Three Things No One Knows About Wedding Photography

November 8, 2018

Three Things No One Knows About Wedding Photography | Calgary Wedding Photographer

As I am easing out of one of the busiest season of my year (think of it as what April is to accountants, its what June through October is for wedding photographers) I was thinking about how amazing this past season has been but also all the things people don’t know or realize about being a wedding photographer. Things like we don’t stay at the reception and dance until all hours of the night, or how long editing a wedding actually takes. I know there is a stigma around wedding photographers and how glamours our lives are. Don’t get me wrong there are some serious perks. From the trips to tropical places for destination weddings, making our own hours as a boss babes/dudes to making it seem like it’s one big party everyday; it can seem like we are living the life. But there are at least Three Things No One Knows About Wedding Photography

Every Single Day I Live in Fear: The fear that my camera will stop working mid ceremony, the fear my flash won’t fire when the bride and groom end their first dance with a dip, fear that one of my memory cards will go corrupt, fear that my three external heard drives will fail or even worse my house buns down and there isn’t time to save at least one of them (oh yes I have actually thought of my escape plan that is the quickest way to grab my gear and my hard drives on the way out of my burning house!) or fear of the million and half ways the memories on the cards, hard drives and clients galleries could disappear. I may have been known to not let my cards out of my sight until they have been backed up in multiple locations. The nightmares and cold sweats I have had about the thought of loosing the photos. Because of this I have a post wedding routine that eases this fear and protects those irreplaceable memories for even the thought of being gone forever!

Photographers are Adrenaline Junkies: Maybe not adrenaline junkies in the whole sense of the words but from the moment we walk into the bridal suite to the last Beyonce dance of the reception we are in go mode. Usually you can find Jason and driving home in silence because I have used all my words for the day (and that takes a lot since i may be a wee bit of a talker), we have our eyes peeled for every small glance, hand touch, and constantly trying to anticipate what will happen next. We are constantly trying to stay present in the moment but also thinking 20 steps ahead. We have seen just about everything at weddings, and that limbo is both exciting and mentally exhausting once the decompressing in the car on the way home.

Wedding Hangovers are a thing! No this has absolutely NOTHING to do with alcohol of any kinda but more the sheer exhaustion and body pain that comes Sunday mornings. I have said multiple times how it feels like I have been hit by a bus but also how i know all those sore muscles and feet mean I put my heart and soul into capturing each and every moment of my couples day. I probably do 500 squats, lunges, and kung foo moves as I am trying to get that perfect shot; carrying bags and bags of gear on our backs and usually wearing cute but inappropriate footwear on our feet. All of these things make up the recipe to the perfect wedding hangover and make sure i feel like I’m 80 years old the next day. Don’t get me wrong the wedding hang over sucks but I also wouldn’t change it for the world.

As we live and breathe your wedding day I may be secretly pretending it is my own and wanting to document it in such a way that it will be impossible for you to forget. Each an every time I say goodbye to my couples at the end of the night I secretly hope that we will continue to be friends. I have cried when you cried, laughed when you laughed and and seen your dream wedding day unfold before your very eyes. These are all things I will never forget and never want you to forget either!