So Where Do You Stand... Front, Back? How do you get all the shots?

rleigh

So, I am shooting my first wedding next Sunday. It was either us or no photography at all! So we stepped up and after doing some shots at the rehearsal Saturday, I am confident we can do good enough to make her happy. (Luckily, we have lots of ambient light!)

Anyhow, there will be 2 of us shooting. I am going to be at the front of the aisle. I am just so concerned with being annoying or in the way. The pastor was extremely nice and pointed out some places I can stand.
Of course, I will start crouched at the front of the aisle to get the processional and the bride's entrance.

Then, where do I go???? How do you go from one side to the other so you get both the groom's and bride's faces? It will be a very quick ceremony so we won't have much time.

The second shooter will be up top overlooking the ceremony first, then he'll go downstairs and in a secret back door to get shots from behind (although I'm afraid the pastor will block many of these)... then he'll try to catch the recessional and the bride/groom exiting.

I will be in charge of all the forefront shots... the kiss, exchanging of rings, etc. I will have a 17-55 mm lens, so should I just stay crouched the entire time or move around to either side of the church to get some pulled-back shots? (luckily, the front aisle of pews has a retaining wall, so I will be out of sight! WOO HOO!)

What do you do, and what are your preferences and angles/distances for your "money shots"?

urbanaries

Here's my advice for what it's worth. Forget the "From behind" shots. You shoot the processional from wherever the officiant thinks is best (either middle of the aisle or the front) and then slip to the side of the front of the altar to get the dad giving away shot. Then, circle around to the back and stay in the middle of the aisle. As close/far as you are allowed to.

Have your 2nd get the balcony shots with WA, and then if they have a telephoto, they can swing to the side for groom face shots, then the other for bride.

For exit, you can follow/lead the bride groom out of the church, and your second can stay behind to shoot the bridal party exiting.

MAKE SURE you test/practice the sudden change from "far away, stationery shots" to "quickly moving shots" during the bride/groom exit. It's a lot of change in a few seconds, especially if you're not using flash during the ceremony, you'll want to use flash when they're walking toward you, most likely.

HTH. You're lucky you have a second on your first gig. Good luck.

jttphoto

I've been in your shoes where it's you or no photography. The first wedding I did as the official photographer I took on one day's notice as a favor for the scheduled photographer who was in a car accident the day before the wedding.

I think that when it comes to situations like you're in the people in the crowd know what's going on and cut you a little slack. If you're crouched down and low walk (or even low crawl) you won't be in anyone's way long enough for them to care. So to answer your title question...I stand where I need to to get the shots I want, while trying to be as unobstrusive as possible.

Be respectful, but also be assertive, because at the end of the day your images will be the only thing the Bride and Groom are going to have to really remember their day.

That's what I've done in the few weddings I've shot. I'm new to weddings and am still learning a lot about it. Most of the photography I do is forensic so I like to do weddings and other happy things to offset what I normally see through the lens of my camera.

ChatKat

Contract
I suggest you type a contract up that states that you don't guarantee anything, that you are doing this as a favor, your equipment is limited and you have not photographed a wedding.

Many of the photographers I know that have done their first weddings have missed the kiss, the processional/recessional, the ring exchange etc. Just because you are not a professional photographer doesn't mean they can't sue you for missing the important parts of the wedding.

You will also want in writing an agreement of what you will be delivering: Prints, Proofs, Disks, File types and sizes.

Scott Quier has posted a sticky somewhere about weddings. It's required reading in my book.