Ode to being a 2nd Shooter

In the middle of May I had the privilege of shooting a wedding as a second photographer. Turns out this was actually my first wedding I helped shoot. It also truly turned out to be a great, great experience. This one happened to be far away in Callaway, MN, but totally worth the drive for such a great location.

I did not personally know the bride and groom, but it didn’t matter at all. Mercy was the main photographer and is very gifted at being one that is for certain.  On the other hand, after years of experience as an administrative secretary, I loved coming along side her and bringing her support. The wedding was a unique experience  in that it was a whole weekend event at a great little resort up past Detroit Lakes. There were tons of guests there the night before staying over and the next night too. How fun to make it a celebratory weekend instead of just one day.

Mercy and I traveled up there on Friday night and was blessed with a  good nights sleep before the day’s events on Saturday. I was asked to take pictures of the lay of the land, the lawn games in the morning, the reception hall, candid's, etc. The largest challenge of all was that the weather did not support the original plans. They had hoped for an outside wedding, but the weather was not promising that.

Thankfully inside the facility, there are so many unique places that it wasn’t a complete loss.

A few bold guests did venture out in the rain to play some lawn games. I did not since I didn’t want to wreck my equipment. Though a quick thought to jump in my car and shoot like a paparazzi allowed me to prove that they did indeed play in the rain!

After the outdoor fun was had and once the bride and groom were all dolled up, the first special pictures were taken. The bride and groom had their first site of each other before the wedding pictures started. They had a really special, quiet place to do that.

Then the group shots were taken. I was  mostly just a helper, but managed to catch this shot…which only makes sense…

…because we had taken this shot.

…and being the candid shooter, I was able to grab this shot.

The wedding  (all inside in a very dark space) turned out to be lovely.What comes next, but a lovely reception with awesome food by the way!

During which time I snapped this shot which is literally my favorite shot of the weekend.  Don’t tell the bride in case she doesn’t love it. Oh, and the sun shine did happen…but literally only after the wedding vows were said. Can you believe it?!

They ate, were merry and eventually they danced. Again, how do people get good shots in the dark? Not so sure, but I am glad for one “okay'” one of the couple.

After this, we loaded up and hightailed it back home. It had been a long, full day and we were whipped! Thankfully the three hours in the car went quick as we visited the whole way home. I promise though that I got home, put my jammies on and passed out in my bed. Whew!

I had a good time as a second shooter with Mercy and truth be told, would do it all over again. I loved it!

So, if you need a wedding photographer in the St. Cloud area, let me know and we might be able to work something out !