A day in the life of a wedding photographer
Granted, taking wedding reception photos is a tiring affair, but can be real rewarding for job well done. Where else can we take a large number of pictures of people in all their various expression? Most of all a joyous occasion such as a wedding day!
The wedding reception photography day starts from an early morning as the bride and bridegroom prepares themselves for the wedding ceremony and reception day. As a wedding photographer the job entails waking up as early as the couple perhaps earlier if their home is located further away. If the distance is too great, a prior night stay would also be needed.
The number of wedding photographers will depend on the couple’s budget, usually a minimum of two wedding photographer to capture the wedding reception photos from two possible angles. Sometimes three wedding photographers might provide an optimum coverage but of course that will depend on the budget of the wedded couple. For those couples that want to stint on their wedding photography budget, they may just hire one wedding photographer for their wedding reception photos. However the photographer may not be able to capture the various angles or cover the event as complete when there are more photographers available.
The usual wedding morning goes something like this. The bride and groom will be in two separate locations, each in their own home getting themselves ready for the wedding reception event. Having two photographers meant that each photographer will go to each location to capture the situation of bride and bridegroom. Of special note would be the bride where the preparation will be longer.
Guys have it easy! All they need to do is just dress up and they are good to go! Ladies on the other hand will need more preparation, including bridal hair updo and make up which takes up time. Situation like this do provide wedding photography opportunity.
By covering two differing location, the wedding photos could later be strung up to provide a journalistic or story telling format to the wedding reception event.
Onward ho! When the bride is ready, the bridegroom will come over to the bride’s house to take her to the wedding ceremony location such as a church or wedding venue escorted by friends in a procession of cars. The Asian wedding events style is very much different from that of the West, where the bride and groom will meet at the church. There may be icebreaking parties where the groom or his escorts may have to go through a series of embarrassing trials and negotiation before they are allowed to take the bride to the wedding venue.
Yes, it is a lot of fun! We take things light hearted here! Depending on the gung-ho-ness and willingness of the participants, it can get really boisterous and funny!
Once done, it is time to go the wedding venue where things will settle down to a more serious tone. Each culture will have their own way of doing things. The Chinese have the tea ceremony, while the Christian style wedding will involve the usual matrimony rites either done in a Church, hotel, gardens or some venue. Each culture will have their own distinct way of doing things, the Malay with their King and Queen of the day style with elaborate decorations, etc. I think this is well beyond the scope of this wedding photo article at this moment but hopefully will write more about this in future.
The wedding ceremony will wind down to a buffet lunch style which would be hired out to caterers. The wedding photographer’s job is almost done for the morning you would think so, but no. Even though there would be no more picture taking after lunch, the day’s wedding photos would be displayed for all to see at the wedding reception night. So it is time to pick and choose amongst the hundreds or perhaps even a thousand of wedding reception photos to be shown as a slideshow during the wedding night reception dinner. This is a time consuming affair and takes several hours to do it. Not much chance of a good rest.
And when evening comes, it is time to capture the wedding night reception photos. Typically in Malaysia, the wedding dinner will be held in some hotel or restaurant. The guests would stream in and register themselves and provide a wedding gift, which is usually money pack in an envelope.
Here the wedding photographer will try to capture the people streaming in as well as to cover the tables and people around the wedding reception hall. The night’s celebration starts when the bride and groom enter the wedding dinner hall. This is quite a difficult time for the photographer as the lights are dimmed. Wedding photos taken here are pretty harsh when using flash photography, but there is nothing much they can do here. In fact taking wedding night reception photos pose a fair bit of challenge due to insufficient lighting of the wedding banquet hall. Usually most of the best wedding photos are taken during the day and less well taken during the wedding reception night. Still there are interesting pictures that can be taken including toasting with friends and family as well as sharing a light moment amongst giving rise to good photography opportunity.
Group photos, friendly hugs and congratulations with the bride and groom here are a plenty. Have to always keep an eye out for them in order not to miss out on the photo opportunity. As the night wears on, and the final dish has been served. It is time to congratulate the couple and say goodnight for a well planned wedding reception night.
So there you have it, a day in the life of a photographer doing a wedding reception photo session.
I am interested in engaging with other photographers who specialize in wedding photography. Of course I work on other types of projects but my forte is weddings. I can be reached via my Contact Us page on my website