mm lens
Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens
Canon 580EX ll Speedlite
A few filters
Tripod
A Prayer


Following all of the other sheep....I too created a blog!
themammagoddess.blogspot.com/


What I learned shooting a wedding.
My brother got married this past weekend. I am extremely happy for him and his new bride and wish them all the best. Now on to my tale.
My brother and his bride were strapped for cash during the planning process and asked if I could shoot their wedding for them. I know, I know, I must have been drunk!....because I agreed to do it!
I promised them that I would do my best but would give them NO GUARANTEE'S with the outcome.
For the months before the day, I studied and viewed endless wedding photos. I thought I had it in the bag!
Yeah right!
I learned some very valuable lessons and want to share with you.

1. Don't be afraid to speak up. One of the problems I had was getting people together for group shots, to look at the camera, to smile or even just look alive. I was nervous and thought I would be rude if I asserted myself.

2. Use humor....lot's of it! For the first few hours I was basically a wall flower. I did not want to get in the way, but I noticed that my models were acting like dead fish. I found that the best shots I got were when I cracked jokes and just basically played around.

3. Red Bull....lots of it! Seriously, it is a long and tiring day shooting a wedding.

4. Have an assistant or preferably a second shooter with you. If you think you can do it on your own, your must be superman/woman. I tried to be in 5 different places at once, since I am not super human, this was impossible and I missed some good shots. Also, an assistant would have come in handy to retrieve the tripod, lenses, a valium...should of had an assistant.

5. As a photographer, everyone should take an opportunity to shoot a wedding at least just once. It is a real eye opener. All the things you thought you knew about photography and people skill are likely to be forgotten in the moment. There are many of us amateurs out there who have hopes to be wedding photographers. To those who have this dream, I highly recommend that you seriously think about whether you want to spent an entire day, from dusk to dawn, following around bridezilla and her crew. It is your job to make her beautiful forever, afterall, no matter how much makeup, how wonderful the gown, if you don't capture her in a flattering manner, her memory of her wedding day will never live up to what she thought it would be! Stressfull!

To you photographers who shoot weddings for a living, here is a hats off to you. You earn your keep!

On a side not....I will never be a wedding photographers competition :)