A Wedding Photographers Survivors Guide (part 1)

The 5 P’s

Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance.

As a wedding photographer you can never have enough preparatation before a wedding.

For me the wedding day begins 24 hours before the big day.

Im not going to go too much into the photo geek gear side of things Il leave that for another post. Here is a rundown on the stuff you want with you apart from the Camera that you have.

Camera Batteries

For entry level photographers the most batteries one will take is the one that came with the Kit. At least 1 spare camera battery should be in everyones kit. Wether you are travelling overseas or just going out for the Sunday drive the equation is simple No battery = No photos = No fun

For me I carry 4 fully charged batteries that will last the entire day and most likely into the next if I have back to back weddings booked on a weekend. I also carry spare batteries for my Flash.

Having all batteries charged will prevent you from having to say to the unimpressed client….”My Batteries are flat”

First thing to do after a job and you arrive home is to put all your batteries on charge ready for the next gig. Its a good habit to get into

Memory Cards

You can never have enough memory cards. For wedding photographers that are covering a full day you will shoot about 1000 images easily especially if your one of those that likes to shoot continues Bursts.

Another thing I like to do the night before is to format all my memory cards and have them numbered.

Pocket your Memory & Power!


Always have at least 1 spare Memory Card & a backup camera battery in your hip pocket. At least this way when you have the ‘Memory Card Full’ message or a battery dies you can do a quick swap without having to run back to your Camera Bag.

HAPPY SHOOTING!

James

DISCLAIMER

Before you go running off and start making a magical checklist from this blog please consider your own situation. Every photographer is different and every photographer has their own modus operandi. I encourage you to go and make your own checklist on the things that you yourself you may need before a wedding. This  blog should not be used as a template! These are just SOME ideas on how to prepare before a wedding as a photographer.

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