Ever wonder what its like to be a wedding photographer?

Wedding photography means a lot of things to a lot of different people.  To some, it is quite the glamorous job, for others they think that anyone who would want to become a wedding photographer is CRAAAZY!  After-all, who would want to work with all of those “bridezillas” out there…?  Well today I want to give you all some insight about what it is like being a wedding photographer.  this will be the very first post dedicated to giving more insight into the role and responsibilities of being a wedding photographer.  Future posts will cover what goes on behind the scenes, some of the key challenges that exist within the realm of wedding photography, and how to get started to become a wedding photographer.

When people who find out for the first time that I am a wedding photographer, they often ask: “So how do you like it? “I bet you get lots of bridezillas don’t you?”  I always answer them the exact same way – “I absolutely LOVE it” and… “nope we’ve never really had any “bridezillas”.  Then I typically get a sort of confused look…

There is a perception out there that weddings are full of mayhem and chaos and drama and stress – well they often are, but that is part of the excitement and challenge and part of the reason why we love it!  The other part of weddings is joy, excitement, happiness and pure love and emotion.  There is so much to love about weddings and as long as you can comfortably navigate through times of uncertainty, stress and an extremely fast paced environment then being a wedding photographer could certainly be in your future.

The top reasons we love being wedding photographers:

1. Freezing Moments in Time – Being the wedding photographer means being the one to capture the day and tell the story of their big day by freezing fraction of a second moments, that are otherwise gone, forever.  As the one to document one of the most important days in someone’s life is a huge responsibility.  But this concept of capturing these key moments (and the moments between moments) is truly what it is all about.  These photos will be the only artifacts left after the wedding for couples to relive their big day and quite often they are amazed and enthused at the mini candid moments that are captured that they had no idea was even being photographed.

2. Building Relationships – A lot goes into planning a wedding, this is why weddings are packed with so much emotion.  By the time we first meet with the couple, through all of the communication and helping with planning, through the engagement sessions and ultimately the wedding we have established some level of a personal connection.   On the wedding day we are pretty much with the bride and groom and also the family and bridal party throughout the entire day, by the time the night is over we certainly feel like not just another “vendor” but often feel like invited guests or friends.

3. Wedding Photography as an Art-form – Every wedding is unique.  Each day unfolds differently, poses different challenges, and gives you different subjects to work with, but, one thing that stays constant is it is YOUR imagery, and your art that you are creating.  Every wedding photographer has their own unique style, both in terms of technical and composition style and also editing style, its refreshing and exciting to know that with each wedding we photograph those photos encompass our vision and our creativity within each photo.

4. Bride & Groom Appreciation & Enthusiasm – To me, the ultimate reward with being a wedding photographer is when your bride and groom tell you that they are head over heels in love with the photos, or their groom or mom/dad shed happy tears when looking through the photos.  It is without a doubt the coolest feeling one can have.  At that point you know you hit a home run and you have made an extremely gracious and happy client, one who will cherish your photos of them for years and years to come.

The list can certainly go on and on but to us, these are the big main reasons why we love our jobs as wedding photographers!  If you’d like to take a look at our own wedding work check out our portfolio site or our blog site.

If you have any questions or comments at all please leave us a note down below, we’d love to hear from you!!

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Cole